The Whole Organisation of D2 - Essay Example

?Organisational Change Management Table of Contents Introduction 3 2. Definition 3 3. Discovery 5 3 Application of leadership concepts 5 3.2 Structured process of change 6 3.3 Evaluation of the communication 6 4. Dream 7 4.1 Models of change 8 4.2 Individual change 10 4.3 Team Change 10 4.4 Structural change 10 5. Design 11 6. Destiny 12 7. Conclusion 13 Reference List 14 1. Introduction Organisations change through the course of its history. It changes hand, transforms itself, shifts itself. The change is organic in nature. It affects the people who make up the organisation. If the organisation does not weigh the pros and cons of change, then it ends up with serious issues in hand (Chiefele, 2012). There are various cases where the short sightedness of the management has led to serious complications. Such complications act like poison pills. The present research report presents a case study of an organisational change and evaluates it using the “Appreciative Inquiry 5D framework”. 2. Definition D2 is a French car components manufacturing company that is contemplating to shut down the production plant at Didcot in UK and shift the operational base to France. On being informed by the management the employees of the both the plants will display signs of discomfort and discontent. The discontent among the employees at the plant in France is considerably low in comparison to UK. This is due to the reason that the employees at the UK plant were expecting that the management will declare plans for large investment. Due to this the employees started expecting that the management has definite future plan for them. So the news of closure of the plant will get them by surprise. The discontent would not have reached such levels had the management decided to come up with back up plans for the laid off employees (Lindheim and Swartout, 2003). This affected trust and dependability that the employees shared with the management. The management took the decision in a very abrupt way and did not let the unsuspecting employees prepare for uncertainty. The decision to close down the plant will lead to massive unemployment. The employees will not be left with any option to get another employment neither in France nor in Spain since there are not enough vacant posts to fit the redundant employees. The decision to shut off the production plant at UK came with the intent to cut down the unproductive expenses. The aim to shift the operational base to Blios in France is part of a larger plan to utilise the advanced manufacturing facility there. The other aim is to increase the production in Blios and achieve economy of scale. UK production plant happened to be the base of the product development for quite some time and it helped the company stride through the years of recession. Some of the best minds are engaged in the developments of the production at the UK base. So the management decided to shift the product development engineers back to France. It must be noted that the decision to shift and provide employment to a selected group of employees is a serious instance of favouritism or bias (Mallon and Webb, 2006). This is also one of the reasons that will aggravate the employees at UK. The product development engineers are reluctant to go to France. This may be due to various reasons but more importantly the change in place and weather and working will put them in difficulty. Till now the whole problem is discussed from the point of view of the UK employees. The levels of dissatisfaction and discontent may not be severe among the employees of production plants at Spain and France but the employees were also feeling jittery. This is mainly due to the unexpected changes that will be declared by the management (Meyer, 2000). The decisions taken on the organisational level involves paradigm shift in the whole organisation of D2. Most of the decision looks very mechanistic in nature. The mechanistic natures of the changes are not suitable for the overall development of the organisation (Moessinger, 2007). This is because of the reason that the mechanistic nature of the changes does not go well the humane need of the organisation. If both the needs are addressed equally in a parallel way then the business needs as well as the human needs can met accordingly. 3. Discovery The present case study points to the failure on the part of the management to structure the process of change in a proper way. The whole process of change tilted the system to a point of organisational breakdown (Mott, Callaway, and Zettlemoyer, 2005). This is the issue at hand and it is critically analysed here. The way the management of D2 handled the process of change is a case of failure of leadership capabilities. If the management had been competent enough then the leadership capabilities of the management would have helped avert the present crisis of employee dissatisfaction. 3.1 Application of leadership concepts There are various kinds of leadership concepts like the Autocratic Leadership, Laissez-Faire Leadership, Participative (Democratic) Leadership, Transactional Leadership and Transformational Leadership. In the present context only few leadership styles are applicable. For example, the need of the hour is transformational leadership. The transformational leadership helps to achieve paradigm shift in both organisational level as well as at human level (Norum, 2001). Transformational leadership helps the employees see beyond their individual needs and wants and work for greater good of the organisation. Through transformation leadership the management and leaders of the organisation can help employees develop standards, moral maturity and values of the organisation (Sas and O'Hare, 2003). Such kind of changes help the employees endow themselves with abilities like examining, resolving and discovering problems with a thought which is more liberated. This in turn helps the employees to stay for longer time in the organisation. For example, the management of D2 can encourage the employees in the decision making process of the organisation. This kind of participation makes the employees feel that they are also valued and their views matter.