Abstract

Although there has been prolific research interest on change management research in general and how to make organisations more effective in dealing with the challenges posed by change, little is known about what process might be involved when firms are challenged to change and perform simultaneously. Very little is also known about how SMEs use the traditional contingency approach as part of a set of mechanisms in implementing changes to their service and product delivery under uncertain, volatile and competitive environments. Given the nature and scale of the challenges faced by SMEs, there is an attendant requirement to look into whether there might be a process that can help in extending our knowledge of ‘how’ SMEs respond to their change challenges whilst learning to perform during uncertain times. The results for this paper are based on a survey of 85 participants, including management and employees from four SMEs in two geographic areas of the UK. The results were used to highlight ‘a process-based approach to change management’ as this paper’s main contribution in extending our knowledge of how to effectively apply the contingency approach in change contexts. The change management process highlights four sub-processes (SP1, 2, 3 & 4), whose aspects will help SME owners and members to identify those areas they need to prioritise in order to effectively manage change and secondly to show how they can practically initiate and sustain performance at the organisational and employee levels. Doing so redresses the process gap in SMEs’ change management and performance implementation, facilitates their continued existence at least into the medium-term and builds their human capacity to adapt for the future. The study’s limitations include the number of SMEs surveyed and the questionnaire categories. Future trends for change management research are highlighted.