Organisational Behaviour and Change Management - Assignment Example

Organisational Behaviour and Change Management of Your Full of Q1: Session Thirteen: Scenario Ranking The fundamental essence of using scenario analysis in strategic planning is to identify where we are now, where we want to get there and how to get there (Sutherland & Canwell, 2014). Thus, in this process, there are only two things that are certain and known – where we are now and where we want to get (Ramirez, 2012). How we get there is not definite. Therefore, managers will have to examine the different pathways and the different possibilities of getting to our desired end in order to meet our best and our greatest obligations and desires. Scenario ranking is important because it helps to provide a democratic and objective system through which the best and most possible future can be envisioned and resources can be properly invested into the project. This is because scenario planning is about the resources we have at our disposal and the circumstances within which we are working now and the possible situations that will befall us. These different features and elements give impetus for the identification of our priorities and best options in all situations. Therefore, scenario ranking enables a group of managers to define and set up a system through which they can get the best and the most appropriate results from the resources at hand. Strategic planning is meant to identify the best future for the organisation. Therefore, scenario planning enables the planners to deduce possible ends they seek to achieve and the commonalities that exist in all the different options and possibilities. Scenario ranking allows the management to deduce some vital and inevitable processes that the organisation will have to go through. And from it, the planners can draw consistent trends and processes that can help them to identify the kind of possible future that will give them the best results. In conclusion, scenario planning allows a firm to realistically assess the ability of the organisation to utilise their available resources in order to meet their desired ends in the best way possible. This culminates in the identification of some vital milestones that can be used as the basis to steer the organisation objectively, into the desired future position. Q2: Strategic Drift A strategy is a long-term, organisation-wide plan that is meant to match a firm’s operations and internal resources with the realities of the external environment in order to achieve optimum results (De Wit & Meyer, 2010). Strategic planning is done on the basis of features and elements of the environment within which a firm operates and this includes the evaluation of current and historical factors that are relevant to the firm and its activities (White, 2012). Therefore in periods of turbulence, there are significant changes in the external environment and this implies that the firm’s strategy does not fit the existing circumstances and situations. Strategic drift is evidenced by a strategic deficit which is created by the gap that exists is created by a company’s failure to meet the planned strategic performance. Hence, the gap between the actual strategic performance and the planned strategic performance becomes the strategic deficit, due to the failure to fit the strategy with the elements of the external environment. A manager can avoid strategic drift if the firm uses a system of proactively examining elements of the external environment and how they change after the strategy is put in place. This is because a proactive evaluation of the external environment will enable a firm to identify the main gaps in their strategy and then reposition the firm. This creates the impetus for the identification of changes in order to steer the form in a way and manner that brings the best of results. Strategic drift is mainly to be closed by identifying the gaps between the firm’s activities and the realities of the external environment. This is done through a strategic audit after the firm implements its planned strategy. The implication is that there is a review of what has been done in relation to what exists on the external environment. This provides an inquest into the gaps and the limits of the strategy of the organisation and how this gap can be closed through proper fitting of the strategy with the realities on the ground. A strategic audit will bring to the fore, the shortfalls in strategy and strategic implementation. This will help to respond to the changes and deficits in order to provide better solutions to issues and matters and raise performance levels to meet the required and expected ends. Q3: Session Fifteen: Research on Quality In the past, Toyota has been cited by many authorities as the hallmark of quality control and quality management. Therefore, this section will review an article by Yang, C. C., and Yank K. G., titled An Integrated Model of the Toyota Production System with Total Quality Management and People Factors. The journal was published in a peer reviewed journal. The report identifies that Toyota uses what is known as Total Production System (TPS) or lean production which involves setting quality standards that are concentrated on production but have implications and applications throughout the organisation (Yang & Yang, 2012). The TPS has two components; the first is total quality management and just-in-time. Total quality management is about a quest for zero defects. Therefore, any strategy that is put together and presented is implemented in the spirit of detecting and eliminating errors through the