Attitude matters
Arvind Mehan

Change Management: Altering Mindsets in a Global Context
by V. Nilakant and S Ramanarayan. Response Books. Pages 355. Rs 380.

Effective management of change is all about balance—between short-term and long-term, profits and people, overview and detail, continuity and transformation, reality and imagination, hard-nosed business savvy and soft-hearted dreams and feasibility and desirability.

The framework of managing growth and change in a dynamic environment presented in this book draws on current research in the social sciences and combines the field findings with the practical experience of the authors, V. Nilakant and S. Ramnarayan, both senior professors in International business schools.

The illustrative cases drawn from different sectors and industries highlight the specific leadership challenges of influencing the people and gaining support for the idea of change, getting people to believe in their own ability to master challenges, strengthening communication channels and executing change effectively.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaran, who has written the Foreword, has endorsed this book. Considering the major growth trajectory of the public and corporate sector in this country, it will require an enhancement of our ability to execute decisions and implement changes.

While Change Management builds on the ideas of the authors’ previous book, Managing Organizational Change, it is different in two ways. First, it is less about India and more about a global context. Global best practices in various facets of change management have been discussed. Second, the model of change management presented in this book is based not on case studies, but on current research and ideas in change management.

Managing change in an organisation is about: (a) tuning to the external environment and peoples’ mindsets, (b) persuading people and strengthening communication channels, (c) architectural change through cross-functional collaboration, and (d) creating positive contexts that enable people to experiment, learn and have faith in their own capabilities.

The book dwells on practical ways in altering mindsets. Organisational change is not about restructuring, merging or downsising. It is not about lean production or cutting work force either. Fundamentally, it is about changing ways in which people "think" and "act" in an organisation.

The final chapter deals with leadership and change. Beginning with "Appreciative Inquiry", a popular change management technique, it follows it up with a discussion on leadership. The authors end the book with a sobering observation. Change management is not just about creating business models, making profits and acquiring market share; it is about creating enduring institutions. It is about ensuring that our legacy of competence and values is carried forward for future generations.

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