Business Self-Reflection: Organizational Culture - Assignment Example

Business Self-Reflection: Organizational Culture Contents Introduction 3 Discussion 3 Organizational Changes 3 Reason behind Organizational Changes 4 Resistance to Change 4 Dealing with such Cultural Conflicts related to Resistance to Change 5 Establishing a Participative Management 6 Change Management 6 Organizational Learning 8 Kolb’s Dual Continuum Line of Learning Model 9 Merger and Acquisition 10 Conclusion 10 Reference List 12 Introduction Organizational culture is an important consideration in the study of organizational behaviour. Various aspects of organizational culture such as organizational changes, merger and acquisition, learning etc in aggregate, gives a clear picture of the business practices followed within and outside of the organization (Anderson, 2013). In this era of globalization, organizations are experiencing multiple complexities, as a result of cultural integration due to expansion of business in different parts of the globe. Accordingly, I have studied various theories and models and developed my understanding on how organization can cope up with the problems related to organizational culture and consequently establish harmony in the organizational context efficiently (Cameron and Quinn, 2011). In this reflective essay, I will discuss the critical opinion of researchers regarding organizational culture and its different perspective such as organizational changes, organizational learning and merger- acquisition. Discussion In the next segment, I will analyse the most important issue with organizational culture i.e. organizational changes and how an organization deals with such issues efficiently and effectively. Organizational Changes Organizational change is the process through which an organization introduces structural changes i.e. changes in its business strategies, technological involvement, operational methods and other attributes of organizational culture. My research has also shown that any organization, operating in the global multinational circumference, organizational change is inevitable for confirming its existence in the ever- changing business world and ensuring smooth running of its operations (Markovic, 2012). I have studied organizational change in the research of Battilana and Casciaro (2012) as a continuous process which is important for any organization to review the internal and external business environment over a distinct period of time and understand whether any changes are required to bring in the organization. Reason behind Organizational Changes My research on the theories introduced by Cameron and Green (2012) has revealed that various internal and external factors existing in the environment in which the business entity is operating, forces its management to bring changes in the organizational process. If I consider the external variables, changes in economic and political regulations such as increase in exchange rate or changes in trade regulations over time highly influences the business to change its short and long term decisions in order to safeguard the organization from realizing huge loss. Technological advancement also influences an organization to bring in changes so that the method of production becomes swifter and economic. In some cases, I believe that organizations tend to merge with another business entity operating in similar business line or acquire a company that is engaged into producing a critical part of the organization’s business (French, 2011). Such activities are augmented for further business expansion or to accelerate the process of operations. However, such initiative also amalgamates two different organizational cultures. For the purpose of tapping lucrative business opportunities in the industry segment, organizations tend to enhance their production line. When in examined the internal factors, I understood that changes are required to be introduced from time to time in order to fill up the performance gap and achieve organizational objectives within the stipulated period of time. Moreover, when an organization experiences a decline in market share and reduction in sales, this also acts like an alarming situation for an organization and the corresponding management understands that changes should be introduced into the system so that they can regain their competitive position in the marketplace (Cameron and Green, 2012). Resistance to Change From the above discussion, I acknowledge that in most of the time changes are brought to the organization for the sake of organizational development and for betterment of the employees. However, I have noticed that in most of the cases, employees resist to such organizational changes introduced by the management level. Organizational changes, especially implementation of technological changes, incorporate insecurity among employees that they might become abundant for the organization (Witte and Muijen, 2000). Fear of losing jobs comply the employees to resist the change. I also consider resistance to change to be an emotional outcome when employees oppose such changes on the ground that they will require to bring in adjustment in their status quo. In general, I have experienced that individuals become so accustomed to the complexities in the workplace that any changes, whether it is implementing for the betterment of employees themselves, threatened their subsistence. In fact, changes in production process creates dilemma among the employees regarding whether they will be able to perform well, utilizing the newly installed technologies and complying with the upgraded business standard. My study on economic factors has shown that such factors also influence the employees to react against the change process (Schabracq, 2009). Especially when wage payment is closely related to productivity, labours fail to understand that employment of technology will loosen their work burden. Rather, they believe that it will be difficult for them to raise productivity through using the newly installed technologies and eventually such inefficiency will lead them to lose their jobs or reduce their payment (Harvey and Broyles, 2010). Ambiguity regarding the change environment, mainly due to merger and acquisition, creates uncertainty among the middle level managers regarding their authority or responsibility. In fact I can emphasise on the fact that, the managers fear that whether their existing status will be maintained in the merged company or not (Sverdlik, 2011). Such thought tends to hamper their productivity to a great extent. My in depth study has also shown that different cultural prevalence in the two different organizations to be merged, also create conflict and the employees show resistance to change. Moreover, if the existing structure is more rewarding than the proposed system, employees will definitely resist to such changes (Grieves, 2010). Dealing with such Cultural Conflicts related to Resistance to Change While I was evaluating why the employees tend to contradict with organizational changes, it has become prominent to me that adaptations of new rules and regulations which will require the employees to come out of their comfort zone influence them to resist such changes. Financial and job related insecurities also acts as a source of resistance among the employees. As changes are