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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Parcours, a British wheel brand specialising in aerodynamic, wind-tunnel-tested carbon wheelsets for road, gravel and triathlon cycling, has launched the Strade GT, the debut model in its new GT Series. At the heart of this wheelset lies VibraCORE, a technology developed alongside Lineat and Nottingham Trent University. VibraCORE embeds Lineat’s reclaimed aligned carbon fibre material, known as AFFT, directly into the rim’s spoke bed. This structural integration reduces vibration at its source rather than simply damping it after transmission begins.

The principle behind VibraCORE is straightforward: less vibration reaching the rider means less fatigue, allowing for longer, faster rides. Not all vibrations affect the body equally. Certain frequencies are either amplified by the human body or directly contribute to muscle exhaustion. VibraCORE targets these specific ranges, absorbing and dissipating vibrational energy before it travels through the wheelset to the rider. This approach directly addresses the harsh, high-frequency ‘road buzz’ that makes rough roads particularly draining.

In practical testing at standard road tyre pressures, VibraCORE reduces root mean square vibrational energy by an amount equivalent to lowering tyre pressure by roughly 10 to 15 psi. Crucially, this benefit comes without the usual penalties of softer tyres, such as reduced rolling efficiency or compromised handling precision. As a result, the Strade GT delivers a calmer, more controlled ride over long distances while retaining the stiffness, responsiveness and aerodynamic performance expected from a high-end wheelset.

To verify these claims, Parcours partnered again with Nottingham Trent University for controlled real‑world testing across multiple riders and surfaces. Using vibration sensors and frequency domain analysis based on power spectral density, the data showed that rims with VibraCORE reduced vibration energy by 19 to 23 percent compared to identical rims without the technology. This translates directly into a noticeably smoother ride on rough terrain and lower cumulative fatigue over extended rides.

Beyond comfort, the Strade GT represents an evolution of Parcours’ existing Strade platform. Its rim profile is optimised around a 30‑mm tyre, outperforming the previous model by 3.2W at 48 kmph, improving handling stability by 15 percent and achieving a weight of just 1,130g. VibraCORE also enables the use of lightweight Alpina Carbolite carbon spokes. Although sustainability is not the primary goal, the technology incorporates recycled carbon from Lineat’s AFFT process. Parcours is now developing a full circular pathway so that carbon recovered from old wheels, including those from its Crash Replacement Programme, can be reprocessed into VibraCORE components for future wheelsets. In this way, the Strade GT proves that speed and comfort need not be opposing forces.

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Continental is celebrating two decades of its Camaçari tyre factory, situated near Salvador in Brazil. This occasion represents a major milestone for the firm’s operations throughout the Americas, as the site has served as a trusted partner across South America since its April 2006 opening. The facility supplies both replacement tyres and original equipment manufacturers with high-grade products for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

Approximately 136 million tyres have rolled off the line at Camaçari over the last 20 years. Roughly BRL 1.2 billion (approximately EUR 235 million), has been invested there in the past 10 years alone to sharpen competitiveness through better efficiency, product quality and responsiveness to customers. The factory currently provides jobs for around 2,000 people, making it a leading industrial employer locally, with its future success built on team spirit, consistent quality and a strong customer focus.

The site began as a greenfield project in 2004 and was formally inaugurated in April 2006, with the first tyre, a ContiEcoContact 3, produced five months earlier in November 2005. Today, the factory supplies original equipment to major automotive names including General Motors, Volkswagen, Renault, Honda, Fiat and Mercedes‑Benz, proving its dependable and uniform product standards. This same drive for steady improvement supports the plant’s role in Continental’s wider environmental goals.

By constantly tracking energy use and managing it responsibly, the Camaçari plant ensures that all power generated or consumed on site is used as efficiently as possible. The facility relies entirely on LED lighting, which saves more energy than conventional options, and has carried out targeted production upgrades such as better insulation on critical machinery. These efforts have yielded annual energy savings, including a total cut of 10.4 gigawatt‑hours in 2025, equal to about five percent of the plant’s yearly energy consumption.

Shander Basílio, plant manager of the Continental tyre plant in Camaçari, said, "Our 20-year journey in Camaçari is a story of continuous growth, operational excellence and the deep commitment of our people to this region. I would like to sincerely thank all our employees for their outstanding contribution as well as to our customers for their continued trust. Looking ahead, we are dedicated to writing the next chapter of our plant’s success.”

