Change Management

ABSTRACT

This study shows how change management techniques and strategies can be used to develop social entrepreneurship campaigns in the field of ecology.

This paper enriches the literature on change management as it shows how different change management techniques such as John Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model can be used on a macro level. The case study on which this paper is based on represents the activity done by “My Tree” Association (translated from Romanian “Asociatia Copacul Meu”) in response to several years of mismanagement of the public parks and indifferent of some Romanian citizens living in Bucharest towards nature. During a period of two years the “My Tree Association” has organised three ecological campaigns that haven’t only changed the landscape of Bucharest’s park by adding over 1000 tress, but also changed the level of implication of Romanians in their community. This case study is one of many because at a global level “green” change agents that are represented by social entrepreneurs and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are creating efficient, sustainable and transparent solutions for major environmental problems such as pollution, deforestation, toxic waste handling, recycling, etc.

The research of this paper is both qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative part is represented by the organisation of the ecological campaigns and their implication while the quantitative part is derives from the statistical analysis of a survey. Analysis of the survey response provided important feedback on the Tineretului Park ecological campaign regarding its impact, preferred method of advertising, strengths and weaknesses. The survey also determined the preferable type of social campaigns volunteers would want to participate, the most effective way of encouraging the respect for the environment and the perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns organized by multinationals.

Recommendation are presented in order for social entrepreneurs to be able to successfully organise and implement campaigns that will have long-lasting effects by resolving the root of the problem and not only its effects.

Overall, the objective of this study was to present how change management techniques can be applied in NGOs and the public sector. The paper also highlights the resistance and driving forces of change, the importance of leadership and latest theories on change management. In the end of this thesis major findings and further research are presented.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This thesis could not have been completed without the support, encouragement, and assistance of numerous individuals. First, and foremost, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Univ. As. Ph.D. Ivona Orzea, who has inspired and motivated me to do this research. I am also thankful for her support, understanding, patience and dedication.

Special thanks go to Prof. Ph.D. Constantin Bratianu, for igniting the spark of curiosity for this subject, to Univ. As. Ph.D. Anca Mandruleanu for allowing and helping me to organise a CSR conference during her lectures and to Prof. Ph.D. Vasile Avram, & Univ. As. Ph.D. Dragos Vespan for teaching me how to create a website which proved to be one of the most important assets of the campaign. I also want to thank all my professors as organising several ecological campaigns and establishing an NGO required my knowledge from a wide variety of subjects that I have studied at my faculty.

I also wish to extend my deep appreciation to all the people that helped me organise these beautiful ecological campaigns. I will forever appreciate the hard work and commitment of my team, the generosity of our sponsors and the support of the public authorities.

Finally, I am grateful to all the people (especially my family and friends) that supported me during the organisation of the events. Together we proved that citizens can directly help their community even in a big city like Bucharest, Romania.

ACRONYMS

BBA Bachelor of Business Administration

NGO Non-governmental organization

CSR Corporate social responsibility

SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats

TV Television

ALPAB the Administration of Lakes, Parks and Leisure Bucharest

CEO Chief executive officer

LTD Limited liabitity company

PR Public Relations

PESTEL Political, Economic, Social, Tehnological, Environmental, Legal

VMOST Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategy and Tactics

NLP Neuro-linguistic programming

CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

This paper is a research project into change management techniques and strategies applied in the public sector in the field of ecology. In this chapter the background and motivations, as well as the aim, objectives and key questions are presented.

1.1 BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION OF THE STUDY

Since the second year of faculty, I have become increasingly fascinated and interested in

the theories and practices of change management, as I believe that human capital is the most important asset of an innovative company and working with it may prove challenging, especially when it comes to changing how people think and act.

In 2009 Madonna staged a big concert in Izvor Park, Bucharest, Romania in which a huge number of fans destroyed the vegetation of the park. This was only the tip of the iceberg of several years of mismanagement of recreational spaces in Bucharest. Rather than leaving the handling of this problem to the government I decided that it was necessary to bring pressure on policy makers and the public to start respecting the environment.

While the press and mass media used critique and exposed the disaster done to Izvor Park, I decided to use a more constructive approach based on the power of example. Therefore, I organised three ecological campaigns in Izvor Park, Tineretului Park and Herastrau Park and a CSR conference at The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, which were primarily aimed at changing the mentality of Romanians from one of indifference/bitterness to one of positive criticism and involvement in their community.

1.2 THE AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEACH

The aim of this paper is to present the change management methods used in developing a social responsibility campaign. From a strategic point of view, all these ecological campaigns will act as change agents at a global scale towards a better future in which people will be able to live in harmony with the nature.

This paper is relevant to different types of managers that want to change their company as it provides insight on fundamental problems regarding change. Social entrepreneurs, NGO managers and public institutions will benefit the most. Its learning objectives are:

• how to identify forces for change

• how to overcome resistance

• the benefits and risk of change

• the importance of leadership

• motivation techniques

• how to organise an ecological campaign and a CSR conference

1.3 THE KEY QUESTIONS AND OUTCOMES OF THIS PROJECT

This project provides insight on questions related to change management, CSR and social entrepreneurship:

• Who are the resistors of change and how to overcome them?

• Which are the change management models and how to apply them?

• Which are the types of leadership and which of those are best used in a change management context?

• How can you realize a successful change campaign with a limited budged?

• How to create and maintain a sense of urgency?

• How to build a critical mass using people from outside of the organisation?

• What is the perception of Romanians regarding citizenship, ecological change campaigns, and CSR campaigns in general?

• How can change be implemented at an individual, company and macroeconomic level?

• What are the new trends in the change management and strategic management field?

The key outcomes of this project are to establish successful steps in organising national wide ecological campaigns aimed at changing how people and companies interact with the environment. In addition, it will provide the reasons why some of these campaigns fail while others succeed.

The final key outcome is to determine how to manage change successfully and provide know-how for organizations and individuals that want to implement change campaigns.