Leading Organizational Change - Assignment Example

Leading Organizational Change Contents Answer 3 Answer 2 3 Answer 3 5 Answer 4 6 Answer 5 6 Answer 6 9 References 12 Answer The problems and issues that have been addressed in the case are related to improper management and lack of coordination amongst all the team members. VRD industries had been divided into strategic business units in order to handle the widespread operations. At organizational level there was lack of creativity as employees wanted to work under their comfort zones. Another major reason behind such issue was that it was not an agile organization as it was not flexible enough to incorporate changes taking place in external environment. At the group level it can be assumed that distributed leadership was not followed appropriately. There was lack of empowerment and collaborative approach amongst group members. Innovation was not appreciated at group level which led to serious consequences in terms of VRD industries not being able to compete in the marketplace. At the individual level there was lack of ownership and culture towards learning. The employees working was not in favor of learning new techniques or approaches that would help them to succeed towards organizational goals. It can even be stated that individuals were more inclined towards their own interests then common interests or objectives of the system. These assumptions are specific as it highlights the present scenario of the company which had occurred due to lack of distributed leadership, differences in morals, beliefs or values, lack of innovative culture or creativity, no collaborative approach or empowerment throughout the organization. Answer 2 The article of Larry Greiner states that there are stages of evolution and revolution as organizations tend to grow. This article denotes the growth of an organization on the basis of two components age and size of the organization. Figure 1 states growth stages of an organization. Figure 1: Growth of Companies (Source: Greiner, 1998) In high growth industry companies tend to grow faster before reaching maturing stage which is not so in medium or low growth industry (Greiner, 1998). VRD industries are a typical example of medium growth industry which possess large organizational size and even is aligned towards maturity stage. Growth phases are stated in Figure 2. Figure 2: Growth Phases (Source: Greiner, 1998) In relation to above mentioned article it can be stated change is not being implemented in VRD industries which is restricting growth of the organization. As per figure 2, VRD industry falls under delegation growth phase where top management relies on line managers for executing organizational operations. However, there is no proper control exercised on team members which is resulting into decreased sales and increased inability to compete in the industry. Answer 3 There are various models of change that are adopted by organizational leaders depending upon situations. The common models of change are incremental or evolutionary change, punctuated equilibrium, continuous transformational change and revolutionary or radical change. There were major shifts in external environment in terms of emerging players and technological advancements. Thus solutions that were being framed by new management were aligned towards technological improvements and adapting changes taking place in the industry. All these factors relate to incremental change and would be realized with time as per May Wong. This is because incremental change is linked with group learning where all the team members are involved in the change process. VRD industries were witnessing failure as its group members did not possess learning skills and neither followed collaborative approach (Carnall, 2007). May Wong was right on his part as he felt that an organization which has not be subjected to continuous change cannot be enforced to do the same instead the whole system requires time to adopt changes. These forms of changes were system perspective and no major change was undertaken but only fine tuning was done to stay aligned with competition. Answer 4 Change is difficult to be implemented in an organization as the learning procedure of change management it is not simple. Organizational change is very complex as question arises on the change model to be selected and perspective to be chosen. In VRD industries, individual and group level perspectives were not aligned with one another. The company was not able to integrate market information in their learning process. This eventually results into a gap between information acquisition and implementation (Burke, Lake and Paine, 2008). The major change drivers were not present in the system such as organizational capability, technological advancement and highly skilled workforce. There was continuous conflict amongst managers and team members of the different SBU’s and this restricted organization to implement change. The organizational structure of VRD industries was not flexible and in turn change or bringing forth a new culture into the system seemed to be difficult. Link between theories to practice encompasses support from team members which was not prevalent in this organization. Answer 5 The open system model comprises of three major components inputs, transformation and outputs. Feedback from the output section is later incorporated in input section. All the three factors refer to environment of the organization which eventually influences change. The open system model would be applied on the organizational level, group level and individual level. At organizational level PESTEL analysis determines certain key issues that would influence change such as need for technological advancement, changing economic conditions in certain regions of its operations and political instability. As per Porter’s Five Force model there is increased competition in the industry majorly due to upcoming players in markets of Taiwan, China and Vietnam. Bargaining power of suppliers as well as customers is increasing as same products and services are offered by multiple players in the marketplace. Process factor of the model reflects design components of VRD industries that need to be changed such as organizational culture, technology, strategy and organizational structure. The output of such change at organizational level would lead to increased performance of employees with new skills and low turnover rate, organizational performance in terms of generating high profit margins, increased productivity and enhanced brand image through improved marketing performance. Figure 3 illustrates the open system model of VRD industries at organizational level. Figure 3: At Organizational Level At group level the components would be totally different with respect to VRD industries. The open system model at this level is illustrated in figure 4. Figure 4: At Group Level Change agents are the only input factor that can influence change in this organization. These change agents in the form of training programs or implementing new solutions in the system can establish organizational change. The design components as per the model that needs to be changed are skill level in terms of environmental analysis, group conflict, avoidance of competing goals and intergroup conflict. Assumptions for the problem statement in this particular case state that the organization was not able to succeed due to conflict amongst the SBU managers and team members. These factors need to be eliminated so as to promote change in the system. The output of the entire process would be less reworks for all departments, higher