\ 3.2 Structured process of change The structured process of change helps the management to know if they are going to the right direction with the process of change. It is like the blue print of the process. Just like the blue print provides the builders with the conceptual idea of how the infrastructure is going to be. The structured process of change acts in the same way for the management. The management will start building the process of change starting from the basic level. The basic level is the right leadership attitude and a strong vision and objective (Swap, Leonard and Shields, 2001). Over the time the vision remains the same although the objectives keep changing to suit the vision. Next is the application of the leadership techniques to influence the mindset of the employees and staff. This can be compared to building the skeletons of a house, over which the entire structure rests. The leadership qualities and traits influence the employees and staff to see beyond the petty individual interests and instead act for the whole organisation. This can be compared to the supporting beams and rods which act not as individual support mechanisms rather they act together as a whole structure (Winn and Jackson, 2011). This is the concept of structured process of change. The most important advantage of the structured process of change is that the succeeding level must be superseded by a level which is strong enough to carry the weight of the upper level. 3.3 Evaluation of the communication The communication between the management and the employees is one of the most important mediums which help the leaders of the organisation take vital steps on the way to organisational change. The communication channel has to be a two way medium. Most of the organisations have a very formal communication channel. The adoption of the formal communication channel in most instances lead to the obstruction of effective communication. This formal communication channel in most instances led to the formation of one way communication channel (Mallon and Webb, 2006). Faulty communication channel inhibits escalation of the complaints and suggestion from the bottom level of the hierarchy to its preceding levels. This creates a gap between the employees and the management. If the management at D2 had resorted to a less informal and more effective communication channel then the present crisis would not have occurred. For example, the management could have used the transformational leadership strategy in order to ease the process of change. The transformational leadership strategy helps the employees see beyond their own interests and recognizes the importance of contributing for the organisation. Without the inspiration and encouragement from the transformational leaders of China this feat could not be achieved (Meyer, 2000). The inner beliefs of the countrymen were linked to higher point of reference. The higher point of reference is their culture. 4. Dream After the identification of the problems comes the need to prioritize the problems. The prioritization of problems makes the fixation of the problem a lot easier and effective. These steps are already completed. The next stage is the suggestion on how to fix the issues. This stage presents all the viable options and choices. 4.1 Models of change There are various kinds of models of change. Due to limitation of space and time most relevant and widely applied models of change are discussed here. Kotler’s 8 Step change model is discussed here. The eight steps of Kotler's change model are, 1. Generation of urgency If the employees and staffs were let known about the state of urgency then the change process becomes easier. The management of D2 knew that the production plant at UK was aging out and thus costs of running the plant are outweighing the revenue generated. If this message was spread among the employees, they will become aware about the impending dangers beforehand (Lindheim and Swartout, 2003). 2. Powerful coalition is formed The employees and the management likewise have influential leaders among them. These leaders represent the views and demands for each other. The management of D2 could have worked out on building strong relationship with the leaders among the employees. 3. Vision is created The formation of a transparent and clear vision will help the management to stay focused on their objectives and likewise guide and inspire the employees towards the fulfilment of that vision (Mott, Callaway, and Zettlemoyer, 2005). 4. Vision is communicated D2 had a vision and worked tirelessly to fulfil the vision. The employees and the management themselves sometimes lose track of where they are heading to. If the management constantly remind themselves and the employees about the vision then the focus on path remains steady. The communication of the vision opens a two way communication channel. 5. Removal of obstacle Resistance to change is a very common phenomenon in any organisation (Chiefele, 2012). Not all the obstacles can be removed neither can they be addressed at the same time. D2’s management could have taken the obstacles one by one and handled them individually. The immediate obstacles are conflict of interest among the employees and the management. 6. Achievement of short term wins The management of D2 though that the efforts to improve the production facility at UK will be of no avail. This information is not available with the employees. The management of D2 could have set up small targets on a quarterly basis and let the people know if any progress is made at all. The achievement of small tasks is applauded as an effort of the employees (Porter, 2012). 7. Structuring the change The formation of the vision is followed by formation of objectives. The management of D2 could have set objectives to structure the changes effectively. New department can be opened up for providing training and opportunities to the redundant employees (Chiefele, 2012). 8. Linking the changes to corporate culture The Great Leap Forward is the perfect example to site in this case. The deep rooted tradition and culture of the country was linked to the process of change (Mott, Callaway and Zettlemoyer, 2005). This created a different zeal. If D2’s management had done the same think of rooting the organisational culture into the value systems of the employees, then the process of change would have been smooth. 4.2 Individual change Some of the most successful organisational changes are brought about by the employees of the organisation. This is because of the reason that the people makes up the organisation and people forms the heart of the organisational culture. If the management of D2 had been careful then the crisis situation could have been avoided. As the management was suffering from myopia prevented them from starting the process of change among the employees first (Sas and O'Hare, 2003). Thus the employees remained to be in a static position while the organisation tried to realign itself in its own way. So the organisation did realign itself in the way that suited it best but the employees remained in their usual position. 