Strategy Choice and Change - Kaleidoscope Model - Essay Example

STRATEGY CHOICE AND CHANGE Introduction Carnall d that when undertaking any change programmes within an organisation, there are change contexts that either serve as challengers or enablers. The challengers are those factors which have the potential of acting as impediment to the overall change process if not addressed, whilst the enablers are factors that can easily facilitate the change process (Das, Binod, Kar & Rauno, 2012). These change contexts can clearer be identified with the transport engineering division (TED) of Ascension plc. The change contexts that organisations experience however do not live in isolation as they are embedded in the culture of the company (Hamel & Coimbatore, 2004). Changing the approach to organisational operations is therefore expected to have a direct impact on the organisational culture. In this paper therefore, the change contexts at TED are analysed in relation to the culture of the organisation. As the change has already taken place, the appropriateness of the change process in relation to known change models will also be analysed. Three major models are used in doing this, including Kaleidoscope model, Johnson cultural web, and Kotter’s 8-step change model. Strategic change context at TED based o Kaleidoscope model and Force Field Analysis In the table below, the outcome of the Kaleidoscope model which identifies eight major change contexts and the variables of these contexts at TED are displayed. Table 1: Inputs from Kaleidoscope model for TED in 2012 Change context Outcome Power The old CEO had mandate to turn the financial position of the company around CEO’s desire to keep the core business intact Time 3 year period to implement the strategic plan from 2012 which is short 3 phases of change to take place with immediate effect in 2012 Scope Transformational change required in makin TED financially viable. High scope of change required in organisational structure Readiness Management members aware that change will happen before the new CEO Management members sense signs of change before the coming of a new CEO Management members ready to support change ahead of the coming of new CEO Capability (high) Scepticism among some senior management members on outcome with change with old CEO Time to act as limitation as its very short Declined cash inflows Capacity Financial capacity was a major issue within the department Departure of skilled human resource to be used as the pivot of change Preservation Low levels of knowledge, skills and capabilities of staff to grow the department Need to keep core business intact New approach to company spending habits Diversity Differentiated values, work attitude and perception of the business among personnel Enablers Based on the Kaleidoscope model given about, there are some aspects of change context that can be identified as enablers. These include power, readiness, preservation and capacity. The reason these are said to be enablers is because they have the potential of fostering the change process that was intended to happen. For example in terms of power, the fact that power was vested in the CEO to carry out desirable changes whilst maintaining organisational processes meant that issues of resistance to change was going to be minimal (Balogun & Hailey, 2009). Again, as noted by Christensen and Lærgreid (2002) readiness to change on the part of employees is a major determinant of success with change. Meanwhile, given the background to TED’s performance, before the coming of the new CEO, all employees appreciated the need for there to be change, which informed their readiness. In terms of preservation, even though the factors identified were downgrading, their mere existence gave the justification for why there needed to be change and so are considered as enablers. This is because Carnall (2013) argued that whenever negative contexts are identified, they serve as catalysts for speeding up the change process because no leader wants to continue working with such negative contexts in place. Lastly, the capacity at both individual and organisational levels permitted change because they embodied high levels of motivation of why the change was necessary. Challenges Whiles the enablers informed and justified the changes there were challengers which had the potential of retarding the whole process of change. These were seen in the contexts of scope, time, capacity (high) and diversity. For example in terms of both scope and time, it would be seen from table 1 that the company and for that matter Jack had so much to cover but within a limited time. Meanwhile Lockwood (2006) observed that when the scope of change that must take place in any organisational context is wide, the change process becomes more effective when there is sufficient time to systematically execute components of the change. In the case of TED, all three phases of change which were expected to turn the finances of the company around were to be done in only 3 years. What was more, there were issues with diversity as the differences among senior management and middle management was not one that was welcoming and accommodating for effective cooperation to take place. In terms of capacity, one critical resource that can be said to be vital for any change such as the one that TED was seeking is money. However, the company was retarded in cash inflows, which meant that internal sourcing of funds was going to be impossibility for the department (Balogun, 2006). Force Field Analysis Figure 1: Lewins Force Field Analysis for TED Forces for change Fazio, Powell and Herr (2013) made an argument in organizational management principle that unless something is broken, there is no need fixing it. The implication that this principle give in the case of Ascension plc in general and TED to be specific is that change would never have been necessary if there were no strategic change contexts found within the department. Rightly deduced from the Lewin’s Force Field Analysis, there are some forces that were pushing for change. These included customer needs to see the TED win and undertake new contracts, threat that the