The business administration and finance have undergone various changes and revolutions in the past two decades to realign their business strategy to the prevailing business environment and enhance operational management efficiency. The flexibility of a business entity to adapt to changes in the required time and with minimum distraction to the business operations reflects the professional experience and capacity of the top business executives to steer an entity through tough times. Change management relates to the practice through which a business entity is guided or controlled through a period of transition in the business's critical operations, such as resource allocation, budgeting, and business processes (Brown & Osborne, 2012). Accomplished and seasoned business administration and finance executives are always aware that change is constant. Change sometimes faces stiff resistance as people are more accustomed to the status quo than making adjustments to the usual way of doing things. Therefore, change management's effectiveness depends on the professional duty of the business experts to realign the business strategy and operations through a change period to minimize losses, organizational productivity, and interference to the business operational efficiency. The efficient adaptations of a business to change and to embrace the new normal in the business administration and finance organizational environment is not a one-off process as it takes time to make the adjustments.
The digitization of business transactions and the establishment of new advanced systems in finance and business administration operations, for instance, through the development of new software and ICT infrastructure has been on causal factors in change management in the business environment globally. How an organization adapts to the above changes directly correlates with improvements in its operational, organizational management efficiency, and output in the short run and the long-run. Various industrial sectors have cited technological advancements as the significant initiators of change management in the business world (Mallinger et al., 2009). The need to trigger business growth by changing the leadership structure and strategy in finance and business administration has been an issue of critical concern where changes in leadership style and way of doing things are initiated. Changes in the organizational environment are meant to revamp and create room for expansion, growth, and posterity in the operational management activities. The agents of change in business may be planned, and some may occur unconsciously without prior arrangements depending on the nature of the change. It is important to note that change is not easy. Poor change management strategies and techniques may lead to the eventual collapse of business if the concerned business executives do not expedite proper professional guidance in adapting to changes.
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The organizational awareness to change management is an essential element that prepares the leadership and strategy systems within an entity to use the change to propel the business plan forward by providing an enabling environment for the streamlined implementation and execution of the change. It is through periods of significant changes and disruption in the organizational background of finance and business administration that great leaders are born. The exercise of creativity and innovations in transition periods in change management has come up with groundbreaking inventions that change the course and narrative of how certain business operations will be conducted (Cummings et al., 2016). In the wake of the global health pandemic, for instance, organizations that embraced the new normal in the earliest instances have been less affected in terms of their business operational efficiency. Global entities such as Amazon have continued to record massive revenues even in the wake of significant disruption to the worldwide supply chain that has been occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic. Management of change may sometimes mean the survival of a business, making it extremely necessary that the changes are implemented smoothly with concurrence among the relevant stakeholders involved. The change management systems of globally recognized and competitive entities like Amazon were quick and efficient to align their business model to the current prevailing times to ensure business continuity.
Substantial long-lasting change in the face of emerging issues and challenges in finance and business administration is highly dependent on the professional attributes of the change management professionals. The change management professionals should have a highly advanced set of communication and interpersonal skills to make them steer the members of the organization through a transition period. The efficient flow and synthesis of information in a transition period have a direct bearing on the success of adaptation to the new way of doing things. The change management professionals have to make their communications very impactful, necessary, and thought-provoking for the employees' motivation to be maintained at high levels during the transition periods (Jones, 2013). The change management experts have to be extremely encouraging to the people they lead. In the process, they should create an impression that the change or transition is in their best interest and organization. They should have the capacity to develop intrinsic and extrinsic motivation among all the organization members, regardless of their level in the management and decision-making structure of the entity. The management of change is quite delicate and requires handling the highest standards of ethics and professionalism as they may have a great impact on the image and reputation of the business. Professional attributes of effective communication and encouragement from the change management experts in business administration and finance help alleviate instances of resistance to change in the organizational environment.
When extrapolated to other professional fields, organizational change initiatives in finance and administration are caused by existing issues or problems facing an organization. It is through addressing the issue that organizational change has to be initiated depending on the nature of the problem. Changes and transitions in the corporate environment are occasioned by various alignment and realignments of the business structure and strategy to enhance the operational efficiency in triggering business growth and competitive advantage. Successful business transitions and change management open new frontiers of business expansion and a competitive edge when systems and structures are put in place (Warrick, 2009). Organizations have to make budgetary allocations in their financial reserves to steer business models through uncertain times and planned phases of business change and transition to ensure that they remain competitive and a role model for other entities to follow. Internal and external factors may influence the need to manage change to the business, and striking a balance between the competing factors is a principle that should be encouraged. Changes in the organizational environment are difficult when they are not anticipated or planned. They might face resistance from various quotas, which might derail or bring to a halt the business operations, for instance, through industrial strikes. It is prudent to have a risk mitigation plan in cases of resistance in change management or rough periods of transition in the organizational business operations.
