Organizational Change Management - Literature review Example

Change Management Report Name Course Name and Code Instructor’s Name Date Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 3 Nature of the problem and the need for change in the Wilder department store 5 Change strategies 7 Challenges managers face when effecting change 7 Action plan 8 Conclusion 11 References 11 Executive Summary Change has been defined differently by various authors as the never-ending process of readjustment and re-adaptation, as man responds to the ever-changing circumstances behaviorally. Change often seems new and moving faster all the time, yet history is full of stories of non-stop change. The rate of change organizations are undergoing has continued to accelerate over the last years and there is no evidence to suppose that this trend will cease. Most companies are finding out that in order to achieve change, effective leadership is required. As the mounting customer demands, competitive pressures and regulatory pressures impact utilities globally, change is becoming the custom rather than the exception. This report has discussed nature and the need for change in the Wilder department store. The store is facing a problem of inadequate employees, congestion due to less working space hence congestion on the tables, lack of enough storage facility as well as inadequate training of their employees. The report gives the strategies that the Wilders department stores could employ to realize potential results which include employing more employees, training them as well as separating the departments and expanding their warehouse. In addition the report gives some steps that the Wilders department stores could use to ensure the change is effective. Introduction Change often seems new and moving faster all the time, yet history is full of stories of non-stop change. The precise definition of change remains controversial among different authors. According to Harley, et al. (2006), change is a never-ending process of readjustment and re-adaptation, as man responds to the ever-changing circumstances behaviorally. On the other hand, Conger, et al. (1999), argues out that change is a continuous process of transformation though it is not necessary that man re-adjusts to adapt to this change. Just like animals and plants, organizations and people working in them certainly come across changing conditions that they are unable to control. Adapting to change may require establishing a strategic method for responding to changes in the business environment such as a threat from a competitor or fluctuation in the economy, or establishing coping mechanisms to respond to changes in the workplace such as new technologies or policies (Bordia, 2011). No single methodology fits every organization, but there is a set of tools, techniques and practices that can be adapted to deal with a range of situations. The rate of change organizations are undergoing has continued to accelerate over the last years and there is no evidence to suppose that this trend will cease. Most companies are finding out that in order to achieve change, effective leadership is required (Conger et al. 1999). As the mounting customer demands, competitive pressures and regulatory pressures impact utilities globally, change is becoming the custom rather than the exception. It is becoming significant for utility managers to work not only on their traditional managerial roles but also as transitional leaders. This poses great challenges for managers throughout organizations and especially to those with responsibility for staff, since they have an extra role that centers on guiding people throughout the changes inherent in our contemporary society (Conger et al. 1999). This study seeks to illustrate a change management report that draws upon the change theories and models that can be implemented to attain change in the organization, and in this case, Wilder department store. The report will identify the nature and the need for change in the organization. The report will also discuss challenges managers face when effecting change and the strategies to overcome the identified challenges. Nature of the problem and the need for change in the Wilder department store The general objective of introducing change to an organization is to enable it cope with the changing environment (Deniso and Mishra, 1995) or improve its present state to a better state (Boeker, 1997). With Christmas being a few months away and the costs of oil being so high, people have resulted to buying bicycles to save on the costs of fuel. Due to this Wilder department store has increased their sale of bicycles significantly. However, the bicycle department manager, George Nolan realized that with the increased sales, the department was facing a problem in their record keeping in that they were always behind and that their display was not appealing and it was dirty. And this required to be corrected to ensure their cleanliness as well as a clear record keeping ensuring they always had enough bicycles in their stores for sale. Further the store was not able to supply boxed bicycles assembled on time. If one wanted to have the bike assembled they would have to pay $25 and then wait for at least two weeks before the bike is assembled. As Christmas neared, the man assembling the bikes was unable to keep with the selling pace. He was always a hundred bikes behind. The department was selling more bikes than they could be assembled. The department manager felt there was need for change to improve on their services by hiring more staff to help in the assembling of the bicycles to meet the demands. In addition, with Christmas nearing the sale of toys and sporting goods also increased. This saw the bicycle department being moved to the toys and sporting goods section. This was so as the bicycle sales person can help out with toys and sporting goods sales. As a result, this led to congestion at the cashier’s desk where all the three departments are processed. This is due to the fact that the clerks place all the sale dockets of unassembled as well as assembled bicycles and lay-by dockets in the back of the notebook. By September, the congestion was getting into the nerves of the customers as well as the sales personnel. This required an urgent response of hiring more sales personnel and separating the departments to ease congestion. Another problem that the Wilders department stories facing is that it has storage problems due to the small warehouse. This is because they have stored unsold boxed bicycles, assembled bicycles and bicycles on layby. A bigger warehouse was therefore required to create more storage space. In middle October, the store manager, Mildred Green stooped at the bicycle department and commended George Nolan for the good sale of bicycles. However after a close scrutiny of the store, he noticed the problems facing the stores and he felt that there was need for a rapid change management to save the situation and ensure good public relations as well as supply bicycles according to the high demand. Change strategies With the changing environment where production has to recognize adding value to the customer base, it becomes paramount that this concept of change be incorporated in organizations to continue expanding markets through customer satisfaction (Sturdy, and Grey, 2003). Therefore, some of the strategies the Wilder department stores can employ to achieve this objective are described below. The Wilder department store can achieve change by introducing internal training programs that will help stress the significance of customers to all employees, reminding them that a customer is very important to the success of the store (Varkey, and Kayla, 