Managing Change, Adaptation, Innovation, and

Disruption in the Global Business Environment

MAN101: Principles of Management Class 5

What is change?
 Textbook:
 “Any alteration of people,
structure, or technology.”
 American Psychological
Association:
 “The altering of structures,
strategies, procedures or
cultures of organisations.”
 Change

 Even when the pandemic subsides and things return to normal, or a “new
normal,” one thing we know for sure is that change is constant.
 Just think about how much has changed since the pandemic upended everything.
 Things are not going to sit still.
 10 Principles of Change Management
1. Address the “human side” systematically: A formal approach for managing
change — beginning with the leadership team and then engaging key
stakeholders and leaders — should be developed early, and adopted often as
change moves through the organisation.
2. Start at the top: The leaders themselves must embrace the new approaches
first, both to challenge and to motivate the rest of the institution.
3. Involve every layer: At each layer of the organisation, leaders must be
aligned to the company’s vision, equipped to execute their specific mission, and
motivated to make change happen.
4. Make the formal case: The creation of a formal vision is an invaluable
opportunity to create organisational alignment with the change.
5. Create ownership: Involve people in identifying problems and crafting
solutions.
 10 Principles of Change Management
6. Communicate the message: Reinforce core messages through regular, timely
advice that is both inspirational and practicable.
7. Assess the cultural landscape: The core values, beliefs, behaviors, and
perceptions within the organisation’s culture must be taken into account for
successful change to occur.
8. Address culture specifically: Leaders should be explicit about the culture and
should model and reward the behaviors that will best support the new way of doing
business.
9. Prepare for the unexpected: No change program goes completely according
to plan. People react in unexpected ways; areas of anticipated resistance fall away;
and the external environment shifts.
10. Speak to the individual: Most leaders contemplating change know that
people matter. Don’t dwell on the plans and processes, which don’t talk back and
don’t respond emotionally; face up to the more difficult critical human issues. 
What is adaptation?
 American Psychological
Association:
 “A change in how an
organisation and its
leaders operate or
function in an effort to
keep up with changing
market conditions or
shifting environment
factors.”
 Adaptation

 The ability of an organisation to adapt is a great competitive advantage. A company that

is adaptable is open to new ideas, and doesn’t need to do things only because “that’s how
they’ve always been done.” They’re able to foresee changes and don’t panic when things
don’t go according to plan.
 If your competitive environment is uncertain and is changing fast, your organisation
requires a dynamic and sustainable way to stay ahead of the curve.
 The 4 Abilities of Adaptable Organisations
1. The Ability to Read and Act on Signals: Organisations must be
attuned to change signals from the external environment, able to decode
them, and quickly act to refine or reinvent its business model.
2. The Ability to Experiment: That which cannot be deduced or forecast
can often be discovered through experimentation.
3. The Ability to Manage Complex Systems: Organisations must learn
how to design and evolve strategies for networks without necessarily
being able to rely on strong control mechanisms.
4. The Ability to Mobilize and Decentralize: Organisations need to
create environments that encourage the knowledge flow, diversity,
autonomy, risk taking, sharing, and flexibility on which adaptation thrives.
What is innovation?
 Textbook:
 “[The] ability to generate new ideas
that are implemented into new
products, processes, and
procedures designed to be useful —
that is, to channel creativity into
useful outcomes.”
 American Psychological
Association:
 “The psychology of creativity and
distinctive thinking.”
 Innovation Management
 Generating: Brainstorming and
getting employee input to uncover
hidden concepts.
 Capturing: Recording ideas in a
way that is easily shareable with key
stakeholders.
 Evaluating: Discussing and
criticizing innovative ideas to see if
they fit your needs.
 Prioritizing: Deciding which
innovative ideas will be executed to
maximize time and other resources
in your company.
The 4 Key Pillars of Innovation Management
1. Competency:
 Working with external partners and stakeholders.
 Maximizing the value of current resources.
 Setting concrete long-term and short-term goals.
 Strategic management systems to achieve goals and review progress.

2. Structure: The right structure can empower the organisation to operate more
efficiently and produce more powerful ideas. The fewer barriers between an
innovative idea and its customers, the better.

3. Culture: “The Best Idea Wins” + “Speed to Market” + “Ongoing

Learning” + “Failure As Part of the Process”
4. Strategy: The long-term planning in place for an organisation that allows
it to reach its key objectives, launch new ideas with confidence, and select
the right path forward from several options.
Major Challenges in Innovation Management
 Top-down management approach: Instead of following the traditional
route, it’s better to promote a “flat” company culture when it comes to
progressive ideas (i.e. hierarchies are usually anti-innovation).
 Culture Lacks a Growth Mindset: A lack of a growth mindset within an
organisation filters down to everything it does (e.g. employees lack the
motivation to work on themselves or new products).
 Poor Infrastructure: The onus is on leadership to provide their teams
with the resources, technology, and opportunities that innovation demands.
 No Strategy or Vision: Innovation doesn't happen in a vacuum — it
needs guidance in the form of strong management and skilled team
members who share the company's vision.
What is disruption?
Deloitte:
“It is not possible to
develop a single
definition for
disruption that is
both comprehensive
and precise.”
 Disruption

Disruptions are disturbances that we did not anticipate (“the

unknown unknowns”.):
 • Black swans: Low-probability, high-impact events that can dramatically
alter the course of history (e.g. COVID-19)
 • The tyranny of incrementalism: Gradual shifts slowly transforming
business in ways not yet fully understood (e.g. Artificial intelligence).
 Disruption

“Few potential disruptions become actual disruptions. We need a thesis to

guide us, so that we can create real options to bring possible futures into the
present, integrating them into our strategy formation process.”
Disruption is Degenerate
Disruption is Constructive
 Disruption is Subjective

Is the disruption actually disruptive to

you?
To your organisation?
To your management?
 Managing Disruptive Innovation
 Managers and leaders, focused on fine-tuning their current business models, often
haven’t seen the threats before their business landscapes are suddenly and
permanently changed.
 The change management industry is about to be disrupted – by disruptive
innovation itself.
 The value of the degenerate, constructive, and subjective approach depends on
our ability to imagine how society (or, at least, our business) might appear once
the disruption has passed.
 Disruptive innovation is difficult to master with conventional innovation
management and idea management: The same innovation processes that are
useful and conducive to a model change in the present can inhibit the
management of disruptive innovation.
 Organisations need to strengthen their innovation capability to manage change
and overcome organisational and mental barriers among employees.