SYDNEY -- Change management is a business discipline that has undergone increasing focus in the last few years and the topic has recently been added to the business studies curriculum. The Australian Financial Review Case Studies with Business News aims to help students more effectively understand and answer questions on change management.
Change management is a comprehensive effort to lead an organization through transformation. Most importantly, the transformation effort must be actively led and managed with a clear set of objectives and an agreed plan for achieving these objectives. Effective change management is important for the growth and development of the organization and for ensuring employees are properly engaged and informed throughout the change management process.
Change management is a critical part of any project that leads, manages and enables people to accept new processes, technologies, systems, structures and values. It is the set of activities that helps people transition from their present way of working to the desired way of working.
The need for change management can occur for lots of different reasons, from the challenges of growth that an organisation is facing, changing global markets, changes in strategy, technological change, competitive processes including M&A, customer pressures or shifting markets.
Teaching change management effectively
The use of case studies in teaching the change management area of the curriculum helps students understand how business theory is put into practice in real-life business situations. The Australian Financial Review Case Studies with Business News has several case studies based around change management. These include 'BOC - Promoting Gas & Gear through effective change management', a case study which examines the change management process used to relaunch the organisation's retail brand. This piece will enable students to define change management, identify the key steps in a change management process and understand the benefits of effective change management.
Other case studies that include change management are 'Westpac - Creating a sustainable business', which looks at the way Westpac has used change management to create a socially responsible business, and 'Australia Post - the enduring power of paper', which examines the way in which consumer communication needs are changing and how the business is managing this.
For more information on change management, please visit www.afrbiz.com.au or contact:
Australian Business Case Studies Pty Ltd
168 Lomas Lane
NSW 2325
Phone: +61 2 4991 5577 Fax: +61 2 4991 3089.
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