Changes within the Organizations - Essay Example

Change has to be planned and directed from the top or otherwise the organisation would be out of control Introduction Organizations, while they try to perform their best in order to achieve their goals and objectives, are in continuous need to adjust to the environment in which they are working. This includes both the internal as well as the external environment. To implement this adjustment, changes within the organizations are significantly required. There are several examples of organizations that failed to exist since they could not adapt to changes. This issue is more significant owing to the increasing level of competition prevailing in the world of business. However, in order to understand the needs of the organization and implement the required changes within the company, it is necessary that the leaders of the organization are capable of anticipating, identifying, strategizing, planning and implementing them in an organized and timely manner. While it might be of a general view that only the top management is more capable of planning and directing changes within an organization, studies have also focused on the fact that any individual who is a member of the organization might initiate a needed change. Moreover, in the present context of changing working environment, the employees prefer to get involved in the decision making processes as well (Stadtländer, 2006, p.17). The present study focuses on an understanding whether organizational change has to be planned and directed from the top or otherwise the organisation would be out of control. Change Within Organizations Must Be Planned and Directed By The Top Management Else Control Would Be Lost: Arguments Supporting the View: Management of change within an organization requires considerate planning, performance and effective discussion as well with all those people who would be affected owing to the changes. The changes need to be sensible, attainable and assessable. The individuals or the authorities implementing the changes need to understand and manage the changes in such a manner such that the members of the organization can easily handle and accept those changes for the betterment of the organizational objectives as a whole. In this context, there is logical thinking necessary for the correct decision making. Thus, while considering such changes, the opinions and acceptance of all the people who might be affected also need to be considered (Change Management, 2012). It can be realized that in order to consider these above mentioned understanding and implementation of changes, matured minds would be required to take the decisions, to involve all other members in choosing the right changing policies. The employees or organizational members other than the top management might not have the sufficient capability to manage such organizational change. The employees might perform at their best which differs and depends on several different factors like health, maturity, stability, experience, personality, motivation, and so on (Change Management, 2012). However, the management of the change can be found to be performed efficiently by the management and executives of the organisation that constitute the top management of an organization. With their power as well as experiences, they can be expected to be more capable of managing the change considering the needs of the members as well as the effects that might reflect on them resultant of the changes (Change Management, 2012). It has been observed in several cases that the top management of a company generally takes an active participation in solving problems within an organization. The leadership capacity of an individual is significant in implementing change since leaders realize which role or roles they can execute proficiently and how to choose others for the other roles or responsibilities. Incorporating changes within the organization is not only a measure to be undertaken by the organization but it is a process of development of having a view ahead of the change objective trying to overcome any barrier that is prevailing as well as manage any unexpected consequences of change. The ability to overcome human and organizational barriers is an essential part of the process of change implementation that leads to innovativeness within the organization and its performances. Leaders involved in the changes do this responsibly having a continuous involvement in the entire process as well as supervising the ultimate results (Dalziel and Schoonover, n.d.). The above facts imply a significant fact that there is a need for matured understanding and sincere involvement of the leaders in implementing change within an organization. If the top management controls the process, they would be able to handle the different issues that might arise as a result of the change being implemented. Moreover, they being at the top having more experience and understanding of how to involve other members in the change process, how to communicate to them successfully, how to present to them the plans and direct them accordingly, as well as enable the organizational members to get trained and developed according to the needs of the change process, the top management can be expected to more efficiently plan and direct the change that the organization would require. In this regard, it would also be relevant to discuss that the top management being the most superior in terms of power and ability, the other organizational members would not take the measures insincerely which otherwise might be ignored. A successfully illustration that reflects on the capability of the top management in managing change within an organization can be studied through the case of British Airways. In the year 1981, a new chairperson was recruited in the board of the company. As soon as he entered, he determined the company’s weaknesses in terms of inefficiencies and wastage of valuable resources. In order to overcome the issues, he decided to re-structure the organization as a whole. His plan was based on a change methodology management plan that initiated reduction of workforce as a significant measure. However, before any such measure could be adapted, the chairperson had clearly explained to the company his reasons for the reorganization and privatization of the corporation such that they could get prepared for the approaching change. Thus, through leadership and effective communication, he was successful in directing his company during a hard moment in time that could have been devastating otherwise (Faucheux, 2009). The above example clearly gives a model where the top management proves to be efficient and capable of implementing a needful and significant change that the company adopted. The efficiency and the effective communication and management system that the chairperson of the company reflected can be expected only from individuals having sufficient knowledge and experiences. It is understood that a person or the group of persons who form the top management have the greatest of the experiences and hence they are at the top to lead a company. Implementation of a change being an essential part of any company, it needs sincere understanding, reflection, problem solving capacity, effective communication and management ability to make the adaption of the change within the organization successful. These measures might not be equally possible to be performed by any other member of the organization who do not have such powers and ability to control the entire process. Change Within Organizations Must Be Planned and Directed By The Top Management Else Control Would Be Lost: Arguments Against the View: There are studies that reflect on another side of the leaders that might not prove to be efficient in implementing significant changes within a company. Many times leaders are found to have their focus on small issues related to the overall change being implemented. This might have a significant