department will be closed down if the poor performance continues, need for there to be financial growth, the need to eliminate unprofitable projects, and the control and power given to the new CEO. With the exception of the last force, it will be appreciated that all the forces for change boil down to the finance of the department and the need to ensuring that TED became financially viable again. Forces against change When TED, there were factors against change which could act as inhibitors for the change that needed to take place within the department. The issues outlined in figure 2 under the resisting change can be summed as lack of employee competence to make the department realise its goals, and lack of sufficient funds to run the targeted change programme which was broken down in 3 phases and over a 3 year period by Jack. Analysis of Culture of TED based on Johnson’s Cultural Web model The organisational culture of companies has been noted to be one major determinant of how organisational operations and activities are carried out (Johnson & Scholes, 1998). Because the organisational culture can also affect the interaction between employees and between employees and customers, it has been identified to be a major determinant of the overall performance of the organisation. In the light of this, before any major change takes place in an organisation or department of an organisation such as TED, it is reasonable to have a fair understanding of the current culture, what is right and wrong with that culture, and how desired culture is expected to be. This way, it is possible to evaluate changes within the organisation to ascertain their extent of compliance with desired organisational cultural changes. In table 2, figure 2 and 3 below, the Johnson’s cultural web model is used to compare and contrast the culture of TED before the change in 2012 and after the change in 2014. Table 2: Organisational Culture of TED before and after change Culture Before change in 2012 After change in 2014 Stories TED no longer taking contract Customer disappointment Top customer rating High commitment by employees Rituals and routines Search for new contracts Failed contracts by employees High levels of productivity Symbols Breakdown in organisational proesses Formation of fun activities Organisational structure Hierarchical structure Absence of proper guiding principles Flatter structure Stronger coordination within structure Control systems No power controls Ineffective IT system No clear power controls Ineffective IT system Power structures Concentrated power among few All-inclusive power system Free-flow of information within ranks of the organisation Shared responsibility among management and employees PARADIGM A disorganised department A non-productive department A well organised department A profit oriented department From the cultural web constructed, it is possible to clearly identify areas of similarities and differences in the organisational culture of TED before the change in 2012 and after the change in 2014. These differences and similarities are further discussed below. Differences With reference to the cultural contexts identified by Johnson in his cultural web, it would be noted that there are five major areas where the cultures of TED before and after the change are totally different. These include stories, rituals and routines, symbols, organisational structure, and power structure. For example whereas the department was totally avoiding any new contracts before the change, it became known as a top rated department after the change. As would be expected, the change in what people talked about in the organisation as stories was directly affected the rituals and routines that TED switched unto. For example whiles the routine had been that customers had expected new contracts but to no avail, the department started competing effectively after the change and thus the story about the rating by customers. This gives a clear indication of the impact of organisational culture as determined by reflected by employees’ attitude to work on customer attitude towards the organisation. This is because where employees behind working in a customer centred manner, they receive higher rating and endorsement from customers (Johnson, Whittington & Scholes, 2011). What is more, there were differences in symbols as employees who used to show disappointment now exhibited a strong relationship with their management because of change in organisational structure which no longer became hierarchical and bureaucratic but flat. Lastly, the change in organisational structure came with a corresponding change in the power structures as suggested by Johnson (2000) where it was said that the structure of an organisation impacts directly on the distribution of power within that organisation. Similarities Among the six areas of cultural context at TED, there was only one area where similarities were identified before the change and after the change. This had to do with the control systems of the department. This is because both before the change and after the change, no clearly defined power controls existed. What is more, there were ineffective IT systems which never changed. Relating this situation to the quest of the new CEO to keep the core business intact, it would be understood why not much attention was put on the control systems. This is because Lynch (2009) identified the control systems of organisations as serving as the fulcrum around which almost all other aspects of the organisational process revolve. Changing the control system could therefore imply that the core business of TED be also changed. With this said, the fact that the IT system which is an integral part of modern business operationalization was not changed cannot be justified. This is because Ostroff (2006) stated that IT systems are instrumental in positively affecting all aspects of the organisational culture including structure, and rituals and routines. Evaluation of TED’s change process Change is a process rather than an event, requiring that it will be undertaken through the careful and systematic connection of series of tasks (Ostroff, 2006). For most