Organisational Change and Transition - Case Study Example

The organizations undergo change in every phase of their lifecycle. It is very necessary that the organizations have a proactive approach towards dealing with these changes otherwise it can have dire results. The present paper looks in to the literature of the dealing with the organizational change and researches the best alternative methodologies for different organizational configurations. The case study of Burton was chosen to look in to the details of dealing with the organizational change. The internal and external changes that Burton had to undergo were coped with well by making use of appropriate principal approach and it was found that efficient management of change can result in development of an organization with better trained employees with greater potential that sets the organization on the road of success and prosperity. Introduction: Change in every part of life is inevitable. It can be regarded the life blood of the business as it provides the opportunities to work on new projects, modify and rehabilitate. It is very important to recognize the change as it is taking place in order to come up with strategies and methodologies to cope up with it. If a company fails to recognize the change and adopt a proactive approach to deal with it, it results in lower efficiency and productivity. A decline in the profits and ineffective business can also be resultant of not being able to cope with the change The development of any organization and the way it manages changes, to a large degree determines the success rate of the company. In the recent times the rate at which the organizations are changing and adopting new ways if business has only increased. The rapid changes in technology, innovations and creativity have been the main root cause of the change. Other factors include the internet and its help in access to wide range of knowledge and information in a go. The globalization as it breaks down the barriers of international market has also impacted the organizational life to a large degree. At times the organizational change initiative fails to produce the results that the organization is hoping to achieve. It can be due to a number of reasons including the absence of a true leader or the insufficient management support. The other reasons can be the poor management skills, political infighting, ambiguity in the objective of the organization etc. The results of a failed change initiative can be extremely detrimental to the organization. That is why the change management is one of the leading causes of anxiety in the mangers. An organizational change can be made very successfully if the organizational needs and change initiatives are parallel. A change program can be made successful if the organization real needs are complied with the change initiatives. In addition to compliance of organization needs with change initiatives, it is equally important to change the behavior of the people in some fundamental way. A change can be coped with the right vision and an ability to prioritize and ample planning. Many changes in the organization takes place for example when an organization changes its overall strategy, renovates one of its practice and operations. The change can also come from the life cycle of the organization as it evolves, grows and prosper. It is impossible for an organization to develop without undergoing some significant changes. The reason organization change and development has become such a widespread concept is because it is inevitable and needs to be effectively tackled if an organization wants to grow and succeed. The strategies used by the organization are quite different from one another depending of the nature of the problem and the organization itself. It is impossible for an organization to be using all the strategies at the same time. It is recommended to focus on one of the strategy and implement it to see if it produces the desired result. Two more strategies can be implemented at the same time to gauge and compare the results. The organization, in this way learns its way to embrace change and make it work in its favor. It is the duty of the leaders and managers to put in every effort to make the change successful and in favor of their organization. There are many programs available which can be made use of to analyze the organization’s needs, address its priorities and then form plans to cater to the change. The present paper probes the research question that how organizational change be tackled. What are the factors that bring about and influence the change? The specific approaches used to cope with the organizations changing needs are discussed in the present paper. The case study of Burton Menswear further clarifies the issues of managing and coping with change. It also helps in determining how the methodologies and approaches differ as the shapes, sizes, configurations, values styles and change needs. Literature Review Change management is a phrase that is not uncommon in today’s corporate world (Ackoff, 1990). The question of managing change; whether to resist it or facilitate it, has been researched for a while now (Drucker, 1999). The concept of change management has evolved and become very important in the working of many of the organizations today. If change is managed amply then it can help in putting the organization on the right track towards it future prosper state. The change management attempts to help the