Business Development and Organizational Change: Leadership and Strategy - Research Paper Example

Introduction An organization is made up of several departments and each department operates on one or more processes. To design, develop and maintain these processes, a management system is essential. When compared to the other management practices, leadership, strategy and change management are considered as the most important part of the organization’s operations. A task, skill or a quality alone cannot help in managing an organization. Instead these processes help in maintaining and managing the process in a much efficient way. These processes lend a helping hand at times of crisis and propose a better solution to tackle with the problems that prevail in the organization. Leadership, Strategy and Change Management Leadership, strategy and change are part of an organization. They are generally conceived as a process, behavior, quality, skill or a system. When comparing all these ways, leadership, strategy and change are more important as a process. They are considered to be processes since an organization relies on these processes to carry on with their operations. An organization is composed of various processes like strategic management, change management, leadership process, planning and implementation. Out of all these processes, strategic planning and management becomes an important task since implementation of strategies is more essential in building up an organization. The next important concept is change management. (Pierce & Newstorm, 2010). A company must be ready to accept any form of change in the development and production of products. Once a change occurs, the company must be efficient enough to handle and cope up with those changes. Hence change management becomes inevitable. To manage with these changes and implement the strategies, a strong leadership process must be defined. This leadership defines the way in which these processes are implemented and maintained in an organization. Leadership Process Leadership is considered as a process since it eventually manages and maintains the tasks in an organization. Leadership process in turn involves several sub processes and components which make up the leadership a complete process. Leadership mainly involves processes like team building, development, managing resources and implementing the processes in an organization. The process in leadership does not end with mere maintenance of a project. Instead it begins from the scratch of selecting people in a team to implementing the completed project in an organization. The concept of leadership is vast and it requires the analysis of various articles and studies. Creativity is considered to be the major factor in leadership. The leadership process involves creative and innovative thinking and processing. This helps the organization to develop products that are different in terms of service and features. Thus leadership process is one of the primary components in an organization. (Northouse, 2010). Creative performance of the team members purely depends on the team leader and his leadership abilities. The characteristics of a leader and leadership qualities define the way in which a team is built and developed. The innovativeness of the leader and the members of the team are equally important in defying the success of the leadership process. This clearly explains that the efficiency of a team is the one that defines the quality of a leader. Leadership process involves several factors like assessing the needs, providing solution for a problem, creative ideas, indulging others to work, achieving change and satisfying the end users. Assessing the Needs Needs assessment is the first and the foremost task of the leadership process. This process involves requirements analysis and needs assessment. For a particular project, the project leader has the responsibility to find out the requirements for the project. The requirements for a project entirely depend on the user. To accomplish this task, the project leader must incorporate certain techniques to gather the requirements. This can be done by directly interacting with the user and this is considered to be the most effective way in determining the needs of the end user as well. (Shaffer, 2000). A questionnaire can be given to the user and based on his answers, the leader can decide on the required resources. In the process of leadership, needs assessment plays an important role. Solutions and Decisions An organization is composed of several departments, each of which is maintained by a leader. Leadership process involves another major work, arriving at a decision during difficult times. Whenever a problem arises in a project, the leader is held responsible to resolve the issue and to find an alternative solution. In the process of leadership, resolving an issue is also considered to be a major task. Decision making is one of the important qualities of a leader. Leadership process includes the process of decision making. Decision making becomes necessary if the project has to decide on specific problems. Decision making requires skill as well as experience, without which the decision may prove to be fatal. When compared to the other processes in leadership, decision making is the important task. (Rickards, 2000). User Satisfaction Any organization aims at satisfying its users and it is considered as the responsibility of an organization to develop products based on the user’s requirement. The user will get satisfied only when the product is developed according to his needs, failing which will lead to serious consequences. To satisfy the user, a leader must ensure that the product is being developed in a proper manner. This must be carried out in each and every stage of product development. As a process, leadership must make sure that the end user is fully satisfied with their product. (Carter, 2002). If the user is not satisfied, the leader of the particular project is held responsible. Hence the process of leadership is complete only with satisfying the user. Analysis Analyzing the aspects of leadership process simplifies the process of finding out the advantages and disadvantages of the leadership process. Most of the researchers specify that leadership process is not a single process; instead it involves the collaboration of several other processes. Articles and studies on leadership process indicate that leadership process includes three major