Drivers of Change in Qatar Foundation - Case Study Example

Introduction

Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community development (QFESCD) was established in 1995 by His Highness Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani and his wife Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. The foundation is a private and a non-profit organization which endeavors to cultivate future leadership in Qatar. The organization champions social and economic growths in Qatar through its education, research, and community development programs. It also contributes to human development through its diverse experiences at the national, regional and international levels. Qatar Foundation demonstrates a culture of excellence throughout its activities. It also underpins a creative and liberal minded society which desires to enhance sustainable social, economic and human capacity development for prosperity. In the last 10 years, Qatar Foundation has undergone tremendous changes in its strategies and operations (Qatar Foundation, 2015). This study therefore seeks to look into the main drivers of change, resistors to the changes and the actions required to minimize the changes. The paper also seeks to find out the suitable leadership style as per the current situation of the organization.

Drivers of change in Qatar Foundation

Over the last decade, organizations have been increasingly transforming. The majority of leaders are repeatedly seeking new ways to develop strategies and change their operations to drive the success of the organizations. According to Roberts, organizations need to align their structures and operations to mirror the reality of the business setting (Roberts, 2004). Moreover, he puts emphasis on holistic changes to circumvent unexpected changes for example unexpected change in design brought about by a change in strategy. Transformations take many forms including the changes in the workforce, economic shocks, technology, and competition (Oakland & Tanner, 2007).

Technology

Technological inventions have greatly affected organizational structure and operations (Olaghere, 2009). Case in point, Communication technology has greatly impacted the Qatar Foundation. The organization today uses social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among other media to reach their customers. The Head of the Digital and Social Media Communication Directorate recognizes that individuals are gradually changing from the use of the historical media such as television and newspapers to the social media. He believes that the move has greatly reduced the distance among individuals and that Information and knowledge have become more accessible and available (Qatar Foundation, 2016).

The Qatar Foundation is also part of the computer science revolutions. The Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) and the Massachusetts Institute of technology Computer Science and Artificial intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) combined efforts in managing joint projects has enabled the Qatar Foundation Institute based in the United States to experience tremendous growth and innovations. For instance, the advances in computer science led to the innovation of an automobile car which has a potential in minimizing road accidents and increasing the efficiency of the road transport (Qatar Foundation, 2016).

Science and innovations have also greatly shaped the organization structure and operations. The Qatar Foundation Research and development (QFR&D) is the main unit that deals with technological advancement in the organization. The Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) is mainly responsible for local inventions and promoting local research based products (Qatar Science & Technology Park, 2014). The QSTP accommodates centers and its local members who are dedicated to supporting its main goal of encouraging a setting which enables increased research and innovations. Case in point the Qatar Mobility Center (QMIC) aims to utilize local knowledge and innovations to develop technology-driven industries to help solve both national and regional problems. The QMIC Road Safety Strategy for example through its digital innovation policy is currently capable of handling road safety, monitoring traffic as well as enabling episode reporting and linking vehicles across Qatar’s road networks and its neighborhood regions (Qatar Foundation, 2016).

Change in the nature of workforce

Changes in workforce including increased diversity and increasing participation of local community substantially drive the changes in an organization setting (Ouye, 2011). Transformation in the nature of workforce is part and parcel of the Qatar foundation. The changing nature of workforce has led both structural and operational changes within the foundation. The main aim of the human Resource Department is to develop the foundation by making the most of the human resources. Recently, the Qatar Human Resource team surpassed its recruitment target by 181 employees. The team managed to employ 389 permanent workers and 140 temporary workers. The number of the permanent workers represented 42 percent of the national permanent recruitments. The increased number of employees ensure reduced workload per an employee. This in return increases the efficiency and the productivity of the individual employees (Qatar Foundation, 2015).

The increasing participation of the local people in Qatar Foundation development has also changed the organization approaches and operations. The Social Development center (SDC) focuses on training and development services to enhance social wellbeing and support. The increasing number of local participant led to the establishment of the Al Khor Social development Center as well as the Qatar Business Incubation. The centers help to cultivate the entrepreneurial essence among the community participants and the youth. The SDC is actively involved in community outreach and in the recruitment of volunteers (Qatar Foundation, 2015).

Competition

Globalization drives new demands and market trends among competing companies. The construct that the world is connected has existed from a long time ago during the time of the Confucius philosophers (Hywel, 2012). The Qatar Foundation Education City (QFEC) is one of the organization globalization initiatives to promote education in the Doha region. The institute aimed to motivate Arab students who do not have the capacity to travel to achieve outstanding learning. The Education city today hosts more than 6 outstanding universities in the world from the United States and the United Kingdom including Weil Cornell and Northwestern University among other universities (Qatar Culture Club, 2012).

