Change in the global economy: An interview with Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Rosabeth Moss Kanter's views on change and organizations have had great influence on corporate thinking in recent years. She has expressed her ideas directly to companies and in many journal articles and books, the best-known of which are The Change Masters, When Giants learn to Dance and more recently. The Challenge of Organizational Change. In an interview at Harvard Business School with European Management Journal's editor, Paul Stonham, she makes her next major statement since Challenge of Organizational Change. She holds that the nature of the global economy far transcends just the existence of the multinational or transnational corporation. Globalization, and the development of cross-border ties by companies can affect even local businesses. This argument leans on many fields of analysis, sociological, historical and political, among others. For example, one of the major challenges facing business people today is the tension between the globalizing power of business and the localizing power of politics. Kanter gives examples of successful companies which have paid greater heed to what used to be considered external forces, and have consequently managed change better. She also looks at the careers of CEOs and senior executives in companies introducing new strategies and change processes, as well as at new management styles, and makes prescriptions for managers to meet the pressures of stress and turmoil. She explains that her interest in globalization extends beyond its effects on organizational behavior to strategy and the new partnership networks and relationships that companies are engaging in as a result of globalization. These relationships are a key asset in companies' global operations. Supplier--customer relations and partnerships are growing especially rapidly in power and importance. Cultural factors should be treated very carefully as explanations of global competitive advantage -- business itself is breaking down borders. Finally, Kanter predicts that businesses which are only locally focused and do not know how to build global partnerships and relationships will lose out. Business is in a phase of massive change -- just restructuring is not sufficient. Walls are being torn down and bridges must be built.