Change Management Issues - Essay Example

The approach adopted for managing change is dependent on the style, scale and span of change which an organisation wishes to pursue. This implies that there is no silver bullet solution when it comes to choosing the approach for managing change. Different organizations can adopt different strategies depending on their circumstance. The four main types of approaches to change include developmental transition, task-focused transition, charismatic transformation and turnaround transformation. The developmental approach is a facilitated type of managing change where organizations fine-tune or make incremental adjustments as a result of changes that are also occurring in their environment. Almost all organizations engage in this type of operation in a bid to refine their processes. The task-focused approach involves consultation that is always accompanied by directives. A case in point is in the universities where the senate, after consulting various stakeholders, may reach a decision and then communicate it to the university fraternity through memos, instructions, or emails. The third approach charismatic transformation and is commonly applied in organizations such as banks. It is characterised by directed business processes and re-engineering as its success is anchored on its functionality that often a time calls for the restructuring of processes. Multinational enterprises on the other hand find themselves operating in environments that are constantly changing. This means that they have to be flexible enough to alter their operations in a frequency which matches the level of their dynamic environment. In such a situation, facilitated and directed approaches may vary to also include aspects of fine-tuning and corporate transformation. This in turn gives rise to a turnaround transformation that is characterised by both a directive style and a bit of coercion. The best case to illustrate this is Toyota’s lean Just-In-Time manufacturing technique which seeks to eliminate waste during the production process.

Different factors account for organizational failure during change management. Among the prime factors is the absence of effective communication. Communication of the change process to the stakeholders is a critical ingredient in winning their commitment to a cause. The leader thus has the responsibility to let every interested party understand why the change is important, how they will benefit from it, and what will remain unaltered to take care of anxieties and resistances that are likely to crop up. It is also through communication that a leader can let convey the vision of the entire process. Communication is thus vital in gaining the commitment of all stakeholders while at the same time calming down possible resistance. A leader also has to take into account the channel he or she is going to use to communicate the change process. There is no doubt that different groups of people will require different channels if the idea of change is to be received appropriately. For instance, face-to-face communication is a suitable channel when the messages are difficult and require some consultation. However, when it comes to technical messages, written information is most suitable as it allows the targeted audience to read again and again to gain maximum understanding of the content. Also, the lack of involvement of some key stakeholders in change management could lead to failure. There needs to be a person to champion the whole process by ensuring that resources are available, giving feedback, offering direction, and also giving reassurance that everything is okay. Read More