Leading Organisational Change at Bessington Trading and Sons - Assignment Example

Managing Organizational Change Institution: Managing Organizational Change 1. Assumptions Workers are attracted to well-paying jobs with a friendly working environment Many reward systems such as sick leave ,holiday pay ,numerous reward system, child minding facilities for workers that were from the working poor and better pay attract more workers to the industry (Bell 1974). Change process needs to be adopted step by step For the change process to be successful and avoid resistance it needs to be adopted slowly and workers at all levels included. The management needs to have experience and involve the board members in decision making to ensure the success of the change process. Modija’s son and daughter had the knowledge but lacked the management experience and they did not do enough research before making the final decision and this led to devaluation of the company (Bell 2004). Customers are royal to already known brands Tommy noted that BTS could take advantage of their name to build new relationships with retailers and designers. 2. What is happening between growth and change in BTS(Bessington trading and sons) According to Greiner (2009), an organization’s past determines the management strategies that are important for the future success of the organization. He explains that during change, an organization undergoes a number of stages such as the stage of evolution and the stage of revolution. In the case of BTS, the stage of evolution is where it was under the management of George Bessington himself when he implemented strategies that he learned while he worked in a textile industry in Australia. The stage of revolution is where BTS was under the management of Bessignton’s son, Modjo and his grandson Tommy. This is the stage where the company underwent changes in strategies of performing tasks and management of activities of the organization. For instance, it is observed that Tommy and Khadija came up with the idea of making designer fabrics rather than buying them from established brands such as JC penny, Benetton, Nike and Wal-Mart. Greiner states that during the revolution stage of an organization, it cannot be assumed that the growth will be linear. There are a number of challenges that the organization has to cope with. In the case of BTS, it had to cope with challenges such as the willingness of the Board to accept the new strategy of operations in the company, a reduced number of staff and restructuring the management to achieve cost efficiency. In addition, the company was faced with the challenge of producing both the old lines of products and the new lines so that it could transition well from the old methods of production to new methods while ensuring it benefits from income of its operations. It was also faced with the challenge of tackling competition so that its survival could be assured. Furthermore, Greiner states that during growth of an organization, it undergoes various phases such as creativity phase, direction phase, delegation phase, coordination phase, and collaboration phase. In the creativity phase, the management has to come up with strategies that ensure sustainability of the organization such as being technically oriented and control of activities that are focused on the sales of the new products. BTS underwent this stage when the strategy of Bessington was implemented in the sales of its cotton and wool fabrics to customers in Indonesia. The phase of direction was experienced when the Board tried to continue implementing the old strategy that was implemented by Bessington himself. The Board was adamant to abandon the old strategy and challenged Tommy and Khadija for suggesting a new strategy. Greiner explains that during the delegation stage, much of the tasks are given to employees such as directors and top executives tend not to participate in most affairs of a business. In the case of BTS, it is observed that most decisions were made by the Board and the entrepreneurs were not involved in most activities such as determining the strategy that needs to be implemented during production of its cotton and wool fabrics. Furthermore, Greiner explains that coordination is a phase that involves formal systems in which objectives of an organization are achieved. For instance, it the case of BTS, it is found that the Board engaged in meetings to determine the suitability of the proposals made by Tommy and Khadija despite the fact that they did not assent to it. The lasp hases suggested by Greiner is collaboration. his is where the management create interpersonal relations and social control. He explains that this phase is usually difficult to achieve for those experts who are accustomed to old methods. In the case of BTS, it is found that the Board was accustomed to old methods of production and did not agree to the suggestions of Tommy and Khadija. Consequently, BTS did not achieve this phase of evolution. 3. How the problems of BTS resemble System deep structure according to Gersick There is a similarity in the problems of BTS and the deep structure explained by Gersick. For instance, Gersick explains that system deep structure explains that there are individual choices whose contributions have an overall effect on the organization. In the case of BTS, it is observed that there were different individual choices that were made by the company’s executives. These include: obtaining low-cost products from suppliers in other countries and distributing them, addition of value-added component of design, manufacturing and exporting the products to international markets, restructuring the management structure so that it complies with the needs of the present production strategy, and reducing the number of employees to meet the current workforce demand. Another individual choice that affected the overall performance of BTS is the decisions that were made by the Board with regards to the method of production to be implemented. This affected the overall performance of BTS because it determined the type of products produced by the company. According to Gersick, system deep structure is composed of major two characteristics: differentiated parts and the units that comprise them exchange resources in a manner that ensures there is a controlled differentiation. This shows similarity to the case of BTS where the organizational system was comprised of parts such as management, production, supervisor and sales departments that operated to achieve the objectives of the company. There was an exchange of resources such as the Board that created policies that were implemented in operation departments and the production department that was involved in the sales of wool and cotton products to various customers in Indonesia. He also explains that systems do not necessarily evolve from lower to higher states by undergoing hierarchical stages to achieve a pre-determined end. Deep systems comprises independent fundamental choices into which a system configures and organizes so that the configuration and resource sharing is articulated to the environment of operation. In a similar manner, BTS underwent a number of stages that were not hierarchical according to the expectations of the management. For instance, it was expected that the company would be successful if the strategy suggested by Tommy and Khadija was implemented. However, the company underwent mayhem because the process of evolution into the new strategy complied with the ideas of Gersick. In deep structures, there is a high stability because particular choices made by a system cancel out a number of options in addition to ruling out manually contingent options. In the BTS case, the company was involved in a number of activities that were aimed at cancelling out each other. For instance, the strategy of restructuring management incorporated production of both traditional cotton and woolen fabrics as well as new lines of fabrics so that competition could be tackled. In addition, the decisions of the company were based on individual contributions of the management of the company such as the contributions of Tommy and Khadija. In addition, the activities of a deep system create a reinforcement of the system as a whole, by creating mutual feedback loops. 