Participative Management and Its Influence on Organizational Change - Assignment Example

Change and stress management at HIA Name: University: Introduction Change management is a process through which organizations implement the desired changes to the organization structure and culture in line with the organization strategy. Since change involves a diverse group of employees of different hierarchies and character, it is bound to cause conflicts. This paper studies the case of change management at HIA and how the resultant conflicts were handled by two employees. Q1 (i).What do you think caused Deborah to react in such a manner towards Melinda? Deborah’s reactions might have been caused by fear and uncertainty that accompanies change especially when it is not implemented properly. From the narrative provided, it can be deduced that the organization did not engage employees in designing the change program. Participation has been associated with positive outcomes in change management as it helps maintain the psychological contract between the employees and the organization during the change process. Breaking this contract might have caused her stress and this was her way of expressing her disgust (Waters-Marsh, et al. 2008). Participation would have identified her as one of the losers of the change process and this would have informed strategy in change implementation. Having Deborah identified as a source of resistance early would have helped design a change implementation process that would have ameliorated the impact of the change on her relationship with Melinda. Consequently, the design adopted would have been one that would reduce the power gap between Melinda and her to a minimum since power gaps are associated with change resistance (Waters-Marsh, et al. 2008). Another possible reason for her negative reaction is linked to communication. Internal communication is essential to a successful change process. It is clear this did not happen at the design stage of the change process as what employees got was equivalent to a circular. Literature is very clear on change related communication as an integrated process, which is different from routine information circulation processes. Communication averts employee cynicism towards change and channels their energies towards the successful implementation of the process (Manning, and Robertson, 2004). Due to the uncertainty associated with change and the accompanying behavioral and psychological reactions, organization executives should be extra cautious in choosing the mode of communicating change. The method of communication used should clearly inform employees of the implications of change and should put them in a frame that is receptive to change. Effective communication creates a sense of togetherness among employees and enhances employee loyalty (Manning, and Robertson, 2004). A relational approach to communication arouses employee loyalty and makes them to be more responsible corporate citizens. This improves employee commitment and satisfaction with change. It is clear that the above communication process did not happen, and this might have caused the negative reactions demonstrated by Deborah towards her supervisor. Q1(ii) Do you think these reactions were justified It is hard to classify her reactions as appropriate as they are rooted in maintaining the status quo, which might be harmful to the organizations long-term strategy informed by the prevailing macroeconomic climate. However, one can always try to analyze the underlying problems promoting her reactions. To do this, the organizational shortcomings need to be identified (Manning, and Robertson, 2004). Literature on organizational change recommends participation as a way of mitigating the problems inherent to the change process. Participation helps stimulate positivity towards change by eliminating uncertainty associated with change. Eliminating uncertainty is important as it is associated with low self-esteem and low self-confidence. Participative management increases the acceptance of change by reducing resistance and increasing the effectiveness of change. Therefore, lack of participation might have increased stress and shock associated with change especially because she was on the receiving end of the change process (Manning, and Robertson, 2004). Participation helps build consensus on the need and relevance of change leading to increased commitment. Participative change exploits the creativity and the intellectual assets of all employees and is not limited to the input of the executive. Increasing autonomy creates an environment of innovation which is associated with creativity, which drives change. In an inclusive change process that involves all stakeholders’ right from designing the change process would have resolved most of the negative reactions before imposing Melinda on her. As it stands the change process was not inclusive from the start as her opinion was not sought, this undermines her position, and she reacts through resistance (Manning, and Robertson, 2004). Q2What could Melinda have done to better resolve this issue with Deborah Melinda should have had been more persuasive in communicating the need for change to Deborah. Research indicates that change is most effective when communicated through a well-articulated vision. A vision presents a clear image of the future and is appealing to the organizations members as it serves as a foundation for future changes. Research indicates that a vision offers hope and comfort from the stress associated with change. She should have engaged in a persuasive process of communicating change involving all stakeholders (Manning, and Robertson, 2004). After developing the vision, she should have transformed it into a strategy with a well-designed course of action and plan for achieving the change. The strategy provides a road map on how to achieve the desired change. It also identifies obstacles and proposes ways of overcoming them. Strategy prevents the vision from disintegrating into ambiguous and confusing directives. Articulating specific goals helps ensure