Problems Leading to the Change Initiative - Assignment Example

Name: Professor: Course: Date of Submission: Personal Experience: An Institutional Change Context In the contemporary change laden corporate realm, personal development in the context of experience in an organization is closely linked to company change process. The context of organizational change involves the shift from one cultural component to a new style perceived to be superior over the existing one. Successful change in the organization entails both changes at the firm and personal levels, hence the need to focus on both phenomena in the process of realizing the transformative process. Learning institutions often initiate changes aimed at inducting, upgrading performance, and enhancing learning outcomes. Such changes often entail transitions in the existing reading, teaching, and management of different department, technological and organizational structure. These changes require proper planning, involvement of all stakeholders in the entire process and creation of awareness about the intended change initiative. Leadership change on the other hand plays a critical role in the successful initiation and implementation of organizational change policy. The leadership must critically study the behavior and attitude towards change in order to evaluate the best approaches of initing any organizational changes. According to Bawany (2010), organizations must have leaders capable of predicting the near future, inspiring and motivating workers, and other stakeholders to adapt to inevitable changes in the organization. Emotionally intelligent leaders in many cases emerge as the most effective leaders especially in learning institutions like universities that require frequent transformative programs to foster progressive performance for both students and the workers. Such leaders play an important role in the establishment of a highly cohesive working environment that is crucial in the success of organizational change. Personal experience in any given change initiative can be determined through the awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement(ADKAR) model applied by change managers to evaluate the potential individual experience in institutional transformation initiatives. According to Sugunthalakshmi and Muthuvelayutham (2011), the ADKAR model is applied by change managers to focus on the potential results associated with organizational change. The main purpose of this critical report is to provide an evaluation and reflective perspective of personal experience in an organizational change; in this context a University setting. Problems Leading to the Change Initiative Owing to a poor trend in students’ performance and lack of motivation among the professors and the general university workforce, the university administration decided to initiate a series of changes in the institution’s culture including changes in the reading and teaching portfolios, and departmental leadership. The school administration needed to introduce new teaching and learning strategies aimed at improving the general performance in the institution. The proposed changes included revision of the teaching and study schedules, and reduction in the number of students in every class as well as establishing ways of motivating staff in the college fraternity. The school also intended to introduce significant technology application in the teaching process to facilitate learning outcomes in the study. The proposed technological changes included introduction of online database to ease the work loads of delivering lecture notes on hardcopies as well as creation of a reading culture among the students. As shared by Beerel (2009) changes were to be implemented by the information technology (IT) department in conjunction with the school library and other departments. The management at the school library was given the role of subscribing to different scholarly journal websites among other credible sources of information to increase the pool of scholary resources available to the students. Implementation of the Change Initiatives in the Institution The administration planned to make the change initiatives known to the school fraternity through the different school notice boards and frequent meetings involving all departments to deliberate on the way forward in implementing the proposed change programs. Since the major focus was to foster better performance among the students through initiating changes in the teaching and reading culture, the change focused on making the developments from the departmental levels. All departments appointed a representative to present their views and requirements in the new change initiatives to the change lead team led by the IT department. After all department proposals were presented to the change lead team, the changes were narrowed down to making alterations in the teaching schedules; and the number of students per class, introduction of a study time where all students must report to the study blocks for personal revision, introduction of IT teaching aids in the lecture halls and provision of each student with a database to access all academic materials. During implementation of the changes, much of the communication to the students and the rest of the institution were done through school notice boards. The change lead team conducted concerted consultations with every department to ensure that every member of the teaching staff supported the new change initiatives. Student representatives were also consulted to establish the views of the students on the proposed change initiatives. Implementation of these changes saw previous lecture classes split into small manageable groups to facilitate enhancement of students’ concentration levels and easy control by the professors. Although, the number of weekly lessons per professor was increased, the administration designed a way to compensate them through introduction of a reward system and motivational bonuses. The reward system and the reduction in the workload per class were aimed at dealing with problems of lack motivation