Issue of Management of Change - Research Paper Example

Management of Change Table of Contents Executive Summary.2 2. Introduction..2 3. Change Management: Definition and Meaning ..3 4. Change Management in Public Sector.3 5. Forces driving organizational change..4 6. Challenges triggered by change in Public sector industry a. Demographic changes.4 b. Environmental changes...4 c. Impact of globalization....5 d. People management issues .5 e. Communication Process..5 f. Technological developments...5 7. Diagnostic Change Models to overcome the resistance..6 8. Application of the model in public sector undertakings..7 9. Role of leaders or management consultants7 10. Change Management accelerating organizational development.8 11. Change scenarios for the future...9 12. Conclusion...10 13. References...11 Executive Summary It is a matter of fact that change is essential and inevitable part of the modern society and it significance is really dominant and great. Every public and private companies/organizations including Dell Company are subjected to rapid and frequent changes, because the world changes as well. A location and size of Dell Company doesn't matter. Simply saying, it is practically impossible for the company to avoid changes, because they are phenomena which are universally accepted. It is apparent that management of change is really creative task. If to leave any change without monitoring it will inevitable result in complete failure in the initial step. That is why Change Management is very important for the company and should be its top priority. The aim of the paper is: to focus on the main issues of change management, its significance and meaning on the example of Dell Company to find out and to explain main driving forces and challenges to point out opportunities how to overcome the difficulties within twenty years It is necessary to admit that the paper pays also attention to public sand private sector industry, because they will give the opportunity to examine change management in the very details. The purpose of the paper is to examine the current trends of various changes such as environmental and demographic changes in the public sector. The paper also takes into consideration strategies and models to be applied to change management. Finally the paper involves the right change management. It is very important, because change management is the bet of rapid development of every business either private or public. Introduction Due to globalization processes taken place in modern society change management has to be universal requirement. The term "change management" is mostly used to define "organizational change management or the management of change triggered in organizations or industries". (Change management, 2006) Change management of Dell Company deals primarily with the human aspect, because humans and their psychology are the most subjected to changes. There are two types of change management: reactive and proactive. Management is considered reactive when the change comes from external source. Management is considered proactive when change comes from either internal change aimed at achieving organizational objectives and goals. It is necessary to admit that change management is connected with human resource management, because it allows to implement new technologies and procedures and to cope with employee resistance. (Change management, 2006) Change Management: Definition and Meaning Change management in an organization means distinctly specifying and implementing procedures and methods to deal with changes in the organizational environment for the overall prosperity of the business. It involves adaptation, controlling and effecting change smoothly. It is thus the systematic approach to deal with change that takes place in an organization and most crucial as only successful adaptation offers positive results. (Adaptation to change, 2006) Change management is thus the overall process of grooming a planned approach to change in an organization. Several approaches are developed to control the change process formally under this change management system.Different organizations or sectors can have varied approches to this change management as per their organizational requirements. (Change management, 2006) The current paper focuses on the Public sector and the effectiveness of change management in the such a perspective. Change Management in Public Sector It is obvious that organizations and business in the whole world has been subjected to a great number of changes during the past decades. Changes affected also public sector industry. The private entities in the present world are highly competitive and in order to remain competitive in the market they have to make changes in their policies and procedures for their survival. Public sector realizes the significance of the state and understand that political and professional function perform different role in the government. The traditional scenario of public sector admits that there is a serious need for cadre of public employees who will carry their role responsible and will ensure effectiveness of the public work. (Public Administration 2004) The rapid changes in private sector are adopted by public sector. In the result the budgets are cut down without any decrease in services. Management experts had to introduce new management principles t cope with new problems. Scientific management created significant changes and increased the quality. Nevertheless the mentioned changes cause down sizing and thus created contradictions between management and labor. Nowadays the public sector requires active and customer-oriented employees in order to be competitive as private sector. (Coping with change 2006) Forces Driving Organizational Change It is a matter of fact that every business/organization/company has been significantly changed. The changes are also inevitable aspect of Dell Company. The main reasons are increasing and developing telecommunications, internet and e-mail. Multinational companies are highly approved due to workers' diversity. The result