4.3 Team Change The individual change is superseded by the team change. This is because of the reason that the teams can be also defined as groups of people. The processes of change will be started with the people then the process passed into larger groups of people (Ohmae, 2009). This way the whole organisation is affected. Then the process of change becomes significantly smoother. The management of D2, could have affected the larger mass of employees had it taken steps to make sure that individual employees are affected. 4.4 Structural change The process of change can be initiated with the changes in the organisational structure also. The organisational structure is mainly the hierarchy of the organisation. The management of D2 knew about the impending danger associated with the foreclosure of the production plant at UK. The danger is that the employees will revolt against the management. If the management had taken steps like initiating special counselling departments or alternative employments supervision department then the laid off employees could have been counselled, instead of blatantly handing out the pink slip (Sas and O'Hare, 2003). 5. Design The possible solutions can be implemented by starting to change in the structure of the organisation. The process of change involves laying-off significant number of employees. The organisation can come up with ideas about new departments (Winn and Jackson, 2011). These new department can help in creating alternative employment opportunities for the department. The new department can train the employees with new set of skills. Apart from that the resisting employees will be counselled properly. The process of change should be initiated by the leaders of the organisation. The management at D2 should start following the transformational leadership style (Norum, 2001). The transformational leadership helps the employees of the organisation see beyond their own interest. This helps them to find the greater cause for contributing for the sake of interest of the organisation. The process of change will start with the generation of urgency. The sense of urgency will be communicated to the employees effectively (Winn and Jackson, 2011). This will help them to realize that the organisation is in for a massive change and they need to buckle up. In order to make sure that the employees cooperate with the management during this phase of transformation, the management will create strong liaison with the leaders among the employees (Garrick, 2011). In the next phase the management of D2 will develop a set of plans that clearly defines the objectives that need to be achieved and methodologies to be used. The management will make sure that the mission and the objective of the transformation must be communicated to the employees through the leaders (Mintzberg and Waters, 2009). The leaders in turn will communicate the same among the fellow masses. There will be immediate conflict of interest among the employees and the addressing these conflicts at the earliest level will be the priority of the management. Thus the management will keep short-term goals and targets. With the achievement of each goal, the management will inform the employees about the milestones achieved and obstacles avoided. Slowly the employees will start realizing the effectiveness in the process of change adopted by the management. The milestones achieved and benefits received will be linked to the efforts put in by the employees during the phase of transformation. This will boost the moral level of the employees. 6. Destiny It is expected that the management will adopt a new form of leadership, better than the one followed before. The new form of leadership will increase the moral level of the employees. Although it is not known for sure if the management will be capable to find suitable leaders among themselves who will be strong enough to shoulder such kind of responsibility. It is suggested that counselling sessions be conducted, which will add to the psychological pressure during the transformation phase (Meyer, 2000). Apart from that, new department that will be opened will help the redundant employees fit among in other industries with the addition of new skills set. It is not known for sure how the redundant employees will react to the idea about opportunities to learn new skill set. The management is supposed to create strong liaison with leaders among the employees (Mallon and Webb, 2006). This presents a picture of uncertainty since it cannot be said with strong conviction if the influential leaders among the employees will be able to create a strong positive attitude with the workforce. It is not know for sure if the process of change can be kept sustained for how long. 7. Conclusion The management of D2 had enough opportunity to prepare contingency plan for the foreclosure of the production plant in UK. Although they choose to overlook the need of any contingency plan and this resulted in crisis. The contingency plan that the management did have is very mechanistic in nature and does not have humane consideration in any way. In a bid to save costs and increase profit, the organisation was transformed in an overnight. Such abrupt process of transformation puts the human value at risk. Thus D2 will put itself in a precarious position by creating uncertainty and anxiety in the minds of the employees. The employees became dissatisfied, disgruntled and insecure. With the right leadership strategy the management of D2 could have helped to raise the value system of the employees and helped them see the interests of the organisation larger their own individual interest. Reference List Chiefele, U., 2012. Interest, learning, and motivation. Educational Psychologist, 26(3), pp. 299-323. Garrick, G., 2011. The evolution of organisational psychology in the 21st century. Journal of Organisational Research, 36(5), pp. 3-8 Lindheim, R. and Swartout, W., 2003. Forging a new simulation technology at the ICT. Computer, 34(1), pp. 72-79. Mallon, B. and Webb, B., 2006. Structure, causality, visibility and interaction: Propositions for evaluating engagement in narrative multimedia. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 53(2), pp. 269-287. Meyer, J., 2000. 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