Individual Business Report - Assignment Example

of the project: of the ID Executive Summary The main purpose of the report is to solve a case study by emphasising on the success of the change programs that was adopted by the organisation, Forestry Commission. The case provides insights of the situation that was encountered by the organisation due to the change in environmental policies. The report lays emphasis on the background of FC and how the employees have resisted change for many years. However, after the appointment of a new Director General, David Bills, the organisation culture changed with respect to the government policies. The changes took place with the help of four programs that was directed at improving the relationship between the top level management and employees. The report also established the success of the change programs that was adopted by the organisation. Table of Contents Introduction 4 Background of Forestry Commission of Great Britain 4 Discussion 5 Preparing for changes 7 Planning for change 9 Implementation of changes 11 Conclusion 15 Recommendation 15 Reference List 16 Introduction The report is prepared based on the case study that highlights the changes that are made in the management of Forestry Commission of Great Britain for responding towards changing the expectation of society. The strategic changes that are taken by the new Director General of the organization are depicted in order to understand how he managed to control the depressing situation among the employees when he joined the organization. The approaches used for writing the report are based on both theoretical and practical frameworks, which are gathered from journals and the case study respectively. The theoretical part of the report is written in order to connect the views of different authors with the case study. The change are adopted under the leadership of the new Director General, which marks the fact that leaders helps in bringing change to an organization when it is required. Hence, in this report leadership has captured a significant portion as changes are implemented mainly by the leaders. Background of Forestry Commission of Great Britain FC is a devolved organization which aims at delivering solution to the localities so that they can enjoy the woodlands and forests in search of recreation. It also develops policies that support the sustainable development of forests so as to fulfil economic, social and environmental objectives. The traditional economic role related to forestry has encountered significant changes. The economic role has changed into multifunctional role of economy that primarily included timber production and rural employment. The new role is observed to be more severe, as the forests are regarded as the place where wide range of consumers can enjoy particular offerings, which can meet their requirements (Case study). In order to support the conversion of traditional role of forestry to modern role, the organization has invested time and labour during 1996-2002. The effort was made to convert the whole operation style of the organization. The new Director General, David Bills was appointed during 1996; he marked the need for changing organizational culture from hierarchical, centralized organization to a devolved decision making unit where local solutions are delivered after greater participation and consultations with the localities. It was not easy for the Director General to implement the changes in the organization as it employed about three thousand employees. The change was directed at providing them individual power of decision making for any action (Case study). Discussion Implementing change in an organization is a difficult job as it takes into account modification of the policies and strategies that was devised quite a long time ago. In light of this, Beer and Nohria (2000) has stated that leadership have played a significant role as it is concerned with inspiring changes in the operation of an organization and setting up directions that will lead to success. The leaders are responsible for identifying the changes that are required in the organization after considering the financial part (Higgs, 2002; Mento, Jones and Dirndorfer, 2002). The employees, who are the main target of change plays a pivotal role in managing changes by maintaining the culture of the organization (Kieffer, 2005). Hence, good communication skills are crucial for leaders as they need to communicate the changes to the employees. If there is communication gap, the employees are de-motivated and do not give their full effort in the work; it leads to decrease in productivity of the employees and organization as a whole (Oakland and Tanner, 2007; LaLonde, 2006; Rick, 2006; Jeffry, Laurie and Angelo, 2008). In the change process, the organizations are asked to identify the main source of changes and whether changes are actually required. Here the sources can be either external or internal (Jick, 2003). The internal drivers are the manifestation for external drivers of change. Hence, it can be stated that organizations undertakes changes due to different external drivers (Kevin, 2007; Jonas and Andreas, 2008; Kim, 2008; Eric, 2008; Eric, 2000). The phase in which the organization identify the needs for change is also known as preparing for change. At this stage, the leaders play a significant role in establishing a new direction for providing solution in form of changes (Smith, 2002; Bunker, et al., 2006; George and Jones, 2002). After identifying the changes, the leaders should plan for some programs through which changes are undertaken in the organization (Martin and Cheung, 2002; Erakovic and Wilson, 2005). At this stage, the leaders play a significant role of identifying the priorities for the changes. Hence, successful change program takes into account