among the teaching staff. Other changes made in the institution included a complete overhaul of the teaching timetable and significant changes in the school environment to accommodate the new teaching and learning culture. Accessibility of the internet resources in the institution was also enhanced through the IT department and significant changes introduced in the library operations. The change lead team established different monitoring and evaluation measures such as class attendance, the number of students’ logins in the information database, turnout response to the new study time schedule and student performance in semester examination. The effect of the departmental changes was monitored through evaluation of lecture attendance and students’ opinions of professors’ efficiency and effectiveness during the teaching process. Evaluation of the Change Initiative The institution’s teaching and learning change initiative comprised of both successes and failures despite the necessity of the change in the organization. Initiating reforms in the all department was particularly crucial in enhancing the general performance of the institution. All departments needed to stop operating as independent entities and instead work together for common good of the learning institution, students and other stakeholders. Involvement of the IT department in leading the change emerged important due to the need to take advantage of the current trends in information technology. Initiation of some changes in the library also emerged as a crucial step in the efforts to drive improvement in the students’ performance. Students often find it difficult to access library materials hence the much needed change in introducing new ways of accessing the learning materials. The several consultative meetings held between the lead team and the different departments emerged crucial in achieving the positive changes in the teaching process in order to promote both students’ performance and motivation of the teaching staff. Implementation of the study time presented a great opportunity for the students to catch up in their studies and increase the their commitment to their coursework. The change lead team attempted to communicate the change initiative to the stakeholders although they focused on nonverbal communication with change in order to ascertain the commitment of the stakeholders towards implementation of the change (Fralinger, Olson, Pinto-Zipp & DiCorcia 2010). Initiation of the change initiative and its implementation involved key structural organs of the university including the administration, the library leadership, and the various departments. This emerged to be crucial in the reception and implementation of the change initiatives. Appointment of a change lead team and representatives from the student body and different departments particularly influenced the successful implementation of the proposed change initiative. Negative Aspects of the Change Initiative Initiation and implementation of the proposed change initiative focused on changing the organizational structure rather than changing the attitudes and behaviors of the concerned individuals in the organization. Individual change occupies a central role in driving successful organizational transformation since the application of the new structures highly depends on the attitudes and behaviors of the people working within such institutional structures (Popescu, Corneanu & Helerea 2009). The change team was quick to implement changes in the departments, library, lecture halls and the institutional structure with little focus on the behaviors of the stakeholders. According to Gusev and Mitrevski (2011), while understanding of the factors of informal company levels is, individual level change greatly impacts on the success of the change management. Itzen and Newman (2003) provides that organizations are organisms and not mechanisms, and individuals within it must change if the organization is to change. This view supports the emotional aspect of organizational change where people are more receptive to change if they already feel comfortable about the change initiative. In this case, the change team failed to conduct a field analysis to establish the root of the problem before establishing the measures to deal with the institution’s problems through the proposed change initiative. The change management team failed to identify the pushing forces and restraining forces in the organization, through evaluation of the change initiative’s likely power and effect. Throughout the implementation of the entire change initiatives, students were significantly left out only to know of the changes through the school’s notice boards. This was significantly a key area in which the university administration failed in the initiation and implementation of the change initiatives. According to Fralinger, Olson, Pinto-Zipp and DiCorcia (2010), verbal communication forms an important part of organizational change where the change management team must communicate and underlying ideals on the proposed change initiative. Verbal communication is pivotal for dissemination of change awareness as well as preparing good grounds for positive reception of the change. Direct communication of the change initiative helps in reduction of resistance towards the change initiative as well as collection of important ideals to drive the successful implementation of the change initiative. Since the change initiative targeted the students, the lead team should have consulted more with the students to establish their grievances; which would have been best way that would enhance their performance. The change initiatives proposed ought to have focused more on the students’ behavior and attitudes towards the learning process and the institution at large. This would have played a critical role in establishing the root cause of the decline in the students’ performance. The organization’s leadership lacked emotional intelligence, which focuses of the individual change level that would have been more applicable in this organizational change setup (Bawany 2010). The