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When change happens

*The Strategic Business Spiral

Retracing the Past

By Lalitha Iyer

Publishers: Response Books, Delhi

Price: RS 375 (hardbound), Rs 200 (paperback)

WE are at the cross roads. The path of change and reform that we have chosen is at a crucial stage. Though some claim that they are irreversible, there is a lurking fear in the minds of management experts that more damage could be done by choosing to kee p quiet than by slowing down the process.

The real challenge to present day managers is to take stock of changes and when negative changes do happen they need to anticipate them and be prepared to face them and counter them. Will be they be able to live up to the expectations? Have they recognis ed the fast expanding need for updating their skills ? Are they to be provided with any support in their endeavours ?

Well, to begin with, let us all accept the ground reality that the present crop of Indian managers are totally unprepared or under prepared to meet the challenges before them. They are being confronted with problems from all sides. Added to this, there a re great expectations from every interested quarter that they shall not fail.

They face immense challenges in negotiating macroeconomic shifts in these days of globalisation. Many a time, they feel that they are groping in the dark, unable to decide their next step and whether such a step would be fruitful or futile or fatal. The y find it rather difficult to identify new strategies and implement them for managing such transformation and protecting at the same time their existing position and placement. Many wish to have a torch-bearer to show and lead the way. This reviewer is o f the opinion that Lalitha Iyer's, The Strategic Business Spiral - Retracing the Past could be of help in guiding the manager towards solutions.

In this book about transformation and change, the author draws lessons from the past to develop a strategic model for organisations undergoing change today. The author discusses in particular the similarities between the economic restructuring currently taking place in India and the shift which occurred around 1800 AD in Southern India. Juxtaposing similar examples of economic transition from the past with those of the present, the book locates instances of change management by firms and individuals in the context of realigning economic structures.

According to the author, organisations negotiate macroeconomic shifts in their own style and at their own pace. She therefore develops the notion of organisational pace, attributing different speeds to the different types of organisations -- the `jogger' , the `sprinter' and the `marathoner' -- and identifies specific strategies which match these gaits. The critical issues in the important functional areas -- finance, marketing and production -- are discussed in separate chapters.

The first chapter, `Conjectures about disjunctures', identifies and describes moments of discontinuity in the past. There are striking similarities between chosen points in the past and recent developments. The transition from a pre-colonial economic sy stem to a colonial order seeking to meet the requirements of widening, distant markets in many ways parallels today's changes in globalising world. Organisations have negotiated such shifts in their own style at a pace uniquely suiting their situation. T he author has tried to develop the notion of organisational pace on the basis of events in both the past and the present.

The three chapters that follow look at the major functional aspects of an industrial activity, namely finance, marketing and production -- `Rupees, Pounds and Dollars', `The Great Indian Bazaar' and `Catching up with the Joneses'. The changes today have been juxtaposed with the changes in the earlier era in that particular aspect to pick out specific strategies. Many different ways to fund growth, reach out to the customer and innovate in technology and management have been detailed. The many examples s panning both the past and the present seem to indicate the timeless nature of these strategies. Their implications for organisational pace have been derived with examples of how firms have coped with the changes, both then and now.

The fifth chapter, `The Strategic Spiral', outlines the model of transformation that emerges from this study and highlights lessons for organisations. There are two important notions in this book, namely the pace of organisational change and the strategi c spiral which directs attention to the three major aspects of an organisation. It emphasises the importance of switching focus or refocusing to sweep across the important functions, building on the advantages gained with each step ahead.

The last chapter, `Changing Gears -- A Guide to the Perplexed', focuses on the individual's options in this changing scenario. It discusses the relevance of this model in helping individuals map out their personal choices and the possibilities that emerg e by aligning individual and organisational pace. The dilemmas of integrating personal, organisational and professional issues are at the crux of any change programme.

In a nutshell, the book outlines the model of transformation and highlights lessons for organisations. Throughout the book, the author emphasises the need for organisations to keep moving up a strategic spiral so as to survive and succeed. Finally she su ggests ways in which an individual can map the position of his or her organisation along the spiral as also apply the concept to his or her own self.

Written in an immensely readable style, this absorbing book will appeal to a variety of readers -- business executives, change agents, human resource managers, economic historians and lay readers interested in gaining an insight into today's global chang es.

G. Raghavan