alternative decisions making, which is also associated with the risk of getting rejected by the employees (Beckhard and Pritchard, 1992; Copello, Templeton and Velleman, 2006). However, through their decisions, the leaders develop the success criteria and communicate those to the employees through storytelling approach. The changes are self-sufficient but it should be continuous so as to improve the situation and find solutions. Nevertheless, the changes made by the leaders should be aligned with the operational issues (Oakland and Tanner, 2006; Schimmel and Muntslag 2009). The most important part in the change process is implementing the changes that are identified and planned in the previous two stages. This stage is vital and should be managed tactfully as the success of the plan is dependent on it (Harold, Perry and Alan, 2005). The changes are to be implemented in such a manner that it does not harm the feelings and sentiments of the employees. The information pertaining to the changes are communicated to the employees properly so as to avoid future conflict of interest (Paper, Rodger and Pendharkar, 2001; Lawler and Worley, 2006; Mcshane and Von Glinow, 2005). The theoretical perspective of the report is linked with the case study of FC. The gradual change from the traditional to modern economic role is observed. The change was triggered in FC after the new Director General, David Bill was appointed. The change has taken place in three stages: preparing for changes, planning for changes and implementing the changes. Preparing for changes David Bills was appointed as the Director General of FC during the year 1995, when it was struggling to adopt the multifunctional role. The new General was not a Civil servant of the UK; however he was an Australian forester, who had working experience in the private forestry sector. The main reason for appointing an external General in the Board of FC is that the management was old fashioned and mechanistic in managing the activities and employees (Case Study). The new General joined the organization at a very challenging position; the overall morale of the organization was very low as the employees were not confident regarding their work. The Board of FC wanted the General to restore the confidence of the employees. Hence, effective changes are needed for establishing the confidence within the employees. However, the General had to encounter a challenge that is related to the low morale of the employees. The employees belief that changes are not required and thus it was challenging for the General to make them understand regarding the changes. His role in Board of FC was not to help the ministers to stay out of problems, manage the financial budget and adhere to the policies; but to help the employees to move towards developing a modern organization by leaving the old fashioned techniques. The modern role of the organization was focused towards developing a flexible, progressive and outward looking working environment. Moreover, the traditional organizational culture followed by FC needs transformation. The organization initially followed a hierarchical structure where the power distance between the top and bottom is high. The status and power in this organization was based on the rank, expertise knowledge, job title and political influences. The management style followed by the organization is autocratic in nature, which gives emphasis on control and command (Lok, et al., 2005). The workforce of the organization was divided into industrial and non-industrial. These groups of employees are recruited on different terms and conditions. The employees are not communicated with right decisions, as a result there was lack of communication that had developed such a culture where there was low confidence and trust among them. In such a situation, organizational changes are inevitable. Hence, the new General had to take the challenge of finding solutions related to improvement of the depressing situation in the organization. The productivity of the organization improved during the period 1960-70 as mechanization technique was adopted by FC. There was guaranteed timber supply which encouraged the organization to focus on investment in timber production. This developed new markets for timber supply. Thatcher’s Conservative government during the period 1980 had shifted the market model by encouraging privatization programs that gives emphasis on selling land and public sector organizations. This threatened the mission of FC as commercial timber production did not equalize with environmental conservation. During 1990s FC had to experience a number of assaults, which developed pressure on their operation. In order to respond to the situation, the Forestry Review examined the policies and mission of FC (Case Study). The consequence was split of the FC into Forestry Authority (FA) for playing regulatory role and Forest Enterprise (FE). Hence, there were changes in the organization and the employees were resistant to it as they could not be able to cope up with the drastic split of the organization. During the tenure of new Director General, all the issues needs to be sorted out with regard to the changes in external and internal environment of the organization. Planning for change The changes were planned in FC after Kyoto International Convention and Rio Earth Summit took initiatives against the rising environmental concerns, which influenced the general public (Faustmann, 1999). At this time the external stakeholders of FC accused the organization for lacking awareness in animal rights and environmental issues. In order to safeguard the downfall of the organization, changes are planned in such as manner, which will lead to positive results. The non-profit contribution of the company was challenged because of the harsh economic realities