is huge potential of available human resources of different values, cultures, expectations and perspectives. Due to globalization processes the whole world appeared to be a single market place. What is more important is that awareness of customers has grown and they have become more demanding and sensitive. That is why Dell Company has become socially responsible. All the mentioned driving forced lead to the situation that Dell Company had to become more flexible, adaptable and sensitive to remain highly competitive. The company has to follow and to satisfy all the demands and expectations of every customer. Many organizations failed to manage and to respond rapid changes. Those organizations which survived such as Dell Company replaced rigid hierarchical organizational structure by more flexible customer-oriented one. (McNamara 1999) Challenges Triggered by Change in Public Sector Industry a. Demographic Changes These changes include the issues such as the scarcity in availability of talent, resulting in extensive competition for competent professionals between the public and private sectors. Most of the public servants are aged and hence high departure rates which curtails the sectors memory to an extent. Also the heavy expenditure for public service pension funds induces the need for changing the traditional public service pension systems. Emigration rates seeking employment also contribute to demographic changes causing cultural changes. (Socio-economic challenges, 2005) b. Environmental changes These include climate changes, polluting agents etc., which come in with the work environment. Public sector organizations should ensure these changes to the corporate risk register as well as consider them in future planning programs and strategies. The environmental changes hamper easy adaptation without any overview and awareness resulting in resistance to change which is usually felt by public sector organizations. (Climate change, 2005) c. Impact of Globalization Globalization has clustered the whole world under a single roof. It have substantially lowered or diminished the barriers which protected the working of governments in the past. The scenario of public authorities dealing with a small pool of clients and stakeholders and which were able to monitor events within their small borders is rapidly giving way to an extremely complex world. Globalization has woven a world of diversity with numerous ambiguous factors, disrupting the success of the managerial decisions. (The management of change, 2004) d. People management issues The main issue which comes up when change in initiated is from the human resources and being extremely vital people management should be dealt with great care. People management comes up when the organization takes steps or policies to improve efficiency. They have to be engaged in the change process. The employees will respond differently to new policy decisions. People management will also be needed in case of mergers and acquisitions, raising performance standards etc., as all these decisions finally fall upon the employees of the organization. (Potential issues, 2006) e. Communication Process In an arena of constant sweeping change, an individual, even if masterly talented, shall not be able to cope up with shifting competition, new customer preferences and technical information. They may not find sufficient time to communicate each and every decision to hundreds or thousands of workers. (Kotter, 1996) f. Technological developments Technological explosion of the modern era have forced the public sector undertakings to give away the traditional system of operations to fast and easy methods of carrying out operations with the aid of technology. The transition from paper work to PC's and softcopies accelerated a nit of frustration and tension as the employees had to first equip themselves with the changes techniques. Senior public servants were required to cope up with the new technique as a result of the technological advancement. (Arnott, 2006) Diagnostic Change Models to Overcome the Resistance: Application of the Model in Private Sector Industry Different models of change help Dell Company to build up an effective and efficient change management system. The most profound change model Kurt Lewin's classical model is a three phase model of change which could be applied in Public sector organizations to overcome the resistance and to cope with change. As per this model the first step is to unfreeze the situation. This initiates the first acceleration step of change in an organisation. The second step is to push the change ahead which is almost a transition state from the old state to the new state. The third phase is the refreezing state where the change is accepted and the systems and process gets adapted to the induced change. This leads to the new state of the organization where the environment is fully equipped with the new changed scenario with flow of operations in the newly designed pattern. The conceptual representation of the model is given below. (Course Handbook) There are other models too which could be applied in this context. Some of them are as follows: Bullock and Batten's planned change Exploration, planning, action, and integration Kotter's eight steps Establish a sense of urgency, form a powerful guiding coalition, create a vision, communicate the vision, empower others to act on the vision, plan for and create short-term wins, consolidate improvements and produce still more change, institutionalize new approaches Bridges's managing the transition Transition, which differs from change, consists of three phases: ending, neutral zone, and new beginning Carnall's change management model Change depends on level of management skills in managing transitions effectively, dealing with organizational cultures, and managing organizational politics (Reactive vs. Proactive change, 2006) However, the concept of Kurt Lewin's model is rooted in many change models and this has been proved very effective in the organizational development approach of change management. Application of Kurt