Managing Organisational Change - Parkway Nursing Care - Coursework Example

Managing Organisational Change Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: Introduction An organization may be forced to change in order to respond effectively to the environment or due to internal needs. According to Griffin and Moorhead (2011, p.551), the pressures of change are common in areas involving technology, people, communication, competition, social trends and information processing. This is the case with Parkway Nursing Care where continued growth has increased employees stress in relation to caring for patients hence the need for change. Increased government monitoring has forced the management to hire employees with inadequate skills. Moreover, the hospital has large numbers of patients and this has made it difficult for the employees to provide quality services. Additionally, the employees have suffered from injuries due to excessive work and this has led to increased absenteeism and job dissatisfaction. This paper is going to identify the means through which Parkway Nursing Care can change its culture in order to respond to the negative experiences of their employees. Change Management Theories According to Pryor at el (2008, p. 10), Jicks change model is geared towards a tactical level of change in an organization. The model can be used as a guide in order to evaluate or initiate change that is already taking place in an organization. Jick states that change is unplanned or planned response to forces and pressures in particular economic, technological, competitive, social, political and regulatory forces (Stadtlander 2006, p. 18). According to Jicks, the pressures that initiate change should be considered as either challenges or opportunities. Thus, the success of change in an organization depends on how people interpret and react to it. Jicks proposes 10 steps of implementing change in an organization and they include; analyzing the organizational need for change, creating a common direction and a shared vision, separating from the past, creating a sense of urgency, supporting a strong leader role, lining up political sponsorship, crafting implementation, communicating and involving people and finally, reinforcing and institutionalizing the change. Furthermore, Jicks emphasizes the need for innovation in the change process as well as the need to advance planned change (Rihs 2008, p. 5). Additionally, the theory emphasizes the need to reason and negotiate with organizational members in order for the process to be successful. Kotter’s change theory is effective at the strategic level of an organization. It provides a framework through which an organization can transform and change its vision. Pryor at el (2008, p. 10), note that an organization passes through several changes in order to implement change using this model. Kotter proposes eight steps which include; establishing a sense of urgency, forming a powerful guiding coalition, creating a vision, communicating the vision, empowering other to act on the vision, planning and creating short term wins, consolidating improvement in order to produce change and institutionalizing new approaches. The process can be successful if leaders must apply human relation skills and this can be done through power-influence leadership. According to Cameron and Green (2006, p. 100), Kottler’s model addresses the importance of a felt need for change in an organization. Additionally, the model highlights the need to inform organizational members about the vision as well as to keep communication exceptionally high throughout the process. Furthermore, the theory requires managers to pursue, embrace and influence others to accept change. Kotter notes that managers and administrators rush for change and this makes the process to fail (Stadtlander 2006, p. 19). According to Pryor (2008, p. 9), Lewin’s theory stipulates three distinct steps in order to effectively manage change in an organization. Kritsonis (2008, p. 1), notes that Lewin first step involves unfreezing the existing situation in order to change behavior. Unfreezing is essential as it assists in overcoming group conformity and individual resistance. An organization must identify the equilibrium point in relation to the status quo of the individual members so as to effectively unfreeze the existing situation. Lewin’s second step in changing behavior is movement which aims to move the individuals to new equilibrium levels. This can be achieved by persuading employees to accept new equilibrium status, working in groups and involving powerful leaders who also support the process. The third step involves refreezing the employee’s behavior in order to make the change to be sustainable. This ensures that the employees do not revert to their old equilibrium. Laurence, Christopher and Mark (2010, p. 10), note that Lewin’s model demonstrates the effects of forces that either inhibit or promote change. Therefore, driving forces encourage change while restraining forces inhibit change. Lewin’s model can be applied for both planned and unplanned change provided that there is some certainty that the change will occur (Griffin 2007, p. 347). Lipitt, Watson and Wesley were able to come up with a seven step model for implementing change in an organization and this was based on Lewin’s theory (Pryor at el 2008, p. 9). Their model assigns more responsibilities to change agents. This is because they are viewed as the driving force in managing change in an organization. The steps involved include; diagnosing the problem, assessing the motivation and resources of change agents, choosing progressive change objects, communicating the role of change agents, maintaining the change and gradually terminating the helping relationship. According to Pryor at el (2008, p. 11), Shield’s model holds the opinion that the change process fails due to lack of sufficient attention to cultural and human aspects of the business. Shield model integrates both business process innovations with human resources management. Managers aiming to implement change must begin by understanding the strategies they want to change in the organization. In addition, they must define the critical success factors so as to enable them to determine the extent to which the desired change is feasible. Moreover, organizational leaders must communicate the change objectives to the employees in order to motivate them to exert their efforts towards making the process