Download Firms must adapt to survive turbulence

The Standard ­ Tuesday
Date: 02.08.2016
Page 15
Article size: 352 cm2
ColumnCM: 78.22
AVE: 203377.77
MBITHIHUTUA
Firms must adapt to survive turbulence
Dinosaurs bestrode the earth
come a threat. Think about the
net effect to some firms when
came extinct. These humongous
animals serve as powerful meta­
ron, once a giant corporation in
been happening in the banking
sector. With so many firms issu­
ing profit warnings in our cn
United States of America serves
continuous basis, if firms do not
phors for big firms who may fall
due to lack of adaptation to their
as template of how unethical
practices can ruin organisations.
up their game, survival in this
people stopped writing letters to
their loved ones manually and
opted to use ICT more. There
environment will be far­fetched.
were losers and gainers. The dif­
business environment.
Nokia failed to take cognisance
ference between these two cate­
of changing environmental dy­
gories can be traced in strategic
planning and change pro­
es and models are not changing
Recently, Nokia Chief Executive
Officer may have introduced an­
other dimension of catastrophic
corporate failure.
in tandem. Once dominant firms
Like Enron, Nokia was no or­
have appeared on corporate
obituary pages, so to speak.
For the firm of today to sur­
dinary organisation. Enron and
like colossi. Ironically, they be­
In Kenya, the ground has
shifted but our business practic­
vive, it must be lean, ethical and
adaptable to a fast­changing en­
vironment. To some Kenyan
firms, the last nail could have
been driven by entry of global
brands.
For our national develop­
ment, our homegrown firms
must compete and extend their
operations beyond our borders.
While some may fall by the way­
verge of extinction due to ethics.
Across oceans, the story of En­
Nokia went down due to ethical
namics.
Managers need to pay atten­
tion to these twin issues, namely
environmental dynamics and
ethics, if they are to survive in an
concerns and environmental dy­
namics respectively. In a press
conference recently, the Nokia
increasingly challenging envi­
ronment. Firms in fast­changing
boss told the world that though
the management team did noth­
ing wrong, somehow they lost.
If we try to decipher this
that strategic and change man­
agement are central to their sur­
vival. Organisations develop
statement, we will arrive at the
interpretation that there were no
ethical issues involved but Nokia
faced turbulence, which the
through planned change that us­
es organisational development
principles and models. In addi­
tion, there is change that comes
as a result of market forces. Or­
ples of organisations which have
lar financially and have experi­
ence to operate on a global scale.
Industries previously regard­
ed as stable are experiencing
ganisations may have no much
control on this type of change.
What they need is adaptation.
•Indeed, with foresight and
change management pro­
grammes, some firms create op­
portunities from factors such as
technology. For others, they ig­
nore the proverbial writing on
become extinct or are on the
tremors. We all recall what has
the wall. The same factors be­
side, others will survive.
Corporate ethics has often been
a factor as far as performance is
concerned.
managers could not deal with.
In Kenya, the business envi­
ronment is becoming more
environments need to realise
complex, especially with new
market entrants who are muscu­
In Kenya and Africa at large,
its role is becoming more pro­
nounced as we now have exam­
grammes.
ICT firms operate in
fast­changing and sensitive en­
vironments where a slight
change in market forces may
have a drastic effect. Indeed,
some may even close shop alto­
gether. Airlines operate in a sim­
ilar situation. The September 11
terror attack and SARS virus in
Asia had debilitating conse­
quences even on five­star air­
lines. Actually, Singapore airlines
has been quoted widely on how
to deal with organisational and
industry­specific crises and
challenges. The story of this air­
line explains how to fly past tur­
bulence. It can offer lessons to
some of our airlines that we
pride in here in Africa.
Dr Mutua is a Lecturer, Jomo
Kenyatta University of Agricul­
ture and Technology
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya