Leadership Approaches for Effective Organizational Change: The Case of Henry Anderson Consulting Engineers Adding Construction Supervision to its Portfolio of Consultancy Services While Maintaining a Fixed Technical Staff Strength

Abstract

The nature of the environment in which organisations operate is dynamic such that the Leaderships of organizations are constantly confronted with the need to respond to changes in the environment in order to harness the opportunities created by such changes. (Latta, 2009). To effect change, leadership has to manage in such a manner as to cause all stakeholders of the organisation to accept the change in order to minimize any negative reactions associated with the implementation of the change. (Latta, 2009). The extent to which organisations, function successfully, survive, and even thrive, despite the dynamic nature of the environment in which they operate, is the extent to which required changes in those organizations are being successfully implemented. (Latta, 2009).The successful implementation of required organisational changes is therefore a good measure of the effectiveness of an organisation’s leadership. (Latta, 2009).In 2010 changes in the environment in which Henry Anderson Consulting Engineers operated produced Opportunities for the firm to include Construction Supervision Consultancy services, to the menu of services that the firm already provided. Constraints resulting from the nature of the business environment meant that the firm had to attempt to include Construction Supervision services, into its list of consulting services, without increasing its current staff strength. This article discusses the Organisational Changes that resulted in Henry Anderson Consulting Engineers successfully providing Construction Supervision consultancy services without increasing its staff strength.The organizational change process was successful for a variety of reasons. What Leadership theories say about how to effect a change of the sort that has been described is discussed, as is the extent to which the theories of Leadership were followed during the change management at the firm.