The increased competition among organization in the industry is prompting the managers to respond to every move by its competitors. There have been broad transformations in new products and technologies (Olaghere, 2009). The Qatar Science and Technology Park promote the development of new products and technologies in the environment, energy, communication and health sciences technologies. The QFTP has developed rigorous 3-month accelerator program which is designated to offer ambitious entrepreneurs with skills and mentorship to guide them through the market idea. The program has also enabled entrepreneurs to confirm if their business ideas are commercially viable as well as connect them to potential investors (Qatar Science & Technology Park, 2014).

Changes in product life cycles are linked to the variations in the marketing environments which affects the market strategy applied (Gecevska, et al., 2010). Case in point, in 2014, the Qatar Foundation for Research and Development experience an exceptional upsurge (61%) in the number of its Graduate Student research Award requests. This illustrated an improvement in the research sector with the engineering field leading the research areas. To respond to the increase, the Qatar National Fund released a novel cycle of grants to assist the undergraduate students living in Qatar to carry out guided research to gain practical experience (Qatar Foundation, 2015).

Economic shocks

Economic shocks cause significant unpredictable variations in the economy. The economic shocks originate from the supply or the demand part of a market. Economic shocks come in numerous forms for instance change in an investment and global financial crisis (Oakland & Tanner, 2007). The Qatar Foundation experienced slow economic growth rates of QR 83.6 billion and QR 102.5 for the years ended 2009 and 2010 respectively. This followed the effects of the 2008 global financial crisis on the Gulf Cooperation Council States including Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the united Emirates States. The Qatar Foundation Finance Directorate maintains balance to avoid the economic shocks. The Qatar Foundation was equally affected. The directorate utilizes the Hyperion planning system to sustain the organization growth in financial matters as well as to offer improved stewardship and performance. (Qatar Foundation, 2015)

Resistors to change

Research reveals that resistance to change if not well managed can lead to detrimental effects on an organization. It is revealed that two-thirds of organization initiative fail as a result of resistance. Resistance to change is quite natural in humans and is often expected. However, some individuals quickly get over the resistance while other people might lag behind. Resistors to change might come from both individual and organizational sources (Wayne & Hede, 2001).

Individual Sources of resistors to change

The individual sources of resistors to change are rooted from the fundamental human typical needs, traits and perceptions. These include habits, security, changes in economic factors, fear of the unknown and partial processing of information. For instance, the Qatar Foundation Education City program experienced a lot of resistance from the Doha community before the initiative caught up. The residents of the Doha desert city perhaps were very skeptical about the program because they feared they will not be able to adapt to the program. The people might also have feared that the program would lead to erosion of their culture, language, and religious ideologies since the program provided for admission of students from different cultures. The individuals may have also doubted if at the foreigners would be able to keep up with their culture of no alcohol and eating pork as well as the Arabs dressing code (Qatar Culture Club, 2012).

Organizational sources of resistors to change

Organizations are usually inherently conservative. Organizations often want to carry on with what they have performed for years, regardless of changes in the needs for their services. Organizations actively battle changes. The principal sources of organizational resistance include threats of recognized power structure, the threat to customary resources allocation, structural inertia, the focus in satisfactory part of the system and group norms. For instance, most of the Qatar Foundation community initiatives often fail due to the organizational sources of resistance (Sayed, 2012). Some initiatives like the development of the Al Khor Social development Center as well as the Qatar Business Incubation might lead to changes in the leadership structure of the Social Development Centre. In addition, the initiatives might threaten the allocation of the available resources within the SDC. Constant investment in education and community initiatives might lead to the organization inertia. These leads to increased organizational resistance which increases the probability of strategies failing. Most of the projects also fail due to insufficient or lack of involvement of the communities as stakeholders (Qatar Foundation, 2016).

Actions needed to reduce the resistors of change

To reduce or eradicate the constant failure of education and community initiatives, the Qatar foundation might perhaps adopt the Kotter and the Schlesinger approaches strategies to change. According to the model, change resistance is mainly driven by reduced tolerance to transformation, misunderstandings, varied analysis of situations and closed-minded self-interests. It also recommends six ways in which the resistors to change can be lessened (Kotter & Schlesinger, 1979).

Participating in decision making

Foremost the model recommends effective communication and education. The foundation should constantly inform the employee of any necessary changes early in the decision-making stage. This ensures that the employees are more aware and clearly comprehend the purpose of the change. Consequently, they will be more motivated to implement the new approach (Kotter & Schlesinger, 1979). The foundation can actively involve the locals in the decision making process of its community initiatives.

Building support and commitment

Second, the organization must focus on building support and commitment. The organization might, for instance, assign different tasks to the employees. This significantly reduces resistance to imminent changes in the organization. Subsequently, it cultivates loyalty and focus on teamwork among the employees (Toribio & Garcia, 2011). As a team, the employees will cooperate more to achieving the organization goals. For instance, the Qatar Foundation departments seem to work so separately from one another. The organization should develop a platform to help bring the different departments to work together as a team. People are often more prepared to support manager who they trust (Kotter & Schlesinger, 1979).

