Change Risk And Ignorance: Attempting To Cross Chasms In Small Steps

Christian L Van Tonder

doi:10.4102/sajhrm.v4i3.94

Abstract

Although the pace of organisational change is escalating, the reported success rate of large-scale change efforts remains disappointingly low. This suggests a level of risk that remains largely under acknowledged. The current study explored employee perceptions of risk in organisational change practices. Statements provided by a convenience sample of 111 respondents from seven institutions revealed a distinct awareness of change risk among employees. Identified risk areas align with the planning, involvement and implementation stages of organizational change processes. It is furthermore proposed that an ethical approach to change will minimise resistance to change and substantially reduce change risk.

Highlights

The notion of risk and its containment through effective governance structures and practices is a central consideration of the King II Report on Corporate Governance (IoD, 2002)
Risk management is clearly entrenched as an important parameter of corporate governance, in particular the careful and considered engagement of risk in exchange for corporate rewards and is defined as the identification and evaluation of potential risk areas as they pertain to the organisation, as well as the process to remove or minimize the risk (IoD, 2002, p.73)
In this regard the King II report stipulates that the risk management process entails the planning, arranging and controlling of activities and resources to minimise the impact of risk and, in this instance, internal control measures constitute a central consideration

Summary

Introduction

The notion of risk and its containment through effective governance structures and practices is a central consideration of the King II Report on Corporate Governance (IoD, 2002). It is widely acknowledged that the cost of institutional transformation or organisational change (regardless of how it is conceptualised) is exceedingly high (cf Offerman & Gowing, 1990; Hattingh, 2004; Korten, 1995; Smith 1995, Van Tonder, 2005a) and, while the financial consequences of unsuccessful and poorly planned and executed change initiatives are difficult to calculate, they are commonly accepted as being substantial Even in those rare instances where change initiatives are likely to be considered more successful, there will still be undesirable side effects or unintended consequences (Applebaum, Henson & Knee, 1999; Schein, 1985) and an inevitable downside to the change (Armenakis & Bedeian, 1999). To an extent disheartening, is the realisation that ineffective change practices on this scale continue to unfold in a consistent fashion despite an extensive and prolifically growing literature base on the subject (Van de ven & Poole, 1995; Van Tonder, 2004a)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion