Challenges of Organizational Change Management - Coursework Example

Challenges of organizational change management By Student’s Name Code+ course name Instructor’s Name University Name City, State Date Challenges of organizational change management Types of organizational changes Three types of changes can occur in organizational change management, which are development change, transition change and transformation change (Fountain, 2010). An organization that concentrates on development change aims to conduct its operation in a better way than before. For instance, if the company used a batch process in production, a change to the continuous process would be referred to as development change. Development change can take place in various departments within an organization that may also include the use of information technology. With development change, a company can be able to enhance operations as well as increase the overall organizational output. According to Waddel et al. (2013), transition management aims to replace the old way of doing things with new systems that are more effective. The type of change targets to alter the services offered by an organization, quality, and composition of a workforce. The transitional change can be used by an organization to ensure that radical changes in the organization are conducted (Tata Consultancy Service, 2013). This form of change has arguably been the most sensitive as it may target areas such as organizational mission and vision. Other sensitive factors that can be changed due to transformation change include organizational behavior or culture, organizational structure, and objectives. Vallerie and Sutherland (2001) have described change as a condition that can be made possible when the right agents are available in an organization. Change agents are very important in initiating organizational change as well as ensuring that all goals of change are adhered to. A change agent of an organization stands in the best position of initiating and overseeing series of implementations to create a change in an organization. A change agent should have a clear vision, good relationship with other employees and influence over others. A leader who has no influence over other employees cannot be able to initiate successfully and implement organizational change. In some situations, the process of organizational change has been assigned to three individuals that include strategists, implementers, and recipients. The strategists are the individuals in an organization who are responsible for making relevant proposals (Waddel et al., 2013). Changes strategies may emerge from various departments of an organization, which implies that strategists can come from any department. However, any strategy should use the right channel and protocol to ensure that the top management is aware of the impending changes. Change implementers are the agents responsible operationalizing the recommended changes. After the change architects have proposed for change, the implementers are responsible for ensuring that all logistics are in place to make the change happen. Without implementers, organizational change cannot be realized since they make things happen. The final group in the concept of organizational change is the recipients (also referred to as the changes). The major challenge in this section is establishing the specific reactions that these individuals can have towards a specific change (Tudor, 2014). They are very important in ensuring success or failure of a specific proposed change thus an important component in the change process. Since their roles of these individuals often come up at the final stages of organizational change, it is often a challenge to understand the preferences of these individuals. Organizations that may initiate change by only considering organizational goal and disregarding the existing cultural dimensions of employees may not achieve success. Human resource component is one of the most unpredictable component in an organization yet the most important at the final stages of change implementation. Challenges in strategic planning and integration It has been discovered that communication has often played an important role in determining the participation of various individuals within an organization. One of the major challenges arises when change implementers are tasked with integrating specific changes into existing organization structures and system (Kothari et al., 2011). The strategic planning process is an important area that requires planners to consider when planning or implementing organizational changes. One of the most challenging factors is when the external forces are responsible for catalyzing organizational change. External factors are often widespread and well positioned beyond organizational control (Pryor et al., 2008). An organization will find it hard to align the changes due to external forces with the current organizational structure. Organizations may also find it challenging to implement strategic changes due to specific levels of urgency. When external forces such as change of legislation emerge, an organization is faced with a challenge of ensuring that such changes are quickly implemented internally. In such situations, the organization is only required to make reliable decisions on what needs to be done to achieve such changes (Tata Consultancy Service, 2013). The force of change from the external environment may force an organization into adopting a new technology or organizational structure. Modern factors initiating change According to Naghibi and Baban (2011), many private and public organizations in the modern era are faced with more challenging factors for change. These factors are external and in some way, they have greater influence in dictating organizational change across a large area. The factors may influence not only local organizations but also to have massive influence at the international level depending on the factor. One of the factors that are forcing major changes in organizations is the concept of globalization. Most organizations prefer to initiate internally the changes that they can adequately plan for and effectively manage (Fountain, 2010). However, globalization comes with a force that places a new challenge for organizations to incorporate new changes in, management of organizations (Tata Consultancy Service, 2013). Organizations have forced to change the way in which they manage changes within and around their operational environment. According to Fountain (2010), one aspect of globalization that has proven to be a major challenge for organizations in managing internal changes is international laws. Laws such as those developed by international labor organizations have a great influence in how organizations manage internal changes. The laws are often indispensable and are universally enforced by national and local authorities from various states. Organization change managers need to refer to these laws whenever they want to initiate such changes. National and local regulations may also prove to be a challenging factor when it comes to change management in organizations. In most democratic states, legislative acts can often undergo a series of changes over time, and this may require all organizations to implement such changes. Such laws may relate to sensitive areas such as occupational health and