Organizational Change and Work - Coursework Example

Organizational change and work Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: Organizational change and work Introduction In the recent decades, organizational change has evolved into becoming a fundamental issue in diverse organizations. In a generic sense, this can be perceived as a process in which a particular organization optimizes performance at its works towards a desired state. This brings in the close linkage between organizational change and performance in the works which are undertaken by different institutions around the globe. Recent analyses in the realms of organizational change have suggested an elevated concern over the tempo of change which is understood as the characteristic rate, pattern or rhythm of activity or work. It is imperative to note that the occurrence of organizational change is triggered by an ever-dynamic business environment, as a response to a present crisis situation(s), or triggered by a leader in the organization (Chen et. al, 2009, p. 1). Success in organizational change is thus not merely a process of adjustment, but also necessitates significant management capabilities. Inevitable organization change is the situation which is confronting the 4 Star Lakeside Hall Hotel which is situated on the shores of Windermere in the English Lake District. Against this backdrop, this is a report which critically analyzes the current situation at the hotel which is compiled for the hotel owner, together with thorough recommendations on the changes which are required to enhance this business. Force field analysis This section analyzes the present situation at the hotel and puts into consideration the pressures and tensions that are for and against instigating change in this organization. In addition, it reflects on how as a change management consultant I would move the equilibrium to facilitate change. There are different pressures and tensions which are for change in this organization. Firstly, there is the pressure from the consumers who have been discontented by the services from 4 Star Lakeside Hall hotel. Such dissatisfaction was expressed by a lady who had boarded in this hotel and compared its rooms with a brothel. Based on the fact that several consumers have expressed their dissatisfaction, this is bound to affect the operations of this company if they dissuade other consumers, either current or prospective about the services which are being offered in this company. This is bound to negatively affect the performance of the hotel both in the short and long term. This is founded on the fact that most consumers will be discouraged from seeking the services from this hotel based on the widespread notion of poor services propagated by the consumers who have previously been dissatisfied by the services they got. Thus, this necessitates change in this hotel towards improving its operations which will meet the needs of the consumers and retain its competitive niche in the market. The above pressure is also connected to the complaints over the services quality. This includes but not limited to complaints regarding the quality of food and restaurant service standards which has been a clear cause of concern. In addition, it has been pointed out that the leisure club has inadequate ambience of a high-class establishment with cleanliness problems and un-imaginative set of activities classes being reported. Another pressure for change is based on the declining standards. It is imperative to note that this hotel is a had the investors in People national quality standard, which places the training and development of people as being crucial for an organization to achieve its business goals. After acquiring accreditation for the standard in the last three years, a recent re-inspection saw the hotel failing in two standards namely performance measurement and continuous improvement set by the assessors. The failure in these two standards is another pressure which places extra need for change in this hotel. As a result, this institution ought to improve on the failed standards in order to have continued accreditation in the coming years. This will necessitate a synergy of efforts from both the management as well as the employees in this particular institution. In regard to the pressures and tensions against change, the organizational culture in this organization is one of them. This is whereby the works of this organization are founded on a culture which has evolved overtime among the people who are employed there. In this regard, changing this culture can be a major challenge for the individuals or collectives who are mandated with instigating change in this institution. In addition, there is the level of knowledge and skills in this institution. This is best epitomized by the sales manager who has worked in this hotel for over forty years and does not realize the potential or indeed have an understanding of electronic media. In this case, the low level of knowledge among the human resource can be a major impediment when the change is being initiated. This is whereby if change in a certain department is being initiated, for instance, in the IT department aimed at changing the models of inter-departmental communication, the limited knowledge and skills of the employees who are in this department can be a major pressure against the change. This is whereby they might be lacking in terms of understanding the present models of business communications among other aspects. This can thus prove to be a major tide against the initiated change in this department, a phenomenon which can also be evident in other departments. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis can be perceived as the process through which decision makers in any given firm or industry gradually developstheir awareness of the environments with the sole goal of influencing the performance in the present and in the future. SWOT stands for strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. Before looking at the opportunities and threats affecting an enterprise which are key in influencing its external environment, it is imperative for the strategists to look inside and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise (Harvard Business School, 2006, p. 3). The rationale for using this model is based on the fact that through identifying the internal determinants of performance like the strengths, an organization is better placed to capitalize on these strengths in order to attain or sustain its competitive advantage in the market. Moreover, analysis of the weaknesses assists not only in the problem solving processes of the organization but also in the decision making processes. This is whereby the company can be well equipped with information which will be utilized in the formulation and implementation of mechanisms which will curtail the negative impacts of these weaknesses on the performance of the organization. On the other hand, through the analysis of the external factors, Smith (2006, p. 1) cited that SWOT analysis aids in uncovering the opportunities that a certain company is well placed to take advantage of. In addition, a comprehensive understanding of the weaknesses can help the company in eliminating threats which would otherwise catch it unawares. Lastly, through the examination of the competitors through a SWOT lens, it has been pointed out that the business leaders in any given organization can be in a position to formulate and implement a strategy which will help in distinguishing a company from the competitors. Strengths One of the strengths of this hotel is that it has ample infrastructure to support its operations and be strategically niched to meet the demands of diverse groups of consumers. This includes but not limited to 60 En-suite bedrooms, cocktail bar, Lake view restaurant, conference suite for up-to 100 delegates, leisure club with swimming pool, sauna, gym & coffee bar, croquet, tennis court, pitch & putt and public rooms with log fires among others. This is a major strength which is key in ensuring that this hotel accesses consumers with diverse interests which will eventually translate to a big market share. In addition, this is chief in ensuring that the consumers who board in this hotel has all their needs catered for in one location which is also integral in enhancing the level of consumer satisfaction. In addition, this hotel has an additional strength in the sense that it has engaged in elevated efforts towards expanding its operations beyond its regional borders through the two ‘remote’ sales staff who work in the field one based in Newcastle and the other in Manchester. This ‘remote’ sales team is mandated with the role of targeting potential corporate business in the North East and North West. This is imperative in increasing the popularity of this hotel beyond the immediate locality to other regions. The importance of this strategy is underpinned by Tan and Mahoney (2002, p. 4) who cited that the effectiveness of the managerial resource deployment involves matching managers with the firm level positions in which their skills are bound to be most valuable. This is whereby a multinational company might require managers of foreign operations to acquire local resources and to implement the firm’s strategy. In this regard, the deployment of these ‘remote’ sales staff to other locations means that apart from the firm getting corporate business in the North East and North West, it can also benefit through tapping into the local human resource in these localities that will be key in executing the strategies of the firm. The other strength of this hotel is that hotel is strategically located whereby it is situated in a perfect location for hiking, sailing and leisurely walking in the countryside. This is important in ensuring that the consumers in this hotel can engage in a wide alley of activities when they board in this hotel. In addition, these extra areas are an extra advantage to consumers who need additional adventure out of their primary undertakings, for instance, attending corporate conferences at the hotel. Lastly, this hotel has a robust training program whereby this practice forms an integral part of the undertakings of this hotel. This is whereby all the employees have the opportunity to study for NVQ qualifications in their particular area which is coordinated by the local College. Management training has been ad-hoc and a potential area for improvement and all new staff attend ‘Welcome Host’ a customer service course that is delivered by Cumbria tourism. Weaknesses Despite the above strengths, this hotel is also confronted by different weaknesses. Firstly, it has been pointed out that this company has been faced by the challenge of declining standards. This has resulted to several complaints which have attracted the attention of the owner who has expressed concerns about the decline in standards. In case an ideal mechanism of solving these complaints is not instituted, the declining standards are projected to be a major weakness for this hotel in the future which is bound to affect its performance. Another weakness is that it is felt that the ‘remote’ employees are not performance-focused and not provided with realistic goals and development opportunities. The lack of realistic goals and development opportunities is also a major weakness since it is bound to affect the motivation of the employees as well as their commitment to their assigned tasks in different localities. In addition, the lack of strategic performance appraisal system can be attributed to the employees being inclined towards not being performance oriented in their work. This is bound to have detrimental impacts on the performance of this hotel both in the present times and in the future. As a result, the profitability of this firm will gradually decline and it will be ill-positioned to meet its future objectives and goals. Another weakness is that this hotel has been left behind by the technological advancements which have characterized this contemporary era of globalization and technology revolution. This is whereby despite the internet becoming central in modern day undertakings, this hotel is yet to realize this and institute mechanisms to increase its presence in the internet. This is coupled by the fact that some employees still have low technology-based knowledge and skills which negatively affect the advances towards technological advancement in this firm. This is best epitomized by the sales manager who has worked at the hotel for over forty years and does not have an understanding of the electronic media or realize the potential the potential of this new technology. Lastly, this hotel is confronted by a weakness of limited innovation and creativity which are key in the development of new services as a response to the changing needs of the consumers. This is best exemplified by the un-imaginative set of activities classes at the hotel which has been a source of complains among the consumers in this particular hotel. Opportunities There are two major opportunities for this hotel. The first opportunity is the prospects