impact on the overall success of the company in terms of the change. When the top management and the leaders take active strategic decisions, small changes might prove to be have effects and consequences that are neither acceptable nor can they be altered once implemented. It is not always the case that the leaders are sufficiently experienced and problems arise in such situations if they are in charge of the planning and direction of changes within organizations (Stadtländer, 2006, pp.19-20). Problems like “lack of establishing a sense of urgency for change; not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition; a lack of a clearly defined vision; under-communicating this vision; not sufficiently removing obstacles to the new vision; a lack of a systematic plan for and the creation of short-term wins; an unfortunate willingness to declare victory of introduced change before it becomes apparent whether or not the change process is successful; and forgetting to anchor changes in the organization’s culture” have been observed that prove that the top management might always not be able to successfully implement changes. A research study conducted by Hall, Rosenthal, and Wade in the year 1993 had considered 100 companies for the study reflected on the facts that the accomplishment of change within an organization depends on how generally the change process could be explained, how extremely the change is considered within the organization, and to what level leaders are concerned in the entire process of the change (Stadtländer, 2006, p.20). While the leaders have a significant role in the change process it is also a matter of fact that the leaders are not always effective and often they make mistakes. However, the process of change being a complex one, such mistakes, even if they are small, might impact the organizational performance as a whole. Hence, it can be considered to be of an efficient measure to let the leaders or the top management of a company to decide on the change process but they should not be the sole party to plan and direct. Rather other members of the organizations should be equally involved in the decision making process considering their views and opinions to the greatest extent possible. The culture prevailing in the organization is also an essential factor that affects the success of the change process being implemented. Culture containing the “beliefs, ethics, values, and behavioral patterns” distinguishing one organization from others, a change process needs to get aligned with the cultural frame of the particular organization (Stadtländer, 2006, p.20). Moreover, without the complete acceptance and understanding of the employees of an organization, a change process can never be successful. In most cases, change management is directly associated with the top management or the leaders of the organization. However, the managers and employees are equally important and essential members of the organization. No organization can function successfully without these groups of people. They are important in the manner they manage themselves, remain committed and loyal to the objectives of the organization, build their capability and give their extreme efforts towards the achievement of the organizational goals. They are capable of playing significant roles in the change processes “such as scanning the internal and external environment for alterations, proposing and initiating changes, engaging managers and leaders in a more active form of communication, and helping to ensure that the organization acts ethically” (Stadtländer, 2006, p.22). Thus, it might not seem to state that it is only the top management that should plan and direct change management, rather other members are equally essential, can perform effectively in the process, and take effective decisions as well, since they are equally concerned about the success of the company and the achievement of the organizational goals. A survey of TQM (Total Quality Management) programme from Schaffer and Thompson reflected that in 229 companies of the 300 electronics companies that the study had considered in the US, 63 percent of these companies had failed to show improvements in the quality of change management and performance and only 10 percent of these companies were found to be successful. A similar portrait was obtained in Europe as well. While the concept of TQM was also initiated as a measure of change in several companies in the Britain as well, there were only 8 percent of the managers of these companies who mentioned about success. These studies reflect on the fact that only the top management, being involved in the planning and direction of change management does not mean that the company would be able to implement the change successfully (Song, 2009, p.8). That culture issues are significant in deciding the success or failure of an organizational change can be reflected from one of the studies conducted on the Citigroup that had attempted to retain key staffs by allocating funds for bonuses but the process did not prove to be sufficient in retaining the best bankers. This represented the effect that culture issues might have particularly in cases where two different banks might try to merge with each other (Song, 2009, p.12). Thus, it can be understood that only the top management might not prove to be efficient always in direction and planning of the change management, since there are several other factors that are responsible in affecting such changes, and there are other members as well who deserve equal importance in terms of performances and involvement in decision making. Conclusion The study has been focused on an understanding of whether it is necessary for change processes within organizations to be directed and planned only by the top management based on the thinking that the control would be lost otherwise. The study revealed that arguments are available both for and against this view. While there are studies supported by examples that have shown that the top management is most capable of managing such changes, there are other studies as well that present the fact that the planning and direction of the top management may not be alone sufficient always in implementing such changes successfully. This is primarily because there are several other factors like presence and importance of other members in the organizations, the organizational culture and so on. With respect to the other managers and employees of an organization it would not be correct always to think that depending on them would lose control of the organization. Rather, they consider themselves as parts of the organization and perform to their best for the success of the company. Hence, although a major decision might be thought out by the top management, the involvement and decision making of the other members need to be considered as equally significant in the planning and direction of change implementation. References Change Management, (2012). Available at: http://www.businessballs.com/changemanagement.htm [Accessed 2 May 2012]. Dalziel, M.M. and Schoonover, S.C., n.d. Changing Ways - A Practical Tool for Implementing Change Within Organizations. Available at: http://www.stevezuieback.com/pdf_leadership/chaningwaysleadership.pdf [Accessed on 2 May 2012]. Faucheux, M., 2009. Examples of Change Management Plans That Worked. Available at: http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/55056.aspx [Accessed 2 May 2012]. Song, X., 2009. Why Do Change Management Strategies Fail? Illustrations With Case Studies. Journal of Cambridge Studies, Vol.4, No.1, pp.6-15. Available at: http://www.srcf.ucam.org/acs/data/archive/2009/200901-article2.pdf [Accessed 2 May 2012]. Stadtländer, C.T.K.-H., 2006. Strategically Balanced Change: A Key Factor in Modern Management. Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies. Vol.11, No.1, pp.17-25. Available at: http://ejbo.jyu.fi/pdf/ejbo_vol11_no1_pages_17-25.pdf [Accessed 2 May 2012). Read More