processes, management, vision and politics. (Carter, 2002). These three processes define the way in which leadership process is being executed. The first process of the leadership process is stated as the vision which is a set of objectives and goals. An organization works towards achieving its goal by means of the objectives. A leader must follow these objectives in order to achieve the goal. Vision of an organization may include certain risks and it’s the duty of the leader to mitigate with the risks and achieve the intended target. Due to this factor, the responsibility of the leader increases. The next key process is the management. Only proper management can assist in reaching the goal without much hiatus. Without an efficient management, the task of development becomes a tough task. Management is the most essential feature of the leadership process. The process of management is composed of planning, organizing, resource allocation and project implementation. These tasks must be carried out in an efficient manner in order to proceed with the development process. Though these key processes seems to be important, there are certain other things that also form the main part of leadership process. These key components cannot be manipulated without the basic qualities of leadership. Most of the authors and researchers rely on the necessary qualities and emphasize on the qualities. This creates a situation where they forget the fact that leadership process is not a single handed process. Instead it requires the help of other senior officials in the organization. The authors must also concentrate on the other aspects of the leadership process. Strategy Process Strategy is defined as a set of process or unique activity carried out to accomplish a particular task. An organization follows a specific or unique strategy in order to change or manage a current situation. A strategy helps in supporting or improving a problematic situation in a project. Strategies generally define the way in which the tasks should take place. By following a strategy a company can be sure of getting the desired results. Though a strategy seems to be easy to select and implement, the strategy process is a tedious task. This in turn involves the incorporation of strategic models and planning. The selection and implementation of strategies purely depend on the particular scenario. (Mintzberg, 2003). Based on the scenario, the planning must be done, after which the strategy must be selected. A strategy process must focus on the long term result so that the process does not result in problems in the near future. It must be capable of managing with the changes n the project. It must also be efficient enough to interact with the other processes in the project. When a similar strategy is implemented for more than one process, inter process and intra process communication also becomes mandatory. This can be achieved only by following the strategy process which is a step by step process that includes strategic planning, planning scenarios, strategic management and strategic model. Strategic Planning The initial step in the strategy process is strategic planning. This strategic planning process is divided into top-down and bottom-up processing. The strategic planning teams are formed for both the perspectives. The planning teams for top-down and bottom-up approach are composed with the most efficient people since strategic planning decides how a strategy is implemented. (Floyd, 2005). The team constitutes of team members, leaders, project leaders and project managers. Once the executives are assigned, the plan is being developed. The strategic plan is developed based on the requirements of the project. The needs and requirements may vary from one project to another. Hence assessing the needs is one of the sub processes of the strategic planning process. The process for each approach begins with analyzing the requirements. Next process is to interpret the changes in the project to higher level and the officials involved in the particular project. If the business portfolio does not match well with the current business strategy, the portfolio is redefined and modified to suit the existing strategy followed in the organization. Once this is completed, the business target is decided and the resources required for carrying out the business strategy is allocated. (Warren, 2008). As the operations are identified earlier, the resources are selected according to the business operations of the organization. The main advantage of strategy process is the flexible module that allows the executives to alter or include any innovative services in the planning process. This can be done even during the implementation of the strategy. Planning Scenarios A business strategy is developed and implemented to assist the organization in coping up with a problematic situation. The efficiency of the strategy decides how effectively a strategy operates on a particular situation. Planning the scenarios is also considered as one of the most important tasks of the strategy process. (Szulanski, 2005). The scenarios must be planned well in advance so that the strategy can be developed to handle the unforeseen circumstances in the future. Generally a strategy is developed based on certain assumptions. These assumptions include changes and business modifications that may occur in the future. A problem that may arise in the future must also be included in the scenario. In short, planning scenario is a task of expecting a problem in the future and including it in the development of strategy. Strategic Model Strategic planning and implementation includes development of business model that can assist the organization to meet up with the problems and business challenges. Strategic business model includes policies that help in the specification of processes, changes and operations that may happen in the future. (Porter, 1996). The business model has to be developed in such a way that it incorporates the strategic issues that indicate the fluctuations in the market. It must also include the future changes by including innovative and creative concepts. The business operations, competitions among the other organizations and changes in business process must be a part of these business models. Operational Plan Operational plan is the final step in the process of strategy development and management. The operational plan transforms the vision and goal of the company into reality. The operational plan may be a