Change management will be crucial to our future

Feb. 13, 2013 - PRLog -- Resilient Dynamism was the theme of the 43rd World Economic Forum in January; of those who attended the proceedings were six London Business School Professors.

Debate among some of the world’s most powerful people was guardedly optimistic, Axel A. Weber, Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBS, Switzerland, and a Meeting Co-Chair, declared “The optimism for recovery is there,… The feeling is that the worst is behind us.” Nonetheless there remained warning against complacency.  

“Citizen Power” - Professor Costas Markides declared that part of the resolution to a range of pressing issues- from the change management of the healthcare sector to the future of Europe, was in fact giving power to the people.

“In the past, we needed hierarchies such as firms or governments to undertake major projects or major change efforts,” he says. “Now, we can have thousands of people, spread all over the world undertaking major projects without any of them belonging to the same hierarchy in a team or firm.  We have the tools now to mobilise thousands of people and to coordinate their efforts towards a common goal without having them be part of a hierarchy.  This is exciting!”

Combating Youth unemployment appeared to be a priority issue at this year’s conference with a number of high profile figures commenting on the issue.

Professor Lynda Gratton believes “one of the emerging challenges of Davos was around youth unemployment, while one of the strongest threads of opportunity was the relentless advance of learning technologies. Combined, these two developments could lead to the paradoxical situation of highly educated people with no jobs”, she says.

Fellow Co-Chair Frederico Curado, President and Chief Executive Officer of EMBRAER, Brazil, agreed. “Jobs are the main issue. Unemployment is a huge issue for everyone,” he said.

In an echo of Professor Markides comments about supplanting traditional hierarchies, Professor Gratton says: “There has been talk about fundamentally restructuring education for years. In fact, some have seen education as the last bastion of traditional hierarchical practices. Luckily, it seems that the momentum for education for all is finally beginning to build, fueled by lower-cost computers, greater levels of connectivity, and a willingness from some teachers to make their classes available online for free. As a consequence, there are those who say that, perhaps within the next five years, the education landscape will be profoundly transformed.”

Change management will be crucial in determining whether 2013 is make-or-break for the global economy as a whole. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, concurs with the need for maintain reform and push through the necessary restructuring.

For more information on change management, please visit http://www.london.edu/newsandevents/news/