unavoidable, I think the management must deal the whole process with patience as well as considerable time and energy. Moreover, my understanding indicates that the complex organizational structure makes the employees so conservative that it becomes difficult for them to react positively towards any changes (Reiss, 2012). Establishing a Participative Management I have witnessed that in order to implement the change process effectively and to experience minimum resistance; the management should strive to establish participative management process before exercising any changes. The employees should be communicated regarding the changes well in advance. This will help the employees to understand the positive notion arising out of such organizational changes. I also believe that the possibilities of grapevines and rumours regarding the changes will also be eliminated to a great extent. The employees should be elaborated each and every steps of the changes to be implemented. In this way, the management will be able to drive the group inertia towards acceptance of such changes (Schein, 2010). After communicating the change process, the employees should be asked for their valuable suggestions as they are directly associated with the production and distribution process. I consider that this will infuse a feeling of ownership among employees and they will start believing that they are still regarded to be an important part of the organization. The management should make the employees understand that the changes are implemented for the betterment of the employees and the organization at large. I think, if the organization can enhance its bottom line through successful implementation of the change process, then this will in turn be reflected in the employees’ welfare only. Such transparency in communication process between employees and management will definitely eliminate the sense of insecurity among the employees (Keyton, 2011). In fact, I strongly consider that the employees should be promised training and development programs relevant to the change process in order to boost up their confidence and such training programs should also be executed in a timely manner. Change Management As organizational change is subject to create cultural conflict and strong resistance from the employee side, managing changes in an efficient manner is a process that requires considerable time and effort from the management side. Many behavioural scientists have contributed towards successful implementation of change process. Among all these, I consider the Change Management Model proposed by Lewin to be the most important theories in this regard. According to this model, I feel that it is important to understand the requirement for change, much before implementation of the change process in the organizational framework. The theory states that for managing the change process successfully, three significant steps must be followed such as Unfreeze, Change and refreeze (Robbins, Judge and Campbell, 2010). Figure 1: Lewin’s Change Management Model We have seen in Lewin’s model that before implementation of the change process, the management must unfreeze the organizational environment in order to identify the sources of resistance within or outside the organization and strive to minimize such occurrences. It evaluates the current level of acceptability and accordingly tends to create awareness among all individuals within the organization regarding the positive essence of the changes. The research of Battilana and Casciaro (2012) have shown us that the system also tends to eliminate stagnant thinking process and organizational structure that creates hindrance in the process of implementation of organizational changes. Communication of organizational change has given importance in this particular stage. We need to understand that the employees are also required to comprehend the competitive advantages that the organization is going to experience through implementation of forthcoming changes and motivate the employees by showing employee benefits arising out of such changes (Shin, Taylor and Seo, 2012). Next is the transition phase in which the organizational changes are implemented in various operations of the business process. This phase includes maximum uncertainties regarding success of the change process. Hence, according to my understanding success of this stage largely depends on the successful execution of the previous phase i.e. unfreezing. The sooner the employees will understand the benefits of changes, the easier it will become for the organization to employ the changes. Shin, Taylor and Seo (2012) have shown us that the employees experience the change process in reality, they start struggling with new difficulties in their regular course of action. Hence, probability of arising uncertainty or fear among employees becomes very high. We consider this to be the most important stage in the change management process because in this stage the management has to deal with real consequences of the organizational changes. Therefore, the management must possess considerable patience and persistence for establishing the positivity of the change among the employees. They should understand the requirements and accordingly arrange behavioural and technical trainings to fulfil the gap between new process and employees’ expertise. I also believe that it is the management’s responsibility to remind the employees from time to time that the changes are planned for their betterment only and the management is always with their employees, no matter how much motivational or technical support is necessitated during the change process. Once the change process has been implemented, the final stage is called refreezing. We have studied in the research work of Sverdlik (2011) that the stage indicates the act of strengthening and stabilizing the changed process. When the organizational changes are established, emphasis should also be given for modifying and reinforcing the organizational goals, process and structure. New norms are established and it is noticed how long the employees are being able to perform according to the changed norms. The more the employees comply with the changed process, the more the success of the organizational changes can be ascertained. I believe, the important consideration in this regard is that the management should ensure that the employees do not revert back to the old system. Organizational Learning According to my opinion, the most effective way of improving organizational culture and cementing the organizational changes is to enhance organizational learning. Organizational learning refers to the process of creating, preserving and transmitting knowledge base within the organization. An employee enhances his knowledge base through gaining experience within the organization (Argote, 2012). When such experiences and realizations are shared among peer groups and colleagues, it creates a form of group learning. In this process, an employee tends to implement a new operational function experienced and shared by another employee. If that employee also witnesses that the work process has become easier by using the idea provided by his colleagues, then he will lead to provide a positive feedback regarding his learning through work experience (Msoroka, 2013). If such feedback is confined into the