Organizational Change, Values, and Leadership - Research Paper Example

Running head: Organizational change, values, and leadership Organizational change, values, and leadership Insert Insert Grade Insert ’s Name February 24, 2012 Organizational Change, Values, and Leadership Introduction Organizational change is almost inevitable in the contemporary society. The organizational change may include the changes in the overall operational strategy, removal or addition of some section from or into the organization, or the life cycles experienced by an organization (McNamara, n.d). It is a change in the organizational culture and even the roles of employees of the organization. Organizational change is often necessary to improve the performance of an organization or part of the organization (McNamara, n.d). Organizational values are acceptable beliefs, principles, and practices that govern behavior and actions of employees in an organization (The Teal Trust, n.d; Sources of Insight, 2007). On the hand, leadership is a scenario in which one individual exercises influence over the roles and operations of other individuals with the aim of achieving a common goal (Northouse, 2009). A strong connection exists between organizational change, values, and leadership. Vision and leadership are essential for successful change while change should be considered a core organizational value (Durant, 1999). Current Organizational Issues Organizations face certain issues that may pose challenges to their operations. Change is one of the current issues encountered in organizations. In the event that these organizational changes are encountered, there is need for the companies to strive to adapt their employees to the new organizational requirements. A change in the organization’s policy, vision, or mission may cause certain challenges to the employees, who in turn must be ready to execute the changes. An organizational change may often lead to a difference in opinions among the employees of the organization. The other issue is the diversity that exists among the employees of an organization. Organizations comprise individuals with different values by which they live. The organizations also have their values by which the employees have to act and operate. Conflict between personal values of the employees and the organizational values may lower overall output of the organization. Similarly, effective leadership is an essential management tool in enhancing organizational effectiveness. The managers mobilize others to get things done in an organization. They need to acquire skills for peoples’ management through effective training. Literature Review The management of organizations is charged with the responsibility of detecting and responding to these changes accordingly and in good time. The changes affect the organizational objectives as well as the way employees deal with each other (Mowat, 2002). Addressing the issue of change is one of the difficult and yet most important tasks of the managers of an organization (Stichler, 2011). Management of change requires an earlier mitigation of the possible change patterns that are likely to be encountered. These changes can be caused by company growth, diversification leading to introduction of new products, acquisition of modern technology, or entry into new market (Sadler, 1998). It has also been noted that the real task in the management of change is not developing a new idea; the task lies in the implementation of change (Fishman, 1997). The managers have to ensure that the employees adapt to the observed changes and the new strategies to be adopted. Stichler (2011) further asserts that the greatest failure in the management of an organization is to avoid addressing the issues of organizational change with the assumptions that the employees will adapt willingly to the changes. The people constitute the organization and thus change often begins among the people (Brown & Gray, 1995). Values are fundamental beliefs upon which the strength of an organization is built (Business Improvement Architects, 2012). Individuals in organizations have their own values in life and yet the organizations have stipulated values that they require their employees to observe as well. The employees are essential stakeholders in the organizations and their performance and overall output will be affected by the working environment to which they are exposed. The organizational culture will define part of the workplace environment. Conflict between these values will lower the performance of the organization. Branson (2008) observes that aligning organizational values to the individual values in an organization is essential in developing a strong natural connection between the employees of the organization. Aligning the values in the organization brings about a sense of cohesiveness and strong bond within the organization that allows the employees to work productively in a stress free environment (Branson, 2008). It enables the employees to feel part of the organization and execute their roles to the best of their abilities. The development of effective and achievable goals and objectives require proper management that in turns calls for good leadership. Leadership skills and managerial ability complement each other to enable an individual to execute this role effectively (Dykes, 2001). Effective leadership is essential in the development of the goals and objectives of the organization. It has been pointed out that the leaders need to involve the other stakeholders of the organization in this development process to ensure that there are shared goals, objectives and vision in the organization (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). The employees in a given organization should develop a feeling that the management takes into consideration their interests while developing organizational objectives and the operational strategies. The employees are likely to work towards the organization’s vision and adopt the established organizational culture if they feel it is a shared goal (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Leadership is not an in-born quality and very few people are naturally leaders (Darlington, 