Organisational Change in the Oticon - Essay Example

Organisational change in the Oticon Creativity does not have a specific form. In fact, it can be expressed through different modes among people in accordance with their experiences, their views and their prospects for the future. In this context, Getz et al. (1997, 293) supported that the above differences in creativity can be explained by the following reasons: First, individuals differ with regard to concepts and images they acquired in their memory system; second, individuals differ with regard to the propensity to dwell on experiential events--a trait called absorption; third, several lines of research suggest that individuals differ in their ability to access their own emotions and to regulate them’. The above issues regarding creativity appear in all aspects of life including business activities. In the case of Oticon, creativity has been expressed mostly through the initiatives taken by its president, Lars Kolind, who managed to apply an innovative strategy of change in all the company’s sectors within the 10 years that remained in the firm’s presidency. The whole creative management response of Kolind regarding Oticon is presented in Appendix Ia where the most important strategic decisions of Kolind had been summarized in order to create an ‘alternative Creative Management Response Model’ as presented in Appendix I. As shown in Appendix Ia, the main characteristics of change management applied by Kolind were the redefinition of the company’s vision, the creation of the project-based scheme of operation, the enhancement of the trust towards the employees, the development of technology used in all corporate sectors (from the administration department to the production area) and the set of short-term goals rather than the long term plans which were proved to be inadequate for the company’s development in the modern commercial area. On the other hand, the reduction in the number of employees as taken place in the initial phase of change (in fact in the first two years of Kolind’s presidency) was only temporary and the restructuring of the company’s administration as well as the reassignment of activities led to the development of company’s performance on a continuous basis. Towards this direction, the enhancement of communication in the internal environment as well as the promotion of the team work (through the cooperation of groups on a specific project) also supported the effectiveness of the strategy of change applied by Kolind. The results of the above strategy of change on the long term proved that the above strategy was successfully implemented and moreover that it was the most appropriate strategic movement for the enhancement of the company’s performance at the specific period of time (when Kolind was appointed as the firm’s president). 1. (b) Critically assess how the President (Lars Kolind) guided the company through the three types of change featured in the I – R – T Model Lars Kolind entered Oticon in 1988 when he was appointed as the company’s president. Kolind managed to lead the company towards a significant growth over the years. During the ten (approximately) years of his leadership Oticon became a strong competitor in its marketplace although there are several multinational companies that operate in the same industry (like Sony, Panasonic and Siemens). The key of the success was the establishment of an effective change management which transformed all company’s sectors in accordance with the demands of the market. As for the presentation of Kolind’s efforts through the I-R-T Change model (see Appendix II), this can have many aspects. The reason for this is that changes in Oticon were radical and took place within a rather short period of time (compared to the sectors of the company that had to be restructured). At a first level (which equals to the Developmental Level – Level I – Inform – of the I-R-T Change Model) Kolind tried to use any information given to him, as the president of the company, in order to make the company more efficient. He did not proceed to radical changes from the beginning. Instead he preferred to apply primarily a set of cost-cutting measures (he cut staff, increased the company’s efficiency and reduced the price of a hearing aid by 20 per cent). The above measures were combined with an extensive research over the company’s strengths and weaknesses in order for any possible advantage towards the competitors to be identified. The above trial period lasted for about 2 years with no significant result apart from a limited growth of 2% per annum on sales (an achievement that was proved to be insufficient comparing the performance of the competitors). At the following stage, Kolind redefined the company’s vision as well as his role as CEO and started to implement an innovative strategy for change. In accordance with this plan (which if represented by the I-R-T model, it equals to the Level II (Reform), or else the Transitional level) the company had to restructured while problems like formal structures and job descriptions were successfully faced. The specific plan of change was based on four main principles (disappearing of departments and job titles, reassignment of jobs, replacement of all vestiges of the formal office and direct dialogue among employees). This stage lasted for about 