The Managerialistic Ideology of Organisational Change Management - Admission/Application Essay Example

Part 1: Identification as well as description of key learning points As a CEO, it is my responsibility to guide the entire organization and make it a powerful coalition. For this, we used the power of position and authority for leading the change process in a right path. The most important task during this period was to encourage group members to work as one team. We encouraged and motivated the key organisational leaders such as, legal head and operations head, by showing commitment and enthusiasm. An important issue faced during the initial stages was establishing confidence among few leaders regarding feasibility of the sustainability programs. By providing evidences about the external environment, leaders were convinced about necessity of the change. In order to make the change successful on a broader perspective, the change process was enhanced with positive human experience, creating imaginative yet simple messages and motivating employees to aspire and engage. So, we were able to gain credibility in the entire organization. In order to build trust and communication, it was important to involve team members in every stage of the decision making process. Further, it was important to develop effective strategies for achievement of the desired vision and these strategies were evaluated and amended at every stage of the implemented process. While few of the strategies proposed by the product innovation director were feasible, more research was needed for completion of the strategic action plan and implementation process (Kotter and Schlesinger 2008). Part 2: Reflection on the failure or success of the implemented strategy The strategy was met by numerous obstacles and opportunities during formulation and implementation stages. Initially, various resistances were observed from the top management towards the change strategy. This was majorly due to lack of a similar vision among the team members. I, as the CEO of the company, realized that merely relaying of the power of a position will not be beneficial while formulation or implementation of any strategy. After a long discussion on the strategy, I decided that the strategy was feasible and beneficial and gave the project a green signal. However, there was still some communication gap between the team members. Thus, I failed to recognize the importance of team work in this situation. Many of the attempts made by the senior management went in vain. For instance, our credibility was lost to some extent as we failed to launch an effective communication and trust building plan before implementing the strategy across entire organization. Another important learning was building skills and capabilities during the early stages. This would have not only minimized resistance and fear among employees, but also infuse motivation and interest among employees who supported the strategic change (Pieterse, Caniëls and Homan 2012). Part 3: Application of the discipline knowledge The present business economy comprises intense internal and external competition. Hence, organizations need to continuously evolve according to the environment as well as availability of their resources. This can be achieved by applying an effective change strategy within the organisation. We decided that the change strategy model would majorly constitute managing individuals within the organisation. This can be derived from the fact that major influence as well as affect of any change in an organisation is on the employees. Also, these employees are responsible for success or failure of the change process. In such situations, it is extremely important for managers and leaders to successfully lead and implement organizational change. After facing initial resistance from the team members, which is one of the components of the change theory, we decided to formulate an effective implementation strategy for the change occurring in our organization. In order to bring a positive change strategy, it is critical to deal with numerous government policies and regulations, increased competition, products growth and technological development. Significant amount of change occurs in an organization in situations such as, overall strategy change, removal or addition of a major organizational practice or policy, change in critical functions within the organization and external changes like, mergers and acquisitions. Changes also take place when an organization shifts from one life cycle to other (Spencer, Adams and Yapa 2013). Hence, it is critical for leaders to adopt appropriate and effective change management strategies in their organizations. We realized that building effective communication as well as enhancing trust among members was important for successful change management within organization. Communication model states that effective communication is possible only when every member of an organisation or project is involved in the decision making process. In order to achieve high level of commitment and engagement from teams handling the project, we should have involved the team members during important decision making processes. Also, involving team members in various training and skill building exercise during change can be beneficial. A technique through which team members can be encouraged is that of conducting adoption or response alignment workshops across the organization. Effective practice of organizational alignment will allow team members to contribute their concepts and ideas about changes and ways to improve them. Team members can also be engaged through proper communication activities. We had realized during initial stages of the change management process that any gap in communication not only hindered progress of the change within organization, but also result in issues such as, loss of trust and confidence among team members. We realized that not all communication activities would be successful during the critical change process in our organization. Improper communication resulted in loss of trust, credibility and confidence among team members. So, it was important to establish effective communication strategies in order to build trust. For instance, clarifying key performance indicators of the team members as well as the leaders will help them to better understand their exact responsibilities and roles. Communication is an effective way of enhancing trust within an organisation. Proper and regular communication regarding important changes and strategy implementation to all team members will help in lowering of anxiety and personal stress. It will also help in maximising clarity with respect to the vision and strategy. Another method through which communication can be enhanced is that of scheduling the communication plan. For instance, every new change or amendment during the implementation process could have been communicated to each concerned department. Similarly, regular meetings among team leaders would have ensured that the strategic change process is constantly enhanced and modified for better results. Measuring the change progress as well as ensuring constant feedback is considered among other strategies, which would help in establishing proper communication and subsequently trust within the organisation (Mahadevan 2012). While working as a CEO, we realized that a proper change management model was required, which would fit perfectly with organizational objectives. After analyzing various change management models, their strategic directions and long-term benefits along with comparing them with long-term motives and vision of our organization, it was decided that John Kotter’s model for change management would be appropriate for managing the current state of change in our organization (Appelbaum, Habashy, Malo and Shafiq 2012). By adopting and implementing the above model, we will be able to successfully establish strategic change in our organization. 