Vast Resource of Organisational Change Management - Essay Example

? Organisational Change Management Organisational Change Management Introduction In the contemporary world, the mounting economic as well as political pressures has facilitated the need for organizational change within both public and private bodies. In the last two decades, several organizations have come to appreciate the potential benefits of planning ahead for change and its sustainability (Guler & David 2008). In order to evaluate the advantages of change and sustainability strategies, this chapter will address the overall change process within an organization and the industry it is operating. Moreover, this paper will explore the available literature and theories that explain the issues in change and corporate sustainability. Basically, the issue of change management and sustainability is comprehensive and largely a contested concept. The review of academic research on organizational change and sustainability will provide an overview of the strategies and role of the management, as well as individuals in ensuring smooth transition. Notably, change as a process is very complex and depending on the way it is managed, it can produce either positive or negative results. Therefore, it is vital that adequate and relevant literature on change and sustainability is made available to managers. Organizational change and sustainability are global and touches on ecological sustainability, human capital development and management, corporate citizenship, as well as corporate social responsibility. Organisational sustainability is the long-term goal of organisational change and thus, it is highly crucial to determine the most viable change process. In covering literature on organisational change and sustainability, some important issues come up that includes among others human resource management, and strategic and environmental issues. Furthermore, organisational change can be explained as incremental and transformational at the same time. This paper has applied a diversified global perspective with general focus on areas such as organisational values exhibited by both managers and subordinates, organisational social and environmental relation, and finally theories that relate to change and organisational sustainability. Organisational Change and Sustainability Dunphy et al. (2007) studied the theme of change in corporations and how they could be managed as sustainable entities. The paper replicated the comprehensive knowledge in organisational change, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and corporate sustainability. The authors also studied the ways in which corporations can align economic culture with the welfare of the whole society. The paper indicated the power of communication based on the internet to open up societies and therefore facilitate the formation of a corporate community. Furthermore, Dunphy et al. (2007) established that it is through transformational or incremental change process that corporate sustainability is realized. The paper suggests that the size of an organisation has a profound effect on its change and sustainability. They made extensive use of case studies and critical vignettes in order to have a practical perspective of corporate sustainability as a result of change management. Basically, change is inevitable and thus the biggest challenge is how to manage the process in the future. Advanced and rapid technological growth coupled with a growing number of educated labor force and changing political environment contributed much in the increased organisational change needs. According to Guler and David (2008), the theme of change has become an inseparable feature of the modern organisation. It is also evident that the global social-economic environment is ever changing, and thus organisations are forced to follow suit and keep pace, otherwise there is a greater risk of becoming obsolete in short period of time. However, although many organisations are joining the change ‘bandwagon’, only about 30 percent is attaining the targeted objectives (Guler & David 2008). The failure of organisations to realize projected outcomes of the change process can be attributed to poor change management strategies. This literature review has established the existence of vast volumes of research literature in the field of organisational change. In addition, organisational change both as a concept and a process has been substantially addressed. On this aspect, the vastness of organisational change literature makes it complex and sometimes confusing (Todnem 2005). Lewin (1952) investigated on the kind of change process that followed a planned approach. His methodology, later replicated by Ballard (2005), further studied change as a three-stage process which are: a) relinquishing current behavior, b) adopting new behavior, and c) reinforcing new behavior. This model became instrumental in the management of the change process by organisations. Moreover, as Todnem (2005) found out, the three- stage change process model became an important tool in the ‘arsenal’ of organisational change researchers. However, the use of the model over time has resulted in its review and modification in order to make it more responsive to changing times and organisational environment. In addition, the three-stage model had been criticised for being too narrow and being too unrealistic on the assumption that organisational change can only happen on a pre-determined situation. On this aspect, Ballard (2005) decided to modify the three-stage process model in his study to make it more specific. Therefore, with reference to the three-stage model, he was able to develop a four-stage process model which is more comprehensive enough to cover new aspects such as planning, exploration, action and integration (Ballard 2005). As the market environment evolved overtime while becoming ever unpredictable, there was an increasing need to develop a newer theoretical framework that would address the uncertainty. Consequently, a model identified as the ‘emergent approach’ was developed with focus on the rapid and unstable organisational change process. According to Todnem (2005), this new approach emphasised on studying organisational change as a learning process rather than the traditional top-down approach used in the three- and four-stage model. Equally important, this approach brought a new perspective in the study of organisational change that entailed understanding organisational change as caused by both internal and external organisational factors. Todnem (2005) applauded the ‘emergent approach’ model for its ability to detect in advance the need for change and providing alternative solutions to be adopted. Therefore, the ‘emergent approach’ was more proactive rather than reactive. Whilst this model has received so much praise from scholars and managers, there is a faction of its proponents who argue that it still has some room for improvement. Ballard (2005), as well as Guler and David (2008), agree on the findings that despite the effectiveness of the ‘emergent approach’ in understanding the change process, organisations should always have pre-determined courses of action to be taken in any eventuality of organisational change whether predictable or unpredictable. The scholars argue that this will boost the chances of better outcomes from an organisational change process. Furthermore, the sustainability will be guaranteed. Most preferred pre-planned