Organizational Development in HRD (Change Model) - Research Paper Example

Organizational Development Introduction Organizational development focuses on improving the overall performance of the organization while facilitating the development of individual employees (Anderson, 2012). Organizational development encompasses strategic planning, training programs and organizational design among other factors. Organizational development includes strategies and interventions aimed at improving organizational structure, activities and workforce. It deals with the phases of evolution of an organization as it strives for efficiency in its operation. It entails the assessment of organizational culture and touches on both formal and informal dimensions of the firm. This paper explores General Motors culture as an organizational development problem and proposes interventions for its improvement. Company Background General Motors (GM) is and international car and truck manufacturer that was founded in Flint, Michigan in 1908. The company mainly focuses on motor industry and engineering that facilitates its purpose across the world. In 2012, the company had an estimated workforce of about 202,000 individuals all over the world. General Motors manufacture its automotives in 35 nations around the world. The company runs four automotive divisions: GM North America (GMNA), GM Europe (GME), GM international Operations (GMIO) and GM South America (GMSA). GM has faced numerous business challenges in recent times. These problems include ethics and compliance among others. GM’s culture has been faulted on many occasions for its poor performance and thus demands improvement. The culture of the organization does little to promote open discussion of matters of ethics and compliance within the organization. The situation at the company creates a big hurdle for the company’s global ethics director to persuade the staff of General Motors to consider the issue of ethics and compliance. The global compliance department of General Motors was established in 2005 with Samina R. Schey being appointed by the company’s Board Audit Committee as the department’s director. Ethics and integrity play a major role in organizational performance and survival in the contemporary market where corporate social responsibility is a major competitive tool. The main reason for establishing the department was to institute a centralized management for ethics and compliance. Initially, the company’s code of conduct was presented in voluminous booklets, which were hard to follow. No employee had all the time to read through the entire volume of the booklet. Schey saw the need to re-brand the ethic and compliance program of the organization. Her main concern was to revise the code of conduct, creation of a robust training program together with carrying out risk analysis. GM Mission Statement In its mission statement, General Motors (GM) acknowledges and incorporates economic, social and environmental aspects, which are the main determinants of success for every organization. In its mission statement, General Motors claims that "G.M. is a multinational corporation engaged in socially responsible operations, worldwide.” The company makes clear its intention to supply its customers with quality products while sharing the prosperity of the organization with workers and business cohorts. Vision Statement of GM General Motors focus is to deliver the best vehicle models to their consumers all over the world. The company’s vision is “to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles” (General Motors 2010 Annual Report, 2010). GM Core Values The operation of GM is guided by six core values. The core values not only ensure corporate responsibility on part of the company, but also direct all organizational decisions made by the company. The company’s core values include customer enthusiasm, integrity, teamwork, innovation, progressive improvements and individual respect and accountability (Wood, 2006). GM’s Organizational Chart GM’s conventional organizational structure is such that executives of the company are responsible for making decisions, which are conveyed down the management hierarchy up to the ordinary employee. The company has a tall organizational structure. OD Problem in GM and Causes of the Problem One of the main OD problems General Motors is organizational culture change. The company has been struggling to make many reforms in its organizational structure in order to achieve efficient operation. The structure of an organization determines its culture. In 2009, the company announced the retirement of Barclay, who had been in the company’s human resource department since 1978. It also made public its flattened leadership structure. The restructuring was driven by the notion that the human resource section of the company never exhibited efficiency and progressive improvement, which form the main ethos of the company’s production process. Over many years, General Motors has unsuccessfully tried to transform it organizational culture in order to ensure brighter future of the company. General Motors needed an overhaul of organizational culture. The main problem of facilitating these changes was that employees were never involved in decision making process. This can be attributed to rigid organizational structure of the company and a poor organizational culture that does not promote participative leadership approach. Recommended Interventions The first intervention that is recommended for GM is to re-structure its organizational hierarchy. The company should adopt matrix structure, which can enable it to run twofold authority lines. Matrix organizational structure promotes efficient employee management and facilitates proper work program. It promotes employee development because managers can focus of employee training and at the same time, workers can also form self-managed groups, which increases autonomy and participation hence high organizational performance. Another recommendation for Gm is to establish a global organizational culture. GM is an internal company with a diverse workforce. Therefore, it is crucial that the company develops an approach that will accommodate all its employees with different racial and ethical backgrounds. Moreover, the company should try to integrate the cultures in the countries in which it operates so as to reduce friction with local cultures and human resource management practices. Managers at local subsidiaries should be given autonomy to make decisions based on local cultures so that the company can operate smoothly and to minimize resistance from employees as much as possible. Also, General Motors should develop cultural diversity training for its managers in order to ensure efficient management of increasingly diverse workforce population at the company. With its overseas operations, it is crucial that managers are aware of important local cultural practices that would significantly affect the operation of the company. Expected Sources and Types of Resistance and How to Conquer Them There are numerous sources of resistance to organizational change. In this case, the expected sources of resistance are from top executives of the company and employees who might fear loosing their jobs. Organizational resistance can be categorized into different levels which include organizational, group, and individual resistance levels. The anticipated type of resistance is organizational level resistance, which include structural changes, cultural transformation, and functional changes among other transformations. In order to overcome change resistance, the organization can ensure efficient education and communication to clarify the need for change to all employees. The company has the option of utilizing numerous change management models such as Kotter’s eight step model and Kurt Lewins three-stage model among others. These models can assist the company to transition smoothly without experiencing major resistance for the proposed changes. Conclusion Organizational change is an inevitable process for every organization in the current competitive market. Every organization needs to establish appropriate OD strategies in order to survive the threat of competition and survive. General Motors is no exception and needs to institute a complete overhaul of its culture in order to operate more efficiently in the global market. It needs to re-design its organizational structure, while utilizing the available change management models to minimize change resistance. References Anderson, D.L. (2012). Organization development: the process of leading organizational change. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. General Motors 2010 Annual Report. (2010). A new Vision, A New Business Model. Retrieved on March 28, 2013 from https://materials.proxyvote.com/Approved/37045V/20110408/AR_87685/HTML1/general_motors-ar2010_0008.htm Wood, D.J. (2006). Global business citizenship: a transformative framework for ethics and sustainable capitalism. Armonk, N.Y.: Sharpe. Read More