that the programs implemented on the ground correspond to the organization's policy and provide a standard of accountability (Farler and Broady-Preston, 2012). Literature suggests that managers should build an internal support base to reduce resistance to change. Change is a political process and involves garnering the support of the most influential employees as well as the management. One way of garnering internal support is explaining the external challenges facing the organization. As such, an external stimulus or shock helps increase the receptiveness to change. She could even collude with David to manufacture an internal crisis in order to garner support for the change. Other tactics include inducements, rewards and guarantees against personal loss and a more flexible implementation process. She should have avoided threats, compulsion and criticism as literature associates them with increased resistance (Farler and Broady-Preston, 2012). Participation is also highlighted as critical to overcoming resistance to change. Participation reduces barriers to change by easing the dissemination of information and encouraging employees to provide feedback, which helps streamline the implementation process. She should have argued David to delegate more of the decisions to middle managers and to grant the employees bigger role in implementing the changes. Senior management is critical to the change process in rewarding innovation and committing time and resources towards the change process (Pardo-del-Val, Martı´nez-Fuentes and Roig-Dobon, 2012). Q3 (i) Is organizational change more stressful for team members or team leaders? Research indicates that only 20% of managers receive training on people management prior to promotion. CIPD is in support of training noting that its investigations indicate that over 75% of employees complain about poor leadership and management skills among the managers. Literature from various sources indicates that conflict management consumes over 40% of the managers time. Therefore, by observing this trend it is plausible to deduce that organizational change is more stressful to team leaders. This position is supported by the case study as Melinda is more exposed to stress than Deborah owing to the more complex tasks she has to accomplish (Waters-Marsh, et al. 2008). 3. (Ii) Identify the possible stressors for organizational members experiencing change in the workplace as depicted in the case study Stress impacts the individual, the immediate group she is affiliated to and the organization as a whole. Mental health organizations in the UK estimate that work related stress cause a 10% loss in Gross National Product. The UK Work-stress Network estimates that stress contributes to 23% of staff workplace absences. Literature posits that stress is an individual’s reaction to excess pressure or other obligations expected to be accomplished by the individual. Stress in the case of HIA workers emanates from the rigors of implementing the change program. On the part of Melinda, she has to execute the changes in her team in line with the new role and changing organizational strategy (Farler and Broady-Preston, 2012). Workplace stress in the case of Melinda can be attributed to lack of motivation and poor employee performance especially in the case of Deborah among others. Some authorities suggest that stress can be harnessed to act as a motivator energizing the individual. They also argue that lack of stress may be due to under-performance. If lack of stress is caused by under-performance, then one can only deduce that Melinda is a high performer and, this might have informed her elevation to the role of executive support manger. Several authors attribute stress to loss of control; this is true in the case of Melinda as from the case study she has a difficult relationship with Deborah and results to avoidance (Farler and Broady-Preston, 2012). Role conflict has been identified as a source of stress; this happens when there is a conflict between the needs or demands of the employee and those of the organization. Role conflict and the ambiguities associated with new roles are identified by researchers as a source of stress in the workplace. Role conflict is evident in the case of Melinda versus Deborah. On one hand, Deborah wants to maintain the status quo and continue working the way she has always done for 15 years despite it being contrary to the new management strategy. On the other hand, Melinda acts as the change agent insisting that work must be done in the contracted hours without any deviation. She also wants to impress her bosses by successfully implementing the new strategy. Deborah’s resistance causes stress to Melinda as she lacks control over her, and lack of control is associated with stress according to change management literature (Waters-Marsh, et al. 2008). Literature identifies change as a source of stress especially when it is poorly managed amid completing interests amongst the employees. This coupled with the inherent job insecurity associated with change makes the workplace stressful (Farler and Broady-Preston, 2012). Change can easily be identified as the main cause of stress for Deborah especially because it was poorly managed by the organization. The change causes her to be insecure as now she has to contend with the authority of Melinda and different working style from what she is accustomed to. The change stresses her, and she reacts through resistance and hostility towards Melinda. Clearly, the management poorly executed change through lack of employee participation and a flawed communication process, and this causes stress among the employees especially among losers of the change process like Deborah. Personality can contribute to stress especially among individuals who are more driven, competitive and impatient to accomplish their goals. Sutherland among others identified aggressive behavior and bullying as potential causes of stress. Personality causes stress to Melinda as she is self-driven, and this is not helped by Deborah’s insubordination and aggressive behavior (Waters-Marsh, et