Rodrigo Bonilha, head of Continental Tires South America, said, “I would like to congratulate our manufacturing team in Camaçari on their 20th anniversary. The production facility is a key asset for our business in the region. By manufacturing premium tires locally, we ensure a reliable supply for the Brazilian market while securing valuable local jobs. This ‘in the market, for the market’ approach is fundamental to how we deliver consistent product quality and performance for customers and consumers.”

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The Tire Industry Project (TIP) has announced the publication of a scientific study presenting a sophisticated model designed to track how tyre and road wear particles (TRWP) move through land and freshwater environments. Known as the Mass Balance Model, this tool provides a method for predicting particle concentrations within watersheds across different climates and regions, offering high spatial detail on how these particles travel from roadways towards rivers, lakes and estuaries.

Tyre and road wear particles are created unintentionally during normal driving, where tyres meet the road surface. As scientific and regulatory focus on these particles intensifies, reliable models are essential for understanding their environmental pathways. While research is growing, the behaviour of these particles in waterways remains particularly understudied, making this modelling advance especially relevant.

The model draws on global and local datasets and open-source frameworks, including the ERA5 global climate dataset by the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the Wflow catchment hydrology model by Deltares, a research institute. Its accuracy has been confirmed using field measurements from the Seine River basin in France, the Chesapeake Bay basin in the United States and the Yodo River basin in Japan – three very different watersheds. This validation shows the approach works across diverse watershed sizes, climates and stormwater management systems.

Applying the model to these three regions revealed that the share of particles reaching surface waters varies from just 2 percent up to 18 percent, depending on urbanisation, climate, basin size and drainage infrastructure. Importantly, improvements to stormwater systems could cut particle transport to surface waters by as much as half. This refined model builds on earlier work and is now globally applicable, with ongoing development aimed at making it accessible beyond the scientific community.

Nicolas Tissier, Director of Research at TIP, said, “Having a robust, reproducible model for TRWP transport and fate that can be applied worldwide is essential for advancing both scientific understanding and practical solutions. Our role at TIP is to support rigorous, transparent science that helps researchers, policymakers and industry make evidence-based decisions. By making this model open access, we aim to support broader collaboration across the scientific community around TRWP in the environment and to enable the development of more effective mitigation strategies.”

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Balkrishna Industries Ltd. (BKT Tires), a well-established global player in the off-highway tyre market, has now entered India’s consumer segment with a determined move into the two-wheeler space. The company unveiled a new campaign called Jurrat, which signals a calculated expansion from its industrial stronghold towards becoming a comprehensive mobility brand. This initiative addresses the everyday transportation needs of millions who rely on motorcycles and scooters as their primary mode of travel. The high-energy television commercial debuted on 3 April 2026 during the Indian Men’s T20 League, a widely followed sporting event, and features brand ambassador Ranveer Singh to maximise visibility.

Jurrat, which translates to courage, captures the mindset of riders navigating unpredictable road conditions and daily routines with determination. The campaign emphasises three core product benefits that consumers value most: long life, exceptional road grip and unmatched comfort. By focusing on confidence, control and consistency during daily commutes, the narrative reinforces the belief that dependable tyre performance is the foundation of true road confidence. This product-led approach brings BKT’s brand philosophy, Elevate Your Drive, into the two-wheeler segment.

The campaign is being rolled out through a robust media mix that includes both television and digital platforms. High-impact placements are strategically used to ensure maximum reach, visibility and engagement, allowing BKT Tyres to effectively introduce itself as a holistic mobility brand addressing everyday transport needs.

Mahesh Koppad, Chief Marketing Officer – India, BKT Tyres, said, “India’s two-wheeler segment reflects the way the country moves, works and progresses on a daily basis. As depicted in the film featuring Ranveer Singh, riders today operate in dynamic and often unpredictable environments, where confidence is increasingly defined by control and consistency. Anchored in its ‘Elevate Your Drive’ proposition, ‘Jurrat’ highlights how performance-led tyres, engineered for long life, comfort and grip, enhance the overall riding experience, enabling assured, uninterrupted movement that supports not just mobility but progress in everyday life. With our entry into the two-wheeler segment, BKT Tyres remains focused on meeting evolving consumer expectations while strengthening our position across high-growth mobility segments.”

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