Charles Darwin said: “It is not the strongest species that survives nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”. Among many examples, my favorite is the case of the primitive tribe of Colombian Indians, the Kogis. The main particularity of this tribal organization is to function without any leader. Its members always undertake decisions following huge negotiation. For instance, a definitive decision is always taken after long meetings in the dark! Each one is free to express his opinion, and easily accepts contradictions.
This kind of meetings avoids instances of usual aggressiveness or unusual emotions. The Kogis provide an example for management with active participation. This “collective intelligence” is a scarce ability looked for by managers who want to share their vision to people.
As Reuter says (2000), management is an art that we have to rethink constantly to face the constant economic and social evolution. Since the 1980s, many management models have followed each other in bringing more or less appealing new rules and new theories. From benchmarking to “best practices”, from “think global, act local” to corporate governance, from competitive advantage to creation of values, from “participation management” to re-engineering, management methods are numerous.
They all offer a standard process to follow in a precise perspective. However, the slowing down of the world economy, the start-up crisis, the global competition, the disappearance of the traditional hierarchy model and revolution in both technology and communication leave us no other alternative but the obligation to manage change. We need to be firmly rooted in change. “The future is coming so fast, we can't possibly predict it; we can only learn to respond quickly” (Steven Kerr).
The Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines change as “to make or become different”. Thus, change refers to a process which goes with the company life, side of instability and environment development. Managing change is:
-Solving the problem statement (using adapted methods and models)
-Managing the project of change (improvement, reorganization, restructuring).
-Taking into account human dimensions (values, culture, change resistance with participation, communication, training and coaching).
Working in a family business, named Desertours™, we are going to build a changed management model for this company in the tourism industry. With twenty years experience, Desertours™ is the 4WD and motorcycle adventure travel leader in the French market. Our company offers trips around the world, including Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Okavango, Namibia, Madagascar, Venezuela and the United States. Over the past ten years, Desertours™ has diversified its range of skills and is now organizing sports events such as 4L Trophy™, a 4L orientation race in the Moroccan desert, reserved for students, as well as the Roses des Sables Trophy™, a 4WD, quads and motorcycle women-only race.
Before studying the change we can implement to retain our leadership, it is judicious to understand the causes of change and the current reality of the change management.
[...] Before showing how change can be managed and what the key success factors in Desertours™ are, it is judicious to study the current scenario of change management in our business. The reality of change management Most managers think that change management exceeds organization, competition or productivity concepts. It begins with the leadership quality within the organization, and finishes with the optimal control of human resources. Because our manager is an undeniable leader, Jean-Jacques Rey has to take advantage of the human and intelligence capital of each employee. [...]
[...] After studying the causes of change, the reality of the change management and the instances behind its resistances in Desertours™, we can now be active How to manage change ? Change management is omnipresent in our company life and all the more in the tourism market. This art needs a huge strategic intelligence, from the creation of a favorable context to the management of internal resistance strengths, in constructing and communicating a vision. In this way, it is easy to understand that strengths which expand change clash with those who think the opposite. [...]
[...] We now have to define what environment effects can have consequences within the company Three main constraints The change constraint is an obligatory step in the modern management process, all the more in our business. Two main trends always persevere in order to put in place a necessary change management: uncertain and complex environment and application of more flexible strategies. In both cases, we have to face three main constraints: the political and technological environments and competition The political environment: Social and economic laws have substantial influence regarding the establishment of new rules, implementation of new organizations, new methods and tools. [...]
[...] The Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines change as make or become different”. Thus, change refers to a process which goes with the company life, side of instability and environment development. Managing change is: Solving the problem statement (using adapted methods and models) Managing the project of change (improvement, reorganization, restructuring). Taking into account human dimensions (values, culture, change resistance with participation, communication, training and coaching). Working in a family business, named Desertours™, we are going to build a changed management model for this company in the tourism industry. [...]
[...] Whatever change levels our managers might think, they have to follow a specific process in the problem-solving Managing change has to follow a precise theoretical process Because the role of management has changed significantly over the last years, it is important to put in place in Desertours™ useful and adapted modern methods and tools. According to Reuter (2000), the change managing process is nowadays divided in 6 theoretical steps: COMMUNICATION PLAN MANAGEMENT AND LEADING TIME Before starting a relevant practical investigation, we have to bear in mind that people in our family business tend to feel safe with what they know Resistance and fear Everyone in our company prefers general stability. [...]
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