Fair Implementation of changes

It is quite vital for employees to view the implementation of the change as consistent and fair. The managers must ensure that the tasks are equally distributed and no employee should be exposed to excess or unfair work. This will help build a positive perception from the employees hence reduce the probability of resistance to the relevant changes (Kotter & Schlesinger, 1979). Case in point, requesting an administrative officer to carry out some duties at the reception is not redundant. However, taking the same administrative office to perform duties which deals with food and beverage can be quite unfair.

Select people who are more likely to accept changes

The organization should also choose to work with employees who are more likely to embrace change. The organization can offer incentives to employees who are giving up during the implementation of the change to keep motivation them. If the employee has completely given up, he/she can be provided with incentives to leave the company as early as possible. The employee can also be posted to another job or the contract might be changed. However, it should be noted that the incentives are only provided to the senior positions (Kotter & Schlesinger, 1979).

Co-optation and manipulation

Co-optation and manipulation can be applied as an alternative method if the resistance persists. It is quite an effective method to use on people who are actively resisting the transformation. It also more applicable to the individuals whose leadership position has a great influence on the other employees. The individuals are regulated through open communications. They are often only involved in the representative role throughout decision-making process and the entire change process (Kotter & Schlesinger, 1979).

Coercion

Coercion can be applied particularly when speed is crucial. The requirement of the envisioned change is often more vital than the comforts of the employees. Most often it encompasses intense impacts like an employee losing a job, removal from office, transference to another unit of the organization and the employee not receiving a promotion. The Qatar foundation can apply the strategy in cases where deadlines are very crucial for instance timely completion of the school syllabus (Kotter & Schlesinger, 1979).

Leadership styles

There are different leadership styles ranging from facilitative, laid-back, and repressive to micromanaging styles. Various managers often adopt different leadership styles depending on the present demands of the organization, the threats to the firm, and in consideration of the needs of the individuals who have involved in the activities of the organization. The managers also adopt specific motivational approaches to stimulate high performance or achieve a particular change. There exist different models of leadership and motivation including transformational and transactional theories. A deeper understanding of the variations in the two models is quite significant in management (Montana, et al., 2009).

Transformational leadership

Transformational leadership stretches past the management of the daily operations to ensure high-level performance and achievement. It emphasizes on teamwork, motivation and partnerships at the various levels of the firm to realize change for the good of the organization. Hence, it is the most appropriate leadership style for the Qatar Foundation. The Foundation is a change driven organization which requires teamwork, motivation and collaboration among the employees at various levels of the organization. The organization has specific goals to attain and uses incentives to establish a momentum in which the organization can best perform. The organization is also focused on training and developing its employees for instance through the competency-base leadership program together with the electronic-learning portal (Montana, et al., 2009).

The model of leadership is also reliant on charismatic as well as professional leaders that have the necessary experience to manage teams (Montana, et al., 2009). The leaders should also be forward looking in order to implement policies and leadership approaches that aim at improving the organization, in future (Oakland & Tanner, 2007). As a consequence, the foundation has always appointed leaders with good reputations and experience in running renowned organizations. This has over the years ensured that the organizations has a well-trained and managed workforce that is motivated to meet the organization’s goals. On the other hand, selection of leaders depends on their merits in affecting change within organizations that they previously run. Emphasis on the ability to affect change ensures that the Qatar Foundation has a basis upon which it can grow to become the best foundation in the future (Qatar Culture Club, 2012).

Transactional leadership

Transactional leadership puts emphasis on the maintenance of the normal flow of daily operations. The model tries to maintain the status quo, does not aim at changing the future (Montana, et al., 2009). It utilizes disciplinary forces and incentives to encourage the employees to work at their best. However, it is quite inappropriate for the Qatar Foundation Organization. The Qatar foundation is a fast growing organization and requires more to managing the normal daily routines and ensuring the flow of the frequent routines. The foundation leaders are not concerned with how smooth the operations are run. They are more concerned with the competency, team building capacity and efficiency of the workforce. In addition, transactional leadership is quite relevant in the development of small scale businesses. The Qatar Foundation is a business that goes beyond the national level to the regional level and is increasingly expanding globally (Montana, et al., 2009).

Conclusion

The drastic changes in the Qatar Foundation strategies and operations are mainly driven by the technological advancements, change in the nature of the workforce, economic shocks, and increased competition. Both internal and external resistors of change can potentially lead to the failure of the organization strategies. Hence, it is crucial for the foundation to take specific actions, for instance, actively involving its employees in decision making to minimize the probability of resistance from the employees during the implementation of the organization strategic changes. Lastly, transformational leadership style is quite relevant for the management of the Qatar Foundation since the organization is mainly driven by changes which require collaboration, teamwork, and competency at the different levels of the organization. The transactional leadership style is quite inappropriate for the leadership in the foundation.