Organizational Change at Eg Jims Cleaning - Case Study Example

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AT EG JIMS CLEANING Introduction Changes in the internal and external environments of organizations have become continuous and unstoppable. We have to cope with these constant changes for as long as we conduct business amidst intense globalization. Managing change should be a priority because change is an opportunity for improvement. We encounter, introduce, and, lastly, we cannot avoid change enforced upon us by time and situations. Organizations have to also introduce changes, for instance, in their marketing strategies, product orientation, employee management, and other organizational strategies. Workers must prepare in activities like orientation, on-the-job training, training and development, lifelong learning, etc. Some of these methods are institutionally programmed, but change is sometimes spontaneous, difficult to penetrate and encounter. We have to study and learn all the days of our lives. Change is a part of business life and indeed inevitable. Change management does not have any particular correct way of doing it, though it includes a number of social science disciplines and traditions in theory and practice. (Burnes 261) We are living in the midst of the knowledge economy, i.e. knowledge is very significant, a part of organizational resources and a base for improvement. Human resources should be well-equipped with the necessary mental, physical and psychological abilities. What human resource know and possess become a part of organizational knowledge. Employees should be ready for battle and their weapons are their knowledge, talent, capabilities, and experience to combat the multiple forces of modernity and technology. Organizations depend much on the workers; workers depend on the organization so they can improve and develop their knowledge and skill. Advancement in communication has allowed everyone and every business organization to be connected to the world anytime. The world has never been tightly interconnected as it is today. These connections have been realized at almost no cost to the customer and at a reasonable cost to the supplier. (Sussland ix) Globalization has revolutionized businesses and organizations. Companies now are expanding abroad, and have to expand both as an organization and as a business. New products have to be introduced. Competition dictates these companies to be always changing. Technology is a driver of change and has brought about related phenomena and new forms of industry. Because of the advent and popularity of the internet, globalization dominates almost all aspects of businesses and organizations. “We are now living in a globalised world” seems to be a favorite catchphrase among authors and writers, and applicable to businesses and organizations because transactions can be conducted at an instance. Most of the business functions and responsibilities cannot anymore be performed by existing departments with their limited personnel. Companies have to create more departments, recruit more personnel, and add more duties and responsibilities. They need middle- and low-level managers and staff to answer to customers’ demands. Because of this, downsizing comes to the aid of organizations struggling in their finances. There is a lot of challenge put on the shoulder of the manager that puts his expertise to the test. Along with this line of thought is the concept on comparative human resource management that explores the extent to which people differs between different countries or between areas within a country or different regions of the world. Cultural diversity is common in the age of globalization. Sometimes we have to choose between adaptation and standardization in our products and services, and in our marketing strategies in order to adjust to cultural diversity and thereafter gain an edge in the competition. There are more changes when an organization expands to other countries. Managers and employees have to adjust to an organization with different cultures. An organization in another environmental setting will create a culture by itself that will have to cope with the existing culture of another country. Organizational culture is different from the existing national culture. But the demand for localized products and services is growing, despite globalization. Commentators argue that globalization is synonymous with standardization of products and marketing strategies. However, we have to adapt and apply marketing strategies to cope with cultural differences. Cultural differences are a key factor to globalization. National values in other countries are more pronounced in the way people dress, talk, act socially, and in their religious ways. Cultural influences are a major concern. Most low-rank employees can be recruited in the country where business is built. Senior staff and other managerial jobs are from the country of origin. This makes additional demands on the skills of the managers in handling employees of different orientation and culture. Different countries do have different values which affect the way people organize, conduct and manage work. The manager is faced with interpreting the actions and attitudes of the employees, negotiate with groups that have not only different goals but different methods of reaching to the company and different expectations of the other employees’ behavior. Moreover, other normal activities such as