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Area46.com
Est. 1995
It's not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. - Charles Darwin
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SERVICES |
Change
Management It's not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. - Charles Darwin |
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Promotional Strategies Dynamic Information Hubs Photography/Multimedia Audio & Video Streaming Cross-Media Marketing Change Management Customer Relations Corporate Training We also have excellent relationships with top hosting, networking & database firms |
Change is difficult
for everyone regardless of whether it's on a personal or corporate level.
You can't effect corporate change unless you have buy-in from everyone within
the organization. You also can't order change because the process is easy
to sabotage. None of us like to change. We resist sometimes without even knowing. For the most part it's because our old habits, customs and traditions seem safe and are perceived to be dependable. "Why fix it if it ain't broke" is a well worn homily that doesn't fly anymore. If you stagnate in today's fast moving and competitive market you get run over. Conversely, change for the sake of change is not advised because the process is disruptive. If you go to the expense of implementing change there has to be tangible benefits. Short List for Change  Make
sure change is warrantedEnsure that change takes you in the right direction Have a plan in place to propel and support change A number of obstacles stand in the way of change that many companies are not aware of until it's too late. For example, a hierarchical management style is not conducive to making the process of change easy. Hierarchy lends itself to micro-management and creates resistance to change by wrapping the momentum of change in red tape. If you have to move new ideas from committee to committee or up administrative and executive ladders you're bound to run into defensive posturing that broadsides you when you least expect it. People have personal agendas that are easy to hide in the hierarchical process. On the surface it seems like they're championing a company cause, but once you explore a little deeper you might find that the new idea threatens a personal project, someone's pension or simply the way they feel comfortable doing business. People usually put personal agendas before the company's interests. It's human nature and unless you understand the motivations you'll have a difficult time enacting change in a hierarchical organization. Consequently, if you operate within a hierarchical structure it's important to get buy-in from the top. If not, personal agendas have the potential to sabotage change at every corner. Hierarchies inherently are not team building environments and although it is sometimes hard to enact change within them, it is not impossible if you recognize critical areas and position change appropriately. On the other hand if your business is based on a flat open-source management style it will be easier to effect change. In this type of relationship voices tend to be respected equally. Everyone gets to voice an opinion and has an opportunity to take responsibility once it's decided that the need to change is justified. Another (hard-to-identify) management style you should be aware of undermines change surreptitiously. It happens when directors and managers mix both models, hierarchical and flat, and champion the flat model until it comes down to the crunch. To everyone's dismay and always at the last moment a director or manager with a hidden personal agenda will intervene and override decisions. They often defend their decision by claiming it is for the best of the company. If it was it should be shared earlier and not at the eleventh hour... Certain industries lend themselves to change more than others, but in these trying times of forced change even they are under increasing external pressures that are out of their control. For example, the entertainment industry has a reputation for regularly reinventing itself. For the most part entertainment companies operate using flat management styles. One of the reasons is that entertainment companies are usually entrepreneurial. Being entrepreneurial means they bring diverse groups of specialists together and let them do what they do best. It would undermine the process if one person had authority to override decisions made by all the other assembled experts. Don't confuse this with leadership. Every project and organization needs leadership. The question here is how leadership is managed. The music business is under severe financial stress as a result of technologies like Napster, KaZaa, MP3 and video streaming. I was a senior manager in the music business for almost twenty years and find it ironic that the entrepreneurial spirit is not as predominant or as healthy as many of us in the industry believed it to be. Instead of listening to what customers want, record company executives are circling the wagons to protect themselves from new ways of doing business. When push comes to shove it becomes obvious that the lip service paid to customer service is just that, lip service. It's a very shortsighted view and one that is not boding well for major record company executives who make decisions based purely on events-of-the-day. A wise man once said, "Never let your short term greed get in the way of your long term greed". (If you know who coined this phrase please let me know. ed) At Area46 we help companies identify potholes on the road to change and show them how to gently and quickly respond to the market. It's very difficult and sometimes even impossible for companies to effect major change without third party facilitation. |
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you're a small or mid-sized MANUFACTURER or PRODUCER
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Control is shifting to producers and manufacturers and away from large distributors Loosen the monopolistic Without doubt, corporate culture can be the greatest impediment to a large company doing business online. Their culture is often too political and protectionist to allow them to react appropriately It's their Achilles heel
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