safety. Another strong issue that emerges in change management of organizations is the employees unions. When employees of a certain organization or industry belong to strong external unions, all changes that might affect them may take face a hurdle in implementation. The presence of unions requires that all intended changes by an organization should engage these unions as important stakeholders. The trade unions often slow down decision-making process thus slowing down the changes that an organization intends to make. At times, the changes might also involve costs such as those involved in formalities of organizing for meetings and allowances. The conditions can stretch the financial limits of an organization and even result in losses in case the unions prove to be an obstacle. Challenge of sustaining resources Managing organizational changes may be accompanied by demand for extra resources for the various stages of change (Tudor, 2014). The initial stage of planning may require planners to sustain an important resource, which is time. The challenge, in this case, may arise when a change is needed at a time when a critical project is ongoing in an organization. At some point, change architects may find it hard to allocate specific time for holding a crucial meeting or even educating and sensitization. Some organizational changes may require that personnel undergo adequate training before implementation is initiated. In such cases, the main challenging resources to manage are time and capital (Waddel et al., 2013). More time can be spent especially when critical employees in the change plan take too long to understand the concept being introduced. In addition, Naghibi and Baban (2011) explain that more money can be spent by an organization in situations where a trainer is hired from external agencies. Planners can find it hard to include certain changes in an organization when the changes have been established to create a demand for other resources like machines or technical personnel (Tata Consultancy Service, 2013). Organizational changes may require technical employees who may prove expensive regarding remuneration demands. When a strategic change is to be initiated in the middle of a financial year, financial managers often find it challenging to reallocate financial resources. Again, the change management challenge intensifies in a situation where demand for change originates from the external environment. In budgeting, most organizations have a clear budget allocation for the various activities and resources essential for an organization (Tudor, 2014). Organizations may only set aside little amounts to cater for emerging activities deemed critical. However, according to Fountain (2010), situations where these critical emerging activities prove to demand extra budget allocation, the finance docket may have limited options but to strip-off, some funds initially awarded to various funds. The move may be strategic in solving a current situation but may also be critical in creating another financial challenge. Managing impact of change Some changes in an organization can have a greater impact while some changes might have little consequences. The effects can be localized or widespread to affect the external environment and other businesses (Tata Consultancy Service, 2013). An organization is faced with a challenge of predicting impacts so as to remain within the regulation that govern the various sectors the changes can affect. An organization that intends to change the production process by using a new form of energy will have to provide a clear assessment of the environmental impacts related to such changes (Kothari et al., 2011). Bodies such as the energy regulatory bodies and environmental regulatory bodies will have to approve such changes before they are implemented. It can be argued that an organization may face many challenges when dealing with infrastructural change that the social changes. Most companies have faced an uphill task in incorporating physical changes in an organization. On the other hand, the situation of impact and complexity may vary from some organization finds it more challenging to make social and managerial changes (Pryor et al., 2008). Small organizations may not experience such a situation but large organization that may have several branches in different geographical regions. The larger the organization, the more complex such organizations may find it to initiate changes. The impact of the change in large organizations is widespread, as all the branches might have to read from the same script. According to Naghibi and Baban (2011), the level at which change has to be initiated in an organization may also determine the nature of the complexity of magnitude of the challenge to be faced. Changes that only affect the operational level of an organization will always pose a smaller challenge to the change managers. On the other, changes within the organization that target the managerial and executive levels of an organization may be more challenging than the previously mentioned changes (Waddel et al., 2013). The managerial levels and the executive levels are very critical levels within an organization. Changes in this area may be accompanied with complexities such as structural complexities. The changes, which target to create complex changes within an organization, will always pose more challenges within in the implementation process. Organizational culture Organizational cultures may present a rigid environment that may prevent change agents from creating change within an organization (Tata Consultancy Service, 2013). Most organizations have created more dependence on culture in such a way that any change would also influence the culture of the organization. The age of culture will play an important role in determining the challenge such a culture may present on change implementation (Naghibi & Baban, 2011). A culture that has recently been introduced in an organization may only present a few challenges for change managers. However, cultures that have been inherent in an organization over a long period will create a hurdle for the change manager. According to Fountain (2010), changing a culture can prove to be very critical as several operations within an organization may also be affected. Culture is an important aspect of an organization as it may also determine the way in which individuals relate within an organization. Culture may also dictate the morale of the employees and the nature in which they handle various operations within an organization (Tata Consultancy Service, 2013). Change managers must establish a way in which they can create and implement a change that will have a minimum or no effect on the organizational culture. Critique of the literature review Organizational changes are imperative for several reasons that may prove inevitable. Changes are meant to make things within an organization to run better than before and can be used to eliminate the flaws within a current a system. According to the literature review in the section that deals with the types of organizational change, the changes highlighted are typical in a way that any organization may emulate. The three types of change the Fountain (2010) has identified are realistic in the real world and represent the basic needs of change within an organization. In the real world, an organization may