Organisational changes - Case Study Example

Managing Change Student’s name Institution’s Affiliation Course +Code Professor’s name Date Managing Organisational Change Introduction Organisational change denotes the movement from a current state to a new and different way of doing things in a continuous process aimed at generating good outcomes and results. According to Elias, modern organisations should adapt to the changes or face the possibility of failing or becoming redundant. Organisations face numerous challenges that include innovation, technology, globalization, and uncertainty in the global business environment that require them to change and restructure some of their systems (Elias 2009). However, while change is positive way of restructuring and bringing in new culture, many organisations face challenges because of resistance to change and use of unfamiliar change models to the employees and other stakeholders (Blokdij 2008). In many situations, a company’s leadership plays a fundamental role in the formulation and implementation of change. Different studies have demonstrated that over eighty percent of change projects do not succeed. According to John Kotter, the leadership in an organisation can successfully introduce and manage change if they perform their duties in the right way (Kotter 2012). The essence of this paper is to discuss how International Business Machine (IBM) has managed change in the recent past, and the effects of changes that the organisational has implemented. International Business Machine (IBM) Company Profile The International Business machine (IBM) is an American multinational organisation with operations in over one hundred and seventy countries around the world. Headquartered in New York City, the firm was founded in 1911 as a computing, tabulating, and recording outfit (CTR) (Gingerich 2011). It was renamed IBM in 1924. IBM operates under five different segments that include Global Technology Services (GTS), Global Business Services (GBS, Software, Systems Hardware and Global Financing. The organisation also offers hosting and consulting services in an array of areas that include mainframe computers to nanotechnology (Morgan 2015). The organization also carries out research and as of 2016; it had the most patents generated by an enterprise. Some of its inventions include the floppy disk, hard disk drive, the magnetic stripe card and the automated teller machine (ATM) among others (Vanian 2016). With the nick name of Big Blue, IBM has over three hundred and eighty thousand employees in its global operations and is one of the thirty firms listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Saba 2013). Organisational change IBM is a successful company today because of how it has introduced and managed change in several areas of its operations. Imperatively, communication should be at the heart of introducing and managing change in any organisation (Palmer, Dunford & Akin 2009). According to Kotter, resistance to change is a common thing that leaders in an organisation must anticipate in the process of formulating and implementing changes. Therefore, leaders and organisations that pursue change need to be ready to handle them in the most effective manner (Kotter 2012). For the purpose of this report, the paper describes and analyses changes related to technology, human resource and hierarchy at the International Business Machines Inc. As a technology outfit, the organisation has continuously transformed and innovated new products and services that have allowed it to register significant success in the recent past. Among the technological changes that the organisation introduced was its “smart” change in strategy. According to the Journal of Value Based Leadership (JVBL), IBM spends about eighty percent of services to consulting in the technology and computer sector (Gingerich 2011). The organisation spends the remaining part of its services on manufacturing its hardware. Therefore, the “Smart” change strategy and its programs have led to the beginning of a new phase of innovation and creativity, especially at a time when the world is demanding for an equitable balance of the social, economic, and environmental factors affecting businesses and society. Using the most effective technologies, the organisation has launched significant environmental programs aimed at reducing its impact on the environment (Morgan 2015). The IT firm values its launch of smarter commuting practices and the development and use of alternative sources of energy. Again, the organisation has partnered with firms like Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Company to develop affordable methods on how to introduce efficient solar energy products to the international marketplace. Using the Copper-Indium-Gallium Selenide cell modules, the organisation hopes to introduce this technology to the world with the aim of transforming and reducing energy waste (Gingerich 2011). The thin film technology is considered as having the capability to reduce the general cost of solar cells and enable many to adopt it for widespread utilisation. Another change aspect is the focus on human resource. According to Brad Power (2012), it is unusual to find corporate human resource departments that seek to accelerate change through the use of new strategies in organisations. In fact, Brad notes that most of the HR departments are impediments to change in organisations. However, at IBM, the situation is different with the department being instrumental in the organisation’s metamorphosis. Through changes in its human resources department, the organisation moved from a floundering computer maker in the 1990s to be one of the most successful software and consulting services outfits today. HR has enabled the company to manage over one hundred and twenty acquisitions since 2000 (Power 2012). Furthermore, HR has been instrumental in the integration of these employees; a situation that has allowed the IT firm to save close to $6 billion over the past one decade. It suffices to note that in the last one, the HR department, under Randy MacDonald, has taken several steps that have allowed the organization to achieve operational improvement and change (Morgan 2015). Firstly, HR believed in the delivery of new skills that IBM needed at its front line by reinventing how it trained and developed talent. Part of the training