| dc.description.abstract | In today’s global environment, change rather than stability is the order of the day. Very
rapid changes in technology, competition and customers’ demands have increased the
rate at which companies need to alter their strategies and structures to survive in their
environments. Holland (2004) defines change management as the use of systematic
methods to ensure that an organization change can be guided in the planned direction,
conducted in a cost effective manner and completed within the targeted timeframe and
with the desired results. Burnes (2004) notes that change is an ever-present feature of
organizational life, both at an operational and strategic level. Different organisations
respond differently to changes in their environments. They also manage these changes
differently. As a result, it is important to note that there are various approaches to the
management of change.
This is a case study of management of strategic change at Nokia Siemens Networks
(NSN) in Sub-Saharan Africa. NSN is one of the top five (in terms of size) telecoms
equipment suppliers in the world. This study sought to establish the drivers of change,
strategic change management practices as well as the challenges facing NSN in the
management of strategic change in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In order to achieve the objectives of this study, primary and secondary data collection
methods were used. Primary data collection was done through interviewing members of
top management at NSN, including change management teams. Secondary data was
sourced from the organisation’s online stores.
The study established that the complexity of its decision making processes and
management functions as well as the strength of its front line and sales were the two top
change drivers at NSN. NSN predominantly pursues the planned approach to the
management of strategic change. The study established that NSN has an elaborate
change management process and has ensured that its leaders accept change as business
as usual. It also enlists the services of external change agents in order to make the
strategic change management process richer. The study also established that NSN faces
challenges in the management of strategic change which ranged from employees’
perception of change to feelings of exclusion by certain functions within the
organisation.
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The study had some limitations. First, there were challenges in securing interviews with
members of the various teams tasked with driving management of change at NSN.
Secondly, some of the feedbacks were very difficult to relate to this study and thirdly,
the multiple change initiatives noted during the study did not make data collection
easier.
The study suggests areas of improvement in order to enhance management of strategic
change practices at NSN. These are proper preparation of leaders tasked with
implementing change and ensuring an all inclusive approach to the management of
change so that people or functions do not feel alienated. The study also suggests areas
for further research which include studies on employees’ perception of change and
whether the objectives of the strategic change efforts are being achieved.
The study concludes by observing that most aspects of planned change at NSN are a
breed of the planned change management practices prescribed by Kanter et al (1992),
Kotter (1996) and Luecke (2003). NSN also applies the approaches to management of
change suggested by Lewin (1946 in Burnes, 2004). There are also some elements of the
emergent approach to the management of change. This goes to prove that there is no
single best approach to the management of strategic change (Guimaraes and Armstrong,
1998). Studies conducted by Otwori (2008) and Kiptoo (2008) also point to more than
one approach to the management of strategic change. Each organisation has a choice as
long as this best meets the objectives of any strategic change management effort | en |
