Change. It can be a boon to your business or an ugly, angry 800 pound Alpha male gorilla. It can be exciting and economically rewarding but also challenging and risky. It can bring positive results that can potentially improve a situation beyond your wildest expectations, but it also can bring unpredictability, chaos and disruption. No question about it, change is a two edged sword.

And even small changes to a functioning business – to their customers, technology, employees, government, suppliers, etc. – can have a huge economic impact and other consequences. So understanding and managing change is important.

Change affects society and society affects business so change affects business in countless, core ways. As well-known business consultant Peter F. Drucker said: “Society, community, family are all conserving institutions. They try to maintain stability, and to prevent, or at least to slow down, change. But the organization of the post-capitalist society of organizations is a destabilizer. Because its function is to put knowledge to work – on tools, processes, and products; on work; on knowledge itself – it must be organized for constant change.”