Why Change is Inevitable But Progress is Not

An analysis of some internal and internal drivers that force companies to change again and again

• Why do we need to change?
• What do we want our business to look like in the future?
• What do we need to change in order to get there?
• How should we go about changing it?

• Change is driven by factors within the enterprise itself, such as the wish to reposition the enterprise within a market, or implement a new business model, merge with another enterprise, or expand into a new market.
• Change is driven by factors external to the company, such as market rivalry, disruptive technologies, demographic changes and new government regulations.

• Regulations as a driver for change. A client from the tobacco industry is investigating possible future scenarios given the strong regulations on the tobacco market. This is particularly challenging given that regulations differ from country to country and the new kinds of tobacco products becoming available (such as e-cigarettes). This client's key question is “Things are changing all around us – how will these changes affect us and how can we prepare for the future?”
• Competition as a driver for change. A client from the high-tech industry that offers products in the premium pricing segment is investigating changes to its product portfolio and pricing strategy in order to deal with low-cost products from the competition. This client's key question is “What do we want our business to look like in the future?”
• Innovative Technology as a driver for change. A client from the IT industry is developing a new service that connects cars to the “cloud”, offering a plethora of new possibilities, ranging from improved traffic control systems to vehicle-assisted driving. This client's key question is “How can we design and build a service that will fulfill a wide range of demands from our clients without losing focus?”

• Enterprises are complex. Even small enterprises are multi-faceted and interconnected with their environment and markets in multitudinous ways.
• The change affects structures and processes. The change affects both processes (such as business processes, internal processes and technological processes) and structures (such as who you do business with, your enterprise's geographical and functional structure, and which systems you work with).
• The change affects different layers of the enterprise. The change affects different layers of your enterprise: your business model (how does the enterprise make money?), your organizational model (what activities do your employees perform to achieve this, in which roles?) and the technological level (what technology does the enterprise use to support its activities?).
• The change affects the hard and the soft. Next to these “hard”, tangible aspects of an enterprise, the even more important “soft” aspects of change need to be considered: enterprises are made and kept alive by us humans, and our emotions often run high when it comes to change.
• Change does not always start at the same spot. Change is not always initiated by top management. Depending on the driver for change and the current situation an enterprise is in, you may see changes at the technological level rippling up through the enterprise giving rise to new business models (e.g. the Internet and mobile communication giving rise to new ways of working and doing business), sometimes changes at the business level lead to reorganization and the implementation of new technology to support the business (e.g. the merger of two companies leading to changes in organization and technology).