Organization Development and the Management of Change - Essay Example

Running Header: Organization Development First Names: Student Number: Institution: Course Number: Course Name: Assignment Due Date: Title Essay Organization development and the management of change  Introduction Organization development (OD) is the process in which an organization embarks on an effort that involves the whole business. The effort made comes from the top management of the organization and the objective of the undertaking is to enhance effectives in service delivery and therefore bringing about positive performance in the company. Organizational development involves several interventions made to the company and which include the use of behavioral science knowledge. In general terms, organizational development is a designed plan of change. Organizational development is a planned process because it makes use of long-range approach that is geared towards enhancing the organizational performance and the overall efficiency of the company operations (Nohria et al 2008). The approach seeks to do away with frequent and quick-fixes in which many companies always face. OD is also an organization-wide approach since it focuses on the whole system of operation within the company. OD is also seen as the idea that generates from the top t since for it to work; it must get the support of the top management. This is because apart from commissioning OD, the management is also expected to take charge to make sure that everything goes as planned. At the same time, all employees are expected to take ownership of the process since they play a key role in its implementation. The OD is directly linked with the company’s bottom-line. This is because the overall goal of this process is to ensure improved efficiency by use of systems that are well aligned with the employees. OD can also be referred to as a planned intervention because it comprises activities that are geared towards causing permanent change to the whole system. Finally, OD can be used to mean behavioral science knowledge since it applies research and collected experience to understand the employees, business operations and how the two interact and to what extent (Worley and Feyerherm 2003). OD activities include Total Quality Management (TQM) and reengineering as well as strategic planning and team building and there is always need to carefully select and intervention that is suitable to a particular company. Why organization development? Organization development as seen earlier is the company strategy to redesign its internal operations if order to enhance efficiency in service delivery. OD can be taken as a response by the management team to reduce operational costs to the company. Human resource management function within an organization is one such area that the company spends a lot of its revenue in, in order to have it run. Well managed human resource function can always make big difference in companies operating in the same industry. This is because it is the employees who ensure that company goals and objectives are implemented (Ska˚le´n 2004). In essence, OD can be used to make sure that employee costs are well managed and their output increased. In the contemporary business society, changing the environment at which people work in is becoming very critical. People have different feelings, opinions and they always demand the get responses on what they have been able to accomplish and how the company values their contribution and committed through social responsibility. Time management is possible if the nature of the workplace is changed and this is only possible if good management systems put in place. Change in the market and liberalization of the global business, is also one of thee factors that have continued to create the need to organization development. This is to respond accordingly to the global challenges. Organization development in this case can be used by the company enter business partnerships with other companies for common strategic goals. Finally, OD can be used to accelerate change. This is particularly critical in the international arena where various resources such as labor and capital are very scarce and the competition for them is very stiff as argued by Waddell et al (2011). Change management On the other hand change management unlike the organization development, is a business approach whereby the company decides to move into a certain direction without affecting the stakeholders such as employees, management teams and company from its current state. In other words, change management is used to help understand and appreciate the need for change and at the same deal effectively with the evolving challenges. Some of the example of organizational changes include: strategic change, technological change, structural change and change of employee attitudes and behaviors (Clegg and Walsh 2004). Let’s take the example of City Bridge Trust. This is a charitable organization that operates across the great London. This is the organization run and managed by the City of Landon Corporation. As a strategic change, the Trust, in July 2003, had decided to dedicate 5% that could be used for other activities that grants. This money was to be allocated for research and visibility studies as well as conferences. Part of the money could also be used to enter into partnerships with other organizations that operate in the same line. This was a strategic because it was aimed at expanding the organizations through collaborations without necessarily interfering with the independent units of the organizations as illustrated by Werkman (2009). Change management in an ideal environment has to take place in a well organized communication systems and structures. This is because, communication is used as a tool to facilitate interaction and understanding the need as to why change has to take place. It is through communication that individuals’ roles and expectations can be communicated. In addition, communications enables easy to convey and receive information from those individuals whom previously did not communicate with on regular basis. Upgrading of already existing skills is considered to primary task when managing change (Pietersen 2002). This is primarily done to help the employees remain competitive in their new functions and remain purposive for the company. Finally, when executing change, counseling and advisory services are very necessary. This is to make sure that the employees and different teams involved are well advised on how to manage and deal with stress that may come as a result of change. Change must start taking place in the people’s minds before its actualized. This can be done by making individuals understand why change has to occur no matter how challenging it might be (Bradford and Burke 2004). Change comprises three main phases namely: planning, managing and reinforcing it. At the planning stage, a clear management strategy has to be set and people have to be placed in those positions that fit most. The planning team has also to identify who will be involved in the education about the changes and how they will be enforced. It is also at this stage that the change management model has to be designed. At the management stage, all activities are coordinated and a lot of care has to be taken in deciding which manager is to take what role (Argyris 2004). This is because; it is at this stage that actual change implementation takes place. Reinforcement takes when feedback has been received from various stakeholders. The managers are then put under obligation to determine what has worked and what has not worked and what can be done differently. Analysis of events is done at this stage and gaps established in order to develop means and ways of responding challenges that currently exist. In any case, reinforcement