rewards and more of ownership feeling amongst employees (Rothwell, 2013). This authority would enable team members to become creative and exceed set objectives or goals. Thus it can be stated that for an organization to grow it is essential that change occurs at all levels. At individual level in VRD industries input of the model would constitute organization design. The major factors that would influence change in the organization are skill gap and required training, opportunities for getting a promotion, effective performance management system and recruitment policies. VRD industries need to realize the importance of hiring skilled individuals to the system. Once recruitment policies are changed it would directly have a positive impact on the organizational performance. The factors that require modification by the organization are tracking individual performance and setting a proper training program preferably on job training as that would help employees to learn and rectify their mistakes. These factors have been further highlighted in figure 5. Figure 5: At Individual Level The output of such change at individual level as per figure 5 would be set of highly skilled and motivated workforce. Such change would increase decision making capabilities and cognitive skills of employees along with enhanced communication skills amongst all the team members. Skill equipping is necessary in this case as the organization is failing to compete in the industry due to unskilled workforce, old design methods and improper communication amongst the SBUs. Answer 6 Open system model is a framework that is used by organizations so as to derive the key factors that influence change and outline the probable result of the change process. This model comprises of three important factors such as input process and output as stated in figure 6. Figure 6: Open System Model As per the theory inputs corresponds to all the external factors that affects business and even comprises of those elements that are internal to the organization. These factors are the major drivers for change in the system and they differ from one level to another. The major inputs are in the form of people, energy and information (Balogun and Hailey, 2008). Transformations are the elements that need to be modified by the organization so that change can be incorporate at all levels. On the other hand these factors can be stated as those major issues that lead to organizational change. In an open system the external factors has a direct impact on the internal system. These transformations would be totally based on the factors that drive organizational change (Waddell, Cummings and Worley, 2014). The output of the model is associated with ideas, services and goods that are delivered due to the entire process. There is an iterative process in the system where the feedback from the output section is incorporated into the input section. At organizational level the open system drawn for VRD industries are aligned with environmental and industrial structure of the system (Cichocki and Irwin, 2014). It has been stated that competitive pressure is the key reason behind this organizational change. PESTEL and Porter’s Five Forces model has been used to outline the major components that would be responsible for the change (Ackerman-Anderson and Anderson, 2010). As per assumptions VRD industries was facing a tough time due to declining sales and emerging players in the industry. This factor has been portrayed well in the model and has been indicated as one of the factors that drive change. The other factors are bargaining power of customers and suppliers which has resulted due to such intense competition. Strategy that is implemented on basis of such change drivers is focused towards gaining competitive advantage. The open system model that has been designed at organizational level reflects that the company needs to incorporate technological changes in the system (Dunphy, Griffiths and Benn, 2007). It has also been stated that culture of the organization needs to be made more innovative so that it can mitigate the current issues. Similarly in group level an open system model denotes goal clarity and group effectiveness. These factors have been well addressed in the model designed for VRD industries at group level. As it states that group conflict needs to be eliminated so as to enhance productivity and performance of an organization (Axelrod, 2011). The major focus of the identified open systems is to reduce reworks and to facilitate ownership which is possible through setting competing goals, eliminating conflicts from the system and enhancing skill set. These factors have been addressed in the designed open system for VRD industries. The open system that has been chosen at this level highlights the current problems that were being faced by the organization in terms of conflicts and lack of collaboration amongst team members (Anderson, 2011). There were a wide number of problems being faced by the company but all its issues was associated with either lack of creativity or innovative culture, or differences in opinions or views that resulted into group conflicts. On the other hand the open system that had been designed at the individual level reflects that training and promotional opportunities would enforce individuals to change (Graetz, Rimmer, Lawrence and Smith, 2011). As change agent May Wong focused on some changes that were essential for VRD industries there were some restrictions imposed by the employees. This majorly occurred because employees were not given a clear direction in relation to their future growth. However the methods to implement such changes have been properly addressed in the open system model at individual level. Since the change needs to be incorporated at all levels of the organization it has been highlighted in the form of open systems at organizational, individual and group level of VRD industries. References Ackerman-Anderson, L., and Anderson, D. 2010. The change leader’s roadmap: how to navigate your organizations transformation. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. Anderson, D. L. 2011. Organization Development: The Process of Leading Organizational Change. California: SAGE. Axelrod, R. 2011. Terms of Engagement: New Ways of Leading and Changing Organization. San Francisco: ReadHowYouWant.com. Balogun, J., and Hailey, V. H. 2008. Exploring strategic change. Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Burke, W. W., Lake, D. G., and Paine, J. W. 2008. Organization Change: A Comprehensive Reader. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Carnall, C. 2007. Managing change in organisations, 5th edn. Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Cichocki, P., and Irwin, C. 2014. Organization Design: A Guide to Building Effective Organizations. UK: Kogan Page Publishers. Dunphy, D., Griffiths, A., and Benn, S. 2007. Organizational change for corporate sustainability: a guide for leaders and change agents of the future, 2nd edn. London: Routledge. Graetz, F., Rimmer, M., Lawrence, A., and Smith, A. 2011. Managing organizational change, 3nd Australasian edn. Brisbane, Australia: John Wiley & Sons. Greiner, L. 1998. Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow. USA: Harvard Business Review. Rothwell, W. J. 2013. Performance Consulting: Applying Performance Improvement in Human Resource Development. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Waddell, D. M. , Cummings, T. G., and Worley, C. G. 2014. Organization change development & transformation Asia Pacific. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia. Read More