Abstract
Charles Darwin said: “It is not the strongest species that survives nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”. Among many examples, my favorite is the case of the primitive tribe of Colombian Indians, the Kogis. The main particularity of this tribal organization is to function without any leader. Its members always undertake decisions following huge negotiation. For instance, a definitive decision is always taken after long meetings in the dark! Each one is free to express his opinion, and easily accepts contradictions.
This kind of meetings avoids instances of usual aggressiveness or unusual emotions. The Kogis provide an example for management with active participation. This “collective intelligence” is a scarce ability looked for by managers who want to share their vision to people.
As Reuter says (2000), management is an art that we have to rethink constantly to face the constant economic and social evolution. Since the 1980s, many management models have followed each other in bringing more or less appealing new rules and new theories. From benchmarking to “best practices”, from “think global, act local” to corporate governance, from competitive advantage to creation of values, from “participation management” to re-engineering, management methods are numerous.
They all offer a standard process to follow in a precise perspective. However, the slowing down of the world economy, the start-up crisis, the global competition, the disappearance of the traditional hierarchy model and revolution in both technology and communication leave us no other alternative but the obligation to manage change. We need to be firmly rooted in change. “The future is coming so fast, we can't possibly predict it; we can only learn to respond quickly” (Steven Kerr).
The Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines change as “to make or become different”. Thus, change refers to a process which goes with the company life, side of instability and environment development. Managing change is:
-Solving the problem statement (using adapted methods and models)
-Managing the project of change (improvement, reorganization, restructuring).
-Taking into account human dimensions (values, culture, change resistance with participation, communication, training and coaching).
Working in a family business, named Desertours™, we are going to build a changed management model for this company in the tourism industry. With twenty years experience, Desertours™ is the 4WD and motorcycle adventure travel leader in the French market. Our company offers trips around the world, including Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Okavango, Namibia, Madagascar, Venezuela and the United States. Over the past ten years, Desertours™ has diversified its range of skills and is now organizing sports events such as 4L Trophy™, a 4L orientation race in the Moroccan desert, reserved for students, as well as the Roses des Sables Trophy™, a 4WD, quads and motorcycle women-only race.
Before studying the change we can implement to retain our leadership, it is judicious to understand the causes of change and the current reality of the change management.