Lewin's model to manage change in public sector undertakings is discussed below. Application of the Model in Public Sector Undertakings Applying the three step model in the public sector, it could be noted that the changes to be managed lie internally and are controlled by the organization. Perhaps the most common instance of change would be the introduction or version changes of information system enabled projects among the civil servants.The internal changes are mostly triggered from the external environment. Other type of changes which are above the scope of the organization comprises modifications in the legislation, social and political change, heading competitors, fluctuating economic currents, etc. In any of these issues of change the Lewin's model could be aptly applied. The changes could be triggered first by the managers, then it could be further accelerated combining ideas from the senior civil servants and finally making them refreeze or adapt to the changed scenario without any massive resistance and chaos. (Nickols, 2004) Role of Leaders or Management Consultants in Dell Company To design a successful strategy of change managers must become skillful at diagnosing the forces pressing for change and the resistances to change. The change problem might be large or small in scope and scale. Change management experts focus attention, specifically, on resistances to change--both organizationally and those of individuals within the organization. Managers must be adept at addressing the inevitable resistance of staff to a change. (Burrello, 2004) Hence an effective consultant's job could be summarized into five primary tasks. All other functions such as taking decisions, carrying out planning, day-to-day monitoring, technology integration, motivation, fixing targets, and tracking results etc., come from these primary tasks.They are: 1. Nurture the positive change outcomes. 2. Accelerate team work. 3. Allow and promote creative skills. 4. Arrive at a path through healthy negotiation, and finally 5. Deliver the best product or service. (Thomas, 1999. pg 41) Change Management Accelerating Organizational Development Change management both of Dell Company and of public one has to be sensitive and highly professional, because it can lead to company's success and prosperity. To fix the business changes it is necessary to pay attention to monitoring human resource management of the company. Effective and organized change management should: Involve participation of employees in accelerating changes Provide performance feedback Give employees the feeling that they are highly valued Bring positive energy Make employees more dedicated to company's benefits Dell's environment is the process rapid changes and company in order to survive and to prosper has to respond these changes as quick as possible. It is possible for the company to accelerate change and conquer them through identifying main current market trends in systematic manner. It the result such well organized change management will ensure the permanent development and success of the company either in public or in private sector. (Rouda 1996) Change Scenarios for Future Future scenarios of change for Dell Company have to be well planned and anticipated, because the world is swiftly changing and the company has to overcome difficulties connected with changes. Since the world is changing, Dell Company has to choose such planning model which will help the company to foresee the future and will give the opportunity to thoroughly analyze the Dell's missions, objectives, values, strong and weak sides. For example, strategic management will be the most effective way to cope with swift changes and to ensure further development. The idea of the strategic management is to involve all employees and to ensure their high team spirit. (Morrison & Wilson 1996) Concerning public sectors they have exercise "result-based management involving the client participation integrating leadership with value-based management". (Morrison & Wilson 1996) The sound human resource management will be also of great importance. Public companies may create gradual transition from public servants to public ministers. It is mentioned that "a methodology of rapid and effective integration of work units from traditionally unrelated departments will need to be further refined to achieve broader government objectives". (Impact of Change 2006) if to apply change models and techniques both private and public sector companies will be transformed into high yield organizations with huge profits. Conclusion It is a matter of fact that present world is changing rapidly as never before due to globalization processes and development of high technologies. Dell Company as well as others are pressed by financial fluctuations, new visions and values, global markets, developments of high technologies, changes in legislation, etc. that is why Dell company has to respond these changes and to develop dynamic structure. Change is the only invariable aspect of the future and is the bet for either success or failure. (Organizational change management, 2006) The current paper deals with the phenomenon of change. The main skills to response changes are creativity and imagination. Strategic management will bind the company and its customers as a single team. It is apparent that change management helps employees to cope with changes and to induce their awareness. The paper sheds light on the entire perspectives of change management in modern world. The study takes organization of private sector and highlights change management in comparison with the organizations from public sector. References 1. Adaptation to change 2006, Bitpipe White papers online, Available at: http://www.bitpipe.com/rlist/term/Change-Management.htmlpsrc=RTP, Accessed 15 August 2006 2. Burrello, Kelly N., 2004, 'Change Management: The Consultant's Role', Internet marketing resources, Diversity Training Group, Inc, Available at: http://www.diversitydtg.com/articles/change-management.htm, Accessed 17 August 2006 3. 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