of internationalization whereby this hotel can take its operations to other regions around the globe. This includes regions like Latin America and Africa which are not extensively exploited in terms of the hospitality industry. In addition, most of these regions have high tourism potential which is a major opportunity that 4 Star Lakeside Hall Hotel can tap into. Other regions include countries in the Middle East as well as other parts of Europe. This opportunity of engaging in extensive internationalization can provide increased benefits to this hotel in terms of tapping unexploited resources as well as increasing its global presence. Another opportunity is in the ICT sector. This is whereby this institution can increasingly exploit the internet which has a high potential to become a positive tool for brochure requests and bookings. In addition, the utility of the internet models of advertisements, for instance, the increased popularity of social networks. This is best epitomized by Facebook whereby figures from January 2009 pointed to the fact that Facebook had slightly more than 175 million active users worldwide (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010, p. 49). By the start of 2012, Facebook had 900 million users in the start of 2012 and was projected to hit the 1 billion mark of active users by the beginning of 2013. The above fact reveals the high opportunity of promoting a business in the social media and other internet based advertisement like You Tube and Google+ which will increase its popularity in the market. This will eventually expand the market share of this company in the highly volatile market. In addition, more investment in the realms of ICT will make other organizational undertakings like business communications to be more effective and efficient and eventually reducing the operational costs for this institution. Threats One of the major threats confronting 4 Star Lakeside Hall Hotel is the increased competition in the hotels industry. This is bound to have detrimental impacts on the market share of this company both in the short and in the long term. This is more so if this hotel will not institute effective mechanisms to ensure that it maintains its competitive advantage in the market to deter the erosion of its market share by old firms or new entrants. Another threat is consumer dynamics whereby most consumers currently prefer to engage in ecotourism to cater for their tourism and recreational needs. This fact is supported by Wood (2002, p. 5) who determined that ecotourism has experienced extensive growth and popularity in the recent decades. In this regard, ecotourism has evolved into becoming one of the most rapidly growing sections of the tourism industry at the global level. Different scholars have attributed this heightened attraction towards this form of tourism to its positive impacts on the conservation efforts as well as its progressive influences on local economies. This is also a major threat confronting the operations of 4 Star Lakeside Hall Hotel whereby most tourists visiting this hotel for recreational and tourism reasons might opt for other regions which have ecotourism destinations. Actions and priorities There are various actions that 4 Star Lakeside Hall Hotel can take in the efforts to address its internal weaknesses as well as the external threats confronting it. These are imperative in ensuring that this institution substantially improves its consumer satisfaction and eventually the effectiveness of its operations. These actions are explored in the subsequent section and outlined in the order of their priority. The first action is there is the concern over the declining standards of this hotel which were previously mentioned in the preceding section. The most ideal course of action is instituting a mechanism which will be central in assessing the reasons for this decline in terms of aspects like performance measurement and continuous improvement which the hotel failed in the recent re-assessment. After the assessment on the reasons behind this decline, the hotel needs to develop robust policies aimed at improving on these realms and disciplinary actions instituted to deter non-compliance. The second action is the institution of an organ autonomous from the operations of other departments. This organ is to be mandated with the role receiving and acting upon complaints raised by the consumers in aspects like room services, food quality and employees’ conduct among other disputes which are bound to arise. This organ is bound to work in collaboration with other departments and the overall management in addressing these disputes and coming up with the most amicable solution to any dispute. This approach will be key in ensuring the satisfaction of the consumers which according to Singh (2006, p. 2) forms the foundation of any successful business as it results in repeat purchase, positive word of mouth among the consumers either current or prospective as well as brand loyalty. Eventually, this approach will yield not only consumer satisfaction but also consumer loyalty which is the only way of building sustainable competitive advantage. This according to Bansal and Gupta (cited in Singh, 2006, p. 3) who determined that building the loyalty of consumers has become a core marketing objectives shared by key players in all the industries catering to business consumers. Thus, 4 Star Lakeside Hall Hotel ought to make extensive efforts to enhance the level of consumer satisfaction in its operations through reinforcing all the factors influencing on consumer satisfaction as depicted in the following diagram Figure 1.0; factors that influence consumer satisfaction Source; Singh, 2006, p. 2 The third action is increasing its investment in ICT. This is founded on the fact that IT has continued to become more and more integral as part of business strategy among firms which are seeking to enhance their productivity and compete more effectively in the market (Teo et. al, 2000, p. 283). In this regard, 4 Star Lakeside Hall Hotel ought to make increased investment in improving its technological capital if at all it is to remain competitive in this industry. In addition, this ought to be accompanied by training of the current employees as well as those being recruited on how to use this new technology. This is aimed at enabling them to acquire increased knowledge and skill on how to use these technologies to make their operations more effective. Coupled with the above action, the hotel ought to increase its efforts in marketing its works over the internet. This