Change Management in the Retail Pharmacy Industry - Case Study Example

Change Management in the Retail Pharmacy Industry Change Management in the Retail Pharmacy Industry Introduction The retail pharmacy industry is one that is seeing revolutions in the name of path breaking innovations and discoveries as well as globalisation, take place. This industry needs a risk management model in order to support the change management function that has been described in this paper. Risk Assessment Model: Retail Pharmacy Industry Risk, in case of varied operational decisions, is seen as a focus of single determinants of behaviour arising from risk theories within the retail pharmacy industry. (Axelrod, 2000) Various unresolved contradictions can be reconciled by examining the usefulness of placing risk propensity and risk proportion in a more central role than has been previously recognised through effective risk assessment programs. Based on such analysis, it is believed that the propensity of risk dominates both the actual and perceived characteristics of the situation as a determinant of risk behaviour. (Stephenson, 2004) Such an observation can safely justify the finding that suggests that apart from being central to any and every business or organisation, risk is something that entrepreneurs in general, are averse to. This can be attributed to the fact that at the end of the day, any loss of information has far reaching implications of its own and is deeply rooted in the genesis of risk taking and management. Coming back to the issue of the risk averse nature of businesses in context of the organisations within the retail pharmacy industry, the one question we need to ask before proceeding any further is whether mere risk assessment is enough to act as a strong foundation for resolving all those difficulties arising out of risk management in case of the pharmacy industries. (Axelrod, 2000) The answer is, no. And more and more organisations in the health care arena are beginning to recognise this basic premise, which has led to creativity in the sphere of risk management strategies. It has become necessary therefore, to keep reinventing the methods and strategies to be used in order to overcome the perils enumerated above, in a timely and cost effective manner. (Brussin, 2006) Another creative aspect attributed to the entire gamut of activities concerning risk management in this sphere adheres to the notion of utmost good faith that has been lately used to expand the protection for the insurer from pre-contractual fraud to include post-contractual fraud as well. This works in the benefit of the insured, who is saved from the abyss of financial loss, as well as the insurer, who is saved from parting with the sum assured upon occurrence of such a loss, therefore subjugating both parties to complete protection in an aspect that was earlier a matter of great confusion as well as debate. (Axelrod, 2000) The mechanism of creative risk management extends to preliminary planning as well. To be prepared and organised for the contingencies in advance will help the managers cope with them more easily. This can be further propagated by the use of timeliness and efficiency in the response stage with a reliable communication system, logistics and flawless coordination to boot. (Stephenson, 2004) Change Manager The modern day economy is one that is changing with each passing day. The state of commerce is not what it used to be, say, a few decades ago. This is basically due to the fact that the new rule of thumb is that the only constant is change. The face of politics has greatly shaped the way the economy of a country and therefore, that of an organisation, operates. In this way, there is a sense of constant interaction with the dynamic environment of the retail pharmacy industry within which pharmacy organisations thrive today. The role of communication and technology in this regard, is also an important one. With the advent of the communication and information era, there is a slow redefinition of borders and geographical demarcations. It is now possible to sell pharmaceutical products anywhere in the world, from anywhere in the world. (Axelrod, 2000) This has had a large bearing on the state of the balance of payments of entire countries and the organisations that thrive within the retail pharmacy industry. This balance of payments is dependant on the exchange that flows to and from it. In this way, there is an impetus to change with the changing world, depending on how that change might affect the balance of payments or any other socio economic aspect of the country and the organisation. Therefore, change has become a vital part of the organisation’s life, owing to the fact that there is a constant need for reinvention in order to keep with the changing times and the changing levels of exposure. In this regard, change management has thus become a vital part of every organisation’s agenda. (Axelrod, 2000) In this regard, the HR elements of the organisation, or its employees within this industry, are the major precursors of change within the organisation. They are the ones who implement the change management process at the following levels of activity: Communication Planning Resource Utilisation Cost effectiveness in Operations (Axelrod, 2000) This makes the employees or the HR, change managers within the organisation. The impetus to change and grow with these changes comes from the fact that the modern day organisation is made up of people from various corners of the globe, with the ability to reach into their own varied personal experiences. Thus in turn, is a major factor that helps them cope with change and learn to keep changing with the changing times and trends. Also, sometimes change comes from within the organisation owing to the growth of exposure with the growth of the organisation or with activities like development and training. (Bender, 2000. P 125 to 127; Axelrod, 2000) This initiates the employee into a process of embracing and implementing change in order to do away with any monotony that may exist in the operational area of the organisation that they thrive in, due to repeated activities and other such factors. The basic role of change management is to develop a system or structure within which there is a strong sense of being able to forecast change, and adjust to the same accordingly. This change management structure is an informal one that is carried out by the employees in the organisation. The role of change management is as follows: To help recognise change. To help recognise the areas in which these changes must be implemented within the organisation. To help the organisation integrate its goals or modify the same, with a change in the external environment. To help the HR understand the change and grow with it. (Bender, 200. P 125 to 127) Creation of Effective Support Systems through Development Activities and Innovation For this purpose, in the retail pharmacy organisation damage assessment and reporting should constitute of the preliminaries of restoration and restructuring apart from playing an important role in the formulation of a crisis management plan. Since crises threaten the strategic objectives of the organisation, crisis management has been structured so as to work under the foresight of strategic management. This is one of the major trends that are seen to be emerging in the field of prioritising control of crisis to facilitate eventual risk management. (Axelrod, 2000) Further, staff training and scenario testing have been made