organizations in this regard. So change should be preceded by creating a vision for the organization and then empowering the employees enough to be able to carry out that plan to change and help organization achieve its new vision. It is very important that the new approach should be future oriented and realistic. There are many programs in the change management which can help the organization to cope with change and enable their employees as change agents to help achieve the new vision (De Meuse et. al. 1994). According to Watzlawick et al. (1994) most of the theories of change had their foundations in philosophy, mathematics and physics. Their own personal theory was based on the mathematical logic. The particular theories on which their belief about change was formed are ‘theory of groups’ and ‘theory of logical types’. They aimed to basically view and come up with explanation for the change and its management. Watzlawick et al. (1994) were of the view that the theories before them explained two kinds of changes; the first order change and the second order change. The two orders are basically two extremes. First Order Change: It is the ways in which processes and procedures are being done differently but the system itself remain intact. E.g. creating reports in a new modified way and refining and working around the existing procedures and processes. Second Order Change: This kind of change occurs when the system itself is altered. A strategic change or a major crisis can be dealt with this kind of second order change. The evolution from paper to the electronic can come under this kind of change. The automation of the teller machines is also regarded as the second order change. Golembiewski, Billingsley, and Yeager (1996) also added more levels of change to the change pyramid. It was defined as the middle order change which lied between the first and second order change. It is called the middle order because the intensity of change is more than the first order change yet less than the second order. In this level the strategic nature of the system and other critical factors are not affected. There were six approaches that were mentioned by the Waddel and Sohal (1998) to deal with resist to change. The first approach is to educate and communicate the employees and facilitate them to bring in the change. It is also very necessary to involve the employees in the decision making. It becomes easier to cope with the change. Ample support on the part of the management also helps in the resistance to change. If there is enough negotiation and agreement between the management and the employees then the acceptance for change becomes easier. The failure to cope with change has been researched by Schalk, Campbell and Freese (1998). The reasons given by them were failing to build a sustainable coalition, not having a clear vision and failure to incorporate change in the already existing culture. According to (Lorenzi, 1994) there can be mainly four types of changes that can occur in an organization. The four types are listed below; Operational Changes; The mean of business and operations are affected in this type of change. An example can be of automation of a business operation. Strategic Changes: The changes in the basic business vision, goals and objectives can be attributed to its change in strategy. Cultural Change: The change in the working environment of the organization. It can be both physical and non-physical. One example can be implementing continuous quality improvement system. Political Changes: The changes in the management or staffing can come under this kind of change. These different types of change have their impact on the different levels of an organization. The operational changes like the terminology depicts have its greatest impact on the front line employees. The upper level employees mostly remain oblivious to the stress the operational changes cause to the firing line. On the other side, the political changes are mostly felt at the upper levels of the hierarchy. The internal power struggle usually going on the upper level causes this change. Practical Implication of Change and its Management Company Name: Burton Menswear Inc Burtons Menswear Inc is basically a privately owned company working in the business category of Mens Clothing & Furnishings Retail. It is located at Fredericksburg, VA. It started its operation in 1971. Changes/challenges Burton had to encounter: Change in Leadership: There was a change in the leadership of Burton in 1969 when Rice took over. Change in Demographics and Lifestyles: It was the era of Beatles and people especially men were becoming very fashion conscious. The specialty of the Burton which was to make made to measure suits were becoming outdated. People were becoming more inclined towards ready to make wear. Increased Competition (External Environment Factor): More and more Italian designers were coming up and offering ready to wear suits to men. They were relatively less expensive and the fact they were ready to wear made their preference of the customer. How they handled it The first change made to cope with the change in the lifestyle and demographic was to switch Burtons to ready to wear clothes from made to measure men’s apparel. The fundamental external forces that instigated this change were the customer base and their changed fashion consciousness which was triggered by the cultural change and lifestyles. Other external forces included the competition. The leaders