The Field

The study of management today must take into account the ever-increasing pace of global change. Technological developments, financial constraints, expanding markets, restructuring and mergers, new philosophies, and government legislation are all exerting pressure on organizations to become significantly more adept at change. Most organizations today require agility to succeed; in a growing number of cases, flexibility is a required attribute for survival.

Individuals, work groups, and large-scale organizational systems are confronting the unsettling realities of “change” as the only constant. As the need grows to help organizations become and stay agile, so does the need for individuals with competencies to influence how organizations respond to change. This is because change is far from easy and implementing it successfully makes considerable demands on the managers involved. Change is an integrated process, not an isolated event. All areas of the organization must be integrated into a unified, continuous effort that moves the firm from where it is today to where it chooses to be in the future. Organizations that take a piecemeal approach, separating their organizational and technical from their human and cultural changes, fail dramatically.