Influence of Organizational Structure on Management of Change - Essay Example

?Management of Change The business environment where companies operate keeps changing. Masnanet et al p. 269) d that new opportunities andthreats keep developing every now and then. As a result, to maintain competitive advantage, managers must ensure that the organizations they run adapt to the changes in the fastest time possible. This sometimes may require adopting a strategic change, which involves changing the organization’s mission, vision, strategies and objectives. Change is beneficial because it ensure that the company adapts to any change in the market. In fact, most organizations of the 21st century are operating in a very competitive environment. As such, the only way to remain competitive is to be able to change strategies in a manner that ensures the company remains competitive. This is particularly important for the engineering organizations that operate in a very competitive environment. Despite the benefits that change brings in an organization, most managers and employees are often resistant to change. Martins and Terblanche (2003, p. 68) noted that most employees and managers fear change and will often resist it. The reasons for resisting change are many, including fear of losing jobs, fear of changing the organization structure, culture, and fear of new responsibilities, just to name but a few. However, the organizational structure and culture has a huge influence on the change strategies that an organization may adopt at any one time. In this regard, the organizational structure and culture can either promote or impede the change strategies within an organization. The aim of this discourse is to explore the extent to which an organizational structure and culture can promote or inhibit change strategies within an organization. Organizational Culture and Change Management Culture plays a crucial role in driving a company to success. Pheysey (1993, p. 9) defines organizational culture as a set of norms and beliefs of an organization. In other words, it refers an organization’s ways of doing things. As earlier stated, organizations operate in a dynamic environment where change is necessary. Today, no company can compete favorably without embracing change, according to West and Farr (1990, p. 5). However, most managers tend to resist change when faced with the pressure of change. This is partly due to the organizational culture. For instance, most managers would try to deal with challenges facing the organization they manage by reverting the company’s traditional ways of doing things. In this regard, whenever a manager is confronted with the pressure for change, the manager will most likely try to deal with the situation in suh as way that is in line with the organizations ways of doing things. However, sticking to these cultural nuances impede the management of strategic change. Kotter and Heskett (1992, p. 13) advised that sticking to cultural ways of dealing with pressures of change may not be good for an organization since it inhibits the management of strategic change in an organization. For example, instead of adopting a new strategy of dealing with a situation in an organization, most managers tend to search for what they can understand and manage in terms of the existing paradigm. The adoption of cultural ways of doing things has been reported in the engineering companies where most managers tend to stick to traditional ways of dealing with situations that require change. However, this is dangerous since it inhibits the management of strategic change (Dent and Goldberg 1999, p. 36). For instance, report indicates that when managers are faced with the problem of declining performance in the engineering organizations, they have the habit of first seeking ways of improving the implementation of the existing strategy. This may involves actions such as tightening organizational controls. This implies that they only attempt to tighten up their accepted way of operation. However, in case this proves ineffective, then the managers change a strategy, though the change introduced is that which is in line with the existing paradigm. The culture of an organization also affects the way employees view change in an organization. In most cases, when employees have become accustomed to the culture of an organization, they will most likely resist any change that may be introduced later (Dent and Goldberg 1999, p. 39). This is attributable to the fear of the new things that the change may bring in an organization, which may affect them negatively. Resistance to change has been reported in many engineering organizations, where employees are not ready to embrace the change that managers tries to introduce. This is because they are not ready to embrace a new strategy other than that which they have become accustomed. As much as organizational culture is likely to inhibit strategic change in an organization, it can also promote strategic change. For instance, engineering organizations require creative and innovative teams. Armenakis, Harris and Mossholder (1993, p. 683) noted that creativity and innovation is important especially in today’s competitive business environment for the maintenance of competitive advantage. In this regard, an organization that believes on the culture of creativity and innovation is likely to promote strategic change whenever required. This is because the managers and employees of the organization are trained to view change as the best way of doing things in an organization. Airbus UK is one of the leading airplane manufacturing companies in the world (Armenakis, Harris and Mossholder 1993, p. 685). The success of the company is largely attributable to its organization culture based on innovation and creativity. The company promotes employee creativity and innovation through a culture that embraces change. In fact, the company has introduced several strategic changes in its management in order to ensure that it conforms to the current aviation standards. The company has also introduced some of the most modern technology systems to improve efficiency in operation. All the changes it has introduced are made possible by the fact that the engineering company believes in the culture of change and innovation. Organizational Structure and Change Management Apart from the organization culture, organization structure also influences strategic changes in an organization. Organization structure refers to techniques that an organization employs in communicating, distributing tasks, and adapting to change (Senge 1990, p. 7). Some authors have defined organization structure as how an organization utilizes its resources to accomplish its missions. As earlier mentioned the business environment has become more dynamic than ever before. As such, an organization needs to keep it structure dynamic to order to be able to respond to the external and internal factors that impact organization structure. Senge (1990, p. 10) argue that an organization that is a capable of adapting to changes is better placed to survive than organizations that operate on a rigid organizational structure. The organizational structure can promote strategic change in an organization in a variety of ways. All organizations regardless of the industry that they operate strive to experience growth. This is one of the main goals of organizations when they are set up. However, the organizational growth influences largely on the organizational structure. Arad, Hanson and Schneider (1997, p. 43) observed that as an organization grows its impact on the organizational structure increases. For instance, an engineering organization may begin small with just few employees, however, as the company continues to grow, additional employees may have to be hired. The same applies to managers who may have to be hired to assist develop a management structure. The organization may also have to create an executive team to lead is making strategic decisions affecting the organization. However, these changes can only be made if the organization structure of an organization allows such changes to be made. Greenberg and Baron (2000, p. 21) argue that effective communication is very important in an engineering organization. In order for an engineering organization to function effectively, managers must have good communication across the organization and with employees. This is particularly important when change is to be introduced in an organization. However, effective communication may impede by the organization structure of a company. For instance, in a hierarchal organization structure, most communications comes from the top-level management down to the employees. This kid of organization structure may promote change strategy in an organization since the top-level management has all the decision-making authority. In this regard, lower level managers and supervisors are required to implement the changes communicated by the executive level management. However, such organization structures may also impede change strategies in an organization. The fact that top-level management communicates all the changes to lower level managers and employees may be viewed as dictatorship. This may result in resistance to change since it may not involve any consultation before communicating the strategic changes (Dent and Goldberg 1999, p. 29). In fact, lack of consensus on strategic change in most engineering organizations has been cited as the major impediment of change. This is attributable to the fact that it increases resistance to change. In conclusion, the present day engineering companies operates in a very dynamic business environment. As such, they are largely affected by various internal and external factors. For instance, the engineering field has become very competitive in the modern world. This is attributable to the level of technological advancements witnessed in the recent past. Therefore, to remain competitive, engineering organizations must be dynamic to adapt to the changes that happen in the industry. In this regard, engineering organizations need to establish an organizational structure and culture that embraces strategic change in an organization. Creating a culture and organizational structure that embraces change reduces people’s resistance to change, which promotes the success of the organization. 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