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"Insanity; doing the same things over and over and expecting different results"

Albert Einstein

 

"Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit"

Henry Brooks Adams

Change & Risk Management

The only thing you can guarantee in business (apart from tax!) is change; change is a constant. Furthermore the further out you try to plan and the bigger your ambitions, then the bigger the risk associated with your business and the more change you will have to be prepared to 'accommodate'. However, change should not be for change-sake alone; albeit we have lived with the old maxim 'if it aint broke dont fix it' for much too long!

In today's business environment where globalisation, economic pressures, technology booms, legislative chaos, etc., increase the pace of change, each enterprise is forced to find innovative and creative ways to to establish a competitive advantage and survive.

Furthermore, with the banking 'fraternity' havingfundamentally changed their approach to supporting business working capital, business no longer has the comfort zone of living with inefficiency and/or ineffective practices which soak up cash. This enforcement of change has always been inevitable due to global pressures forcing UK enterprises to be more ingenious in providing cost and quality-balanced products and services for competing in their marketplaces; at home and abroad.

The fall-out from the credit crunch just forces the mind a lot more to concentrate on these matters. Therefore, approached in the right manner, change can even breath fresh life into an enterprise.

However, .........' if we carry on as we are then that will be the outcome'!!!

Too often CHANGE is left until it is imposed and the risks become higher and the task much harder....... occasionally stimulating an unconsidered 'knee-jerk' reaction;......, rather than being pro-active and taking advantage of the opportunities associated with change in a more controlled environment. That is often because:

a) Most SME's live in the world of 'today' and are bogged down in tactical issues and therefore don't see the warning signs or fail to properly identify the context for change .....

b) Change is a challenge often factored as a lower priority

c) Change requires comfort zone shifts which represent uncertainty

d) Occasionally emotion or loyalty bonds cloud judgment

e) Sometimes advice on knowing what or how to change is required

RISK on the other hand is either;

a) immediate due to, for example, cash-flow issues and survival

b) over the horizon and therefore unseen or incorrectly prioritised

c) very often not factored in terms of appetite; ie the quantifiable level of risk you are prepared or required to take!

d) not even contemplated ........

e) or even occasionally ignored ..... at personal and enterprise peril .........

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      "No one has to change; Survival is Optional" ..............

                                                                      W Edwards Deming