Bringing about changes at a large engineering college: lessons for designers and implementers of large scale change efforts

Abstract

This paper outlines a change management program undertaken at Maritime Engineering Institute in India. The intervention came in the form of a focused three month effort where the first author, a professor of OB at a leading management school in India was invited to stay on the campus of the institute to familiarize herself with the organization and the processes, and suggest necessary changes. The paper presents the change management process in detail. The events and happenings during this intervention are discussed in terms of the dilemmas it posed for the consultant and in retrospect for exploring why the change process could not be institutionalized. Lessons from the intervention are offered to help deal with the less obvious and critical issues that can emerge as stumbling blocks in the successful implementation of any change process.