is founded on the increased use of the internet in advertising as revealed by Schlosser (1999, p. 36) who determined that despite the limited understanding on how the consumers judge internet advertising, there has been significant growth of many forms of advertisements over the internet resulting to an estimated revenue of $301 million in 1996 and was projected to have a total revenue of $7.7 billion in 2002. Therefore, this hotel ought to make increased effort to increase its advertisement and marketing works on the internet which will have an impact of changing the way the organization reaches out to the consumers. The last action is instituting performance appraisal mechanisms. This is founded on the fact that organizational performance and its resultant effectiveness and efficiency can only be achieved when individuals are subjected to continuous appraisal and evaluation (Obisi, 2011, p. 92). This mostly applies to the ‘remote’ sales stuff who have been revealed to exhibit limited focus on performance. This ought to be combined by the provision of realistic goals and development opportunities to these employees. All the above are actions in their order of priority which ought to be undertaken by 4 Star Lakeside Hall Hotel in its efforts to achieve increased performance as well as initiate changes which will ensure that the company maintain its competitive niche in the market. Types of change that can be used to enable the hotel to plan, monitor and implement any proposed organizational change The first change is related to human capital working inside the hotel. This is whereby this company ought to take a holistic approach in implementing the aforementioned changes in its operations. Towards this end, employees in all departments ought to be briefed on the action plan and the actions which are to be undertaken in their order of priority. The planning of the course of these actions ought to be done in consultation will all the employees in every department aimed at enhancing acceptability and sustainability of the actions. On the other hand, the employees ought to be briefed on their diverse roles in the fulfillment of all the set objectives in the set timeframes and within the set budgetary allocations. The other change is related to the policy framework at the organizational level. In this regard, aspects like continuous monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework ought to be entrenched in the policy framework of this organization aimed at assessing the progress in the attainment of the set goals and objectives. In this case, the policies of the organization related to M&E ought to be changed to incorporate regular exercise of M&E. In addition, these policies ought to be changed to encompass the mechanisms aimed at ensuring compliance with the M&E process of all the employees and any disciplinary actions which are to be taken against those who are non-compliant with the set policies. The last change is related to the financial aspect of the hotel. This is whereby the management echelon of this organization ought to allocate enough financial capital to facilitate actions like increased investment in ICT, training of the employees, elevated advertisement and marketing over the internet as well as monitoring and evaluation processes among others in this organization. Towards this end, there ought to be a change in the budgetary allocation set aside for the priority action. This is whereby increased financial allocations towards ICT ought to be increased in the subsequent financial years while at the same time increased money ought to be set aside for marketing and advertisements over the internet as opposed to other traditional methods like the newspapers and magazines. This financial change in budgetary allocations will be integral in tapping the opportunities which were previously explored. Conclusion and recommendations It is recommended that the management organ of this hotel ought to make increased efforts to implement the prioritized actions, in terms of finances and human resource. This will entail the input from all the departments in this organization. Secondly, it is recommended that a proper M&E mechanism ought to be instituted in order to comprehensively assess the progress in the attainment of the set goals and objectives. Lastly, it is recommended that the management ought to make increased efforts to involve all the employees in the organization in the implementation of the set actions. In conclusion, the preceding report has revealed the close linkage between organization change and the performance of any given organization. In addition, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats confronting 4 Star Lakeside Hall Hotel have also been analyzed as well as the prioritization of the necessary actions to counter the weaknesses and threats facing this organization. Lastly, the report has highlighted the types of changes which can be used to enable the hotel to plan, monitor and implement any proposed organizational change. References Chen JM., et. al, 2009, ‘Organizational Change and Development’, retrieved 17th January 2013, Harvard Business School, 2006, ‘SWOT analysis II: Looking Inside for Strengths and Weaknesses’ retrieved 17th January 2013, Kaplan, AM. & Haenlein, M., 2010, ‘Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media’, Business Horizons, Vol. 53, pp. 59—68. Obisi, C., 2011, ‘Employee performance appraisal and its implication for individual and organizational growth’, Australian Journal of Business and Management Research, Vol.1, No.9, pp. 92-97. Schlosser, A., 1999, ‘Survey of internet users’attitudes toward internetadvertising’, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 13, No., 3, pp. 34-54. Singh, H, 2006, ‘The Importance of Customer Satisfaction in Relation to Customer Loyalty and Retention’, UCTI Working Paper WP-06-06, Asia pacific University College of Technology and Innovation, Kuala Lumpur. Smith, H, 2006, ‘Beyond SWOT And Towards Change’, retrieved 17th January 2013, < http://www.bptrends.com/publicationfiles/07-06-COL-P-TRIZ-6-SMITH.pdf>. Tan, D., &Mahoney, JT., 2002, ‘An Empirical Investigation of Expatriate Utilization: Resource−based, Agency, and Transaction Costs Perspectives’, retrieved 17th January 2013, . Teo TSH., et. al, 2000, ‘Information technology (IT) investment and the role of a firm: an exploratory study’, International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 20, pp. 269-286. Wood, ME, 2002, Ecotourism: Principles, Practices & Policies for Sustainability, UNEP, Nairobi. Read More