change management team needed to focus more on the issues affecting the students directly that could influence their performance in coursework rather than dwelling on organizational structur as a solution to the performance problem. The approach applied by the change team in the university posed a great of the change resistance from the students who were significantly left out during program initial stagesant to affect them directly. Perhaps, the students would have proposed better strategies for addressing their problems rather that the administration proposing the solutions. Some of the change initiatives such as introduction of mandatory study time and scaling down the number of students per class would most probably result in psychological issues. Such psychological issues would further lead to decline in the students’ performance. In addition, imposition of the change initiatives on the students and compelling them to adhere to them would otherwise result in rebellious behaviors against the administration and the school regulations. According to Kets de Vries and Balazs(1996), different models of change assume people to be rational and logic hence the ability to adapt to new behavior changes depending on the self-interest and the information received. The need to focus on individual change is further emphasized by Kets de Vries & Balazs (1996) through the assertion that organizational change and transformation lies in the process of individual change. In this case, the focus on changing organizational structures with limited or no individual change would translate to failure in realizing the objective of initiating the change. Although short-term success may be accrued from changing the organizational structures without individual oriented transformations, long-term goals may fail to be realized. The significant success of the change initiative in the institution could be short-term leading to long-term deterioration of the student’s performance as well as the motivation of the teaching staff. Therefore, the change initiatives should have focused on changing both the organizational structures and the behavioral attitudes of the professors in order for the change to be sustainable. Personal Experience in the Change Initiative The implementation of study time as a strategy for enhancing performance from a personal point of view was simply uncalled for because none of us had been consulted by the change management team to determine its necessity. This view can only be attributed to lack of adequate awareness about the change initiative among the student who would have proposed a better strategy for dealing with the issues of declining performance. The management failed to involve the students who were affected by the changes in the initiation and implementation of the proposed changes. As students, there was a feeling of imposition of changes without adequate consultation on the potential effects of change on the students. I personally felt that the administration was coming up with changes that had the potential of limiting our freedom in the learning institution. Although this change initiative had the potential of improving personal grades, it did not fit well with my personal study timetable thereby affecting my study discipline. I perceived this particular change initiative and a bariier and remained adamant to embrace it. Probably, with proper awareness on the change initiative would have contributed to good reception of the change initiative than it had when it was implemented without the students’ knowledge. According to Sugunthalakshmi and Muthuvelayutham (2011) , awareness of the intention of the change among the affected individuals forms a critical ingredient of any given change initiatives; and should form one of the initiation stages in organizational change. The resistance to change initiative experienced from the students could have been avoided through involving the students in the initiation stages as well as informing them about the potential benefits of the change initiative. The knowledge of benefits associated with a given change greatly influences the reception of the change initiative (Dalkir 2005). On the other hand, the change initiatives implemented by the administration did not directly address the issue of poor performance among the students, but rather focused on changing the organization’s operations. From a personal point of view, such strategies were a waste of time and organizational resources since structures without change in those working or operating within them cannot elicit the desired results for the change initiative. None of the change initiative features aimed at changing students’ behavior and attitude as key determinants in their academic performance. This failure undermines the visibility of the change initiative to have any significant impact on improvement of academic performance. Motivation of the teaching staff did not necessarily guarantee improvement in the students’ performance because of the role of student’s behavior on their class attendance and commitment to their coursework. The change in the organization’s teaching and reading culture ought to have focused on individual change because the culture is sustained or undermined by the people living within it (Gusev and Mitrevski (2011). Even with the full implementation of the change initiative, limited changes occurred in the students’ culture of reading because of the much focus in this change scenario was placed on changing the manner in which its organizational structures operations. On the other hand, introduction of the library database emerged as one of the best part of the administration’s change initiative because it saved the student the number of hours spent trying to access library books. Although, no adequate consultation was done with the students about the potential benefits of such a move, it was definitely embraced by all students without any resistance. However, this change initiative needed significant training, if it was to have any impact on changing the reading culture among the student eventually