Change and impermanency is the common denominator of all phenomena and processes in nature, which include human activities as well. Heraclitus, the 5^th Century BC Greek philosopher, has said that no man can step into the same river twice. This statement from Heraclitus means that the world constantly changes and that no two situations are exactly the same. Just as water flows in a river, one cannot touch the exact same water twice when one steps into a river. This view has been affirmed by Lord Buddha around the same period.

In fact, the challenge of change can be considered as the key driver in all the human endeavours across history and the main motivating factor of business strategies that have evolved through the four industrial revolutions spanning form the mid-18^th century to the present day of mass digitalisation. The four principles of change management at any level – be it personal, family, workplace, company or a country – are:

• Understand the change
• Plan the change
• Implement the change
• Communicate the change

Some of the significant contributors to the management of change which resulted in the emergence of new approaches and working models that became popular during the past 50 years can be enumerated as:

• Lewin’s Change Management Model
• McKinsey 7S Model.
• Kotler’s Change Management Theory
• Nudge Theory
• ADKAR Theory
• Bridge’s Transition Model
• Kubler-Ross Five Stage Model

There are many schools of thought around managing organisational change, but there's one thing that's clear. Change managers need to structure their organisational changes and need to avoid 'ad hoc' change management. They need to look at organisational change from a programmatic perspective, leverage subject matter experts around the impacts of change and look at the ‘change beyond the change’. 

Corporate change has always been associated with leadership, and Jack Welch, the master of transformational leadership, has once quoted that “good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion.”

Notwithstanding the tremendous utility value of these approaches, I have witnessed the beginning, growth, decline and final exit of some great business empires in Sri Lanka, which could not survive up to the third generation. Similarly, there are exemplary business organisations, the roots of which can be traced back in history to a single person who started with a few rupees and later developed in to corporate giants that are thriving through the third generation. It is therefore apparent that there are no hard and fast norms or standard ground rules, but an emerging factor is the importance of the people at all levels, despite the benefits of automation and digitalisation. Success and failure episodes are abundant throughout the world and corporate graveyards are cluttered with casualties.

Change and business strategy are always closely interlinked without clear boundaries. The ‘Art of War’ – which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu (around 5^th century BC) – remains the most influential strategy text in East Asian warfare and has influenced both Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy, lifestyles and beyond.

The Covid-19 outbreak, which started around two years ago and developed in to a devastating pandemic, has brought about years of change in the way companies in all sectors and regions do business. The entire world scenario which we currently witness is reminiscent of the opening paragraph of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, an 1859 historical novel by Charles Dickens.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
 

The Coronavirus has rapidly made ‘business as usual’ a phrase from the distant past. There is no ‘usual’ in this uncertain time. But organisations that outmanoeuvre uncertainty create a resilience they can count on, irrespective of the changes that come

. We’ve all changed the way we operate during the Covid-19 crisis. Some changes were forced on us, while others represent the height of innovation in a crisis. There’s been a reset of the workforce and work itself, a reset of the employer/employee relationship and a reset of the business ecosystem. For most of them, the business impact of the pandemic has been negative; for some, positive. 

The pandemic may have wiped our strategy slate clean (or at least it feels that way), but we have also garnered invaluable experience. Now it’s time to bring together our executive team and use those lessons to reconfigure the business and operating models for a new reality. It appears that in addition to the conventional 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle), with respect to resource consumption and sustainability, a set of new 3Rs, namely respond, recover and renew, has emerged during the Covid-19 crisis.

As we shift from response to recovery, the key for senior leaders is to make strategic decisions that will lead them to a renewed future state, however paralysing the uncertain outlook may seem. We can borrow a leaf from the strategy and tactics of the Covid-19 virus itself in learning how to adapt for survival by adopting new paradigms, namely producing more virulent strains such as the Delta variety.

In the absence of a 100 percent effective vaccine or cure for Covid-19, any rebound in business activity could easily be followed by another round of response, recover, renew; so the imperative is to absorb lessons learned quickly and build sustainable changes into business and operating models.

But first, we need to determine exactly where and how the crisis has stretched and broken our existing models, and where the risks and opportunities lie as a result. When talking about risks and opportunities, I cannot help going back to the basics of ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System (QMS) requirements which expect a company to evaluate the external and internal issues (Clause 4.1), expectations of interested parties (4.2), determining the risks and opportunities (6.1) and planning for change (6.2). In some of the companies that I happen to audit, the priority given to these is at a minimum or no priority given at all apart from stagnant records which do not show any objective evidence of monitoring and review.

