Managing Organizational Change in a Crisis Situation: A Case Study of NIM Lahore

Abstract

The National Institute of Management Lahore (NIM/L) conducts training of Pakistani civil service officers at the mid-career level. It operates under the umbrella of the NSPP (National School of Public Policy). The two major courses are titled Mid-Career Management Course (MCMC) and the Senior Management Course (SMC). Since the 6th MCMC, when the first course was conducted at the institute, more than a thousand officers from various service groups and government departments have received oncampus training at NIM. The COVID-19 pandemic presented NIM, like other training and educational institutions across the globe, with the challenge of converting oncampus training activities to online mode without compromising the quality and spirit of learning. This case study narrates the training mode transformation in the 29th MCMC at NIM Lahore from the point of view of the central character, i.e, the Chief Instructor (C.I.) It discusses how the NIM team responded to this challenge by building on their collective strengths in a time of crisis. It attempts to outline the training strategy, challenges and achievements in a chronological order. The themes explored include leadership, team building, change management, problem solving, decision making and use of technology. The ADDIE model will be used to describe instructional systems design framework.