FREE online courses on Change Management - The Task of Managing Change
The first and most obvious definition of “change management”
is that the term refers to the task of managing change. The obvious is not
necessarily unambiguous. Managing change is itself a term that has at least two
meanings.
One meaning of managing change refers to the making of
changes in a planned and managed or systematic fashion. The aim is to more
effectively implement new methods and systems in an ongoing organization. The
changes to be managed lie within and are controlled by the organization.
However, these internal changes might have been triggered by events originating
outside the organization, in what is usually termed “the environment.” Hence,
the second meaning of managing change, namely, the response to changes over
which the organization exercises little or no control (e.g., legislation, social
and political upheaval, the actions of competitors, shifting economic tides and
currents, and so on). Researchers and practitioners alike typically distinguish
between a knee-jerk or reactive response and an anticipative or proactive
response.