15 months. The application of the above techniques for the enhancement of the company’s performance is in accordance with the view of McWhinney et al. (1997) who stated that ‘many management techniques involve a series of moves, visiting several perceptual positions in turn’ but also with the views of Vogler (1998) and Young (2001) who also supported that a change strategy can involve ‘cycling around’ a series of positions. In the case of Oticon it should be noticed that after the above (transitional) period of 15 months the company entered its ‘transformational’ period (see I-R-T model in Appendix II) which began on 8 August 1991. Since then, the company reached a significant level of growth which continues on a stable rate even though Kolind left the company in 1998. His strategy for change (as represented above through the use of I-R-T model) has proved to be effective and lasting. 2. Critically evaluate the major roles that metaphors can play in business creativity and organisational change initiatives. In order to evaluate the role of metaphors in business creativity and organisational change, we should primarily examine their characteristics, their structure and their use in daily human activities. The examination of their role within a business environment could follow the above presentation. However, generally their can be no major differences between the role of metaphors in daily life than that in the business sector. In this context, we can refer to the definition given to metaphor by Burke (1969, 503-504) who stated that metaphor is: ‘a device for seeing something in terms of something else; it brings out the thisness of a that, or the thatness of this ... metaphor tells us something about one character as considered from the point of view of another character’. From a similar point of view Harter (2003, 29) supported that ‘metaphor is one particular element of language that enables us to make sense of our experiences so we can interact with others. If taking into account the above definition of Harter we come to the conclusion that metaphors are part of the daily life (no matter the specific environment in which they are used). For this reason, Harter stated that ‘metaphors become so natural and entrenched in our way of talking that they seem self-evident and are taken as direct descriptions of phenomena rather than as structurations that are necessarily partial’(Harter, 2003, 29). The definitions presented above can be used in order to formulate a general ‘image’ of the most common structure and content of metaphors, however, it is not clear yet how metaphors can play a role in the restructuring of a business environment by promoting (or expressing) creativity and organisational change. In order to explain the above role of metaphors Marshak (1996, 153) stated that ‘people at the top of organisations often express their attitude and aspirations using symbolic metaphors’. The above statement can help the identification of the role of metaphors within a corporate environment, at least at a first level. Moreover, Marshak (1996, 153) points out that organisations and teams can also use metaphors in order to ‘define how they work, and to indicate how individuals and competitors are perceived’. In this way, it is noticed that metaphor can be used at all levels of a business environment not only by the leader of the company and it can help the growth of corporate performance in a variety of ways. Specifically, regarding the benefits by the use of metaphors in a business environment, Getz et al. (1997, 287) stated that metaphors if used in such an environment they can offer several benefits which could be summarized to the following ones: ‘a) First, metaphors provide selective comparisons that can offer new perspectives on a problem, highlight or create similarities to other domains, and yield insights for problem redefinition; b) Second, metaphor can build or extend an initial insight to a problem and c) A third benefit of metaphor is that it can communicate new ideas to a wide audience’. It has to be noticed that the above assumptions are in accordance with those of Marshak (1996) who states that metaphors can be used for several reasons within a business environment achieving in most cases the targets set by the relevant organization. In this context, metaphors can have many forms (or types) like the metaphors for time, for limitations, for problems, for communication, for visions and for changing. Every form of metaphor has its particular role in the business strategy (in accordance with the targets set by the organisation’s leader) and it can be used among with other tools of strategic management in order to lead to specific results. References Burke, K. (1969). A grammar of motives. