Managing Change and Sustainability Leadership - Annotated Bibliography Example

Managing change: Reflective journal Sustainability Leadership: Co-creating a Sustainable Future by Mary A. Ferdig in theJournal of Change Management Vol. 7, No. 1, 25 –35, March 2007 Summary of the article In her article, Mary looks at leadership from a non conventional perspective where decision makers chose options in their decision processes that account for their impact on Mother Earth, society and the well being of local and global economies. She highlights three interrelated that require leadership if a sustainable future is to be secured and these are: visibility of natural systems and their help to the human race in the long term, unacceptable social economies in global communities and the potential the global economy holds for wealth creation of inhabitants of this planet. Her definition of leadership from a sustainable perspective is therefore someone who makes sense of these complex interconnected circumstances to choose a course of action that is best for all living on planet earth. Critical reflection Given my considered intrinsic leadership qualities of working with others, designing own business strategies and confidence, I feel like I’m still short of Mary’s understanding of a sustainable leadership. My drive and skill set has always been more result and bottom-line oriented without much regard for the consequences of my actions to future generations. The confidence I exude as a leader, after reading Mary’s insights are more present than futuristic. A close look at my leadership skills against Ferdig’s three core considerations of; how our actions affect the ecosystems, subsystems and systems, how such affect the social well being of other global citizens and how they impact economic stability of families and communities around us, have clearly not been at the front pages of my consideration. A look at the mirror with Ferdig’s article in mind provides evidence of a shallow leader whose list of priorities is filled with immediate results that must be achieved at the expense of the future. I however meet some aspects of her theory of sustainable leadership especially in the area of a leader not having to provide all the answers and instead creates opportunities for people around them to come up with solutions so that they devise feasible courses of actions for challenges in the area of sustainability. Being a footballer, I have acquired valuable skills at teamwork and the need to find internal solution rather that adopt ideas of a single person. When teams play in harmony from the input of all members, victory and the limelight is shared and this applies to sustainable leadership. As a student of Business from the UK, the concept of sustainable leadership touches me at a personal level because I know that all the good things enjoyed in the country are ancient and are here because someone from the early days dared think of this generation. Ferdig’s article therefore, challenges me to not only think about present success but look at business from a global perspective and how the little decisions I make as a leader affect the well being of not only people in my community but the lager global populace. My strength as a good communicator, team player and confident individual will from this point on facilitate my decision processes and help me become the leader described by Mary Ferdig in her article. Bernard Burnes: Kurt Lewin and complexity theories: back to the future? Journal of Change Management, Vol. 4, No. 4, 309-325, December 2004 Summary of the article In this article, Burnes looks at change from two perspectives, one that is linear and organized- Kurt Lewin’s theory and the other that is spontaneous, non-linear with no application for cause-effect guided by complexity theories. The writer draws parallels between Lewins model that was simple and took the form of unfreeze-change and refreezes to near chaos complexity theory where organizational change emerge in unpredictable fashion. By comparing these two theories, Burnes concludes that the complex, contemporary approaches may as well be organized to represent the age old Lewin’s model and as change agents, organizations seek planned change and not the spontaneous, near chaotic models fronted by complexity theorists. Critical reflection As a leader, it’s my opinion that Lewin’s model is the most appropriate for any organization seeking to implement any change, however negligible. The lives of communities depend on decisions by leader and in as far as complexity theorists believe in random, spontaneous occurrences to represent the change process, it is my belief that there must be a cause-effect component in any change process. As agents of change, mangers should ask themselves what the new order brings and abandon the top-down command structures to accept that employee involvement in the change process is a recipe for success of the new order. According to Burnes (2004), Lewin’s approach to change that required a review of behavioral elements of an organization and the larger society was more comprehensive and placed the organization seeking to make changes in the larger societal context. In relation to this, I agree with the writer because advocating for change spontaneously without proper consideration of the societal values is walking the path of destruction. In my opinion, complexity theorists have got the change process wrong to