2010). Inspirational and effective leadership is acquired and developed through continued work and study (Clark, 1997). The qualities of a good leader vary from an organization to an organization and it may not be possible to exhaust them. The constitution of a good leader and effective leadership will depend on a given organizational context (Team Technology, 2012). Some of the common qualities include honesty, generosity, fairness, responsibility, and egalitarianism (Olson, 2004). Other aspects of leadership also need to be understood. Leadership is a process, it involves influence, it occurs in groups, and it involves focus on a common goal (Northouse, 2009). There are certain intellectual demands of leadership that cannot be rated through academic intelligence in of an individual. These are developing a sense for the unknowable and ability to foresee the unforeseeable (Greenleaf & Spears, 2002, p.35). The leaders have great vision, wisdom, charisma, passion, compassion, and integrity (James, 2012). These abilities give the leaders their lead and bring them ahead of the others. The leader is able to know and foresee certain things that are not clear to the others. Implications In order to transition smoothly into the changes encountered in an organization, the management of organization needs to give proper preparations to the employees. Early efforts to help employees adapt to changes will bar them from resisting the changes when they finally occur. An example of this scenario has been witnessed in the merger between Wells Fargo and Wachovia - the two companies were great competitors in the US banking and finance industry before their merger in 2008. However, the employees of the both the companies were not prepared early enough for the merger. Some employees from one partner, Wells Fargo, were later hired by the other partner. The management of the Wells Fargo later fired the employees who had been hired by Wachovia (Workforce, 2009). Thus, the employees of either company constantly resist the ways of operations proposed by the other company. Failure to align the company values to organizational values results into conflicts of interest among the employees and between the employees and the management. In this case, the employees will apply a variety of mechanisms to resolve the conflicts and some of the mechanisms may be detrimental to the success of the organization. An employee who feels dissatisfied and dishonored often performs poorly and may decide to resign from the assignment with the company. Moreover, management of organizational change and developing values that take into consideration the needs of the employees is possible if there is effective leadership in the organization coupled with good management. The managers with good leadership skills are able to motivate employees and get things done through their influence towards the success of the organization. Conclusion Organizational change is inevitable in the contemporary society due to the other forces within and external to an organization and the employees of the organization are often affected by these changes. The effective implementation of these organizational changes requires that the employees be put on board to ensure that there is no compromise between the values of the organization and the individual values of the employees. This is in turn achieved if there is effective leadership in the organization. The effective leadership will ensure smooth transitions in the organization with constant high productivity. References Branson, C. M. (2008). Achieving organizational change through values alignment. Journal of Educational Administration, 46(3), 376-395. Brown, J & Gray, E. (1995). The People Are the Company. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/01/people.html Business Improvement Architects. (2012). Developing the Organizations Values and Principles. Retrieved from http://www.bia.ca/developing-organizational-values.htm Clark, D. (1997). Concepts of Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html Darlington, R. (2010). HOW TO BE A GOOD LEADER. Retrieved from http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Leader.html Durant, M. (1999). Managing Organizational Change. Retrieved from http://www.crfonline.org/orc/pdf/ref4.pdf Dykes, J. (2001). What makes a good leader? Retrieved from http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/2001/february/leader.html Greenleaf, K & Spears, L. (2002). Servant leadership: a journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. New Jersey: Paulist Press James, W. (2012). 10 Characteristics of a Good Leader. Retrieved from http://wjames.hubpages.com/hub/Good-Leadership-10-Characteristics-Good-Leader McNamara, C. (N.d). Organizational Change and Development (Managing Change and Change Management). Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/organizationalchange/index.htm Mowat, J. (2002). Managing Organizational Change. Retrieved from http://www.herridge.ca/pdfs/managing_org_change.pdf Northouse, P. (2009). Leadership: Theory and Practice. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Fishman, C. (1997). Change. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/08/change.html Olson, S. (2004). Who is a good leader? Generating Consulting. Retrieved from http://www.generativeconsulting.com/pdf/WGL.pdf Sadler, P. (1998). MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY: a handbook of best practice. London: Kogan Page Limited. Retrieved from http://ogrenci.hacettepe.edu.tr/~uras02/Turgay%20Odev/0749424486Management.pdf#page=266 Sources of Insight. (2007). Organizational Values. Retrieved from http://sourcesofinsight.com/organizational-values/ Stichler, J. F. (2011). Adapting to change. Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 4(4), 8-11 Team Technology. (2012). Leadership Qualities. Retrieved from http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/leadership-qualities.html The Teal Trust. (N.d). The Value of Organizational Values. Retrieved from http://www.teal.org.uk/mat/page6.htm Workforce. (2009). Wachovia Employees Whacked by Wells Fargo. Retrieved from http://www.workforce.com/article/20090119/NEWS01/301199994 Read More