Abstract

This project work is titled “The Effects of Change Process in Managing Organizational Innovation” (A case study of KIA Motors Nigeria Limited Enugu).

This project work is aimed at addressing various issues  and challenges facing KIA motors limited in management of change and innovation process as to thrive in a globally competitive environment.

The researcher in the course of this research work employed the use of the historical research method in the review of related literature and survey research in which a questionnaire was used in the analysis of data in chapter four of this work.

However, the researcher adopted stratified random sampling in choosing/selecting the population and sample size for the study.  The writer formulated five hypotheses in line with the problems and objectives of the study, which the researcher made use of chi-square statistical test in testing the hypotheses.

Data collected were analyzed and presented with percentages, tables.

In view of the findings made, it is recommended that: adequate motivational schemes should be given to the employees who have ability to create and innovate, training and learning programs centers should be provided to enable the employees to embrace new ideas/products/services innovation in the global competitive market, the management of KIA motors or any other organizations should encourage and support individuals who want to improve on their skills and management should facilitate change through the process of allowing all individuals a stake/decisions during change and management of innovation process.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Of The Study

Change is natural and this is buttressed by the elementary sayings that the only constant thing in life is change and that no condition is permanent MUO et al (2007:138).  We live in a world of change at the individual, social, corporate, national, regional and global levels.

At the global levels we have witnessed the unceremonial collapse of the USSR, the dismantling of the socialist/communist network and opening up of Eastern Europe, the Emergence of the world defined and redefined by U.S.A., the Unification of Germany symbolized by the collapse of the Berlin wall a security conscious society after the event of 9/11.

At the regional level Apartheid has collapsed, the various liberation wars have become history.  AU has replaced OAU and NEPAD has come on board with its principles of peer review and constructive intervention in each other’s affairs.  In Nigeria, the political, economic, constitutional and social fundamentals have changed and continued to change.

There is always something new every day.  These changes have been part of life, what happened in recent times is that change has become so rapid and so complex that society is also most in a state of flux.

Changes have nowhere been as total, confusing, complex, multi-dimensional and rapid as in the business world.  The orientation has changed; the processes and procedures are no longer the same.  The vocabulary has undergone a total overhaul, the goals and objectives have been broadened and the measures of success have also changed, the structures are so many and different that some of them have no clear nomenclature.  The workers are so different and so are the ways of managing them.

The meaning scope and nature of work itself have also undergone fundamental changes, competition has become so fierce and in a global environment, business now operates in a borderless world.  Every organisation is either planning or executing or just concluding and evaluating one change program or the other.

It is either the good total quality management.  Business, process re-engineering or (outright Business process Engineering), restructuring (de-layerving, downsizing, right sizing, rationalization or re-organisation), technological realignment, empowerment, team building, culture change, mergrs acquisition etc.

Most organizations have experienced and/or are experiencing substantial changes in what they do, how they do it and the relationships between people, groups, technology, structure, process, tasks, culture, market and strategy.  This trend assumed an epidemic proportion from the late 1980s (Burnes, 2000:25).

Change is an every-resent feature of organizational life, though the pace and magnitude have increased significantly in recent years.  In 1991, the institute of management reported that 90% of organisation in its survey was becoming slimmer and flatter in 1992.

it reported that 80% of managers responding to its survey had experienced one or more corporate restructuring in their organizations in the past five years.

Although many lament the absence of cumulative findings in sociology, the study of organizational innovation is one instance where consistent findings have accumulated across more than thirty years.

This was demonstrated in two recent reviews according to (Damapour, 1991:556) and (Zammuto, et al 1992:28) published in the management literature.  This present review has as one of its objectives to acquint sociologist with the generalization that have emerged and as another objective to extend beyond these previous reviews an three distinctive ways:

–           By emphasizing the importance of the complexity of the division of labour.

–           By suggesting needed arenas of new research and by integrating organizational innovation with the more general topic of organizational change.

Indeed the new products and new services provided new employment opportunities and positive balances of trade, thus protecting the nation’s standard of living.  But innovation in product, services, technologies and administrative practices is also relevant to other institutional sectors besides the economy.

The study of organizational innovation for instance articulates with the significant breakthrough in science, the development of superior military equipment, the creation of interdisciplinary programs in higher education (Beu, 1973:213), the reform of welfare etc.  In order words, for anyone interested in some of the most basic problems of society, the subject of organizational innovation is relevant.

Theoretically, research on organizational innovation opens new perspectives on number of interesting issues that have surfaced recently including the issues of social evolution and institutional change, the dynamics of Knowledge societies (Hage, 1992:406) and the integration of macro and micro levels of analysis.

Beyond sociology, organizational innovation can make important contributions to several important arenas of new research in economics.

The most obvious one is research on national systems of innovation (Lundvall, 1992:320) and (Newlson, 1993:220), but it is equally relevant to endogenous theories of Economic growth (Romer, 1990:60) and (Solow, 1992:42) more generally.

Despite the attractiveness of the idea of creative and flexible organizations, the topic of organizational innovation has never been central in either organizational or management theory and research (Hall, 1991:240).  Innovation reflects a critical way in which organizations respond to either technological or market challenges (Brenner, 1987:113).

Innovation has been found to be the linehpin of economic and lies behind improvements in every aspect of modern life (Tushman, 1996:63) and (Change, 2001:145) rightly points out, while size, scale and cost position are important aspects of defining competitiveness in global industry, the question of what really drives competitiveness essentially boils down to innovation.

An organization’s ability to compete in a fast changing world is defined by its program for continuous quick and inexpensive innovations (Gomes, 1994:135).

According to (Smith, 1992:420) assets that innovation is a process that companies are going to have to manage, rather than something that magically happens.

Companies need to establish a seamless innovation process, an enterprise wise exchange of ideas that will ensure that information and the enterprise required to create market and service break through products are available and accessible to those who need them.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

Change and management of innovation process reflect a critical issue in which KIA motors limited as a service and marketing business organization can respond quickly either to technological or market challenges for its growth and survival in the global competition.

Today, many business organizations both private and public sectors such as KIA motors limited has not realize the importance of change and innovation style to meet the taste and demand of their customers globally and nation wide, which had reflected on poor profits turnover and reduction in the sales volume.  Good management and financial control are essential ingredients for KIA motors limited survival in the dynamic world of change.

In the course of this study, the researcher observed the following problems as militating factors against the effective management of change and innovation process in KIA motors limited.

1. Failure of KIA motors to integrate the organizational structure with organizational change.
2. The inability of the management of KIA motors is limited to motivate employees who have the ability to create and innovate.
3. Lack or complexity of the division of labour which does not allow employees to have a stake in KIA motors.
4. Lack of access to information and non development of research centres for service/product improvement.

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