Change Management: A Case Study of the Conversion of the State-Owned Indian Telecom Department into a Company, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)

Telecom Sector in India remained as a monopoly for over a century managed by the State until 2000. By that time restructuring of Telecom services gained momentum in many countries, theworld over. In line with the changes, taking place the world over, the State-owned monopoly Telecom Organization, the Department of Telecom in India was converted as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a Company with effect from 1st October 2000 and made to operate as one of the Telecom companies. This paper is a live case study of the nature of the challenges and difficulties the BSNL faced in the transition period of changeover and to study the strategies adopted by the BSNL to overcome them. Also to study the effect on the performance of the newly formed BSNL and to study what do the government sector employees perceive to be the appropriate approach for change initiatives of this type of changeover.