organisations, the main challenge with undertaking changes is with the successful implementation of the desired change outcome (Schoemaker, Krupp & Howland, 2013). Because of this, Kotter (2001) saw a situation where even though most organisational leaders desire to have changes and know exactly what they want to see at the end of the change, fail to implement change because they lack the tactical knowhow. Using the Kotter 8-step change model however makes the whole idea of change process very simple to execute. Below, component of the Kotter 8-step model and how they were followed at TED is given. Table 3: Utilisation of Kotters change process model Step Action taken at TED Create a sense of urgency CEO face to face consultation with stakeholders of the need for change Form a guiding coalition Change process led by senior management in coalition with CEO Create a vision The “future first” vision was set to improve profitability in 3 years Communicate the vision The “future first” vision was clearly communicated to all in-house stakeholders Empower others to act on the vision The open ended and free sharing nature of the organisation encouraged all to act on the vision Crete quick wins Creation of manageable chunks at TED to represent early successes Build on the change Training and development programmes were put in place to perpetuate the change Institutionalise the change Change was made part of the culture of TED Even though it can be seen that with each step on the Kotter’s change process model there were things that the CEO did at TED, it is still possible to analyse what worked well and what did not work so well at the department. Looking at the change process from a collective perspective, one major determinant of success that can be associated with the change at TED is the fact that the whole process was highly consultative and involving in nature. As a matter of such, these attributes were ensured by the new CEO right from the onset when he consulted stakeholders such as customers and senior management to understand the problem and then communicating the vision of change back to these people. As noted by Kotter (2012) in organisations where change take place with the inclusion and involvement of all recognised stakeholders, the issue of resistance to change is highly unlikely. Meanwhile resistance to change can be noted to be a major setback with the successful accomplishment of any change process (Lockwood, 2006). In effect, apart from the fact that the Kotter model was generally followed, it was not followed in a rigid and subjective manner that centred on the new CEO only. This was what worked well for the new CEO and distinguished him from the old CEO whose inability to ensure profitability for the company can certainly be implied to be incapability. Because of the approach by the new CEO, there was shared responsibility among all stakeholders such that each person was willing to give a hand to ensure the success of the change. With the positive factors noted, it would also be appreciated that there were some approaches to the Kotter 8-step model at TED that could have been improved for better outcome. One such issue that easily comes out is the incorporation of innovative schemes in the implementation of the change process. for example even though it would be admitted that there was the creation of sense of urgency, vision and communication of vision, all these could have been done by incorporating innovative techniques that would have made the process simpler and more efficient. For example the new CEO could have employed the use of system thinking and incorporate sufficient IT through the use of new media in gaining information as well as disseminating same (Becker, Huselid & Ulrich, 2001). Given the fact that there were only 3 years to achieve the 3 phases of change, any form of innovation that helped in saving time was something that the new CEO should have embraced highly. Meanwhile the advantage of such system thinking and IT parameters in saving time with any change process has been clearly supported in literature and practice. The effect of the neglect for the use of innovative schemes was clearly manifested when in the long term the department could not change some of its control systems such as the IT system. Conclusion Through the use of Balogun and Hope Hailey’s Change Kaleidoscope model and Lewin’s Force field analysis, it was possible to identify the change context at TED as of December 2012 and go ahead to find aspects of the context that act as either enablers or challengers. It was emphasised that change was an obvious thing that was going to happen at the department. Because of this, there was a high level of readiness for the new CEO to undertake the change. The awareness and readiness was however directly translated into believe that the change was going to yield any improved outcome. Because of this, initial scepticism on the part of employees and managers served as a force against the change process, including lack of funds to turn the productivity of the company around. With the enthusiasm and strategic tactics of the new CEO however, most cultural contexts that were otherwise discouraging to growth within the organisation were changed at the end of the planned change process. For example, the company that was otherwise an ideal one became known for its competitiveness and customer endorsement. Ahead of the change however, there were hardly any customers who praised the situation at TED. In the last section of the paper, the real reason behind the ability of the new CEO to succeed when management was sceptical was known. This is because it became clear that a lot of consultation was done whiles undertaking the change process. The consultation was also done by vividly following the provisions of the Kotter’s model. It has however been said that if the company had been more innovative with the change process, it could have supposed the achievements it made and had an improved IT system as well. References Balogun J. & Hailey V.H. (2009). Exploring Strategic Change, 3rd edition, New York: Prentice Hall, 2009. Balogun J. 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