Implementing Strategy and Managing Change in the Operations of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Services - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Implementing Strategy and Managing Change Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Introduction There are many accidents and environmental risks which are occurring as a result of changes in the lifestyle as well as other environmental factors like climate. The law requires the UK Fire and Rescue services to make arrangements for the efforts of dealing with certain non-fire and emergencies like water and road accidents. Due to these changes, the management of the organization is required to implement strategies for management of the reforms and have them as part of their operations. This report focuses on the ways of implementing strategies and managing changes in the operations of Lancashire Fire and Rescue services. It specializes on the process of delivering change within an organization and the practices which are considered to be the best for the implementation of the new strategies (Janing & Sachs, 2003). Implementing Strategy and Managing Change Lancashire Fire and Rescue service is currently attending to a number of non-fire emergencies in UK and even if many are routinely resolved by the staff in the course of their rescuing responsibilities but not fully planned. Sometimes changes in the operations of an organization are not well appreciated by the members. This is because if not well planned and implemented will have the objectives not achieved. The process of delivering change in an organization mostly determines the attitudes of those implementing it hence it is successful or not. An effective communication skill is required between the members because it contributes in the understanding of the changes and the reasons for them. Everyone should be given an opportunity to express his or her views and ask questions concerning the reforms. All the staff members in a Fire and rescue service should be informed of the changes, the reasons for them, taught on the skills of handling the issues at hand and be involved in making decisions especially on the new goals and objectives to be set and how they would be achieved. All of them should be convinced to respond positively instead of avoiding changes and this should be motivated by the leaders or those in management as the role models to the others. This helps them to be curious on the skills pertaining the reforms hence effectively achieving the set goals and objectives (Yaeger & Sorensen, 2009). The management of the fire and rescue services has a great role to play in the delivery of changes in their organization because the way they behave towards the new change highly determines the perception of the subordinate workers. The availability of the essential resources and facilities is a key factor to consider. The reason as to why most of the staff members in Lancashire Fire and Rescue services do not respond positively to the changes of the activities that they are supposed to undertake is due to lack of relevant facilities however there are some which have emerged with the changing technology and have been provided by the local government through the sponsored resilience programmes. Good communication also helps in the division of labour and the role of each member within the changed process hence blocks the occurrence of loss of focus because all the attention will be well captured. Good communication can also enable the management of the changes in the improvement of the operations of an organization and bring about noticeable gains; this is because various professions will have an opportunity of giving opinions concerning the operations to be considered for achievement of the set goals (Sengupta & Mousumi, 2006). For the management of strategic changes, there is need to consider all the external and internal factors. External factors are those which are beyond their control for example, competition, legal, political, social, technical and economical while the internal factors are those that are within their power like, culture of an organization, skills, time, power and resources. For example, law which requires the organizations to handle none-fire emergencies is an external factor and the skills of the workers to perform the new duties are an internal factor. The services provided by the Lancashire Fire and Rescue service are provided by the Fire Services Act 2004 although these regulations were updated in 2007 due to the environmental factors like changes in the risks hazards. The management should also consider good planning process for the changes. This involves logically assessing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization using a SWOT analysis (strength, weakness opportunity and threat) to determine the best action to be taken before or in the process of adapting the reforms. The culture of the organization should be changed to consider those that fit in the new objectives, for example, the fire and rescue services organizations should consider ways of preventing or controlling occurrence of water accidents as well as road. Training and motivation of the workers should be considered as the main tool of implementation of change thus the workers will easily accept it (Cameron & Green, 2004). The strengths of Lancashire Fire Rescue is its ability to effectively respond to the emergencies and the weaknesses are lack of enough facilities to meet the needs. The management should try to make arrangements on the provision of best working environment (Barkley, 2006). Everyone in the organization should be involved in the process of implementing change. This should be after making them understand the necessity for the reforms and coming up with a mission or vision statement to guide in the setting up of goals and objectives. All the team members of Lancashire Fire and rescue Service are informed of the necessity of the changes although many of them are aware by having knowledge of what is happening in the society. They are then allowed freedom to choose how to meet the set goals with the provision of all the facilities needed, for example, the water boats for the water accidents, ropes to rescue the animals or people above or below the ground. It is essential for creation of a casual business model which helps in the identification of the most crucial issues thus the members consider them first. For example, the focal point in the handling of the non-fire emergencies is the handling of the issues which are threats to human health either directly like water accidents or can even be potential fire hazards. (Williams & Parr, 2004). An Integrated Risk Management Plan is an assessment of various life risks to the environment and works to save lives, prevention of occurrence of risks and reduction of the injuries. It is a long term plan to make the fire and rescue services more responsive to the currents needs of the society. The Lancashire Fire services have a risk management plan for 2011-2013 which serves to guide the staffs on the ways of achieving the set objectives of reducing risks in the community and delivering of affordable and sustainable services. This is inclusion of the changes to handle even the non-fire emergencies (Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, 2011). The main element of the fire and rescue services in UK is the desire for each organization to put in place a well maintained Integrated Risk Management Plan which is a times referred to as Public Safety Plan. These recognize the proposals for the changes which are meant to meet the future goals of the environmental health (Desheng, 2010). The Fire and Rescue National Framework has set up the Government’s priorities and objectives for the Fire and Rescue service by clarifying the expectations and the support they offer. The management of the organizations should have good Integrated Risk Management Plan to ensure that they meet the public expectations. The plan also sets out the improvement of the effectiveness in the protection, prevention, resilience and intervention operations (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2008). The purposes of Integrated Risk Management Plan include: Identifying the risks or the potential hazards in the environment Examination of the existing protection, prevention and intervention methods Identifying the areas which needs improvement Conclusion The management of the Fire and Rescue Services in UK should be keen whole considering the implementation of the changes proposed by the law in their operations. They should plan well and involve all the team in all the processes including those of decision making for effective achievement of the set goals and objectives. The Integrated Risk Management Plan should be updated to include the new ideas. Bibliography Department for Communities and Local Government, 2008, Fire and Rescue ServiceNational Framework 2008–11, Communities and Local Government Publications, West Yorkshire. Janing, J., & Sachs, G., 2003, Achieving Excellence in the Fire Service, Prentice Hall publishing, New Jersey. Yaeger, T. & Sorensen, P., 2009, Strategic organization development: managing change for success, IAP, New York. Sengupta, N. & Mousumi, S., 2006, Managing Change In Organizations, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., Madurai. Williams, D. & Parr, T., 2004, Enterprise programme management: delivering value, Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Cameron, E. & Green, M., 2004, Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools & techniques of organizational change, Kogan Page Publishers, London. Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, 2011, Risk Management Plan 2011-13, United Kingdom Barkley, B., 2006, Integrated project management, McGraw-Hill Professional, New York. Desheng, D., 2010, Modeling Risk Management in Sustainable Construction, Springer, New York. Read More