actions necessary for smooth and practical change process seems common; however, they are the major culprits that lead to the failure of a change process and eventually making the organization as not being sustainable. The reason behind this is that these seemingly small aspects are often overlooked by the change steering committees. Some examples would be having a change vision, employee involvement in the change process, and having a strong change management team (Andrian, Malcom & Paul 2001). Change Paradigm It is evident that every individual has his or her own intuitive mechanism to cause or manage change. This implies that individuals have divergent change process models in their heads. On this aspect, personalized theoretical framework for change management are informed by assumptions, individual biases/prejudices and laws that define their belief system on how to encounter certain challenges (Waddell, Cummings & Worley 2011). However, professional managers are expected to apply a systematic approach towards management of the change process. Therefore, managers should be knowledgeable in a variety of change management and sustainability theories and practices to ensure a successful implementation of the change process. In organisational development (OD), change is explained metaphorically as a pendulum that swings back and forth between incremental and planned change on one hand, and dramatic and unplanned change on the other (Waddell, Cummings & Worley 2011). Furthermore, organisational development, which is highly desired, is most of the time overshadowed by organisational transformation (OT) which is largely reactive and unpredictable (Waddell, Cummings & Worley 2011). Accordingly, Rousseau (1986) had focused on another paradigm referred to as Psychological Contract. This contract entails the manner in which individuals interpret underlying terms and conditions that define relationships with other people. This paradigm, as applied in an organisational context, explains how the employee interprets his/or her relationship with the employer with regard to his/or her input to the organisation and the treatment of the management. Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler (2000) investigated the effects of employee perceptions about how they were treated on their performance and innovativeness. The results indicated a positive relationship between the perceptions of mutual benefit or otherwise balanced psychological contract. Therefore, psychological contract is very critical in the management of change process and sustainability of change outcomes. For example, managers would use information of employees’ perceptions to improve the working conditions or review their reward system in order to improve the level of employees’ productivity and overall organisational performance. Countering Resistance to Change Basically, no matter how best the change strategy is, without acceptance by the people involved, the process is bound to fail. It is with this knowledge that Andrian, Malcom and Paul (2001) sought to study human behavioral characteristics in the event of change. The paper indicated that humans experience five stages of grief characterized by denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance (Andrian, Malcom & Paul 2001). With this knowledge, organisational management should be able to identify the change approach that addresses the human aspect of grief as a result of change. Furthermore, the model should be used by managers and change steering committees to devise effective communication and support system prior and during the change process. This should be taken gradually until the employees or people in grief begin accepting the change process. Oreg (2003) indicated that resistance to change is more of a personal issue, and thus an individualistic approach should be taken to deal with it. The paper suggests that individual reactions to change are very divergent and complex at the same time. Organisational Change and Sustenance Effecting change is one thing, however realizing and retaining the desired positives of change is totally a different challenge. This can be exemplified by being jubilant of the achievements of a change process in one occasion or campaign, only to realize that the gains made have quickly ‘evaporated’. Andrian, Malcom and Paul (2001) acknowledged the importance of organisations to factor in the strategies of how to sustain change gains way before the change process has begun. In this review of literature, it is evident that the study on change sustainability is scattered and lacks sufficient literature. Buchanan et al. (2005) investigated the inadequacy of sustainability literature and established that the cost of longitudinal research is a major hindrance. Conclusion This paper has come upon vast resource of organisational change literature and drawn very significant amount of knowledge. Notably, the large volume of literature on organisational change makes it somewhat contradictory, however, the intended information and knowledge has been sourced. On this note, organisational change managers should make use of approaches that address both planned and unplanned change. Equally important, the management should recognise the employees as key stakeholders in the change process and thus consult them for the success of the organisation. Furthermore, change can happen in synergetic process where different parts of the organisation work autonomously for the overall attainment of the organisational goal. This paper has identified that although there exists interesting literature, there is more room for research in the field of organisational change sustainability. References Andrian W, Malcom H & Paul G 2001. The Sustainability Debate, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 21, no. 12, pp. 1492-1502, MCB University Press. Ballard D 2005. Using Learning Processes to Promote Change for Sustainable Development. Sage Publications. Buchanan D, Fitzgerald L, Ketley D, Gollop R, Louise Jones J, Saint Lamont S, Neath A & Whitby E 2005. Not Going Back: A Review of the Literature on Sustaining Organizational Change,’ International Journal of Management Reviews, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 189-205. Coyle-Shapiro K & Kessler I 2000. Consequences of the Psychological Contract for the Employment Relationship: A large Scale Survey, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 37, pp. 903-930. Dunphy DC, Griffiths A & Benn S 2007. Organizational Change for Corporate Sustainability: A Guide for Leaders and Change Agents of the Future.Taylor & Francis, Inc. ISBN-13: 9780415393300. Guler A & David C 2008. Governance and Sustainability: An Investigation into the Relationship between Corporate Governance and Corporate Sustainability, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 433-448. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Oreg S 2003. Resistance to Change: Developing an Individual Differences Measure’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 88, no. 4, pp. 587-604. Rousseau DM 1989. Psychological and Implied Contracts in Organizations’, Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, no. 2, pp. 121-39. Todnem R 2005. Organisational Change Management: A Critical Review’, Journal of Change Management, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 369-380. Waddell D, Cummings TG & Worley CG 2011. Organisation Development and Change, 4th edn. Pacific Rim, South Melbourne. Read More