2010). Further, the stores can also employ more personnel to help in the assembling of bicycles to ensure that they always produce enough bicycles to meet the demands of their customers. In addition more sales persons are required so as to ensure that the customers are well catered for. Other strategies include expanding their warehouse to ensure there is enough storage for their stock. The departments should also be placed on their own to ease congestion on the cashier’s desk. Challenges managers face when effecting change Research studies articulate that change is often difficult to embrace as it is bound to face some resistance as some people may find their old systems more effective than the intended change (Harley, et al. 2006). As a result they resist changing and the managers have to convince them harder to accept the change. This is not an easy task. For instance, in history, the Roman Centurions complained about it, the Ludites also rebelled over mechanization and rioted in the streets of Paris over the first calculating machine invented by Pascal. Numerous wars have also been hotbeds of change. Whenever an organization introduces new things to people it is expected that difficulties will arise regarding people’s perspectives towards the change (Harley, et al. 2006). Some people are still locked to traditions and therefore it becomes difficult for them to accept the changes imposed to them. In addition some changes are expensive and managers might be able to successfully implement it. Further the change could be wanting some training of the employees in order to be able to realize it and this may take time and if the change was urgent it might be delayed. Action plan Kotter’s steps Theory explain Wilder Action Plan Who Time frame What need sources 1. Create urgency This involves the application of unfreezing, a concept that implies, encouraging the staff to think about their present state and help them realize the reason as to why the intended change is needed. In this way the staff becomes motivated to embrace change. The application of urgency in this step enables the staff to overcome their traditional reasons for refusing to give in to change and bump them out from their contentment zone (Rainey, 2009) The wilder department stores need to ensure that its staff understands why they need to change to help resolve the problem of delays as well as their running behind schedule. Head of department and the store’s manager Before November 2. Form a powerful coalition This entails convincing people that change is necessary. To achieve this, the organization requires a strong leader to bring the staff together to work towards achieving success (Rainey, 2009) The departments manager need to bring its staff together to be able to bring the change of producing more bicycles to cater for the high demand Team leader and head of department Before November 3. Create a vision of change Thinking about change comes with a number of great ideas and this ideas need to be linked to the overall vision in an easy way that people can easily gasp (Rainey, 2009) The idea of having to produce more bicycles to meet the demand as well as ensuring cleanliness in the department needs to be related with the overall aim of change and in an easy way that the staff can understand Head of department and the store’s manager Before November 4. Communicate the vision For the vision to be successful it needs to be understood by those involved in the change. The organization has to keep the vision fresh in the staff’s minds (Rainey, 2009) The department needs to ensure that the employees clearly understand the change for them to work towards attaining the desired change. The head of department In November 5. Remove obstacles To completely be successful, an organization needs to consistently remove the barriers. This will help the change move forward (Rainey, 2009) The department needs to remove such obstacles as overworking the employees. This they can achieve by hiring more staff. In addition, they should also separate the departments to ease congestion which is a barrier to their success The head of department Before December 6. Create short-term wins Create a short duration to achieve the change. This will motivate the employees. Nothing motivates like success (Rainey, 2009) The needed changes within the organization should be short term. This will motivate the employees. The store’s manager In November 7. Build on the change The organization should take time to declare change. It is apparent that one has to keep looking for improvements as real change runs deep (Rainey, 2009) The departments need to keep improving on the production of bicycles to ensure that the change is real. The store’s manager Between October and December before Christmas 8. Anchor the changes in cooperate culture For a change to stick, it needs to be a part of the core of an organization (Rainey, 2009) The production of bicycles within the organization needs to be a culture. This way the department will never run behind the demand The store’s manager and the head of department as well as the sales persons During the change period Conclusion Organizational change management proves to be a difficult task since it involves changing the behavior and attitude of the employees, in order to gain their cooperation, in a complicated environment. The change process is often bound to face some resistance, which if not carefully considered, may lead to rejection of the whole process. However, different scholars have come up with various processes that can be implemented to effect change in an organization. This report illustrates the Kotter’s eight steps of effective change management. Certain strategies to effectively manage change have been described and if implemented correctly can actually help the Wilder department stores achieve a change strategy. This is because this process incorporates both the management and the staff in achieving its targets unlike other processes that only include the staff at the implementation stage. It is true that leaders are expected to take the leading role when it comes to effecting change. However, the perspectives of the employees have also to be taken into consideration. The leader has to ensure that the employee is motivated towards change. In conclusion; change has to be accepted in the organization, as it determines the success of the organization and the people within it. Workshops and seminars are essential processes to build up collective policies, approaches and understanding. References Boeker, W. 1997. Strategic change: The influence of managerial characteristics and organizational growth. Academy of Management Journal, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 152-170. Bordia, P. 2011. Haunted by the Past: Effects of Poor Change Management History on Employee Attitudes and Turnover. Group Organization Management, vol. 36, pp. 191 - 222. Conger, J.A., Spreitzer, G.M. and Lawler, III, E.E. (eds.) 1999, The leader's change handbook: An essential guide to setting direction and taking action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Denison, D. R. and Mishra, A. K. 1995. Towards a theory of organizational culture and effectiveness, Journal of Organizational Science, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 204-223. Harley, B., Wright, C., Hall, R., and Dery, K. 2006. Management Reactions to Technological Change: The Example of Enterprise Resource Planning. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, vol. 42, pp. 58 - 75. Quinn, R.E. 1996. Deep Change: Discovering the leader within. Academy of Management Journal, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 152-170. 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