Triggers for Business Change

As we know change is inevitable as market expectations are not static, new technology is constantly being developed, and organizational responses are inevitable to these sequences. It is a simple matter of business evolution. If every manager and every employee could have some understanding of the triggers of change and their relationships with each other, then the acceptance to change would be easier.

When change is being implemented the natural tendency is to feel threatened by what is happening, if you don't think rationally and emotions and feelings take over. Sometimes, it is all seen as some kind of conspiracy by employers and they perceive that the management is concerned only to look after them. There could be elements of truth in this, but a major educational effort to get everyone in the company to expect change, and indeed to create it within their own spheres, would lead to the path of positive change.

Change is expressed through three main areas: the market itself, the technology to meet market demand competitively, the organization of resources, and the enterprise to achieve success. We also consider the tendency of companies to follow a pattern of similar life cycles. The stage in the life cycle could affect the nature of the changes which might be expected. In this article, we are looking at key triggers that necessitate the change.

1. Market Changes

The market is constantly evolving and the only way to survive in the market is to adapt to what market demands. Some examples of market-driven changes are:

Customers demand – They want more or less of particular goods or services
Competitors have begun to get ahead in the race due to aggressive advertising
Government decisions and new regulations have either freed you or constrained you
World events have changed the nature of people's expectations – Like the COVID-19 pandemic has constrained the movement of people around the world
Price mechanisms nationally or internationally have got out of range, imports have become costlier and non-affordable
New technology has superseded what your organization was good at – MP3 has replaced the need for cassette players
Political changes in other countries open up opportunities or closed entry
Raw material shortages have arisen or their prices have shot up

All these create specific changes in your business, whatever it is. The changes in the marketplace will impact your company and if the impact is negative, there will be urgency in the organization to search for new products or for the creation of new expectations from old ones. There will be the decision to explore areas of the globe where you are not previously represented; by expanding your customer base by moving to the right place in order to hold in the demand for the moment.

2. Technological Changes

Technology is naturally enough a significant part of the changing scenario. There are constant development and introduction of new technology that brings process optimization and results in reducing the people costs, or to speed up manufacturing and assembly processes or result in innovative ways of fulfilling a particular need. Technology enables meetings of customer needs, anywhere, at any time, in the form it is wanted and with the minimum of physical material and the maximum of accompanying service. Technological change has a knock-on effect so that change in this field in response to need becomes the trigger of further change. Technology can force an organization to re-establish price advantage, quality pre-eminence, or diversification into new products.

3. Organizational Changes

These changes in the market or technology will also affect the organization. If on the negative side it could result in retrenchment, a reduction in the number of employees, and a reduction in the number of levels of management. The technology itself might require new styles of organization, new sills, and the upgrading of old ones. The number of operating sites may be reduced. People may find themselves performing totally new functions, which they may like or perhaps won't like, at least to start with. The only way to stay in business may be a merger or to be the subject of a takeover, friendly or hostile. With such ownership changes, another market, technological and organizational changes may follow. In some industries, it is an endless cycle.

Most CEOs seeking to improve results do something about the organizational structure and culture of their enterprise. The organization is a matter of structuring the way in which resources are brought and kept together in order to achieve objectives. These resources include people, places, money, materials, and machines. Most changes have some implications for the ways in which resources and relationships are organized. Whether corrective action is being taken or opportunities are being seized, the organization's change will make a difference to the immediacy of reaching and speed of decision-making, information-sharing, communications, and policy implementation.

The culture change brought about by reorganizing is the most difficult handle and the ones that take the longest. They have to overcome the inhibitions of whole corporate life history, and they are likely to meet emotional resistance.

The restructuring of organizations will have to be essentially rational and it will move in different directions, depending on need.