a larger extent by making unacceptable assumptions that it is possible to radical change an organization without factoring in the influence of surrounding communities. Given my experience in leadership in the capacity of a student, it is my considered opinion that Lewin’s theory is more effective than any working combination from complexity theorists. For the two decades that Lewins theory has been applied, its mechanistic and overly simplistic nature that many critics point out as the model’s shortcomings, are in my opinion its strengths. As Burnes examined complexity theories in relation to internal democracy the role of order-regenerating, I believe that even with the many variables, the two approaches have a common denominator in the need to progressively advance change. Having not held a leadership position in a major organization, it will not be prudent to base my judgment on which of the two approaches to change meets contemporary demands. It might as well be stated that a hybrid of the two can be adopted depending on the unique attributes of an organization in question. What I can state however, is that, in trying contemporary complex methodologies, we are slowly but without notice moving back to what Lewin penned down 20 years ago when it comes to organizational change. Kerstin Alfes, Catherine Truss & Jas Gill: The HR Manager as Change Agent: Evidence from the Public Sector; Journal of Change Management Vol. 10, No. 1, 109– 127, March 2010 Summary of the article Alfes et al in this piece look at the HR function in managing change. Given the HR function of employee coordination that gives a rich pool of knowledge in managing people, there has been sufficient evidence, according to Alfes et al (2010) that they can be successful change agents. The article looks at two public sector organizations in the UK to gather qualitative empirical findings on how HR managers undertook change programs. The article separates roles into content and process to provide clear evidence on what role HR function played in the change process. From the study’s findings, Alfes et al reveal that the role of HR function in a change process for the two organizations surveyed fall u8ndr both content and process proportions and by deploying an array of HR interventions at various stages, the department qualifies for a change driver. Re-framing the HR function to address change however, requires proper research into an organization’s process and action paths, the findings reveal. Critical reflection The overall assumption that HR managers are the undisputed change agents has been disputed in this article and with sufficient empirical evidence. The two studies reveal that even though the HR function is closely related to the change process, it takes a proactive HR department to steer change by providing advice to line mangers and designing the overall structure of the program. They must explore, prior to commencing the change process, the appropriate interventions in the process by coming up with reward system, training and development to be adopted at each stage of the change process. By looking at findings from organization A and B as discussed in the article, it is clear that this study achieved its objective of adding to the existing bank of literature on how the HR function can advance change. Drivers of change in any organization, both public and private are the people and for any transformation to be successful, support must come from those involved and this makes the HR function critical to the entire process. I however disagree with the line of thought that the HR departments have the core function of driving the ethical and moral framework upon which change is implemented. It is my understanding that such a role falls squarely with top leadership because they have a picture that is bigger than that of the Hr department. The study however, has reinforced Lewin’s model that advocates for continuous systematic change because by having the HR department actively involved and allowing them to come up with the implementation framework, gradual alteration is clearly achievable. I believe that as a future business leader, it will be incumbent upon me to find a workable matrix upon which all departments and not just HR can participate as change drivers. Leaving the entire process to HR may not be suitable given the expected level of resistance when all areas of an organization are taken along in implementing change. Sjoerd van der Smissen, Rene´ Schalk and Charissa Freese: Organizational change and the psychological contract: How change influences the perceived fulfillment of obligations. Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 26 No. 6, 2013 pp. 1071-1090q Emerald Group Publishing Limited Summary of the article This was a report on the findings of a study on how organizational change and attitude towards the proposed changes affect the fulfillment of psychological contracts. In the report’s findings, it emerged that in the area of fulfillment of the psychological contract, the aspects that had an impact are frequency, former experiences and attitude towards the proposed change. The article defines psychological contracts as individual beliefs about mutual obligations in an employer –employee arrangement (Rousseau 1990, p. 391). From the study, it emerged that the frequency of change and one’s change history significantly affects either to the negative or positive, the fulfillment of