and development was focused on leadership, developing of marketing and innovation skills in developing markets and creation of “Global Enablement Teams” in mature markets to help and mentor in developing markets (Gingerich 2011). Secondly, the HR department focused on fostering global teamwork by creating one policy, and similar processes and procedures. The approach has allowed the organisation to move from a multinational to a globally integrated enterprise with standard global processes. Thirdly, before the arrival of Randy MacDonald, IBM employees could not use available resources and power as most of the staff had to wait for their bosses to tell them what they should do (Brodbeck 2002). However, the organisation created an outcome-based culture where HR can define, collect and analyse data to ensure that employees meet personal and organisational goals and targets. Accordingly, IBM believes that the use of analytics in performance-based situations is essential as it allows the firm to assess and define cause-and-result relationships while it ensures that HR practices align with the organisation’s results (Blokdij 2008). According to Brad, the human resource department at IBM is focused on finding and creating more innovative employees in line with the company’s overall strategy of “smart” change (Power 2012). Effects of Changes at IBM These changes at the information technology firm have allowed the organisation to make tremendous growth in its global operations. For instance, its “smarter planet” strategy is as a result of these changes that have seen the organisation link its external branding and internal brand (Power 2012). The change has made the campaign more attractive and enabled IBM to recruit and hire talented employees who confess that they are happy by the opportunities that are created because of improving how the world works. Again using these changes, especially in HR practices, IBM has identified the kind of innovation that exists in knowledge management and the effects of social media (Power 2012). The organisation recruits more talent because of using the social media. Furthermore, the IT firm allows its employees to use the social media, with an institutionalised social media policy because it understands the impact of social media in creating a united yet diverse workforce around the world (Zillman 2016). Imperatively, the organisation believes that a proactive role played by the HR department is not only essential but necessary in generating quality performance and results. Because of managing change in the most effective way, IBM has raised the quality of its performance. Furthermore, change has enabled it to be different from other organisations as it hires and develops its employees for the long term outcomes at all levels, irrespective of their positions and length of stay at the company. IBM’s CEO believes that developing such talent allows the firm to have a performing workforce generation after generation (Saba 2013). Accordingly, the organisation states that its strategy is about developing future leaders in a broader and deeper way for the benefit of the company. IBM has demonstrated that embracing change in an organisation can result to a better future as evidenced by its “Smarter Planet” campaign. Through change, IBM has made significant steps in displaying that an innovative leadership is essential in creating a smarter planet (Moran &Brightman 2001). IBM has numerous programs aimed at achieving the smarter planet that include smarter healthcare, smarter water, smarter transportation, and smarter communication among other smarter programs (Gingerich 2011). However, it is worth noting that quality leadership during change is essential in enabling employees to accept and embrace change in an organisation, especially considering that most employees prefer the status quo. In the past two years major structural changes have occurred at the organisation to underscore the importance of change in creating a performing organisation that can operate competitive at the global level (Elving 2005). These changes have enabled the firm to reshape by using its strategic imperatives that include data, cloud and consulting services. It suffices to note that these changes have allowed the organisation to allocate more resources in the development of new products and services that include cloud platform as-a-service, invest more in the next-generation semiconductor R&D and implement its Big Data partnership with social media partner, Twitter (Morgan 2015). Imperatively, the changes at the organisation require the use of change models that will allow the organisation to maximise the opportunities it creates through these transformative strategies. Accordingly, it is essential for an organisation to build a team that can guide the management and the employees during the change process. The formation of such teams ensures that every employee understands the need for change (Vanian 2016). Conclusion IBM continues to stand out as one of the most successful IT firms in a highly competitive sector and a fast changing global marketplace. It follows that the organisation has managed change in the most effective way resulting to increased level of competitiveness in the global market. Using technology and human resources, the organisation has created a “Smarter Planet” campaign aimed at creating a better world to work in and formulated integrated policies in its recruitment and hiring processes. These changes have enabled IBM to develop an innovative workforce that values quality performance, products, and services. IBM has demonstrated that leadership and communication models are essential in achieving and managing change at all levels and times in an organisation with the aim of achieving long-term success. IBM was on the verge of winding up until it changed its strategy; a situation that has allowed it to acquire several organisations and become an internationally integrated company. References Blokdijk, G., 2008. Change Management 100 Success Secrets-The Complete Guide to Process, Tools, Software and Training in Organizational Change Management. New York: Lulu.com. Brodbeck, P., 2002. 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IBM Is Blowing Up Its Annual Performance Review. Accessed on January 4, 2016 from http://fortune.com/2016/02/01/ibm-employee-performance-reviews/ Read More