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press De Guess, A. (1997) The Living Company: Growth, Learning and Longevity in Business, Brearly Publishing Getz, I., Lubart, T. (1997) Emotion, Metaphor and the Creative Process. Creativity Research Journal, 10(4): 285-297 Goodman, M.R.V. (1995) Creative Management, Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead Harter, L.M., Kirby, E. (2003) Speaking the Language of the Bottom-Line: The Metaphor of "Managing Diversity". The Journal of Business Communication, 40(1): 28-34 Marshak, R.J. (1996) ‘Metaphors, Metaphoric Fields and Organisational Change’, in David Grant and Cliff Oswick, eds, Metaphors and Organisations, London: Sage Publications McWhinney, W. (1997) Parts of Change: Strategic Choices for Organizations and Society, Sage McWhinney, W; Webber, J. Smith, D. and Novokowsky, B., (1997) ’Creating Paths of Change: Managing Issues and Resolving Problems in Organizations, Sage Vogler, C. (1999) The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters, Pan Books Young, P. (2001) Understanding NLP: Metaphors and Patters of Change, Crown House Publishing Appendix I Creative Management Response Model Toolkit (Goodman, 1995) Primary Component Secondary Component Tertiary Component Context Time dimension Ages Periods Times Wealth creation Agriculture Industry Service External factors Sociocultural Technological Economics Politics Environment (physical) Competition (domestic) Competition (global) Management Response HOMS Managing people Leadership Motivation Teamwork Managing methods Setting objectives Delegation Style Assessment Increasing Efficiency Managing time Managing stress Managing meetings Managing problems Business orientation Supply orientation Demand orientation Mindsets Individual Group Organisational Creativity Awareness Individual Group Organisational Creativity Residual Enhanced Total Thinking Left brain Right brain Creative problem solving Personal Group Organisational Primary Component Secondary Component Tertiary Component Individual (CMRI) Context Management response Creativity Confidence Self-confidence Boss support Willingness to change Freedom Challenge Encouragement Obstacles Insecurity Perception Emotion Communication Sociocultural Work environment Assists Freedom to contribute Recognised influence (Less obstacles) Trust Group (CMRG) Context Management response Creativity Confidence Group support Group recognition Willingness to change Freedom Challenge Encouragement Obstacles Vision (lack of) Low participation Poor interaction Lack of trust Rule-bound Confusion Informality (strangeness) Assists Work environment Organisation (CMRO) Context Management response Creativity Confidence Organisation support Benevolence Willingness to change Freedom Challenge Encouragement Obstacles Staff appreciation (lack of) Vision (lack of) Sociocultural Quick solution Management thinking Lack of Trust Rule-bound Confusion Informality (mistrust of) Appendix Ia Creative Management Response in Oticon Primary Component Secondary Component Tertiary Component Context Time dimension 1904: foundation of the company 1970’s: period of high growth of company’s performance 1980’s: reduction of profits 1988: appointment of Lars Kolind as President of the company 1991: start of corporate restructuring 1998: stabilization of the company’s performance – high level of corporate growth Wealth creation Manufacturing of hearing aids External factors Constant changes in the socioeconomic context between the years 1904 and so on Rapid development of technology globally Strong local economy Stable political environment – international turbulences due to the wars that took place around the world Weak competitors in the internal market Very hard competition from multinational companies Management Response HOMS Managing people Leadership Motivation Dialogue Managing methods Assessment Reduction in the number of employees Delegation Setting objectives Introduction of the project-based daily operation scheme Development of technology used in all stages of production Business orientation Redefining of the company’s vision Set of short – term goals Strong societal values Launch of new products Mindsets Individual Group Organisational Creativity Awareness Individual Group Organisational Creativity Enhanced At a first level applied by the leader Total Thinking Left brain Right brain Creative problem solving Individual Group Organisational Individual (CMRI) Context Management response Creativity Confidence Self-confidence Boss support Willingness to change Freedom Challenge Encouragement Obstacles Work environment Formal procedures Job descriptions Existence of several departments Assists Freedom to contribute Recognised influence (Less obstacles) Trust Group (CMRG) Context Management response Creativity Confidence Group support Group recognition Willingness to change Freedom Challenge Encouragement Obstacles Vision (lack of) Low participation Poor interaction Poor communication Rule-bound Confusion Informality (strangeness) Assists Work environment Organisation (CMRO) Context Management response Creativity Confidence Organisation support Benevolence Willingness to change Freedom Challenge Encouragement Obstacles Head Office Lack of clear direction Lack of specific human values Appendix II The I-R-T Change Model (based on Batetson, 1972, Anderson & Anderson, 2001 and Young, 2001) Level I-R-T Anderson and Anderson Bateson Level I I Inform Developmental First Order, Type I Change New information let us improve what we already have. Rearranging what is to make it more efficient, work better Level II R Reform Transitional Second Order, Type II Change By re-forming what we have into something new, we can move to a new way of doing things. Level III T Transform Transformational Third Order, Type III Change Transforming means changing the way change happens. As part of the system that is changing, we are thinking differently Read More