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0:00
This talk is entitled
Behavioural Issues in Change,
and is the work of
Bernard Burnes,
Professor of
Organisational Change
at Manchester Business School.
0:12
The presentation covers
four key questions
with regard to behavioural
issues in change.
Why do people react
as they do to change?
What is the best way
to manage change?
What is the scope for choice?
What is the role of managers
in the change process?
0:32
When faced with the
prospect of change,
there are three common reactions
which can be summed up in
the following quotations.
Change is the only constant.
Though written 2000 years ago,
this is as true today
as it was then.
The world is in a
constant state of change.
Change is sometimes fast
and sometimes slow,
but always present.
Most people recognize this fact,
but that does not
mean they welcome it
as noted by Machiavelli
in the 16th century.
There is nothing more
difficult to take in hand,
more perilous to conduct or more
uncertain in its success,
than to take the lead
in the introduction of
a new order of things.
Because the innovator
has for enemies
all those who have done well
under the old conditions,
and lukewarm defenders in those
who may do well under the new.
Underpinning this is the
view of Lord Salisbury,
a former British prime minister.
Change? Change? Why
do we need change?
Things are quite bad
enough as they are.
These quotations could
well be combined
into a new motto for
modern organisations.
Change might be inevitable,
but we won't support it,
and in any case, it
won't do any good.