to be successful. Nevertheless, leaders must continuously review individual work elements so as to determine whether they are aligned to the business strategy. Branch (2010, p. 7), notes that Shield proposes five steps to accomplish change and they include; defining the desired business results, creating capability for change, designing innovative solutions, developing and deploying solutions, and finally reinforcing and sustaining business benefits. Shein theory utilizes Lewins three steps Change model and explains ways of unfreezing an organization. The theory describes strategies of moving from the present status quo to a future state and freezing the changes (Pryor at el 2008, p. 9). According to Shein, organization members must experience the need for change in order for them to embrace change. Change should be introduced when people desire it and this will enable them to perceive the gap between what exists and what will subsist. This would motivate organizational members to reduce the gap hence achieve the desired change. Burke (2010, p. 6), notes that Shein theory requires people to feel psychologically safe in order to accomplish the required change effectively and efficiently. Organization members must be given an assurance that the change will not force them to lose their self esteem or humiliate them. Shein second step involves cognitive structuring whereby individuals are required to acquire new information and identify new role models. This assists and motivates them to move forward with the required changes. Finally, the third stage involves making people to be comfortable with the changed ways of doing things through their self concepts. Additionally, their altitudes must be aligned with the relationships and systems of other members. Application of the Core theoretical Concepts in Parkway Nursing Care Parkway Nursing Care faces problems in shifting from manual to electronic documentation. The older care givers are committed to the paper based process and this may make them to resist a change to electronic recording system which is more effective. Additionally, the cost involved in purchasing specialized software may make the management to resist the change. Furthermore, the management may resist offering nurses flexible working schedules because of the fact that they perceive that the company services may decline. Moreover, the company faces challenges in empowering its employees. The management resists employees’ suggestions which are aimed at improving their performance. According to Cummings and Vorley (2008, p. 185), resistance can be overcome when the change agents are able to influence people to change behavior. In order to overcome resistance, Lewin proposes that the change agent should begin by unfreezing the existing status quo so as to overcome the strains of group and individual resistance (Kritsonis 2008, p. 2). The first step to overcome the resistance posed by the old care givers and the management would involve increasing the driving force that would direct behavior away from the manual recording system. The second step would involve decreasing the restraining forces that negatively affect the shift to electronic recording system. Finally, the final step would involve motivating both the management and the old care givers on the advantages of the electronic recording system. Additionally, it would involve building trust and recognizing problems that the electronic system may create. Shield model can be used to implement flexible working schedule in the Parkway Nursing Care. This would involve creating capability for the company to change by designing efficient working schedules. Additionally, it would involve coming up with innovative means of implementing flexible working schedules. This can involve the nurses starting work early in order to finish early or by compressing their work. Finally, the process would involve selecting the most suitable flexible working strategy and reinforcing it in order to ensure sustainability (Collins 2008, p. 91). Kotter states that forming coalitions can assist in overcoming most resistant individuals in an organization (Pryor at el 2008, p. 10). Therefore, the employees of Parkway Nursing can form coalition in order to force the management to accept their opinions. This can also help in lowering the management status quo hence encourage them to make the necessary adjustments in order to empower the employees hence achieve change in the company. Conclusion In conclusion, change is important as it assists an organization to respond effectively to internal and external environmental changes. Jicks theory focuses towards a tactical level of change in an organization while Kotters theory is suitable for strategic level management. On the other hand, Lewin model proposes three steps for implementing change in an organization. Parking Nursing Care faces resistance in implementing electronic recording system, empowering its employees and implementing flexible working schedules. However, the resistance can be overcome by unfreezing the employee’s status quo and by forming coalitions. Additionally, Shield theory can be used to implement flexible working schedules in the company. References Branch, K 2010, Change Management, Routledge, London. Burke, W 2010, Organizational Change: Theory and Practice, SAGE Publications, London. Cameron, E & Green, M 2006, Making Sense of Change Management, Kogan Page, London. Collins, D 2008, Organizational Change, Routledge, London. Cummings, T & Vorley, T 2008, Organization Development and Change, Cengage Learning, Mason. Griffin, R & Moorhead, G 2011, Organizational Behaviour, Cengage Learning, Mason Griffin, R 2007, Management, Cengage learning, Mason. Kritsonis, A 2008,‘Comparison of Change Theories’, International Journal of Scholarly Academic Intellectual Diversity, vol. 8, no.1, pp. 1-7. Laurence, B, Christopher, D & Mark, L 2010,‘Change Management: The Contribution of Personal Construct Theory’, In Managing Changing, pp. 1-12. Pryor, M, Taneja, S, Humphreys, J, Anderson, D & Singleton, L 2008,‘Challenges Facing Change Management Theories and Research’, Delhi Business Review, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1-20. Rihs, B 2008, Process of Change, Grin Verge, Berlin. Stadtlander, C 2006, ‘Strategically Balanced Change: A Key Factor in Modern Management’, Journal of Business Ethics and Organizational Studies, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 17-25. Read More