Organizational Culture and Leadership - Essay Example

? Managing and Leading Change Culture Opportunity Culture is the shared beliefs, assumptions and principles of a given group, developed to help them react to changes and other stakeholders (Schein 2010). Members of the same group will always behave similarly without realizing that they are doing so because of the shared practices and beliefs. Employees in an organization develop a common culture and any external party will be able to detect that there are some shared behavior. In Spice Tall, employees need to recognize the need to embrace change and accept to work with other new employees. A business that is able to adopt to the changing nature of the environment will pose good results as opposed to those that are rigid to changes in the environment. Organizations are part of the society and are thus affected by the changes in the societal trends (Drucker 2005). As has been observed, employees in these organizations resist changes and are not willing to accept new staff. The need for the employees to accept change especially where leaders exit or there is need to implement new technologies in production (Fullan 2007). Kim should lead its employees in embracing change by involving them and communicating in a timely way the expected results from the change process. There is also need for the employees and stakeholders of Spice Tall to develop a culture of adhering to procedures and using communication channels to express their dissatisfaction. The adherence to procedures will make the employees avoid incidences that cause accidents and breakages. If well developed, the accidents and losses experienced in the warehouse will be reduced and curtailed. The use of the formal communication channel will make the employees avoid rumors and speculations (Cummings & Worley 2008). The employees who need to move to other organizations will need to follow the right processes and procedures in order not to cause anxiety and speculation among their colleagues. There also need to exist a culture of consultation and compromise when dealing with the business issues. In the case of Spice Trail, there are instances in which the employees fail to ask questions in order to gather the necessary information needed for making choices. At the same time, management and employees need to accommodate the diverse decisions by compromising. Rigidity retards growth, innovation and hampers adversely on the performance of an organization (Northouse 2009). Barriers in attaining its success will face a business that fails to convince its employees on the core objectives and actions. To achieve the expectations and the target, Spice Tall needs to embrace task culture. An organization that employs task culture will create different work teams that are assigned the duty of achieving a particular result. Employees work as a team and are empowered to make decisions that will enable them realize the core objective (Northouse 2009). If well introduced in the case of Spice Tall, the employees’ motivation and morale will increase making the business grow and increase their returns. Moreover, it will enable Kim concentrate on the results rather than the personality or the processes hence getting relieved of the many duties because the culture of delegation will arise. Organization culture is therefore critical in the attainment of the organization success. The management should comprehend the basic assumptions, shared values, and norms in order to avoid conflicts in the making of major decisions. At the same time, new staff must be ready to learn the organizations culture within a short time period for the organization to accomplish its objectives in a short time span (Fullan 2007). The culture of the organization must accommodate the diverse nature and practices of the individuals who are part of the system. Kim must therefore make the employees embrace the practices that are necessary for the organization to be on track in the realization of its aims. Leadership Approach Successful change processes require good leadership. Leadership is the act of inspiring and influencing others in the achievement of organizational goals (Schein 2010). A leader influences others more than he is influenced. A leader should have the urge to transform the organization and restructure its processes to attain organizations efficiency and effectiveness. The passion to see the organization realize its vision is indispensable for a leader that aims at seeing the organization grow. Good leadership also requires that the leader be informed of the knowledge needed in executing the functions. Those to be charged with the responsibility of propelling the business should have the expertise knowledge to have a command. Spice Tall managers and departmental heads should have the knowledge and expert needed to control the business functions. In the case of Spice Tall, participatory leadership approach is necessary. This leadership approach entails the involvement of stakeholders in making of decision and welcoming the opinion of employees. A participatory approach helps in reducing employee resistance since the employees are part of the decisions made. This leadership approach also boosts the esteem of the employees by making them feel important in decision making (Kotter 1996). Since employees are consulted, they will feel important and valued and this will make them motivated and loyal to the company. Spice Tall Plc should therefore use this approach to help make their employees be part of management decisions. Through this, the employees will get the avenue of being acquainted with the management plans and decisions. At the same time, participatory leadership approach will also help in creating good relationships and bonds among the employees of the company (Northouse 2009). This will ensure that there is free communication among the employees at the different management level and will