The Importance of Managing Organisational Change - Case Study Example

Executive Summary Organizations in this fast evolving world need to make regular changes and sometimes very specific changes so that the business is able to benefit and perform in a better way. Virgin Blue Holdings is looking to make changes in the manner their business is conducted by looking to change the uniforms, ensure better lounges for the customers, eyeing the different segment of customers and overall development of the business so that the productivity and profitability increases. This report presents the importance of understanding the importance of organizational change by identifying the manner in which change has to be implemented. This looks to dwell on different aspect of change management which Virgin Blue needs to look into so that based on it the strategic objectives of Virgin Blue could be identified. Also dealing with the barriers that are a hindrance to environmental changes will ensure that the business is able to perform better and deliver on the required standards which will help the business to grow. This also looks to present the manner in which the changes will benefit Virgin Blue and help to be ahead of their competitors over a longer period of time. Contents Introduction 3 Purpose of the report 3 Organizational Change 4 Using change specialist 4 Reasons for strategic change 6 Barriers to Change 7 Change Management Plan 8 Recommendations 10 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction Organizational change is a part of business which every business has to encounter and being able to deal with the changes ensure better business prospects and opportunities of growth. Virgin Blue which is looking towards changes need to develop a strategy which will facilitate the changes and ensure that Virgin Blue is able to improve their business. Virgin Blue is looking to make changes by having a change in the uniform of the employees, eyeing both the leisure and business sector by offering customers something extra and also looking to upgrade the airport lounges so that customer satisfaction multiples and the business is able to have a pool of loyal customers for a longer period of time. Purpose of the Report To find out what organizational change means To find the manner in which consulting a change specialist will benefit Virgin Blue in ensuring the required changes To find out the different reasons which is making Virgin Blue look towards changes and to find out the different areas of resistance which Virgin Blue has to deal with To develop a planning process which helps Virgin Blue to make the required changes by providing the required inputs to the employees Organizational Change Businesses to achieve their objectives look to change the manner they work from time to time so that the objectives can be achieved in a better way (McNamara, 2008). Businesses look towards changing in various direction like process, employees, technology or any factor that has a bearing on the performance of the organization. This helps organizations to improve their efficiency and ensure that the work is accomplished in the best possible manner. Virgin Blue which is looking towards changes need to understand the mechanism through which the changes will be implemented so that the organization is able to ensure better productivity and growth for the business both in terms of profitability and market share. Using Change Specialist Organizations look forward to small and major changes which requires that the business develops strategies and mechanism which will ensure it. Virgin Blue while looking to change need to understand the magnitude of change that the business will undergo and based on it look to change its strategies so that the business benefits over a long period of time. Virgin Blue looking towards a minor change can ensure it easily by making certain minute changes. Larger changes like the development of airport lounges and targeting different section of the consumers requires structural changes where Virgin Blue can look towards the services of specialist to that the changes made ensures growth for the business. This might make it important that Virgin Blue has to look towards external sources and hire different people having the required skills so that the changes the business is looking forward can be done in an effective manner. Virgin Blue can benefit immensely by using a change specialist in this situation as the experience and knowledge of the person will help Virgin Blue to be able to deal with the contingencies in a better way. Virgin Blue while looking to hire a specialist need to consider both the benefits and demerits associated with the same so that they are able to make the change process pass easily. Virgin Blue through the services of a change specialist who has the required skills and knowledge can ensure that required inputs that will ensure changes in worked upon (Mary, 2010). This will help Virgin Blue to deal with the different resistance that they might face during the change process and prepare them in advance to deal with those changes in an effective manner. Virgin Blue thereby can reduce the resistance as specialist will look towards reviewing the present scenarios from different angles so that the best alternative and course of action can be determined for the business. This will help Virgin Blue to deal with the worst situations in the most positive manner and will provide positive results for the organizations. This will also help Virgin Blue to ensure that the changes are accomplished within the stated time as the planning process of specialsit are better and they are well equipped to deal with the changes which the situation might require (Mary, 2010). This will help them to use their knowledge among the different areas they have which will finally translate into better results and help Virgin Blue to imrpove their productivity in the best possible manner. A problem associated here is that using the services of a specialist will result in additional cost for Virgin Blue which they have to deal with. Since, hiring the services will result in a cost Virgin Blue has to be prepared to incur those because the benefits are immense and will help them to deal with the different resistance in the better way and will thereby ensure better customer services and development of strategies which helps to improve the market share and ensures higher profits for the business. Reasons for Strategic Changes Virgin Blue is looking towards changing the manner they are working because making the required changes will help the business to ensure better productivity and will result in better use of the resources. Further, it will also help the business to match with the changing technology and ensure that they are ahead of their competitors by absorbing the changes that the external environment demands thereby ensuring better results over a longer period of time. Some of the reason which has been attributed for Virgin Blue looking to changes is as Changing the strategy as it will help Virgin Blue to eye the different sectors of consumers and at the same time ensure better customer satisfaction from the resources at their disposal Making the changes will help Virgin Blue to improve