4. Explain how and why narratives and storytelling was useful to the company Narrative retelling is when the speakers address the workers on the information they already know or has been passed to them by the people who have experience about the organization Control Dailey and Browning (2014), state that stories about the performance of the workers who have worked in the organization before help shape up the behavior of the current workers and educate them to perform better where the past workers failed. For instance, BTS can use storytelling process to explain the events that have taken place during the history of the company so that previous strategies that have resulted into success of the organization can be retained. Storytelling was also important when there was the need to ensure the new strategy was implemented and the old one was used as a means of generating more revenues to meet the income needs of the business and ensure the business copes with competition. Resistance This is the process where a person develops the ability to avoid a particular bad situation from taking place. In the case of BTS, resistance was achieved by sharing stories between Tommy and Khadija regarding strategies that could result into a revolution of BTS and ensure it remained competitive as well as designed value-added materials in addition to reaching customers from various locations and improve product quality. Integration According to Dailey and Browning (2014), narratives ensure members of the organization are integrated or united through socialization. Through socialization, it is possible to teach members and assimilate them into the organization. Members of the organization are also able to understand the history and culture of the organization. In the case of BTS, storytelling enabled Bessington disseminate the culture of the organization to Modjo who disseminated the knowledge to Tommy and Khadija. Consequently, Tommy and Khadija were able to understand the culture, practices and the history of the organization due to storytelling. Stability Another important function of storytelling is that it ensures stability is achieved in the organization (Harrington 2006). Stories serve as a template for the actions taken in future by the members of the organization. In the case of BTS, it was observed that Tommy and Khadija observed that the company was experiencing competition from other companies in the sales of wool and cotton products. Through storytelling, they could explain to the board the exact challenges that were experienced by the business so that an action could be taken to avoid possible mayhem. 5. Modes to be used by the change agents in BTS and reasons for adopting them. There are a number of modes that can be used by change agents to bring changes to BTS. Some of the examples are illustrated below: Elimination of Hierarchical Decision Making According to Hayes (2014), change can be achieved in an organization by eliminating hiercahy in decision making. This is the process where an employee is given the opportunity to make decisions in a particular area of specialty. The agents of change: Tommy & Khadija can recommend that the management of BTS should not interfere with the functions of the board such as the decisions made by the board. It also involves a situation where the management and the Board come together so that they can determine the way forward for the company. Putting Emphasis on Groups Another suggestion that should be implemented by Tommy & Khadija so that change can be brought to BTS is focusing on groups. This is the process where members of the organization have a clear understanding of the mission, values and goals and aspirations. In order to implement change effectively, the change agents should encourage employees of BTS to have a good understanding regarding the functions of various departments in the company and how they are related. Tommy & Khadija should also encourage the management of BTS to create a balance and not act in a manner that contravenes the law that regulates their business. Trusting One Another According to the recommendation that has been made by Hayes (2014) is that the change agents should encourage employees of BTS to communicate and develop a culture of trust. Employees are not expected to develop trust automatically if they are not encouraged to do so. This is because, the observation of the manner in which activities are performed at BTS shows that there is lack of trust between the Board and the owners of the company. Tommy & Khadija can bring the sense of trust by showing trust towards employees. 6. Typology of Change that Can be implemented by BTS An example of a typology that can be implemented by BTS to achieve organizational change is Open Systems theory. According to Hayes (2014), this theory provides the structure of an organization as a system composed of components that are interrelated so that they can interact with the environment. This theory assumes that organizations are composed of units that make up the entire organization. Each unit performs it role independently to contribute to the overall performance of the organization. This view of the organization can be implemented at BTS by ensuring each department in the organization performs its roles independent of the roles performed by another department. For instance, production department should focus on producing woolen and cotton products without interfering with the roles of the management. The Board should perform its roles with the focus on achieving the needs of the organization at large. This theory is based on the idea that when components of a system are in a state of disequilibrium, the constituents of the system perform their functions to bring the organization to normal operating state. In a similar manner change at BTS can be achieved when various departments perform their individual tasks to achieve the overall goal of the organization. During the process of implementing change, the relationship between internal and external structure of the organization should be implemented in making change take place. This theory states that stability of a firm can be achieved by creating regulations and a structure that contributes to change. At BTS, this can be achieved by ensuring production department has a high degree of structure that performed tasks in a coordinated manner to achieve the overall goal of the organization. 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