However, one important factor we have to consider is that everyone – irrespective of whether it is an individual, family unit, organisation or a country – is on various stages of their unique learning curves, and the strategic horizons have drastically become shorter. Business and strategy planning is no longer an elite task shrouded with mystery and confined to the corporate managers only in their air conditioned rooms but a task to be accomplished in consultation with those who are finally going to implement the strategies and plans. While the Japanese Genba (the actual place) approach is more than 50 years old, it is mostly confined to operational levels, which is rather unfortunate. This crisis has created an opportunity to reset some of our goals and ambitions; it’s time to ask: “As we recover from this crisis, do we want to be different, and if so, how?”

One can see that many companies are in the recovery mode at the moment and trying to do damage control based on profit motive, which is understandable. The entire social, cultural and ethical models and paradigms have changed drastically, and the entrepreneurs need to realise that they are no longer operating in the pre-Covid era. Drastic changes have occurred in the entire supply and value chains with changing customer preferences.

The following quote attributed to many, including Eleanor Roosevelt, a former First Lady of United States, is appropriate to be cited here:

“There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened.” 

Change and impermanency is a fact of life, more so today, and if we do not change, change will change us. After all, it was the mathematical genius of the 20^th Century, Albert Einstein, who once observed that:

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

We can’t keep doing the same thing every day and expect different results. In other words, we can’t keep doing the same workout routine and expect to look differently. In order for our life to change, we must change – to the degree that we change our actions and our thinking, to the degree that our life will change.

The author a Management Counselor from Sri Lanka

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HS HYOSUNG ADVANCED MATERIALS marked the 46th Disability Day by organising a sports day and donation event on 16 April 2026 at Yeongnak Aenea’s House, a residential care facility for children with severe disabilities in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Employees paired one on one with the children, who have limited chances for outdoor activities, and together they took part in various sports and recreational programmes, creating meaningful experiences.

The donation will be used to replace wheelchair inner seats, purchase specialised rehabilitation equipment and upgrade the facility’s environment. This partnership began in 2012, and this year marks its 15th anniversary. Through regular in person volunteering such as assisting with walks and supporting sports events, the company has consistently worked to improve quality of life and promote independence for people with severe disabilities.

This initiative reflects the company’s commitment to the social contribution slogan Value Together, emphasised by Vice Chairman H.S. CHO, who states that providing practical support to marginalised neighbours is a corporate responsibility. In recognition of its efforts, HS HYOSUNG ADVANCED MATERIALS has been selected for seven consecutive years under the Community Contribution Recognition Program, received a Minister of Health and Welfare Commendation and achieved the highest S Grade rating.

Since its establishment, the HS HYOSUNG Group has carried out various social contribution activities, including cultural programmes for people with disabilities and initiatives for national veterans. Moving forward, the group plans to further expand its efforts to create social value based on its management philosophy of mutual growth with local communities.

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Tyrecycle, led by CEO Jim Fairweather, has responded to a recent federal inquiry into end-of-life tyres, conducted by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation and Science, by stressing that the industry’s successes should not hide its failures. While the inquiry focused on commercial and economic aspects of tyre recycling, Fairweather argued that any regulatory changes must target specific market gaps rather than burdening parts of the sector that already work well. Tyrecycle supports mandatory market-based regulation and increased government procurement, and Fairweather described illegal tyre dumping as completely unacceptable.

The recovery rate for passenger and truck tyres in Australia stands at 96 percent, yet off the road tyres, or OTRs, tell a different story. Only two percent of OTRs are recovered, despite these large tyres from mining and agriculture accounting for about 29 percent of Australia’s tyre market. Fairweather highlighted regional disparities, noting Western Australia produces 60,000 of OTRs out of a national total of 155,000 tonnes, while Queensland and New South Wales together contribute another 75,000 tonnes. He warned that a complete system overhaul could raise consumer prices with little benefit.

Fairweather explained that passenger and truck tyres benefit from established state-based regulations and infrastructure, but OTRs require targeted intervention. Policy must differentiate between working markets and those needing genuine help. Fairweather reiterated that Tyrecycle is prepared to process every tyre in Australia, provided the correct supporting system is in place.