that were encountered by the society. Hence, the management of the organization found it difficult to manage the forests sustainably and also consider the environmental issues. Moreover, during 1997, the Social Inclusion Agenda developed by the new labor government gave emphasis on the issues pertaining to forestry. The issues are related to public access, recreation and health. Therefore, it is easy to state that FC needed to incorporate this agenda in its policies which includes public access to the woodlands for walk and also cycle trails. This also indicated towards the fact that the organization had to work more closely with the local communities and conservation groups and also convey its mission in form of message to the public through a wide range of educational, recreational and conservational activities. It should also support the development work that is related to the timber industries. FC had always been authoritative; hence there is need for forward thinking process by the organisation and also get into partnership with other organisations for accommodating their needs. It should also plan to become flexible and adaptive to the changing situation where the employees share a good relationship with the organization and work hard to fulfil needs and desire of external stakeholders. In light of the above mentioned facts pertaining to FC, the views of Lievers and Lubberding (1996) can be elaborated. They had stated that the changes are not only prevalent in structure, systems and procedures of the organizations but it also brings changes in the behaviour of the employees (Heracleous and Langham, 1996; Pryor, et al., 2008). The behaviour of the employees is affected as there is change in values and norms of the organization, which is represented by the cognition. The new practices are directed at incorporating the changes that are taking place in the business environment. Thus, the theories related to managing change can be connected with the practical scenario that is encountered by FC. There are changes in the external policies that are related to the protection of the environment. These policies have not only modified the structure and procedures of the organization but have also affected the behavior of the employees in FC, who are resistant to changes. They had lost confident in their work and have acquired low morale as they have to experience a series of changes due to the changes in the external environment (Kohles, Baker and Donaho, 1995). David had the responsibility to ensure that the employees gain knowledge regarding the unavoidable changes. He had to motivate the employees so that they can understand the need of changes and do not resist them. Therefore, it is noteworthy to mention that leadership plays an important role in adopting changes in the organization. David had played a significant role in implementing the changes in the organization so as to increase the productivity of the employees. Apart from the strategically changes that David had brought to the organization, he had also commented on the changes that had taken place before his appointment, which is observed to be positive. This proves that the leader had not only given the organization a new direction to come out of the traditional mechanism but it has also respected the changes that had taken place earlier (Moon, 2009). Implementation of changes Prior to the joining of David Bills during December 1995, FC had tried to address the problems that had been raised due to the changes in the government policies. It directed the organization to reduce the cost and fulfil a number of government targets that are imposed on it. In order to undergo the changes, the organization had to restructure a number of operations so that the efficiency of the organization is increased by reducing the resource utilization and simplifying the work procedures. After the appointment of David Bills, he felt that rather than imposing number of changes at once, he examined the pulse of the organization. Hence, he visited different parts of the organization and questioned the employees about their feeling pertaining to the activities are conducted. The informal questions reviewed the existing practices and processes of the organization. The first change that was required in the organization was related to reduction of expenses by slimming down the number of employees with the help of voluntary retirement schemes. The strategy did not work for rebuilding the morale of the employees rather it assisted in forming a new Executive Management Team. The new team was advised to play an important role in major future interventions. Four new programs were implemented for changing the scenario of the organization; the programs are discussed henceforth. Unification The main aim of the program was to unify the two-tier workforce in the organization by defining common set of policies and remove the barriers between the upper and lower management level. It included abolition of wage structures, pension funds and allowances that was prevalent in the industry. There was no article demarcation between the different levels of management post-unification as all shared a single grading and pay structure along with training and development programs. Unification Working Group was formulated so as to facilitate unification process. The group consisted of trade union representatives and experienced field staffs. This was the first attempt for approaching any change in the organization and it was ascertained that the changes are communicated to the employees. The team had the responsibility to communicate the unification process with the help of road shows in order to inform the staffs. The result of this unification process was positive and it highlighted the shift from the old hierarchical structure. Despite the efforts of