department of the employee it is called group learning. Organizational learning also facilitates the employees to obtain knowledge and information regarding organizational objectives, both short and long term, and the most efficient process of working through which the employees will be able to achieve the organizational goals most efficiently. A series of training and development programs, role play, interactive sessions etc are included in the organizational learning process. A large number of theories have also been developed in order to provide a structure of organizational learning. In the next segment, I will discuss Klob’s Dual Continuum Line of Learning Model for better understanding of organizational learning. Kolb’s Dual Continuum Line of Learning Model Figure 3: Kolb’s Dual Continuum Line of Learning Model Kolb’s Dual Continuum Line of Learning Model provides a cyclical approach of learning that enables individuals to identify the learning objectives and content and infusing this content in a step by step manner. The four perspective model aims to make us understand a cognitive learning environment. The process involves watching a certain organizational incident or process, thinking how the process can bring effectiveness in the organizational context, implementing the process into the organizational operations and finally, analysing how much effectiveness the system has been generated in reality (Zimmermann, 2011). We can sum up the whole process by stating that it indicates a full cyclical learning process in which each and every step of learning is associated to each other. Therefore, the cyclical model is dual in nature. In fact, I can also infer that the process aids a holistic approach of organizational learning and integrates all aspects of organizational learning under one roof (Smith and Lyles, 2011). Merger and Acquisition In this segment of the paper, we will clarify one of the most important reasons behind organizational changes and learning perspective. I would like to attribute such reason as the merger and acquisition i.e. when one organization is merged with another organization in similar business line. Study from French (2011) has shown us that such activities are performed by the organization for the purpose of value creation and achieving competitive advantages. Zimmermann (2011) is on the opinion that success of a merger and acquisition depends on successful integration and management of cross cultural elements. Therefore, apart from putting emphasis on business fit and finance fit while merging with a different company, we should give importance on the consideration of cultural fit as well. In this regard, I think the best strategy would be the management to examine the cultural differences, prior to the merger activity and strive to incorporate a collaborative culture into the merged organization. I truly believe that aligning the sub cultural aspects into the newly merged organization will help employees of both the organization to minimize any revolutionary effect within them. Examining the study of Battilana and Casciaro (2012) I also feel the importance of organizational learning in this phase; if proper training and guidelines are not set in front of the employees, their reaction is bound to reflect resistance to change. If proper learning and training can be imparted to the employees on time, the management will experience the best result of merger and acquisition. In fact, we should consider merger and acquisition activities among organizations as the source of evolution of an organizational culture with new perspective and characteristics. Conclusion From the above study I have understood three interactive philosophies of organizational behaviour such as organizational changes, merger and acquisition as well as organizational learning contribute sufficiently towards long term success of the organizations. Merger and acquisition augments organizational change and amalgamation of different organizational culture into one particular organization. Organizational change helps the organization to keep its business process and human resource updated according to the latest technologies as well as manages the resistance power of the employees that they show while changes are implemented. Organization learning accelerates this purpose through understanding the learning need of the employees and providing them relevant training facilities. Therefore, my examination reflects that assimilation of all the three aspects of organizational behaviour facilitates an organization to ascertain its long term sustainability in the dynamic business environment. Reference List Anderson, D. L., 2013. Organization Development: The Process of Leading Organizational Change. London: SAGE Publications. Argote, L., 2012. Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge. Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media. Battilana, J. and Casciaro, T., 2012. Change Agents, Networks, and Institutions: A Contingency Theory of Organizational Change. Academy of Management, 55(2), pp. 381-398. Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2012. Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models Tools and Techniques of Organizational Change. London: Kogan Page Publishers Cameron, K. S. and Quinn, R. E., 2011. Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework. New York: John Wiley & Sons. French, R., 2011. Organizational Behaviour. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons. Grieves, J., 2010. Organizational Change: Themes and Issues. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Harvey, T. and Broyles, E., 2010. Resistance to Change: A Guide to Harnessing Its Positive Power. New York: R&L Education. Keyton, J., 2011. Communication and Organizational Culture: A Key to Understanding Work Experiences. London: SAGE. Markovic, M. R., 2012. Impact of Globalization on Organizational Culture, Behavior and Gender Role. Bangalore: IAP. Msoroka, M., 2013. Organizational Culture: Its Implications to Educational Institutions. Munchen: GRIN Verlag. Reiss, M., 2012. Change Management: A Balanced and Blended Approach. Amsterdam: Books on Demand. Robbins, S.P., Judge, T. and Campbell, T., 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New York: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Schabracq, M. J., 2009. Changing Organizational Culture: The Change Agents Guidebook. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Schein, E. H., 2010. Organizational Culture and Leadership. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Shin, J., Taylor, M. S. and Seo, M. G., 2012. Resources for Change: the Relationships of Organizational Inducements and Psychological Resilience to Employees Attitudes and Behaviors toward Organizational Change. Academy of Management, 55(3), pp. 727-748. Smith, M. E. and Lyles, M. A., 2011. Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Sverdlik, N., 2011. Ambivalence toward imposed change: The conflict between dispositional resistance to change and the orientation toward the change agent. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96 (2), pp. 337-339. Witte, K. D. and Muijen, J. V., 2000. Organizational Culture. New York: Psychology Press. Zimmermann, N., 2011. Dynamics of Drivers of Organizational Change. Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media. Read More