their profits by 10% and wil thereby ensure a contribution towards the market share To provide the required training to the employees which will be both on and off the job so that they employees are better prepared to provide the services to the customers and helps to enhance the manner the customer looks at the services (Handbook, 2010) Changing will ensure that Virgin Blue is able to ensure better coordination and make the employees feel a part of the organization which will slowly get reflected in the manner they work and will thereby ensure better returns for the business Thus, there are several reasons which highlight that changing the manner in which Virgin Blue is working will help to improve the overall condition and ensure that the business is able to deliver better results on different areas. Barriers to Change Virgin Blue while looking to change the manner the work is done will face resistance among different areas which has to be dealt with. Some of the resistance that Virgin Blue might face is as Virgin Blue will face resistance from employees as they are reluctant to change. This is because of the fact that employees fear that changes might result in job loss and not being able to show the same skills will also affect their carrier prospects (Seel, 2006). Virgin Blue on this front needs to make the employees understand the benefit of changes and the manner it will benefit them in carrier advancement Virgin Blue might also face the difficult of ensuring that the time frame which has been developed to make the changes is being met. This is due to the fact that changes results in different surprises and shocks which Virgin Blue has to deal with and might be a time consuming process. Virgin Blue will also find it difficult to ensure that the same workforce is able to deal with the changes as employees don’t want to change the way they work might result difficulty in finding the new and prospective employees which will further delay the process Thus, Virgin Blue faces different obstacle which can be looked and reduced to a large extent by having the services of a change specialist as already highlighted in the report. Change Management Plan Virgin Blue while looking to achieve the changes so that the business benefits needs to develop a strategy which helps them to make the changes and ensure better revenues and profits for the business. The change management plan is an important part of the process and being able to design a process which facilitates changes will help Virgin Blue to make the changes easily and ensure better use of the resources. This can be achieved in the following manner Firstly, Virgin Blue needs to create urgency. This will prepare the employees and make them accept the changes quickly. For this a proper communication should be made to the employees so that the process of change can be started quickly and crating awareness should be done in the shortest time possible so that Virgin Blue stays ahead of their competitors in this area Secondly, Virgin Blue should look towards convincing people associated with the company so that the change process passes without any hurdle (Kotler, 2010). This will help Virgin Blue to highlight the different areas that the organization needs to work on and will also help to develop a strategy which ensures the changes easily Thirdly, Virgin Blue should clearly state the objectives that they look to achieve (Kotler, 2010). This will create clarity and prepare the employees to work in that direction. This will also ensure that the employees learn the skills within the period of changes so that the business is able to deliver higher customer satisfaction through their services Virgin Blue then needs to ensure that the process is communicated and steps are taken to fix responsibilities. (Kotler, 2010) This will also provide the employees motivation and give them the time frame and other areas they need to adhere to. This will bring uniformity and also help to create a framework where the changes are measured and responsibility fixed. This will help Virgin Blue in moving ahead and ensuring a timely change. Virgin Blue then needs to look towards removing the different hurdles which the process might face (Kotler, 2010). The services of a change specialist will help here as it will ensure that most of the obstacles are dealt in a better and efficient manner which will help Virgin Blue to make the changes easily. Virgin Blue also needs to ensure that they have all the resources, manpower and other things that will help them in the change process. This will highlight the benefit that organization will get and the areas which are an area of concern for them. It will highlight the sensitive areas and the manner which will affect the change process. Virgin Blue finally needs to develop an evaluation process where the organization is able to gauge the manner the changes are benefitting them. This will help Virgin Blue to evaluate and monitor the changes continuously so that changes if any can be made. This will help to ensure that the transformation takes place and the organization achieves its stated objectives. This will thereby make the process simpler and ensure best results Recommendations Virgin Blue can look towards the change management program and devise strategies which help them to make the changes easily. Since, changing will help Virgin Blue to develop their business and ensure better returns at the same time deliver higher customer satisfaction so being able to change will help. Virgin Blue should also look towards the services of a change specialist so that the different hurdles which the business might face get reduced and Virgin Blue is able to change. Devising the strategy and ensuring that the changes passes without any problem will benefit the business both in terms of better profits and market share. This will also result in higher customer satisfaction and will provide a slight differentiation from the competitors based on which Virgin Blue can market its services. Conclusion Change is an integral part of business and Virgin Blue by making the required changes will benefit over a loner period of time. Virgin Blue needs to handle the resistance in a better way ad being able to develop a strategy will ensure that the change process passes easily. This will also ensure stat they are able to have a pool of loyal customers and will act as a differentiating factor which will thereby convert into better business opportunity and growh for the business. References Chapman, A. 2010. Change Management. Leadership and management Handbook. 2010. Human Resource, Training, and Labor Relation Managers and Specialist. US Labor Bureau of Statistics Kotler, P. 2010. Kotler’s 8 step change model. Mind Tools McNamara, C. 2008. Organizational change and development. Retrieved on March 25 2012, from http://www.managementhelp.org/org_chng/org_chng.htm Mary, S. 2010. Change Management Description. Change Management Tutorial Series, Global Conference Weiner, B. 2009. A theory of organizational readiness for change Volume 23, issue 3, Retrieved on March 25 2012, from http://www.implementationscience.com/content/4/1/67 Seel, 2006. The nature of Organizational Change Retrieved on March 25 2012, from richard@new-paradigm.co.uk Read More