Action Research on the Process of Change Management in Indian National Agricultural R&D Organizations

Abstract

The paper evaluates the change management process initiated in the research institutes of the Indian national agricultural R&D system. This study in action research mode consisted of a workshop on transience management wherein the participant directors were required to develop road maps for change with respect to change in structure, technology, physical setting, task, and people in their respective institutes. They were then given a time frame of two years for implementing the same and reporting the status of the implementation. Five criteria—size of the plan, it's structure, details, extent of completion and listing of the number of issues—were used to measure the change management process in these organizations. The results indicate that of the 19 participants, 14 (74 percent) of the institutions prepared above average vision plans while the rest were below average in terms of transience planning. In terms of plan implementation, only six (32 percent) of the participating institutions submitted the implementation reports all of which were above average and out of them one was excellent, two very good, and three good. The study shows that change management is a difficult process and the monitoring of the implementation process needs to be more intense. There seems to be a requirement of hand-holding of the change agents (i.e., directors) by the workshop resource persons who may act as formal consultants to the change management process.