is an important strategy used to recognize and complement as well as reward successes. This is to create a positive and motivating atmosphere for the employees to work even harder for much better results. However, good controls need to be put in place to make sure everybody remains on course as presented by Beer and Nohria (2000). Organization development and management Organization development as a change management models both brings effectiveness and limitations. This is because of the assumptions under which the model has been established. In terms of effectiveness, the model puts a lot of emphasis on goals and processes that will be applied in actualizing change. This is because the model ensures that all internal processes, resources and policies are aligned with the intended change. Actually OD is used as a foundation for enacting change. It is through the OD that the company capabilities can be assessed if they can be able to occur with the change that is about to take place. This is particularly important in determining the strategies that can be applied to mobilize enough resources and appropriate skills that are required in executing change. It does proper allocation of resource for optimization purpose in order to meet its bottom-line (Worley and Feyerherm 2003). The model also recognizes the importance of the employees and their overall contribution to the company and change. This plays a very important role in motivating the employees in putting in more effort to their roles. The ultimate effect is that less input will be used to do the work that otherwise could have been done by a large number of employees. This will reduce the operational cost of the business and the end result will be high level of service delivery. The OD change management model is also considered effective because of its involvement of all important aspects of the company. It brings into picture all functions of the company (Jackson 2007). This is particularly important in ensuring that all functions, teams and individuals are well coordinated towards working a common objective. This is considered a good strategy for enhancing teamwork and cooperation among the employees. In addition, the model observes the participative role of each function as drawn from the theories and practices of behavioral sciences. This is particularly important in understanding the likely behavior that the individuals are likely to exhibit when change takes place. This application is important in ensuring that appropriate measures are put in place counter any negative behavior that individuals may have towards the intended change. Ford et al (2002) consider the model to be very crucial in especially in facilitating individuals, groups and management at all levels. This is because it ensures everyone is responsible in the change plays and that individual contribution is considered critical at all levels. This is made by possible through the action research which informs the management team on what should be done, at what time, level and by whom so as to avoid collisions (Griffin et al 2004). Finally, in terms of effectiveness, the model is considered to be one of the most viable strategies in implementing change. This is because the model has the support of the top management team which is actively involved. However, even though the OD model is seen as a very constructive strategy in assisting change to take place, it has also received some criticisms from various quotas. According to Fairholm, (2004b), the model and its ability to succeed depend on the willingness of all the stakeholders to respond positively. This is because it greatly relies on humanistic philosophy of openness which sometimes cannot be predicted. The employees are key agents of implementation and therefore if their support is not won, the change is likely to fail. In addition, this model does not take into consideration the environmental trends. This is a very serious limitation for this model. This is because, the sustainability cannot be told and whether if the company will succeed or not. Environment analysis, Boonstra (2004), helps determine that relative importance of the change that is about to take place and it will be worthwhile or not. Conclusion Organizational development involves several interventions made to the company and which include the use of behavioral science knowledge. OD is seen as organization-wide approach since it focuses on the whole system of operation within the company. OD is also seen as the idea that generates from the top since for it to work; it must get the support of the top management. OD as a process is used by business as a platform on which to anchor the management of change basis. OD can be taken as a response by the management team to reduce operational costs to the company. This is because it seeks to streamline all functions and teams within the company in order to work towards a common objective. However, even though OD is very critical in change management, it has it is own limitations which include the inability to align with business environment trends and its tendency to rely on the openness of the individuals. In general terms, OD strategy need to be applied independently based on the prevailing status of the business. This is to reduce the failure chances in implementing change. References Argyris, C. (2004). Double loop learning and organizational change. Facilitating transformational change, Dynamics of Organizational Change and Learning, pp. 389– 401. Beer, M. and Nohria, N. (2000). Resolving the Tension between Theories E and O of Change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Boonstra, J.J. (2004). Dynamics of organizational change and learning: reflections and perspectives, Dynamics of Organizational Change and Learning, New York: Mcgraw. Bradford, D.L. and Burke, W.W. (2004). Is OD in crisis? The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 40(4), pp. 369–373. Clegg, C. and Walsh, S. (2004). Change management: time for a change! European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 13(2), pp. 217–239. Fairholm, M. R. (2004b). “A new sciences outline for leadership development”. Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, 25(4), pp. 369-383. Ford, D., Ford, W. & McNamara, T. (2002). Resistance and the background conversations of change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 15 (2), pp. 105-121. Jackson, T.W. (2007). ''Applying Autopoiesis to Knowledge Management in Organisations'', Journal of Knowledge Management, 11(3), pp 78-91. Griffin, M. A., Rafferty, A. E., & Mason, C. (2004). Who started this? Investigating different sources of organizational change. Journal of Business and Psychology, 18(4), pp. 475- 490. Nohria, Groysberg and Lee, 2008. "Harvard Business Review". Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. Pietersen, W. (2002). The Mark twain Dilemma: the theory and practice of change leadership. Journal of Business Strategy, 23(5), pp. 32-37. Ska˚le´n, P. (2004). New public management reform and the construction of organizational identities. The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 17(3), pp. 251–263. Worley, C.G. and Feyerherm, A.E. (2003). Reflections on the future of organization development. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 39(1), pp. 97–115. Waddell, D.M., Cummings, T.D. & Worley, C.G. (2011). Organisational change: Development and transformation. 4th edition, Asia Pacific. Melbourne: Cengage learning. Werkman, R.A. (2009). Understanding failure to change: a pluralistic approach and five patterns. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 30(7), pp. 664–684. Worley, C. and Feyerherm, A. (2003). Reflections on the future of organization development. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 39(1), pp. 97–115. Read More