reduction of defects. Therefore, the TQM model is replicated for all parts of Toyota and the staff members are required to stay sensitive to all the demands and requirements for poor performance and defects (Yang & Yang, 2012). In effect, in any incident that there are defects, the firm reacts to it immediately. Also, in cases where there are strategic drifts, like major cases where recall is inevitable for Toyota, the company just sets up a system of utilising the TQM model in order to detect the problem and make quick changes (Yang & Yang, 2012). The writers argue that even in cases where there are mass recalls of given brands and given models of Toyota’s cars, they are able to post profits because they are able to have a quick turnaround and also modify their activities in order to achieve the required results and required ends. The other elements of ensuring quality in Toyota is the lean production which includes cutting down on costs through the use of elements like just-in-time to ensure that quality standards are raised and the company meets its targets (Yang & Yang, 2012). Just-in-time means organizing the different units in such a way and manner that they are able to detect issues and problems immediately and keep the highest levels of production going and the best quality standards met. Just-in-time is the most significant element and aspect of cutting down on costs and ensuring that staff members are doing their best and quality targets are being met appropriately. Q4: Session Sixteen: Quality gurus The management Guru that will be reviewed in this section is Kaoru Ishikawa who presented a form of management that sought to create a holistic management system and process in order to deal with issues throughout an organisation in order to position it in the best light possible. The Ishikawa extended wheel involves a system through which a firm plans and determine its goals and targets. This includes the fundamental end and essence of the organisation in question (Garvin, 2014). This is followed by the practical presentation of the goals and the targets of the firm. This is about the setting of measurable goals and targets that can be transposed to the different units of an organisation. The process revolves around the showing of major trends and setting and presenting the targets in a way and manner that the different strategic business units can internalize them and use it as a basis to improve their performance. The next step for managers in dealing with issues is to implement their findings. Implementation is done through the training and preparation of different members of the organisation in order to outline their obligations in the best way of achieving the goals relevant to them (Triantis, 2013). After training, there is a mock implementation where a firm observes the elements and features of the new system and the new strategy. The problems and issues are to be eliminated whilst there is a presentation of the actual activities and processes. This is followed by monitoring and implementation which comes in two parts (Triantis, 2013). In the first part, the monitoring is done through the implementation of the targets and standards. This is done through taking action on the plan that was found to be successful. This is monitored closely in order to ensure that the firm is being steered in the right way and the right manner. Ishikawa recommends that a firm’s management will need to use diagrams and other tools to examine and review the performance of a firm when actions are presented. The diagrams include various elements like histograms, bar charts and others to get a manager to identify what is going on in reality and then take remedial action where necessary. After this is done and new issues come up, the managers will have to plan and go through the cycle again in order to improve and enhance performance over a sustained period of time. Q5: Session Seventeen: TQM Total quality management (TQM) is generally a popular approach and method for instituting a management supervisory system and process. This is because it creates a strong, certain and coherent system of managing and controlling quality issues and quality matters (Hill & Jones, 2012) However, evidence exists that suggest that firms are shifting from the traditional TQM model as a means of ensuring that quality is maintained in an organisation. Most firms prefer a model that is based on either adhocracy or outsourcing as a means of maintaining and retaining quality standards and levels throughout the firm and its units. The fundamental premise for departure from TQM is the grounds and basis that TQM leads to high costs and complicated systems and processes. This is because it is difficult and expensive to set up such a system and transpose it to the different units and aspects of an organisation or a business (Scarlett & Koslow, 2012). This implies that most firms that want to spend less and maximise their profit potential, will prefer to use other methods of dealing with quality in their premises without much Why might some major organisations, who were world leaders in adopting TQM, now be moving their organisational focus and investment away from TQM and other formal quality frameworks? Q6: Session Eighteen individually Assessed Seminar Question “One page maximum and 12-14 point text size After conducting a review of the academic literature concerning Performance Management and the Balanced Score Card: Answer the following questions and discuss the issues. What is the balanced Scorecard? ? Why is it different to traditional performance management systems? Conclusion Read More