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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Pirelli has designated the SC0 rear tyre as the new benchmark for Moto2 as the MotoGP World Championship resumes its season this weekend at Silverstone for the 12th round. The Italian manufacturer is supplying its standard range compounds for both support classes, with the updated SC0 making a notable return to the British circuit following its successful evaluation there last year.

The 2026-spec soft rear tyre, which initially debuted as a development prototype, features an altered structure from its predecessor and was universally embraced by competitors during practice sessions, even contributing to a new lap record. Its promotion to the standard lineup sees it joined at the rear by the new medium SC1 compound, formerly a development specification, while front tyre duties are covered by the soft SC1 and the medium SC2 options.

Silverstone presents a formidable technical challenge as the longest venue on the calendar at 5.9 kilometres, demanding exceptional machine and rider performance through high-speed corners and rapid directional shifts. The circuit’s low-abrasion surface and notably wide racing corridor allow for varied lines, adding another layer of strategic complexity to the already fast-paced weekend.

In the Moto3 class, Pirelli has made available the soft SC1 and medium SC2 compounds for both front and rear positions. The majority of the field last year favoured the medium SC2 at both ends, a choice that propelled José Antonio Rueda to victory from the back of the grid, though a segment of riders alternatively selected the softer SC1 option for their machines.

Giorgio Barbier, Pirelli Motorcycle Racing Director, said, “For this weekend's round at Silverstone, one of the most iconic and technically demanding circuits on the World Championship calendar, Pirelli will once again provide standard range tyres for both classes, featuring the rear soft SC0 compound that made its Moto2™ debut at this very circuit last year as the E0125 development option. The E0125, which complemented the then standard soft tyre, was immediately appreciated by the intermediate class riders, who, on a highly demanding circuit characterised by numerous high-speed corners and changes of direction where stability is essential, focused exclusively on this new solution from Friday onwards.

“Introduced again at subsequent events, the former E0125 quickly became the Moto2™ riders' benchmark, offering greater stability, outright one-lap performance and consistent performance across a wide variety of weather and track conditions. As a result, it was promoted to the new standard soft tyre for this season. More than a year after its debut, and thanks to the significant development work carried out by the teams during this period, the SC0 has already contributed to numerous lap records this season. Weather conditions permitting, it will therefore be interesting to see whether Silverstone can deliver further progress compared with last year's benchmark.”

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Hankook Tire, the exclusive tyre supplier for the FIA World Rally Championship, played a central role in the season's 10th round at Secto Rally Finland. The event concluded on 2 August in Jyväskylä, where the company’s Dynapro R213 extreme all-terrain rally tyre was put to the ultimate test across the demanding Finnish landscape.

Competitive action unfolded over 20 Special Stages, covering a total distance of 316.04 kilometres. Renowned as the fastest rally on the WRC calendar, the event subjected vehicles and tyres to extreme speeds. The challenging route was characterised by blind crests that impaired visibility, frequent jumps and narrow forest roads, placing a premium on tyre durability and overall driving stability.

The supplied Dynapro R213 tyre proved instrumental in managing these severe conditions. On the ultra-high-speed gravel sections, it effectively absorbed the impact of repeated landings while delivering consistent grip and precise steering response. Its robust construction ensured reliable performance across the loose dirt and forest roads, allowing competitors to push their vehicles to the limit.

Sami Pajari of Toyota GAZOO Racing claimed a home victory, securing back-to-back wins after his success in Estonia. This result advanced him to second in the Drivers’ Championship with 171 points. Looking ahead, Round 11 is the ueno Rally del Paraguay from 27 to 30 August, featuring gravel stages that will demand exceptional tyre resilience. Hankook applies data from its WRC involvement and other global motorsport events to its R&D, fostering continuous innovation and reinforcing its status as a leading global brand.

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Legislation aimed at overhauling decades-old federal tyre safety regulations has been introduced in the United States Senate. The Tire Safety Modernization Act of 2026, sponsored by Senators Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, seeks to replace outdated testing mandates with contemporary performance standards that better reflect current manufacturing innovations and production techniques.