long term plan or a short term one, depending on the organization. These operational plans are developed based on the strategic plans. Once the scenarios are planned and the model is developed, the operational plan is implemented. (Heijden, 2005).The top-down and bottom-up strategic planning is taken into consideration while developing an operational plan. The organizational process is specified well in advance to avoid any problems that may arise in the future. The operational plan specifies the changes to be made in the existing process. These changes must be implemented before developing the strategy. (Pablos, 2005). Once all these processes are completed, the final step of implementing the strategy begins. Analysis Strategy process, as defined by the authors, is a process of planning, developing and implementing an approach that helps the organization to achieve the goals and objectives. Though most of the studies reveal that strategy must be independent of the process, it is difficult for the developers to create a strategy that does not rely on the particular project. A strategy is developed for each process, depending on the project’s requirement. The strategy development process is not an easy task. Instead it requires more time, resources and inputs. Several articles have been proposed on strategy process and each of them specifies a completely different aspect of this process. Though there has been a striking difference on these articles, the underlying concept is the same. Change Management Change management is a unique approach which deals with the changes that take place in the organization. Any change that occurs in an organization will affect the ongoing processes. This may lead to a situation where the processes cannot be further developed. To avoid such problems, change management becomes necessary. The organization must be capable of adapting to the change and must have the necessary components to control the adverse effects caused by the change. (Paton & McCalman, 2008). To accomplish these tasks, a change management module is required. Change management cannot be performed single handedly. A unique procedure must be defined and implemented to modify the system to act according to the change. These changes may be a business change, fluctuation in the market or changes in the requirements of the user. These changes may occur at any point of time and the company must be equipped to handle such situations. An organization cannot adapt itself immediately to a change. The organization might not have the ability to tackle the situation and act to the change immediately. (Dubey, 2007). A structured method is required to assist the organization in coping up with the change. The initial process of change management is composed of two processes, Understanding the change. Managing the change. A change management may occur due to various reasons. A business crisis, problem within a team, competition in the business market and economic downturn are some of the major reasons that contribute to a change in the organization. Any of these changes will not affect a single unit or department in an organization. (Pugh, 2007). Instead it affects almost all the departments, leading to severe problems in the entire organization. To avoid any unforeseen circumstances, it is better to maintain a change management system. This system will certainly assist during times of crisis and problems. Implementing a new system at the time of change will certainly lead to more problems. This can be avoided when a change management module is readily available in the organization. The change management process involves steps like identifying a problem, communicating with the departments, identify changes, implement system and monitor the change. Identify Problems Identifying the problem is the first step of change management. The problems can be identified with the employees working in the particular department and people working in the other departments as well. (Cowan, 2005). Once the problems are identified, a solution has to be obtained. Based on the prevailing problem, a solution is derived. Communicate Once the problems are identified, the next step is to communicate with the other departments in the organization. This will certainly reduce the risk of implementing an incorrect solution. It will ease the process of defining and developing the change management. Implementing change Process The change process implementation includes a plan which specifies the step by step process of implementation. The plan must be simple and easy for the developer to understand and implement. As the team members, team leader and project managers are included in the development, the plan would certainly yield more benefit to the organization. (Sangamithra, 2000). The change management plan must also define the roles and responsibilities of each individual. Analysis According to the change management articles and books, change management is described as a simple process that helps an organization to prepare itself for a change. Though this is true to certain extent, the important components of a change management plan are left unattended. The change in the systems and the process requires effective planning and proper management structure to achieve change management. Conclusion Leadership, strategy and change management are a part of organization’s operations. Business development and organizational change rely on these processes in order to achieve their targets. These processes include several sub processes that assist in easy management of the organization. More than a skill or a task, leadership, strategy and change management are considered as processes. Reference Pierce, J. & Newstorm, J., 2010. Leader and Leadership Process. U.S.A: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Northouse, P., 2010. Leadership: Theory and Practice. California: Sage Publications. Shaffer, J., 2000. The Leadership Solution. New York: McGraw-Hill. Mintzberg, H., 2003. The Strategy Process: Concepts, Contexts, Cases. London: Pearson Education. Floyd, S., 2005. Innovating Strategy Process. U.S.A: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Szulanski, G., 2005. Strategy Process. U.S.A: Tata McGraw Hill. Warren, K., 2008. Strategic Management Dynamics. England: John Wiley & Sons. Paton, R. & McCalman, J., 2008. Change Management: A Guide To Effective Implementation. London: Sage Publications. 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