change management

Companies are increasingly acquiring new technologies that enable higher quality and efficiency. Every technology adoption is also a change process which affects the employees and their work and thus needs to be managed in an optimal way. This article is focused on the importance of goal definition during a change process. To facilitate this process, a checklist with 81 goals is presented. The checklist was developed based on scientific literature and practice-oriented tools and can be used by project teams to focus their activities on a holistic change process and track the goal progress.

With targeted measures, in-house staff can make a valuable contribution to sales. First, we need a new self-image in the affected departments, as well as the provision of key competences. Following the right track, technology companies can make a leap forward in customer orientation and more sales.

Demographic change poses particular challenges for change processes in companies. On the one hand thing, the working environment and conditions have to be adapted to the aging of the workforce, on the other hand, the processes of change themselves must be taking account to the age of the employees, i.e. for older employees changes must be conducted differently than for younger employees. This paper presents a concrete way to organize change processes in companies, in due consideration of demographic change.

The human engineering and business-oriented literature delivers since the 60s of the last century a lot of examples how to involve employees in change processes. A consistent methodology is certainly missing. Eminently in small and medium-sized businesses existing approaches are not used for daily tasks. To reach a systematic and successful participation of employees in change processes it is necessary to have an approach which analyzes the relevant surrounding system and also uses and develops the competences, experiences and attitudes of all participants (both staff and executives).

Customer specific value creation is an adequate mean for technology oriented small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to differentiate themselves in the global market place. To achieve this, a tradeoff between efficiency and individualization in value creation has to be handled. In context of mass customization, sales configurators help to accomplish this. However, implementing such solutions rise both an organizational and strategic challenge. Therefore, referencing the context of change management, configurator implementation project case studies and a cross-case analysis are presented. Based on this, a model of implementation phases is derived which allows for addressing the specific challenges and recommendations with respect to such projects..

petition demand new strategies in the management of an increasing complexity. Modularization of complex systems is such a strategy, practical for products and processes. However, the planning of modular structures takes place at an early stage of product development and is associated with many risks. Because of this, changes in products and processes are inevitable. Therefore, the design of an alterable module structure and effective management of module changes is the focus of the following article.

IT systems which operate in a dynamic environment must adapt to permanently changing business requirements. In particular new compliance rules like Sarbanes-Oxley-Act or BASEL II demand complete transparency of business processes and IT-support, also after changes. IT-departments and software providers need to clearly define and continuously assure the quality of the IT system during development and operation.

The technical change management poses a particular challenge for the components supplier industry, due to this industry needs to consider a number of internal as well as OEMs’ external requirements concerning the underlying process. Thus a multitude of process sequences develop, which complicate standardisation and computer support. The following article describes a pragmatic method of resolution, which was conceptually designed and implemented within a project of the company KEIPER GmbH & Co. KG and the Chair of Information Technology in Mechanical Engineering (ITM) at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum.

The structuring of office work is of central importance in a modern knowledge society. The expectations on a knowledge worker are increasing constantly. Beside high productivity and best quality one expects flexibility, mobility and readiness for change. For mastering these challenges best work infrastructure is necessary - work places which optimally support the work itself and which offer positive ambience to the employees. Flexible office structures are fulfilling these requirements best. Their introduction requires in turn a goal-oriented change management.