psychological contract. More evidence was gathered on how positive effect of attitude towards change has on this contract. The research however failed to gather sufficient data on the type of change respondents were faced with and how they perceived such. Critical reflection From these comprehensive findings, there is evidence on the role of psychological contract on the success or failure of a change process. Even though there was lack of empirical data to support how the impact of change affects the fulfillment of psychological contract, the strength of this variable made it not quite relevant, calling for further scientific tests. My review of the findings agree with the methodologies that looked at diverse variables from the success of past changes to frequency of change personal impact among the three groups of respondent that included employees of an agency, those working for a consulting form and a group that was composed of less homogenous professionals. Using regression analyses further hypothesis tests were undertaken which in my opinion cemented the validity of these findings. The four change variables of; frequency, Transformational change, impact of change and successfulness of past changes were comprehensive in helping achieve the research objective. As an agent of change within my sporting team s of football and cricket, I can testify that psychological contract is the first area where a change objective is either won or lost. For those involved to accept new ways of operations, they must believe absolutely in the process and commit to helping drive it all the way. I have clear recollection from my football team when those who had witnessed negative experiences in past change proposals put up spirited fights to resist transformations. Smissen et al (2013) have, therefore, added through this research to the body of knowledge on how change can be implemented by getting the right psychological matrix and dealing with objections in the minds of those involved before making physical adjustments. Inger G. Stensaker and Christine B. Meyer: Change experience and employee reactions: developing capabilities for change; Personnel Review Vol. 41 No. 1, 2012 pp. 106-124q Emerald Group Publishing Limited Summary of the article This literary piece by Stensaker and Meyer (2012) explores how past experiences with organizational change has an influence on employees’ reaction to proposed adjustments. The paper looked at how the frequency of change led to fatigue among employees and the possibility of such generating positive reaction. The article looks at how experience on matters of change has an effect on employees’ reaction to sweeping organizational change. So the research evaluates the reaction of people with extensive change experience and those with little or no experience at all to understand probable patters in the two cases. The study revealed that experience is an important aspect of understanding reaction to change and that not only the level of experience affects this reaction, but also the type of experience. It also emerged that there are change competences that are expanded at the employee level. The study further revealed that positive experiences with change foster development of these change capabilities by enabling employees to cope with uncertainties that come with new ways of operation. Critical reflection Clearly, this study has given a new definition to the change process and looked at an area that most scholars ignored. Change in my opinion, is a delicate process that may be compared to a romantic relationship where skepticism or excitement when entering into a new bond depends to a large extent on what transpired in the last one. As a student of business, it is my approach that employees are segmented when initiating a change process so that those with negative past experience are given proper attention to minimize resistance and help them develop a positive attitude. This study by Stensaker and Meyer (2012) is an eye opener for those advocating for change to be more holistic in their approaches and come up with models that cover not only the attitudes of employees but also their respective history. As a leader among my peers and potential business owner, the findings in this article will be useful in helping me become a better change manger and an excellent corporate leader. Bibliography Alfes K, Truss C & Gill J (2010): The HR Manager as Change Agent: Evidence from the Public Sector; Journal of Change Management Vol. 10, No. 1, 109– 127 Burnes B. (2004): Kurt Lewin and complexity theories: back to the future? Journal of Change Management, Vol. 4, No. 4, 309-325 Emerald Group Publishing Limited Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 26 No. 6, 2013 pp. 1071-1090q Ferdig M. (2007) Sustainability Leadership: Co-creating a Sustainable Future by in the Journal of Change Management Vol. 7, No. 1, 25 –35 Rousseau, D.M. (1990), “New hire perceptions of their own and their employer’s obligations: a study of psychological contracts”,Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 11, pp. 389- 400. Stensaker I. and Meyer C (2012): Change experience and employee reactions: developing capabilities for change; Personnel Review Vol. 41 No. 1, 2012 pp. 106-124q Emerald Group Publishing Limited Smissen S, Schalk Rand Freese C (2013): Organizational change and the Psychological contract: How change influences the perceived fulfillment of obligations. Read More