ensure that there is cordial relationship among the employees. The cases where the employees are divided in company functions and conferences may be mitigated if this approach is adopted. In addition, participatory leadership approach will help in nurturing leaders who will be promoted in instances that positions fall vacant. Spice Tall Company will make the employees interact freely and this will enable learning and leadership mentorship among the employees and their support staff. The employees in this case will develop good relation with the supervisors. This will also make employees ready to share with their superiors the factors that are likely to impact negatively on the organization’s success. Spice Tall PLC can also pursue path-goal leadership approach. In leadership approach, the leaders’ behavior depends on the situation that the leader finds himself/herself i.e. there is leadership flexibility (Coffey 2009). In this leadership, the leader guides the subordinates in making best choices for achieving the desired results. This approach will demand that the position selected by the leader be satisfactory to the subordinates to minimize on the resistance and barriers that are likely to be encountered (Coffey 2009). Path-goal leadership approach will make the management of Spice Tall give the necessary guidance to their workers in attaining the organizations objective. Path goal theory therefore advocates for various leadership styles. First is the result oriented leadership style. Here the manager will be interested in the achievement of the organization results rather than the way employed in reaching the solution. The leadership approach also requires that the leader be supportive to the subordinates. The manager will therefore be friendly to the subordinates and help them eradicate any psychological problems. Notwithstanding, the path goal leadership approach require the manager to give directions that will make the subordinates understand the processes and pursue the right course of action. By giving directions, losses that arise due to failure by employees to comprehend the processes will be dismissed. The leader will also involve the employees in decision making by pursuing a participative approach. Leadership approach that determines the way and manner in which the organizations processes are executed. It also greatly affects the level of motivation and satisfaction of the subordinates. Good leadership will empower the employees and boosts their loyalty to the business. Spice Tall managers should therefore ensure they are a source of motivation and mentors of the subordinates. Change management process There are several theories that have been formulated to explain the change process and that are important in understanding the way change should be managed. The first theory that aims at explaining successful change implementation is the Kurt Lewin three-stage theory (Anderson & Anderson 2010). According to Lewin, the first process is the unfreezing of the existing behavior i.e. this will be aimed at discouraging the status quo. Unfreezing is done to ensure that there will be conformity to the intended change and to minimize resistance (Schein 2010). Increasing factors that move behavior against the current situation or decrease forces that promotes the status quo can do it. The second stage is the moving stage. In this stage, the desired change is introduced by persuading the employees to accept the changes and to induce them to view the changes in different perspectives (Anderson & Anderson 2010). This will ensure that the employees join hands in the change process and will help add momentum on the process. The employees should also be involved in the change process. The final stage in this theory is the refreezing stage. This stage takes place after the change implementation stage and aims at sticking the new behavior over time. It will ensure that employees do not revert to their undesired behavior. It also assists in achieving stability in the new equilibrium (Cummings & Worley 2008). Policies and procedures can be used in implementing the Lewin’s change process. Informal means can also be used in the implementation of the change process. Successful change management will require the organization prepares for change by defining the strategy and preparing the change management team. The managing change phase will require that the chosen course of action will be implemented as per the plans. Thereafter, the reinforcing phase involves the collection of feedback and taking corrective actions. At the same time, the management should be prepared to celebrate the gains from the process. Though often forgotten, the reinforcement stage is very important for sustained future actions. In conclusion, Spice Tall management through the leadership of Kim must develop strategies and policies that will ensure that conflicts and differences are resolved appropriately. Organization change should therefore involve the stakeholders and employees since their support is fundamental. Organizations that fail to embrace change or introduce change drastically are likely to pose poor performance in the end. List of References Anderson, D & Anderson, L 2010, The Change Leader's Roadmap:How to Navigate Your Organization's Transformation, John Wiley and Sons, San Francisco. Coffey, GW 2009, A Systems Approach to Leadership: How to Create Sustained High Performance in a Complex and Uncertain Environment, Springer. Cummings, TG & Worley, CG 2008, Organization development & change,Cengage Learning South-Western. Drucker, P 2005, Managing in a Time of Great Change,Truman Talley Books/Dutton, New York. Fullan, M 2007, Leading in a Culture of Change, John Wiley & Sons. Kotter, JP 1996, Leading Change, Harvard Business Press. Northouse, PG 2009, Leadership: Theory and Practice, SAGE. Schein, EH 2011, Organizational Culture and Leadership,John Wiley and Sons, San Francisco. Read More