Change as the Approach of Transiting - Assignment Example

Business, Assignment Any organization that does not accept change creates a path for its own destruction. Change is the approach of transiting from the present condition to a desired condition. The goal of change is to maximize the benefits of the organization and eliminate the barriers (Paton, and McCalman, 2000, p. 10-13). There are enormous differences between different kinds of change that the organizations make or face. Among them certain changes are substantial, while others are incremental, and some are even transformational. Apart from these some form of change are strategic, while others are tactical or operational (Clegg, Kornberger, and Pitsis, 2005, p. 369-370). The requirement for change can be because of the external factors such as due to change in demand, shifting taste and preferences of the customers, obsolete products or technology, etc. The internal factors include the growth of the company, retired leaders of the organization, or a re-engineering of operational functions of the company. Regardless of the causes and sources of change, all the organizations frequently face the need of transforming certain system, people, or process within. This is a difficult process and many unsuccessful results are seen every day, yet it is considered to be the most significant function in an organization (Flamholtz, and Randle, 2008, p. 5). This study is based on the following definition “Changing organizations is as messy as it is exhilarating, as frustrating as it is satisfying, as muddling-through and creative a process as it is a rational one” (Palmer, Richard and Akin 2008). Many processes and systems are uprooted during the course of bringing about the change in the organisation. So the different facets of organisational dynamics would be studied, so as to understand the dynamics which lead to strategic changes within the organisation. Also the types of such change would be discussed in order to understand the outcomes of such dynamics on the change management process in the organisation. Apart from this the study would also throw some light on the situations, opportunities, threats, and emerging issues, when change unfurl inside the organisations (Flamholtz, and Randle, 2008, p. 6-7). Even after knowing all the benefits, one thing remains constant that is change is complicated. An organisation faces numerous challenges while planning, and implementing change. So discussion on strategic changes with organisations is incomplete without analysing the challenges associated with the change process. The common challenge is resistance from employees towards change, opposition from the stakeholders of the company, unions, etc. Secondly, it has been observed that the core strategies, values, mission, objectives of the organisation gets affected due to such change. It is very important to closely monitor that the mission, values and the core strategies of the organisation does not get altered with change, so in such case an alternative methodology has to be formulated. Lastly, the unfavourable external business environment might also act as a barrier to the change, such as recession or economic slowdown. There are many classifications of change. However, change can be regarded as anything that is dissimilar from the norm, while transformation involves metamorphosis from one form to another. The distinction between change and transformation plays a significant role in the organisation. The ultimate goal of change within organisation is behaviour. The change might involve process, structure of the company or system. It shifts the employees from their comfort zone to an unfamiliar setting. This discomfort leads the employees within the organisation to resist the change rather than accept it. This is the general factor, but there are many other factors too, such as the traditional norms or values of the organisation, that influence the organisational culture. These values and attitude of the organisation can distract as well as encourage the change within the organisation. For example, in universities the old faculties or professors have a different way of teaching, while the new generation faculties trying to infuse new ways of teaching faces resistance from the other members of the university. Companies like 3M are known for their innovative organisational culture. They encourage their employees to bring out innovative ideas and if those ideas are incorporated by the company then that particular employee or team is rewarded. So the culture promotes change and transformation. The employees in such condition embrace change rather than being against it (Flamholtz, and Randle, 2008, p. 6-7). The next factor may be the willingness of the organisation to accept change as criteria for success. For example Kodak, was a successful company, but it had a culture of circumventing hasty steps towards innovation. This idea of Kodak did not work. While the competitors of the company introduced innovative instant photography, high pixel cameras, and VCRs, Kodak was left behind in the race of innovation. The last factor while can be considered as a barrier to change is investment decisions. Generally change is an expensive proposition, so organisations think twice before investing huge sum of funds for planning change (Flamholtz, and Randle, 2008, p. 6-8). In order to manage change, the initial step is to identify what type of change is required. The change within the organisation can be segregated on the basis of the degree of change, centre of change, and stages of change. The scale of change has to be ascertained, that whether the organisation or the various departments within the organisation require an incremental change, a total transformation or a major change. The incremental changes are generally small alterations, major changes on the other hand involves substantial alterations, while transformation is a complete change. For example, when Starbuck introduced Frappuccino in its menu, it was still a cafe shop and in the similar business, as it was in, but if it gets in grocery selling then this would be regarded as complete transformation. The next typology would be the decision regarding the centre of change, which can be either operational or strategic. The strategic change generally involves a shift in the vision of the organisation, while operational changes affect the daily functions of the business. For example, when PepsiCo got into restaurant business, it got into venture with KFC, California Pizza Kitchen, and Pizza Hut. This can be considered a strategic move to focus on beverages as well as foods and snacks. The third typology is based on the stages in the organisation where the change is required that is at team level, individual level or organisational level. While discussing change in organisation, it becomes absolutely necessary to discuss the three-phase change process developed by Kurt Lewin. The three stages of change are unfreezing, change and refreezing or freezing. Figure 1 Source: (Bauer, 2011) Unfreezing – In this stage the employees should be