recruitment and selection, training and development, reward and performance appraisal, may all be affected by cultural values and practices. In other words, the adoption of policies should be given careful study. EG JIMS CLEANING (www.jimscleaning.net) The company is based in Melbourne, Australia and its main business is to provide cleaning services to homes and offices. The main thrust is cleaning every part and every section where activity needs cleanliness and extra-smooth surface that should be free of any form of bacteria. EG Jims Cleaning is a franchise. Since purchasing the franchise, I have formulated the following aims: SMART GOALS:Goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely  To satisfy my stakeholders that include my co-investors, employees and the general public who need the company’s services; To provide quality service – home, office, garage, vehicle, equipment, or any equipment, part, or activity that needs to be cleaned as our customer wishes; To be a part of the working class of our community that puts service first before profit; These three goals are on top of our other organizational objectives. Management Strategy Every nation state faces risks and uncertainties. This is true with businesses and organizations. Our world has been plagued with risks and uncertainties since time immemorial. From the time humans set forth on earth, they have met so many accidents and calamities. Most of these accidents are outcomes of inventions and innovations. But an almost equal number can be said as natural accidents or catastrophes. Risk management has to be applied to EG Jims Cleaning. It has to be well planned and studied. Risk management involves analyzing risks that may occur in the course of undertaking a project and the management of the possible outcomes of such a project. It is about events that are still forthcoming that may create risks and uncertainties because of many factors and causes. The events have to be identified so that risk management (in the form of solutions to problems or precautions to prevent loses) can be applied. Risks can cause losses or damage to the physical structure that are assets of the company. Loss occurs after an event and can threaten the existence of tangible and intangible assets. Risk management plays a great role in the success EG Jims Cleaning for without it risks will continue to haunt the company and threaten the success of its organizational aims and objectives. Operational risks caused by internal fraud are a common occurrence. So the company has to train and motivate employees to refrain from doing criminal acts. Risk management was first introduced to protect assets of the company, to prevent losses, and prevent harm and injuries to workers in the workplace. This form of management emphasizes and deals with what is going to happen that might cause harm to the company, impede the formal flow of events, disrupt operations and hamper organizational objectives. Appropriate risk management starts with identifying the risks then followed by analysis and control. If the manager identifies the risk such as possible losses in business, the next step would be to formulate the strategies on how to deal with that risk. If the risk is not identified, it becomes unmanageable. (Greene and Trieschmann, 1984 cited in Tchankova, 2002, p. 290) The risk manager and the risk management team must be composed of experienced planners and designers who must conduct risk management according to data, information and knowledge. This combination provides the necessary expertise in dealing with future and expected events. Safety Risks Risks to our company include safety. Our workers who clean the customers’ homes and offices face the risk of uncertainty since they do not – at first – know the exact environment. So training plays a significant role here. Before sending an employee to field work, he/she must be well trained and skilled in mustering a new or even strange environment. Safety is of paramount importance. You will never know what is going to happen out there. That’s our first risk management technique. Our company is fully equipped with the latest technology, employees use safe vehicles and we follow laws and regulations mandated to our type of job and business. Communication is also very important. All employees are issued cellular phones and the latest technology available for good and fast communication. Barriers to Change People resist change. Some resist for parochial self-interest reasons. According to George Reynolds (2010), people feel the effects of change on themselves than how change affects or can improve the processes in the organization. Another reason is misunderstanding. People do lack the knowledge associated with change. Third reason to resist change is low tolerance to change. Some people are insecure in their job. And the last reason is different assessment of the situation. Some employees do not really support the process of change. (Reynolds 25) Competencies Strategic plans of the company include working according to schedules, satisfying customers and stakeholders through quality work, and issuance of equipments and vehicles along with the necessary maintenance requirements for those equipments. Our policies and practices are continuously being reviewed by the management team. This includes seeing to it that employees are provided adequate salary and benefits, but along this line is the employees’ commitment to work and satisfying customers.  