require a change to develop the status or operations of an organization. Alternatively, an organization may require a change to create a transition for a new way of doing things to fit within the organization. The last factors that cause change within an organization include the need to transform various factors within an organization. All organizations have a common goal of achieving growth, and this growth requires a series of changes. Changes can be technical, physical, technological or regulatory. All these changes can have different effects but same intentions of achieving organizational growth. The section of the literature review creates an idea of what change entails and the information can further be used to establish the challenges that exist. Challenges are present in real life situations, and no single point can run smoothly without precautions mark-timing behind the scenes. In the hypothetical world, challenges can be eliminated when formulating changes for an organization, but unforeseen challenges can emerge during the implementation of change in an organization. The literature review has identified five critical challenges that change manager within an organization are likely to face when intending to create change. The list is not exhaustive as several other challenges are likely to emerge over time due to the external or internal factors. One of the challenges discussed in the literature review is the challenge of strategic planning integration. Some changes may require quick implementation forcing the change managers to face a great challenge of ensuring that strategic plans are developed in time for the changes to be integrated within an organization. The literature review has ranked the challenges of strategic planning and integration at the same level. However, integration seems to be the most challenging face as the unexpected can happen during this phase. Uncertainties during integration may include failure of success of the implemented changes. Planners, therefore, have to come up with the best way of ensuring that all changes can easily be integrated within an organization. The other challenge that has also proven to have real influence in most organization is the modern trends such as globalization and technology. Modern aspects of organizational management cannot be disregarded as a challenge. However, the effects of these modern factors may depend on the size of the organization. Consider an aspect such as globalization and its effects on organizational change whereby small organization may feel no effect while the large organization is largely affected. Despite the fact that the literature review failed to highlight this situation, a large organization can easily confirm that they are often in the spotlight than the small ones. Any external change such as regulatory or technological must create an impact. In this case, change managers have to develop the ingenuity of incorporating such changes into an organization. A challenge of sustaining resources can prove to be a headache for change managers especially in cases where the changes are inevitable. Apart from the situations discussed in the literature review, consider a situation where business organization requires an ISO certification as the only way of competing favorably. The demand that may come with such certification may require the organization to restructure its resources or even acquire new ones. The major issue that may arise in the scenario is overloading the organizations wage bill. It is upon the change managers to ensure that an organization is well positioned to accommodate a change despite the challenge of predicting the changes. Sustaining the resources may not prove to be an only headache as the literature review has also identified managing of change impacts as an even greater challenge. Any change must have an impact and the impact can either be positive poor negative depending on the type of change or the acceptability during implementation. Positive changes are easy to manage, but the adverse changes can be a massive challenge for change managers. Some changes may have uncertain outcomes, and the result can create undesired effects in an organization. Change managers also have a challenge of ensuring that the intended changes are well maintained during implementation to yield results. One task of the change managers is to ensure that they convince the effectors and the recipients to accept proposed changes. The literature review has clearly stated that effects of change can be localized or widespread. However, there is still need to establish the person responsible for containing the impacts of change. The most challenging factor that organizational change may face is the aspect of culture. According to the review, culture can have intense influence in the manner people behave or interact within an organization. Change management must ensure that the changes in place must not eradicate a positive culture but enhance it. Change managers face the challenge of accurately establishing the effect of change on organizational culture. The literature review has attempted to identify most of the existing challenges in change management. It is important to recognize the fact that the dynamics in place create an avenue for more challenges to emerge when managing change within an organization. Most literature materials have only highlighted the prime factors Bibliography Fountain, J., 2010, Challenges to Organizational Change: Facilitating and Inhibiting Infromation Based Redesign of Public Organizations. Retrieved from National Center for Digital Government Kennedy School of Government: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/fountain.pdf Kothari, P., Mitchell, D., Moran, L., & Solomon, J., 2011, Organization Growth and Change Management:EMerging Challenges and lessons learned. Retrieved from W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation: http://silvergiving.org/system/files/pdf/2011%20Stone%20Foundation%20convening%20report_final%20version%201%2030%202012.pdf Naghibi, M., & Baban, H., 2011, Strategic Change Mangement:The Challenges faced by Organizations. Retrieved from 2011 International Conference on Economics and Finance Research IPEDR vol.4: http://www.ipedr.com/vol4/108-F00035.pdf Pryor, M. G., Taneja, S., Humphreys, J., Anderson, D., & Singleton, L., 2008, Challenges Facing Change Management Theories and Research. Retrieved from Delhi Business Review X Vol. 9, No. 1: http://dbr.shtr.org/V_9n1/v9n1a.pdf Tata Consultancy Service., 2013, Change Management Theories and Methodologies. Retrieved from White Paper: http://www.tcs.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/White%20Papers/EntSol-Whitepaper-Change-Management-Theories-Methodologies-0213-1.pdf Tudor, L., 2014, Change Management: Challenge and Opportunity for Sustainable Development of Roman Companies. Retrieved from Proceedings of the 8th International managment Conference: http://conferinta.management.ase.ro/archives/2014/pdf/47.pdf Vallerie, I., & Sutherland, K., 2001, Managing Change in the NHS: Organisational Change. Retrieved from A review for HealthcareMangers, Proffesionals and Researchers: http://www.netscc.ac.uk/hsdr/files/adhoc/change-management-review.pdf Waddel, D., Creed, A., & Cumming, T., 2013, Organizational Change: Development and Transformation. Lorong Chuan: Cengage Learning. Read More