prepared for change because employees within the organisation are resist change in the organisation. Other than this, the initial planning should be done to bring about the change. Change – The second stage is to actually implement the actions that have been planned and teams should be formed to assist in the change process. The involvement of the employees right from the lower levels to the management level should be must, so that the employees welcome change rather than resisting it. Refreezing or Freezing – After the changes have been implemented, the important step is to retain the changes and succeed in reaping the benefits of such transformation or change regularly. The results should be shared with the employees and in case of success; they should be motivated or encouraged for their good work or contribution in changing the strategic or operational functions in the organisation. After understanding and evaluating organisational change in details, we will shift our focus to the organisational dynamics that influences change in the organisation. It goes without saying that the practices and the theories for organisation change has gone through transformation. They have become dynamic, elaborate and complex through the past decade. In several organisations these change projects succeed while in other cases they do not succeed. The dynamics in the organisational change can be explained as a business environment which is more turbulent, less predictable and more dynamic. The boundaries between the surroundings and the organisations have become vague because of globalisation, alterations in the distribution channel, advancement in the technological segment, increasing knowledge base, strategic alliances, and increasing rate of interdependence between the private and the public sectors. Dynamics simply signifies the alterations that have come over in the change process itself within the organisation. The importance of change have remained the same, but the process of implementing the change, the grounds on which change management was designed or the causes which were measured to be the level after which change was necessary has itself changed (Beer, Eisenstat, and Spector, 1988, p. 68-71). The challenges in business environment are different nowadays. The markets are flooded with goods and services, so customers have lots of substitute products to choose from. The marketers are facing a highly competitive market. This was previously not the case, so focus was mainly on creating high quality product, but now promotion is equally important to survive. Technology plays a major role in the operational functions in the organisation, but traditionally the workforce in the organisation performed these functions which are performed by machines nowadays. This has compelled many organisations to re-engineer their organisational structure and implement automation. The next change can be seen in the global economy. After the economic slowdown in 2009, several companies have suffered from bankruptcy and insolvency (Barry, 1997, p. 30-35). This proves that the traditional financial structures requires flexible and shock resistive financial structure which is the only way to protect organisations. Previously the people worked generally in their own countries. They rarely migrated to different countries to work, but the scenario is different nowadays. Diversity is integrated into the organisational culture of the organisation. People from different countries, work in teams in different countries, without any barriers. The world is one country and when it comes to innovation, every employee is important for the organisation irrespective of class, creed, gender, religion, and country. The changing political dimensions of different countries, factors like terrorism, natural calamities, etc are all the dynamics which lead to change in organisations. The change may be minor, major or a transformational change (Alvesson, 2002, p. 71-72). In this study we have already understood the significance of change in the business environment, the ways which are used for bringing about the change and the popularly known change management theories which generally the managers refer to for planning their strategic change framework. The next area of analysis was the dynamics of organisational change. In this section we have understood the changing trend and methodologies on the basis of which change nowadays take place. The external economic and business environment of the world has changed, so based on this the approaches and theories of change process have changed throughout. The real life factors which are responsible for such change are discussed. Now, we would be evaluating the framework of strategic change within organisations, which respect to the organisational dynamics discussed in this essay. The outline for forecasting and executing change within the organisation depends on the organisational efficiency or the success dynamic model. The major factors on which an organisation depends for increasing their long-term goal accomplishment are based on the clinical experiences and empirical research. According to this framework, economic organisations include two basic things: a) strategic building blocks, and b) business foundation. These two mechanisms have to be designed effectively and managed skilfully for the organisation to develop and grow. The first component is the strategic building blocks, it is also known as six major strategies. The six major strategies or building blocks are stated below: 1. The classification and description of a feasible market section and formation of a niche if achievable 2. The growth of services and products for the selected market sector/niche 3. The attainment and increase of the assets required to manage the firm, and to assist growth. 4. The progress of the organization system essential for the long-term operation of the business 5. The development of daily operational functions essential to run the organisation 6. The management and development of the leadership culture in the organisation, and also establish the belief that guidance is essential for the firm and its employees. The second component is the business foundation which includes three facets: a) business concept, b) core strategy, and c) strategic mission. The first key component is the business concept. Business concepts identify the overall reason of doing the business. It answers the question, “What we are?” Changes in organisation are just not just done because everyone is doing so, or since the organisation and its components have become old. Change is essential when the requirement of doing so is felt and understood by the management in the organisation. So it is very important to first understand the purpose for which the organisation was formed and what is their role in the business environment and the society at large? Then only change can be planned. For example, the company AT&T has diversified its business in many ways, but still the company says that it is in telephone business. Core strategy is the major theme or objective around which