The proposed bill directs the Department of Transportation to revise federal testing protocols, retiring obsolete requirements in favour of more relevant criteria. A key component of the legislation involves aligning high-speed testing procedures with internationally recognised best practices while also clarifying existing safety criteria to ensure more effective regulatory oversight. The measure preserves a strong emphasis on passenger safety while adapting to the capabilities of modern tyre engineering.

Strong support for the initiative has emerged from the tyre manufacturing sector. Anne Forristall Luke, President and CEO of the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, praised the bipartisan effort as a crucial step towards aligning American rules with technological progress, bolstering road safety and enhancing the industry’s global competitiveness. Executives from major manufacturers, including Continental Tire, Goodyear and Yokohama, have similarly endorsed the update, noting that it would allow engineering and compliance resources to focus on innovations that genuinely benefit drivers.

Senator Warnock highlighted the importance of Georgia’s prominent tyre production sector, while Senator Wicker emphasised that federal regulations have failed to keep pace with evolving manufacturing technology. Industry leaders collectively view the act as a thoughtful, science-based modernisation that supports domestic manufacturing competitiveness and ensures that safety standards reflect the demands of modern vehicles, roads and driving conditions across the country.

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Bridgestone's e-CENTRE Excellence Programme has delivered a significant financial boost to two community organisations in South London, with nearly GBP 1,000 raised through a charity initiative run by Merityre Southfields, a flagship Bridgestone e-CENTRE. The campaign generated a total of GBP 938, which was evenly distributed between St Michael's Church Social Projects and the Friends of Wimbledon Park, both of which are vital to the Wandsworth area.

Over a five-month period spanning November and December 2025, as well as February to April 2026, motorists were given a one-pound donation token with every Bridgestone tyre purchased. Customers were then able to choose which of the two local causes would receive their contribution, resulting in GBP 464 for St Michael's and GBP 474 for the Friends of Wimbledon Park.

The funds allocated to St Michael's Church Social Projects will finance the installation of an additional water tap at its Kitchen Garden Project, located on the Church Memorial Field. Since its establishment in 2020, the garden has expanded into a productive allotment with over 30 raised beds, providing fresh organic produce for community lunches and a weekly food bank. The new tap is expected to reduce watering time for volunteers, enabling them to dedicate more attention to the retired, unemployed, isolated and vulnerable individuals who rely on the project for support, skill development and social connection.

Meanwhile, the Friends of Wimbledon Park will direct its share towards a new seating area in the Waterfall Garden, with any leftover funds supporting tree and bulb planting as well as maintenance materials. This retail-led effort exemplifies a core component of Bridgestone's broader e-CENTRE Excellence Programme, which has allocated over GBP 1 million to encourage retailers to adopt sustainable practices and foster positive social and environmental change within their localities.

Dene Arnold, Director, Merityre, said, “As a business rooted in the local community, we wanted to give our customers the opportunity to support causes that really matter to people in Southfields. We're incredibly grateful to everyone who got behind the campaign and helped us raise such a fantastic amount. Being part of Bridgestone's e-CENTRE network is about much more than providing premium products and services. It's about making a meaningful contribution to the communities we serve and creating a positive impact beyond the garage doors. It's especially rewarding to know exactly where the money is going. Whether it's helping volunteers continue to grow fresh produce for people in need or creating new spaces for the community to enjoy in Wimbledon Park, these are projects that will make a lasting difference locally.”

Gresia Cabrera, Bridgestone's Business Development Manager and project lead for the e-CENTRE programme, said, “Community engagement sits at the heart of the eCentre philosophy, so it's fantastic to see Merityre Southfields bringing that vision to life. The team continues to demonstrate that modern tyre retailers can be a force for good, supporting local people and causes while delivering outstanding service for motorists. Initiatives such as this show that the industry can make a genuine difference and create value far beyond tyres alone. One of the strengths of the e-CENTRE programme is that it empowers retailers to make a meaningful impact in the communities they serve. Seeing these donations translated into practical improvements that will benefit local people for years to come is exactly what the programme is all about.”

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