Change management is the systematic planning, control and monitoring of changes in companies. This includes the coordinated and controlled initiation, planning, implementation and evaluation of technical or operational changes. The general task of change management is to ensure that the continuity, stability and quality of the services offered are not impaired by system-relevant changes. In addition to formal aspects of planning, change management processes increasingly take into account "soft" factors of change (improving internal communication, dealing with resistance, increasing motivation, etc.).
Once management has created functioning structures and processes and launched successful products and services onto the market, it strives to maintain this status quo for as long as possible. In this, it is supported by the majority of employees, who value the security of stability in their areas of responsibility, at their workplaces and in their living environment.
However, change has accelerated more than ever before. Everything is in flux: values, markets, currencies, technologies, forms of communication, resources, development of materials, social structures and ways of thinking, even the climate. Borders are disappearing or becoming more permeable.
Successful business management today is increasingly becoming the management of change processes and means actively shaping change rather than being driven to change. Change processes can be designed as programs, but can also take place in individual, smaller steps. Many changes arise from the routine work of management and are often more convincing than programs that are announced with great fanfare and may not be successfully completed.
Application areas/aspects of change management (CM):
• Organizational development
• Business process development
• Learning organization
• Crisis management
• Innovation management
• Continuous improvement process (CIP)
• Change of strategy
See also:
Strategic management; corporate governance; corporate identity; leadership skills; innovation management; corporate goals; re-engineering; due diligence; process management; global sourcing; risk management; open innovation; employer branding
Reference to QET guidelines:
Q01 Leadership skills; Q06 Change management; Q13 Succession; Q15 Processes; Q16 Flexible organisation; Q19 Risk management; T01 Guidelines