The sea change that most businesses face today is increasingly becoming the norm rather than the exception. The change is driven by globalisation, technological and social dynamics. Hovering around the status quo is like a cancer stricken person waiting for his condition to get better. If you continue doing the same, things are not going to get better. There is a saying that you cannot teach old dogs new tricks. To survive in today’s competitive market, old dogs need to be taught new tricks.
Organisations fail to change because of old ways of doing things. There is unclear vision as most CEOs are unable to communicate their visions in three minutes so that other people can understand and embrace it. Also, oftentimes, the vision is not communicated and obstacles such as bureaucracies are allowed to block the vision.
Management also fails to plant the new behaviour and vision in the company’s values. They fail to show employees that the new behaviours and approaches can result in improved performance. Top management fails to develop a shared commitment to the renewal. The future corporation ought to be less bureaucratic, with fewer levels, more performance oriented and risk-taking.
Shareholders are increasingly becoming impatient with Chairman and CEOs who are set in their old ways. If the old dogs do not mend their ways, the shareholders and investors will speak with their feet and be quick to voice their protest. In March 2004, Sir Philip Watts, the embattled chairman of Royal Dutch/Shell was forced to resign after the audit. He was due for retirement the following spring. One of the largest investors remarked that they wanted more independent executives rather than lifers.
Michael Eisner of Walt Disney was stripped of his chairman position but remained as the CEO. He has been the head of the Walt Disney Company since 1984. It was popularly believed that shareholders voted against him to register their rebuke against Michael Eisner’s leadership.
In contrast, Well Fargo forgo the 150 year of history by eliminating all waste – sold away the corporate jet, cars, free drinks to staff etc. Conversely, another 150 year bank, Bank of America did not respond as rapidly with the banking deregulations. Subsequently, BOA did learn to reduce waste, however, it had already lost valuable time to Well Fargo.
In the area of marketing, companies still continue to think that marketing is selling. They focus on selling the products to customers and neglected maintaining a relationship with them. They are only interested in selling to new customers and neglected the existing and old ones.
It is perhaps more glamorous and exciting to chase for the new accounts, when studies have found that it is cheaper to keep old customers than acquire new ones. For instance, many companies see the potential of the Internet but never make the change.
The bookshops continue with expensive brochures and advertisements in the media, when more and more customers are using online purchases. One day, these bookshops woke up to the fact that Amazon.com overtook them because Amazon.com does not have expensive warehouses to stock their books and people are purchasing online.
The acceptance of the Internet as a tool for business has saved many companies from going out of business. It helps small companies compete against the big companies as on the website, there is little differentiation. It is probably the best and most cost-effective medium to promote a company’s products and services and generate new sales. Nicholas Negroponte, an American writer and director, MIT media laboratory said: “The Net is a 10.5 on the Richter scale of economic change.”
Some moderations are required in throwing out all old things. One must not always equate ‘old’ with obsolete and ‘new’ with best. It is also not wise to hastily throw away any old and workable traditions and conventions. They may require modification, but they are the result of the experience of many generations. Also, the decades of downsizing have eliminated many staff with many years of rich experience and expertise which new staff will take many years to learn. Therefore, old staff do have a lot of value to the company.
Employees go through several stages during a change and re-orientation process. They are namely, denial, frustration, confusion, acceptance and finally commitment. There may be some resistance at the beginning through denial, frustration and confusion. But once they see the value of the changes, they will accept them and be committed to them. However, one has to be aware that if you leave old things alone, you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave an old thing alone you leave it to a torrent of change. The key is that the champions of tomorrow see an opportunity, which their competitors too can see. The difference is that champions take action to make the change.
