Change is one of the few constants of the business world, today, everything changes continuously and always more quickly.
Businesses, once market leaders, end up like boiling frogs because their managers were unable to carry out the required changes in time.
Here is a brief list of companies which have gone out of business or are no longer business leaders: Kodak, Blackberry, Nokia, Richard Ginori, Moto Morini, Mariella Burani Fashion Group, General Motors, Autobianchi, Saab, Montedison.
The managers of these companies are victims of their own way of seeing and doing things, no longer enough for the needs of the market.
They have maintained a managerial orientation towards what they already knew how to do, without being able to perceive the new context and have the mental strength necessary to change the habits and culture of the company they were managing.
The change of perception of the context in which the company operates is at the basis of the beginning of the change process.
The highest managerial levels, since they are in tight contact with the business prerequisites, should be the first to become aware of the need for change.
In fact, if management does not change its perceptions and ways of thinking first, the entire company cannot change.
The level of perception of the need to change is not the same along the company hierarchy. An operator responsible for a system or even a guard cannot perceive the necessity for change in the same manner as the managerial levels (in an always more important way) should perceive it, little by little as they get closer to the summit of the company.
The choice of the type of Change
The fact remains that the perception alone that there is a necessity for change is not sufficient enough to achieve the change; the change must be planned and achieved.
After having decided to change, it is necessary to choose the type of change to be achieved.
It is necessary that the change one wishes to bring about throughout the company be the most efficient possible and that it be able to guarantee positive economic results for as long as possible.
The criteria which today makes it possible for a company to constantly be the market leader is:
- Knowing how to innovate continuously.
- Knowing how to continuously improve the processes.
- Knowing how to create a shared business culture.
To date, the only complete and already encoded system in all its aspects that a company can choose to adopt is the system of Lean Manufacturing.
The organization model of Lean Manufacturing responds widely to the 3 criteria listed above.
This model provides the methodological reference of the type of change we need to generate in all of the activities of the company.
The achievement of change (change management)
Once the model towards which the company wants to change to has been chosen, all that is left is to carry out the actual transformation.
Fundamentally there are 2 aspects which require change:
- The mentality of people
- The reality of the infrastructure
Physical changes in the company cannot take place without having first of all changed in part or totally, the mentality of the collaborators of the company.
Change regarding people must be planned and organized.
In order to change the mentality of people and lead them to fully achieve the change cycle seen above, both “change psychology” skills and techniques related to the reference model to be adopted are necessary.
The change cycle must be carried out for each company level in the manners and in the language appropriate to the level.
The change cycle must be carried out for each company level in the manners and in the language appropriate to that level.
For more information on how to plan and achieve Lean Change Management, write us at mail below