al. 2008). Burnout occurs when occurs when an individual is engulfed by stress and a sense of inadequacy arising from failure to accomplish tasks or achieve objectives. Pressures that cause stress arise from performance anxiety and can cause a low self-esteem resulting in a burnout. Burnout is manifested in exhaustion, lack of motivation and negative self-image (Farler and Broady-Preston, 2012). In this case, one can argue that Melinda is extremely stressed bordering on burnout due to the immense amount of tasks she is expected to accomplish and the inherent problems of poor change execution. Q4 How might the situation be influenced by organizational or national-level culture? Organizational cultures that support learning, risk taking, openness and diversity of opinion are associated with better conflict management outcomes. Such cultures encourage employees to own up to their mistakes and incompetence. Progressive and risk taking cultures promote task related conflict and discourage affective conflict. For instance, some cultures encourage subordinates to question the status quo such as disagreeing with the management (Pardo-del-Val, Martı´nez-Fuentes and Roig-Dobon, 2012). Likert proved that organizations that encourage participation and problem resolution among employees are more effective in conflict resolution. A positive organizational culture is associated with more successful dispute resolution since problems are identified and corrected in a constructive manner.  Organizations that allow employees to manage conflict through discussions and debate are more successful in conflict resolution than those that resolve through avoidance and suppression. Trubisky et al proved that the national culture influences the style used in conflict management. Their study showed that US organizations use dominating style while Chinese firms indicated greater use of avoidance and obliging styles (Waters-Marsh, et al. 2008). Organizations where superiors are authoritative often use obliging styles with superiors and dominating styles with subordinates. Most subordinates withdraw in a conflict situation and thus they are more likely to use avoidance with superiors than with peers. Compromising is common among peers. Studies in Japan showed men used dominating styles while women preferred using avoiding and compromising styles (Waters-Marsh, et al. 2008). Recommendations The ideal conflict management strategy should encourage organizational learning by encouraging staff to challenge their assumptions and objectives. Conflict resolution should involve all the relevant parties so as to achieve organizational effectiveness. In the case of Melinda, she should explore all possible routes that can help resolve the conflict by engaging with Deborah as well as seeking support from the management (Manning, and Robertson, 2004). The two are engaged in an interpersonal conflict where they continually direct their energies towards winning or controlling the situation; this diverts their energies away from the organizations goals. As a result, they use the win-lose method of handling the conflict. One solution that the management can adopt is the use of a mediator to break the deadlock. Literature suggests that the organization should allow the subordinate to discuss her grievances with a senior executive or seek the opinion of a grievances committee (Manning, and Robertson, 2004). It is recommended that an integrating style of resolution is adopted as it reduces the tension between them. This is because it results in greater satisfaction for both parties. Research indicates that when supervisors use avoiding and dominating styles the organization commitment of subordinates reduces. The integrative style is recommended for complex problems that require input from both parties as well as a commitment in order to design and implement a lasting solution. Therefore, the mediator should use the integrative style of conflict resolution (Pardo-del-Val, Martı´nez-Fuentes and Roig-Dobon, 2012). David’s solution to the conflict was compromising, which is not recommended for subordinates, and this only aggravated the problem. It worked on the short term but is not a long-term solution. It is clear that the problem was more complex and adversely affected Melinda. It is also not recommended to compromise when the there is a conflict of values. In relation to contingent theory, Melinda was right to use an autocratic style as Deborah’s disapproved of her authority. Studies indicate the compromising and avoidance style are associated with negative outcomes. David should reconsider his position regarding Deborah as his solution barely papered on the cracks and is unsustainable. It also sets up a bad precedent as subordinates can always seek transfers instead of conforming to the set codes or seeking more sustainable solutions (Pardo-del-Val, Martı´nez-Fuentes and Roig-Dobon, 2012). Conclusion Knight asserts that efficiency in organizational decision making is directly proportional to the number of employees participating in the process, and this is true in the case of HIA (Pardo-del-Val, Martı´nez-Fuentes and Roig-Dobon, 2012). Poor change management is the root cause of the conflicts and stress amongst workers at HIA. When a change program is executed properly, fewer employees feel cheated, and this results in less conflicts and increased organizational productivity. References: Waters-Marsh, T. et al. (2008). Organizational behavior. (Sixth edition). Frenchs Forest NSW: Pearson Education Australia. ISBN: 9781442528550. Manning, T. and Robertson, B., (2004). Influencing, negotiating skills and conflict-handling: some additional research and reflections. Industrial and Commercial Training. 36 (3): 104–109. Farler, L. and Broady-Preston, J., (2012). Workplace stress in libraries: a case study. Workplace stress in libraries. 64 (3): 225-240 DOI 10.1108/00012531211244509 Pardo-del-Val, M., Martı´nez-Fuentes, C. and Roig-Dobon, S., (2012). Participative management and its influence on organizational change. Management Decision. 50(10): 1843-1860.       Read More