1. Creating and Increasing Urgency The first step will be creating urgency within the organization. The marketing research, sales and market research team will examine the competitive and market realities. This will help in determining and discussing present and potential crisis as well as critical opportunities that may arise in future during establishment of the sustainable strategy program. 2. Establishing a dominant Guiding Coalition In this case, power, authority and confidence of the top management will be important aspects in creating the required change. For instance, it is important that the head of operations, who was at first sceptical of the change process, accepts and promotes the change program in his own department. This can be achieved by conducting regular meetings and discussion forums among the leaders. 3. Creating an appropriate and strong vision The third stage in this change management process will be to set a strong and appropriate vision for all team members. This will help in directing the change process in the right path. Also, we will make sure that the vision is strategic and feasible (Diefenbach 2007). The current realities of our company such as, overall profits and revenues, capital, reputation in terms of a sustainable firm as well as demand from local customers will be considered. Apart from that, the vision will also cover the interest of stakeholders involved in the organization. The goals will be attainable and realistic. The goals contemplated by the product innovation director such as, eliminating 25 percent of the waste produced by manufacture redesign and GHG reduction by 15 percent in two years was considerably achievable. 4. Communicating the desired vision We will use every possible channel or vehicle in order to communicate the desired vision. This may involve creating role models in different departments as well as establishing new behaviours. For instance, vision for the sustainable change management will consist of factual and visual data regarding the changes and achievements after two years. This will help team members as well as leaders to comprehend the final result of their efforts and hard work. This will in turn increase their trust and faith in the change process. Similarly, engagement and alignment will be built through success stories of various organizations, which would facilitate positive communication about the vision (Roy and Thorup 2006). 5. Empowering team members Any structure or system undermining the change process or working against the vision should be removed. Also, team members will be empowered by removal of any obstacles that come in their path while implementing the change process. 6. Establishing short term strategies When long-term strategies and vision seems difficult to achieve, these can be further segregated into smaller objectives and plans. As a consequence, it will be easier to prepare for as well as achieve prominent improvements in performance. These short-term strategies will also include rewarding and recognizing team members involved in improving the change process (Millar, Hind and Magala 2012). 7. Consolidating the improvements Here credibility of the team leaders will be utilized to alter procedures and policies that are hindering vision of the change process. This stage will also include promotion and recruitment of employees who can successfully apply and follow the desired vision as well as inspire and motivate other team members to do the same. 8. Institutionalizing the change process Any change within the organization can be volatile and it is essential to freeze the changes so as to achieve benefits and the desired future vision. The critical relationship between corporate success and the incorporated new behaviours will be thoroughly evaluated and communicated across the organization. The newly established corporate culture and style should be regularly conveyed as well as practised in succession plans. Reference List Appelbaum, Steven H., Sally Habashy, Jean-Luc Malo and Hisham Shafiq. “Back to the future: revisiting Kotter's 1996 change model,” Journal of Management Development 31, no. 8 (2012): 764 – 782. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17047788 Diefenbach, Thomas. “The managerialistic ideology of organisational change management,” Journal of Organizational Change Management 20, no. 1 (2007): 126 – 144. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1593313 Pieterse, Jos H., Marjolein C.J. Caniëls and Thijs Homan. Professional discourses and resistance to change,” Journal of Organizational Change Management 25, no. 6 (2012): 798 – 818. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0953-4814&volume=25&issue=6&articleid=17062313&show=html Kotter, John P. and Leonard A. Schlesinger. “Choosing Strategies for Change,” Harvard Business Review, July 2008. http://hbr.org/2008/07/choosing-strategies-for-change/ar/1 (Accessed May 30, 2014). Mahadevan, Jasmin. “Utilizing identity-based resistance for diversity change: a narrative approach,” Journal of Organizational Change Management 25, no. 6 (2012): 819 – 834. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0953-4814&volume=25&issue=6&articleid=17062314&show=html Millar, Carla, Patricia Hind and Slawek Magala. “Sustainability and the need for change: organisational change and transformational vision,” Journal of Organizational Change Management 25, no. 4 (2012): 489 – 500. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17038758 Roy, Langer and Signe Thorup. “Building trust in times of crisis: Storytelling and change communication in an airline company,” Corporate Communications: An International Journal 11, no. 4 (2006): 371 – 390. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=1356-3289&volume=11&issue=4&articleid=1576554&show=html Spencer, Sarah Yang, Carol Adams and Prem W.S. Yapa. “The mediating effects of the adoption of an environmental information system on top management's commitment and environmental performance,” Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal 4, no. 1 (2013): 75 – 102. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17088888&ini=aob Read More