the organisation plans to develop its strategies and missions. In order to make best use of the plan, the core strategies should be developed on the factors that can distinguish the organisation from the other players or its competitors in the market. For example, the organisation can compete in term of price, or product innovation or through its unique way of promotion. Walmart compete on the basis of its lowest price, while Chanel competes on the basis of its niche group of target customers, quality product. Nike competes utilizing its innovative digital sports products, while G-Star Raw focuses on its raw and dull but classy product design. These are the core strategies of these companies which make them and their products unique in their own way. It should be always kept in mind that changes should be for good and it should not affect these core strategies in a negative manner because change is not welcomed if it is not for something better than the previous. The third component is the strategic mission which signifies the target of the organisation to achieve in the long run. The strategic mission assists in projecting the actions and the direction of the decisions for the future. The strategic mission should be a measurable component. This means that the management, employees and the other stakeholders of the organisation must be able to estimate and identify the progress that is happening in the organisation; otherwise the effects of change cannot be measured. For example, the strategic mission of the company Starbucks from 1994-2000, was to become the major speciality coffee retail chain in US, and the quantitative mission was to achieve a revenue of $2 billion by the year 2000. The dynamics of organisational change can be better understood by studying the change hypothesis through strategic management approaches. There are six major elements that are considered for examining the performance and the positioning of the different organisations. They are stated below: a) Innovative capabilities, b) Substitutability, c) Competitiveness, d) Task before the acquired resources, e) Imitability, and f) Appropriability. According to Hamel and Prahalad, 1994; Kay, 1993, the six elements stated explains the degree to which the organisation has the distinctive capability that relates to the reputation, innovation and architecture. This information also relates to the broadly accepted plan of core competency. These are the liberation technologies and the potentials which allow the organisations to offer advantages to the consumers. The strategic management assist in deciding what should be done, while change management starts with the steps as the inputs and then the decision is made as how to fit those steps in the plan. However, it cannot be said that one of these two is wrong because both of them are interconnected and play significant role in running organisations successfully. Effective change is difficult, but not impossible. The architecture, thought-process, resources, capabilities and the human resources should be streamlined to achieve the impossible. These traits are called connectivity and leverage, which are two major dimensions in case of achieving success while bringing about changes in the organisation (Carnell, 2007, p. 299-300). This essay revolves around understanding change and the emerging dynamics associated with it, because it is crucial to recognize the significance of the change elements in the organisation and plan strategic framework for implementation of those steps. A critical analysis and assessment of the emerging situations, issues, dynamics, challenges and opportunities is essential to unfold the mysteries associated with an effective change plan. The aim was to scrutinize and gauge the influence of the organisational dynamics in case of shaping the perceptions, responses, and the responses. The discussion was done to recognize that change programmes are not designed just like some event in the organisation. The objective is to increase profitability, effectiveness and to assess the qualitative and quantitative progress of the organisation. In a recent study on organisational change, it has been stated that the organisations not only survive to flourish, but they should also be well acquitted with the appropriate changes that need to be done from time to time for the betterment of the organisation (Armenakis and Harris, 2009, p. 128). Most of the change efforts of the organisation fail because of the barriers associated it is. The success of any organisational change depends on the degree of the risk taking ability of the managers and the owners of the company. The undeniable reality of doing business in todays global market is called risk. Since nowadays companies and organisations are working in a seamless market, so the risk has also become borderless nowadays. Companies can stabilize their cash flow through effective risk management practices. Every organisation must have an effective risk management structure. This is because every change event can have either a positive or a negative effect on the organisation and this would also affect the stakeholders of the company. So risk management is the shock cushion that the organisations must utilize to ensure effective change management (Sadgrove, 2005, p. 3; Oreg, 2003, p. 680-683). References Alvesson, M., 2002. Understanding Organisational Culture. California: SAGE. Armenakis, A. and Harris, S. (2009) Reflections: Our Journey in Organizational Change Research and Practice, Journal of Change Management, 9(2), pp. 127–142. Barry, D., 1997. Telling Changes: From Native Family Therapy to Organizational Change and Development. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 10(1), pp. 30-46. Bauer, T., 2011. Organizational Change. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 8 November 2012]. Beer, M., Eisenstat, R. and Spector, B. 1988. The Critical Path to Corporate Renewal. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Carnell, C., 2007. Managing Change in Organization. 5th ed. London: Pearson Hall International. Clegg, S., Kornberger, M., and Pitsis, T., 2005. Managing and Organizations: An introduction to Theory and Practice. California: SAGE. Flamholtz, E., and Randle, Y., 2008. Leading Strategic Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hamel, G., and Prahalad, C. K., 1994. Competing for the Future. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Kay, J., 1993. Foundation of Corporate Success. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Oreg, S., 2003. Resistance to Change: Developing an Individual Difference Measure, Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(4), pp. 680–693. Palmer, I. Richard D., and Akin, G., 2008. Managing Organizational Change: A Multiple Perspectives Approach. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Incorporated. Paton, R.A. and McCalman, J., 2000. Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation. 2nd ed., London: SAGE publications ltd. Sadgrove, K., 2005. The Complete Guide to Business Risk Management. Farnham: Gower Publishing Ltd. Read More