The company’s external environment includes the customers’ perception of our company and their regular feedback. So far, there has been positive feedback and good customer relation. This is reflected in our company website where we have customer interaction. Their feedback and suggestions provide guidelines for improvement. We don’t leave this behind. Although we understand that competitors are a hindrance to success, they can be a source of strength. But constant dialoguing and consulting our competitors in the industry, we can find fresh and fruitful ideas. Competitors are not entirely bad to success. EG JIMS CLEANING SWOT ANALYSIS Strength Our company’s strength lies in our people. Workers work part-time or full-time, whatever suits them according to the schedules provided them before they were employed. Training and development is an important part of the employment process. This includes performance management, performance appraisal, and motivation. Weakness Our company is still growing. Being a franchisee limits our chances of growing and of having more potential investors. We still have the power to attract investors but that can be our thrust in the near future. To grow means to establish an original company with our own reputation and official logo. At present, we rely on the company’s reputation for that is the primary reason why we succumbed to franchising. However, being a franchisee has helped us gain more customers. Opportunity There is much room for improvement. Franchising is just a stepping stone to more opportunities ahead. We can gain more experience through the company’s experience as a cleaning company and our thoughts are for being independent once we gained more knowledge and experience as a cleaning franchise. Threat Threats come from competing companies that also cater to homes and offices. Most of these companies are franchisees themselves with a name and reputation. Competition is rather stiff but that is the name of the game. What we can deliver is quality service. Our aim is to satisfy customers and gain their trust, confidence and loyalty. Implementing Change Embedding change to our stakeholders include understanding what to expect and who to expect. It is necessary to understand who our target market is. We cater to homes and offices, to ordinary housewives, vehicle owners, and busy bodies in the offices who do not have time to clear their tables, desks, cars, furniture, etc. We also have to understand the needs of customers. Pricing is also very important. We offer affordable prices for the varying services we offer. Our prices are researched and we believe are the lowest among the various prices our competitors are offering. We have supervisors who work round the clock, supervising the field people. These supervisors are in close contact/communication with middle-level managers through cell phones and online communication. Recommendations/Conclusions We have to implement change in some of our system processes. Some changes include worker roles and responsibilities, management styles and reward systems and possibly decision making processes. For some systems, a few changes might be needed. But for others, a great change can be considered monumental. Some organizations fail in their attempt because of employees’ refusal to adapt to and accept change. Change is a part of human activities, but it is human nature to resist change. Human nature is complicated – it is filled with emotions and feelings. There are complexities, errors, and successes, because organizations are manned by humans. Activities and phenomena create theories. But theories are formulated by humans who commit errors. In the course of time, these theories seem to rule over our behavior and activities. Experience in life is filled with change – positive, negative, environmental factors, genetic make-up. Scientific evidence has proven that people change over a course of time because of mere genetic considerations. What more with ideas and experience? They change over time. People may agree today, they could be opposites tomorrow. Change occurs inside and outside our organization. Technological advances, political factors, laws, social and cultural influences all contribute to change and create ambiguity in organizations. Leaders have devised all sorts of ways on how to manage change, and so do managers. The one and innovative way managers and leaders have devised to counter change and ambiguity is to effect strategic change. This technique is a step by step process in business organizations that tend to define the circumstances, peoples and leaders, and various aspects of the business environment. We have to orient our people and train them regularly. Lastly, we can evaluate the effective of the change through performance appraisal and management. The way employees perform will be a test to the change we have introduced along the way. Works Cited Burnes, Bernard. Managing Change. Pearson Education Ltd., 2009. Print. Jim’s Cleaning Group. Jim’s Cleaning for Home and Office. 2011. Web. 23 August 2011. Reynolds, George. Information technology management. Singapore: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Sussland, Willy A. Connected: A Global Approach to Managing Complexity. London: Thomson Learning, 2000. Print. Tchankova, Lubka. Risk Identification – Basic stage in Risk Management. Environmental Management and Health, Vol. 13 No. 3, 2002, pp. 290-297, doi: 10.1108/09566160210431088. Print. Read More