communicating the changes to the staffs, there were mixed reaction pertaining to the acceptance of new structure. However, the approach had been helpful for achieving successful results yet again modifications were needed to improve the two-way communication so as to build trust among the staffs. Leadership program The senior management of FC decided to work on the leadership skills of the 250 seniors and the middle managers. A group was developed in order to select the external partners who had to provide the training. The group comprised range of managers from different parts of the organization. The main motive of the program was to develop a large group for internal changes who are regarded as the internal change agents. These agents are responsible for leading their staffs through the implementation process of change. Cultural webs were utilized in order to help the middle and senior managers for exploring strategic context of changes. The main results of the change program helped the managers to consider the ways that should be employed by for assisting the staffs to adopt new way of working. The cultural web gave emphasis on the shared discussions with that of the facilitators which encouraged the debate among managers. The managers had described the process as important, thought-provoking and valuable as it gave various views regarding the strategies of FC. The leadership programs were directed at the senior and middle level managers; nevertheless, it was observed that few managers did not take the changes positively and refused to even participate in the leadership program. CONNECT workshops During the leadership events, it was recognized by the managers that the staffs should be included in the change process. In order to address the issue pertaining to the inclusion of the staffs in the change process, the new team designed a workshop for improving the two way communication between the managers and employees. The main motive of the workshops was to present feedback that was obtained from the staffs and discusses the same in front of the managers so that they could also give their decisions. The team was developed in such a manner that they were interactive and also aims at seeking the views of the people so that it can be discussed latter. The workshop also assisted the senior and executive managers to listen to the feedback of the employees rather than forcing their decisions on them. The main importance of the workshop was that it gave the opportunity to the senior management to have direct fact to fact discussion with the employees. The result of the workshop was mixed as it was viewed as a genuine attempt from the managers to listen to the employees. New FC values The new organizational culture was reaffirmed with the development of new FC values during the month of May in 2002. The value was published in booklets that were sent to the individuals and the new recruits. The main challenges pertaining to the new FC values were greater trust among the employees, better communications and improved performance management. VSPC program The main aim of the program was to assist the frontline managers to understand the changes that had taken place in FC. It also helps the managers to challenge their beliefs and assumptions that shift from the old culture. The program is open to all levels of management within the FC. The executives and the middle level managers had participated in the events. About 400 managers attended the workshop and many had assured their presence in future workshops. This helped the organization to build a strong frontline workforce, who had the understanding regarding core values and strategic imperatives. Apart from the above mentioned changes, the government during August 2002 announced Forestru Devolution Review (FDR), which led to internal restructuring of FC into 3 separate delivery streams and funds. The main aim of devolution was to develop better policy for the rural after retaining desirable benefits from the collaborative process. Devolution had made significant changes in the culture of the organization. Conclusion FC had continued to make changes after the new Director General, David Bills was appointed. The change programs were successful to a great extent as it was focussed on improving the morale of employees. In this case, the employees also included the top level managers to lower level managers; even the frontline managers were also targeted for the changes. The senior managers of FC were of the opinion that the changes were needed to be adopted by the employees. The changes in the organization culture were guided through a number of programs, which were observed to be successful. The programs helped the senior managers of the organization to communicate with the employees with much effort and avoided miscommunication. The changes are discussed with the staffs so that they can also provide insights regarding the success of the practices. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that the changes had taken place because of the modifications in the environmental policies. It can be concluded that the change programs undertaken by David Bills had succeeded in making prominent changes in the organization, which were also adopted by the employees. Recommendation David Bills should have given extensive training to the employees in order to make them understand that change was needed at that juncture. The training sessions would have underlined the drawbacks of the organization and highlighted the reason behind their low productivity. In this way, they could have realized that though many changes had taken place in the past but few positive changes were also needed after the appointment of the new Director General. Reference List Beckhard, R. and Pritchard, W., 1992. 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