A critical shortage of domestic end markets for recycled tyre materials is a central problem. Tyrecycle collects around ninety thousand tyres daily, yet viable markets remain limited. Fairweather cautioned against over reliance on extended producer responsibility schemes, arguing they do not inherently create market demand. Australia needs market-based solutions that enable recyclers to find commercially viable applications. Tyre derived fuel provides an outlet, but more recycled products should be used domestically rather than exported. Other applications face limited demand, and collection alone does not close the waste loop.

On illegal dumping, Fairweather argued that schemes funnelling money through a central authority risk inflation and reduced competition. Better alternatives include rigorous enforcement of accreditation and monitoring systems that maintain direct customer relationships. He supported a mandatory scheme requiring manufacturers to contribute to waste management costs, though he prefers a market-based approach over a strict extended producer responsibility framework.

Fairweather stated that existing state-based regulations are sufficient; no new laws are needed, only proper enforcement. Where enforcement is weak, non-compliant operators undercut legitimate recyclers, reducing investment confidence. High quality enforcement supports market integrity, competition, lower prices and greater consumer choice. He placed tyre issues in the context of end-of-life vehicles, noting Australia processes 850,000 vehicles annually, generating 1.36 million tonnes of waste.

Fairweather concluded that only a combination of effective regulation, infrastructure investment and genuine end market development can achieve a circular economy for tyres. Without these measures, even well-intentioned schemes cannot deliver sustainable outcomes. Tyrecycle supports stronger compliance, expanded domestic consumption of recycled products and targeted fixes for off the road tyres, with Fairweather simply wanting the right regulation properly enforced.

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Dunlop Motorcycle Europe has renewed its role as an Official Partner of the FIM Endurance World Championship for the upcoming season, which kicks off this weekend with the demanding 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans. Their continued presence underscores a long-term commitment to the series and its unique challenges.

Since 2022, Dunlop has served as the exclusive tyre supplier for the Superstock class, and from 2025, also for the Production Trophy category, meaning two thirds of the entire grid races on their rubber. The premier Formula EWC class remains open to multiple tyre brands, yet Dunlop is the preferred choice of seven leading privateer outfits aiming to challenge factory teams for podium finishes. Among them is the number six ERC Endurance squad, which hopes to build on its successful podium result from the previous year. Dunlop supplies a full range of slick and wet tyres from its KR racing line, blending standard products with development compounds.

Endurance racing is a crucial part of Dunlop’s tyre development program, serving as a real-world test bed for future racing and track day tyres. A new medium specification front tyre, codenamed G2_01 VAL3, will debut at Le Mans. Formula EWC teams will use it, while Superstock and Production entrants can choose between it and one other option. This tyre is easily identified by a yellow Dunlop sidewall decal.

David Auerbacher, International Motorcycle Race Event Leader, Dunlop Motorcycle Europe, said, “The start of a new season is always an exciting time, especially when we begin with the most prestigious endurance race on the calendar. We’re ready for another season of endurance racing, where we’ll continue introducing new tyre specs to keep pushing performance across three classes with very different philosophies and goals. The Le Mans Bugatti circuit has low grip levels compared to other tracks, and coming here in April can often throw up unpredictable weather. Managing tyre performance day and night in a range of conditions is key to winning.”

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Maxxis has expanded its mountain bike lineup with two major innovations, one addressing the demands of modern cross-country racing and the other exploring entirely new terrain in wheel design. The brand introduces the Aspen AT, a tyre built for rougher and more variable XC courses, alongside a pioneering family of 32-inch mountain bike tyres.

The Aspen AT draws from the trusted Aspen family’s speed but adds a revised tread profile that boosts control and confidence on uneven ground. It sits between pure racing tyres and aggressive trail models, giving riders a single option for the varied demands of today’s XC and down-country riding. While the Aspen AT addresses the present, Maxxis looks further ahead with its new 32-inch platform. Larger wheel diameter improves rollover capability, traction and high speed stability on rough trails, offering a fresh choice for those who want to keep momentum and smooth out feedback without replacing current wheel sizes.

The initial lineup includes Aspen ST, Aspen and Aspen AT tread patterns, with Forekaster and Dissector versions following in the third quarter. Key features of the Aspen AT include a fast-rolling XC tyre with broader all-terrain capability, a revised tread for better grip in rough sections and construction suited to modern racing disciplines. The tyres deliver increased rollover for a smoother ride over obstacles, improved efficiency on rough surfaces and a larger contact patch that translates into greater stability and grip.

By adding the Aspen AT and introducing the 32-inch tyre family, Maxxis continues to lead the evolution of mountain biking, supporting riders from competitive starts to the very edge of what is possible on two wheels.

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