In problematic situations, “Manage change or it will manage you

We live in a changing world. People grow, business conditions fluctuate, personal relationships develop, major industries come and go, population increases, water shortages worsen, and scientific discoveries increase. Our principal concerns arise from change – growth, decay, and fluctuation” (Jay Wright Forrester 1983, Foreword, p. IX). In this situation of fluctuation and accelerated change, more and more frequently irreversible and damaging changes occur often affecting the economy and society. Traditional processes are abandoned while other processes are added, spurred on by the new technologies, which change the way social units and economic organizations operate. Not only do the cultural bases of individuals, societies and organizations change, but the social and economic units also evolve through modification of their structures, processes and output, in the attempt to loosen the old restraints while setting new objectives and rewriting the programs for their achievement. Without going too far back into economic history, we can observe that social units and structures, organizations in particular, must deal with change in their environment. Business organizations, in particular, must operate in a more competitive context of heightened change and growing globalization.