leading to improved learning outcomes. Despite the positive reception of the database strategy, most students expressed significant difficulties in accessing the database thereby reemphasizing the need for training before introduction of any technological change. The library and the IT department should have conducted a skill assessment process before introducing the new technology in order to ensure that users had the skills needed to apply the technology successfully. In addition, introduction of the technological teaching aids in the teaching process played an important role in influencing the attitude of the students towards lectures thereby enhancing lecture attendance. This strategy ushered in a new feeling about attending lectures thereby presenting an opportunity to promote positive learning. Nevertheless, splitting the existing lecture classes into smaller manageable units negatively impacted on the psychology of the students. This was attributed to interference with the existing students’ relationships, a phenomenon that significantly affected the morals of the students. Lessons Learned From the Change Initiative Evaluation of the change initiative reaffirms the importance of emphasizing on individual change as the basis for successful organizational change. Change managers should focus on changing individual behaviors and attitudes before making changes in the organizational structure particularly in learning institutions. Alternatively, individual level change and organizational structure changes can take place concurrently resulting in desired results. Individual level change is particularly important in change initiative aimed at changing the organizational culture, which is highly determined by the behaviors and attitudes of people working within such cultures. Another great lesson accrued from the university change initiative revolves around the importance of applying the ADKAR model in every organization’s change initiative (Sugunthalakshmi & Muthuvelayutham 2011). This forms critical steps in the process of organization’s change initiation and implementation. This model further influences personal experience in every given change initiative. For example, change awareness impacts on the individual reception of a change initiative and the willingness to participate or supporting implementation of the change. All stakeholders must be well informed about the potential benefits likely to come from the change initiative in order to change their attitudes towards organizational. In addition, the personal experience from the university’s change initiative revealed the importance of driving an all inclusive change initiative where all stakeholders are deeply consulted and involved in the creation and implementation of organizational change. Successful organizational change requires effective leadership particularly endowed with emotional intelligence, which helps the leaders to focus on the individual level change. The organizational leadership determines organization’s change success rates because the leadership must be able to mobilize adequate support for the change initiative as well as establishing mechanisms to deal with the change resistance. Another critical lesson accrued from the personal experience is the importance of verbal communication of the change initiative to the stakeholders rather than dwelling on non-verbal communication channels. Verbal communication of the change initiative plays an important role in influencing personal experience in any change initiative since stakeholders feel more appreciated and their ideas valued resulting into significant commitment to change implantation. Finally, personal experience in this change initiative revealed that training is crucial in change initiatives involving introduction of technological changes. Conclusion The dynamism in the organizational environments has made organizational change almost inevitable in the corporate realm including learning institutions, government, non-governmental and business organizations. This discussion involves evaluation and discussion of personal experiences in a university organizational change aimed at improving student’s performance and motivation of the teaching staff. The change initiative involved changing of departmental operations including their cooperation, introduction of changes in the students’ reading culture, and introduction of online library database. The change lead-time significantly failed to involve all the stakeholders in the change initiative by sidelining the students in the change initiations. The change initiative was characterized by inadequate awareness and the focus on organization’s structural change rather than the individual level change. From a personal point of view, the change initiative failed to reach the expectations of most students hence the resistance experienced in the change implementation. Some of the organizational change lessons accrued from the personal experience and evaluation of the change initiative include the importance of awareness, inclusive change process, training and verbal communication. References Bawany, S 2010, ‘Leadership that gets results: impact and measurement of emotional intelligence on leadership effectiveness’, Human Capital, vol. 10, no.4, pp. 32-66.  Beerel, A 2009, Leadership and change, New York: SAGE Publications Ltd. Dalkir, K 2005, Knowledge management in theory and practice, London: Butterworth-Heinemann. Fralinger, B, Olson, V, Pinto-Zipp, G & DiCorcia, M 2010, ‘Organizational culture at the university level: a follow-up study using the OCAI instrument’, EABR & ETLC Conference Proceedings, accessed April 28, 2012, < http://www.cluteinstitute.com/proceedings/2010_Dublin_ETLC_Articles/Article%20375.pdf> Gusev, M & Mitrevski, P 2011, ICT Innovations 2010: second international conference, Ict innovations 2010, Ohrid Macedonia, September 12-15, 2010. Revised Selected Papers, Springer, London. Itzen, C & Newman, J2003, Gender, culture and organizational change: putting theory into practice, Routledge, New York. 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