to sound more specific with special emphasis on real life situations and an assessment of the responses that are gathered thereon. This results in proper task description and designation of responsible staff. Also, outsourcing has become a major trend in providing of equipment and facilities so as to lighten the load on the risk bearer’s mind. During strategic planning of risk management, a major point to be made and clarified is the estimated value of percentages for the probability of the risks that should be included in the picture. To give a fairer idea, the records of insurance companies are now taken as a database for the purpose of analysis. (Stephenson, 2004) In this regard, let us take a brief look at a minor case study from a developing country in order to more effectively depict the level of creativity that is being employed in the sphere of insurance and risk management. Reliance Industries is a major player in India’s insurance industry. India has a vast insurable population of which only 20% is insured. To gain a foothold in the case of the remaining 80%, the newly launched Reliance Insurance Pvt Ltd, has come up with an innovative scheme wherein the ‘connect to life’ proposal offers a ‘no questions asked, no tests conducted’ insurance policy to the insuring entrepreneurs. This not only enhances the client base of Reliance, but also reduces the sum assured payable by the insuring party upon buying such a policy, which becomes more like a retail product. A move of such nature definitely qualifies as creativity. (www.relianceinsurance.com) Therefore, it can be said that a risk averse entrepreneur has a variety of innovative options before him today, for the purpose of risk management and insurance in terms of financial loss. In keeping with this viewpoint, the theories studied above have been based on the models that have a great deal of influence on the risk management strategies in the organisation. (Axelrod, 2000) Training and development processes for the organization, may either be diagnostic or based on future role-play. In this case, the kinds of training followed by the organization may be categorized into on the job and off the job training methods. These will depend on the nature of information being shared and the level at which the operations in terms of virtual safety and secure identity solutions, take place for better risk assessment. (Brussin, 2006) While on the job methods rely on training within the organization at the expense of the same, off the job methods refer to external sources where an employee may obtain training. Therefore, there are larger benefits of training through the theoretical and empirical frameworks within which training strategies are decided upon, so as to carry out an assessment of the very roots where training and development begins and to propose a contextual point of judging responses and development areas in terms of risk assessment within the retail pharmacy organization. Training and Development Patterns It is impetrative to assess the beneficial nature of training strategies in context of the theory applied for determining the need for such training within the organisation. Therefore, the process of assessing the needs before planning the training strategy involves the following steps: (Axelrod, 2000) ( i ) Identification of needs – an analysis of needs addresses the problems at hand besides anticipating future demands in terms of risk assessment in the information assurance system. The benefit of this step lies in the fact that it considers the best and most cost effective way to meet those training needs right at the onset, which make the training strategy planning and implementation process more fluid. ( ii ) Definition of specific knowledge requirements - this stage to examines the skills and knowledge level that is required to be developed within the information assurance system in order to meet the new objectives identified by the training needs. This helps the management gain perspective as to which kind of training strategy will be the most effective one when adopted for the situation at hand. ( iii ) Planning process – This includes paying special attention to the training techniques that have been used in the past and their effectiveness. This helps show any deviations and how they may be modified or discarded entirely. Further, in the planning stage, one also decides on the locations of training, which is generally based on the model being followed to meet training needs and objectives as well as other learning requirements. ( iv ) Trainer Competence – For competence in communication and soft skills, it is crucial to have the right mix of all factors. One of these factors includes the trainer. While the organization itself may have a training department, it may also source its training projects to external trainers. These trainers are sent by training companies who conduct sessions over a period of a few weeks depending on the situation at hand and the employee requirements. Therefore, in choosing a competent trainer, the organization makes sure that it gets the best of development as these trainers know the knack of basing their training on the availability of suitable training methodologies and the degree of responsibility within the information assurance system. ( v ) Evaluation of training – this is where the planners evaluate the training needs and prioritize them before carrying out a similar process of evaluation for the training strategy they have in mind so as to link the strategy with the needs and reach certain projections regarding success or failure. This helps bridge numerous gaps in the implantation stage and is thus extremely important and beneficial for a smooth sailing process. ( vi ) Implementation process – In this regard, the assessment of the existing training methods are taken into consideration so as find the best option for making use of the training strategy in terms of development of individual areas. This helps save time and cut cost besides rendering a certain amount of effectiveness and authenticity to the whole process. Conclusion Here, the XYZ organisation will make use of the issue of democratisation in an attempt to go beyond rhetoric and to develop a framework that integrates the role of transnational activism into the analysis of domestic regime change. While Comparative research on democratisation confirms that underlying socio economic conditions affect the long-term sustainability of democratic reforms. This is where the retail pharmacy organisation requires reforms in terms of training and motivation so as to effectively accommodate the new information assurance system that will integrate risk management, virtual safety as well as disaster management programs. The initiation of such reforms, as well as the process they take, can best be understood using an agency-based framework that links internal and external influences. Thus, with equal emphasis on external influences, which constitute areas like social standing of an employee, the management exercises relevant social control through motivation of an employee to achieve the social standing he or she has in mind. (Axelrod, 2000) References Axelrod, Richard H (2000). Terms of Engagement. Berrett Koehler Publishers. Brussin, D (2006). Professional penetration testing for better Security. CISSP Stephenson, P (2004). Getting the Whole Picture. The Center for Digital Forensic Studies. Reliance Insurance Industries. URL: www.relianceinsurance.com (Accessed during: February, 2008). Read More