Effective leadership in periods of significant transitions in the organizational environment is a critical success factor in having streamlined or smooth adjustments to the new changes in steering the organization forward. The leadership capacity of the change management experts can be assessed on its impact to make the organizations flexible and the change process very smooth and interruption or resistance free. Change involves removing or starving old habits and adopting new practices and ways of doing things that are purpose-driven and goal-oriented to achieve set goals and objectives. In –house training and education of staff that are affected by the change or transition, for operating new machines, software's and systems, in the broader sense of technological advancement inclined changes is an essential step towards making the change process easy and efficient (Hao & Yazdanifard, 2015). Training the staff to adapt to the transition enhances their professional capacity to handle future and even more intricate organizational change processes. Extensive cooperation and collaboration through stakeholder engagement are necessary for the management of change to be successful. The welfare of the employees and the organizational continuity concerning the entity's financial health and well-being are essential compromises that change management or transition takes into account. Such implies that the change management process in business administration and finance involves making a compromise between competing interests are resources in the organization.
The business forecast or insight and intelligence of the change management experts in the broad field of business management and finance is critical to the successful implementation of changes or transitions in the business' operational management activities. The business acumen of the highly profitable and globally recognized business entities is anchored on how well they navigate their business model through tough and challenging periods of change in transition in the business environment. It is the tough business transitions that give rise to new frontiers of business innovation when new business ventures that did not exist before are created. The business risk taken to adapt to new changes pay off and can transform the course of business operations in the future in a significant way. Huge industrial specific changes such as changing financial accounting statement preparation and reporting standards or business administration policy guidelines are some of the most relevant change management issues in finance and business administration (Stanley, 2017). Minor change management issues such as the launching of newer versions of finance systems and software new programs in business and human resource management, such as the SAP digital platforms and technologies, have also impacted business operations. Staff involvement in the implementation of changes and transitions in the business operations management is a critical success factor in avoiding resistance and making the change adaptation streamlined. Similarly, keeping honest, open, fast, and real-time communication channels enable the change process to be very useful as through communication issues can be optimized through clarification and negotiation. Progressive and forward-thinking business entities need to be receptive and make future budgetary allocations for planned and unplanned business realignments.
Conclusion
Developing a strategy or methodology to manage the change or transition enhances the chances of the change process being very successful in aligning to the new normal. The methodology to manage the change in the business environment considers the different competing that necessitated changing from the old ways to a new normal in making the business entity profitable, competitive, and progressive. Risk mitigation of the losses incurred due to business interruption caused by change management needs to be anticipated and factored in the companies' revenues. Change management professionals must exercise a lot of caution and business intelligence in handling the transition process to avoid the risks and losses that might be caused by change management. A high level of business intelligence from the change management professionals is critical in making the transition phase in business streamlined. The change management process needs to be very sensitive to the needs and general welfare of the employees. They can provide the greatest resistance to accepting the implementation of the change.
References
Brown, K., & Osborne, S. (2012). Managing change and innovation in public service organizations. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203391129
Cummings, S., Bridgman, T., & Brown, K. G. (2016). Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. Human relations , 69 (1), 33-60. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0018726715577707
Hao, M. J., & Yazdanifard, R. (2015). How effective leadership can facilitate change in organizations through improvement and innovation. Global journal of management and business research . https://journalofbusiness.org/index.php/GJMBR/article/view/1737
Jones, G. R. (2013). Organizational theory, design, and change . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. http://repository.fue.edu.eg/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/3542/8040.pdf?sequence=1
Mallinger, M., Goodwin, D., & O’hara, T. (2009). Recognizing organizational culture in managing change. Graziadio Business Review , 12 (1), 1-10. https://coachingforleaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Recognizing-Organizational-Culture-in-Managing-Change.pdf
Stanley, D. (2017). Managing Change: Vital to Your Project and Career Success. Information Outlook , 21 . https://www.smr-knowledge.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Managing-Change.pdf
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