Management of Change in SMEs in Times of Turbulence

This paper examines management of change in SMEs in Malaysia during the time when the country was experiencing the Asian financial crisis. The types of changes investigated include change in objectives, change in work force, change in work practices, and change in strategies. The results clearly indicate that the SMEs carried out many organizational changes in response to the financial crisis. These findings indicate the responsiveness of the SMEs, particularly the small ones, to contemporary environmental pressures during turbulent times. Generally, the SMEs responded well to internal and external environmental forces in ways that would contribute towards their ability to remain agile and to survive competition and economic turbulence.