of Burton adopted a principal approach to tackle the changes in the environment; both the external and internal. The change approach was implemented by using the following model; In the said approach there are six phases that ensures the change programs Goncalves, M. (2007),’Change management: concepts and practice’ ASME Press The leaders acted like a change agent and demonstrated the broad understanding of the problem at hand. Lesson Learned: If action is taken timely then management can alter any situation in its favor. Change can prove to be beneficial to an organization if it tackles it with positive reactive approach. Management of change can help anticipate the challenges and respond to them more efficiently. If change is managed in the right manner, it results in increased return on investment (ROI) The efficient change management can result in formation of the best practices of leadership and develops a well strengthened team with greater potential. Conclusion: The change is one of the most difficult challenges that an organization has to face. The world of today is highly competitive and in this competitive world, the efficiency with which an organization manages change determines it as a loser or a winner. Many organizations fail to make any profits and eventually drop out of competition because they are unable to adapt (Hiatt and Creasey, T). The Burton had to undergo both internal and external changes when the leadership changed hands and the demographics and the fashion industry underwent some alterations. Burton underwent two of the six changes defined by Lorenzi, (1994) namely political and the strategic. Burton made some crucial decisions timely and coped with the change well. The change in fact worked in favor of Burton. They were successful in dealing with it and coming out unscathed by making use of a principal approach. The change in the Burton was made successful because it was followed by change in the attitude and behavior of the employees. According to the Watzlawick theory of change Burton underwent the second order change because the whole of the system was altered and it had faced a major crisis. Burton educated and communicated the employees and facilitated them to bring in the change. So conclusively it can be said that it is quite possible for an organization to adapt to the change in the external and internal environment and come out unscathed. If an organization successfully copes up with the impending change it can set it in the right direction towards growth and prosperity. References:  Ackoff RL. The management of change and the changes it requires of management. Syst Pract. 1990;3(5): 427-40. Drucker PF. Management Challenges for the 21st Century. New York: Harperbusiness, 1999. De Meuse, K. P., & McDaris, K. K. (February 1994). An exercise in managing change. Training and Development Golembiewski RT, Billingsley K, Yeager S. Measuring change and persistence in human affairs: types of change generated by OD designs. J Appl Behav Sci. 1996;12: 133-57. Hiatt, J., and Creasey, T., (2008), ‘Change management:  the people side of change’ Prosci Mike, G., Cameron, E., (2004), ‘Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools & techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.  Lorenzi NM, Riley RT. Organizational Aspects of Health Informatics: Managing Technological Change. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1994. Pugh, L., (2007), ‘Change management in information services’, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007 Paton, R., McCalman, J., (2008), ‘Change Management:  A Guide to Effective Implementation. SAGE Publications Ltd. Schalk, R., Campbell, J.W. and Freese, C. (1998) “Change and employee behaviour”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 19 (3), pp. 157-163. Watzlawick P, Weakland JH, Fisch R. Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution. New York: Norton, 1974. Waddell, D. and Sohal, A.S. (1998) “Resistance: a constructive tool for change management”, Management Decision, 36 (8), pp. 543-548. Bibliography: Ansoff, I.H. (1990), Implanting Strategic Management, Prentice Hall International, Ltd. London Barr, P.S., Stimpert, J.L. and Huff, A.S. (1992) “Cognitive Change, Strategic Action, and Organizational Renewal”, Strategic Management Journal, 13 (Special Issue), pp. 15-36. Beer, M. and Eisenstat, R.A. (1996) “Developing an organization capable of implementing strategy and learning”, Human Relations, 49 (5), pp. 597-617. Hutt, M.D., Walker, B.A. and Frankwick, G.L. (1995) “Hurdle the Cross-Functional Barriers to Strategic Change”, Sloan Management Review, 36 (3), pp. 22-30. Leana, C.R. and Barry, B. (2000) “Stability and Change as Simultaneous Experiences in Organizational Life”, Academy of Management Review, 25 (4), pp. 753-759. Morrison, E.W. and Milliken, F.J. (2000) “Organizational silence: a barrier to change and development in a pluralistic world”, Academy of Management Review, 25 (4), pp. 706-725. Piderit, S.K. (2000) “Rethinking resistance and recognizing ambivalence: a multidimensional view of attitudes toward an organizational change”, Academy of Management Review, 25 (4), pp. 783-794. Watzlawick P, Weakland JH, Fisch R. Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution. New York: Norton, 1994 Zeffane, R. (1996) “Dynamics of strategic change: critical issues in fostering positive organizational change”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 17 (7), pp. 36-43. Read More