The Culture of the Organization and Conditions of the Industry - Research Paper Example

One of the fundamental of organizational development, managing change is very crucial for the well being of the overall organization. Change management refers to a structured approach with the help of management and change tools and techniques in order to bring about a change in the current practices of the organization. This change can be brought in any aspect in the market, be it the cultural change, or the hierarchical change; in order to change according to the needs and requirements of the ever changing environment, changes have to take place in order to align the organization with the current organizational practices. The practices which would help the organization achieve efficiency and effectiveness. RECESSION AND NEED OF CHANGE The economic recession that has engulfed the whole world today has brought several questions in front of managers and higher authorities. The long development successful models of organizational behavior, consumer behavior and market behavior are now being questioned, as most of the people had not expected such a downturn to hit to world economy in such seriousness and such a short period of time. The business dynamics as well as future forecasts of growth and development have now been changed. In short, the environment in which every organization is working is now changing in a way that was not anticipated. In order for organizations to survive in turmoil, they have to work proactively and respond to the changes that are taking place in a fashion that best suits their organization. The biggest asset that an organization can own is its human resources. The human resources are unique in them and are mandatory to provide that edge to your organization that nobody can copy. Therefore, in such terrible times, it is important for organization to motivate their employees in the right fashion, praise them for their hard work and continue appraisals and recruitment activities. The knowledge base that an organization achieves over a period of time can help the organization to get that edge over its competitors who had not thoroughly invested in this unique asset. Therefore, in order to respond to such turmoil and changes, it is important for organization to make sure that their human resource is also comfortable with the changes that are taking place in the organization and outside the organization. it is their response to these changes that can make or break the organization. SELECTED ORGANIZATION The organization which has been selected for the analysis of the change management process that is implemented is ASDA. ASDA is a British supermarket chain that is the biggest subsidiary of the American giant WalMart, who boasts to be the world’s largest retailer. It is the second largest chain in the United Kingdom after Tesco; this is enough to understand the size of the organization in terms of market share and penetration. The international sales of Wal-Mart are more or less accounted for by this international subsidiary of theirs. They compete on price basis; their main slogans since the birth of the company are to provide the cutting edge prices to their customers in the whole of United Kingdom. Their major aim is to highlight themselves in the middle and lower strata of the population to gain maximum market penetration and market share. The organization is basically boasting to provide product and service both to its values customers. It is more of less in the middle of the product-service continuum, sliding more towards to product end. This is because the organization has built a brand name in providing quality service in terms of retail housing to its customers. This requires high quality of product. On the other hand, due to their sound brand name, they have this aspect of after sales service that is being associated with the organization, the customers are satisfied that their queries would be met with. The element we will be focusing on in the assignment is the product orientation of the organization. It is a publically owned organization where shares are being traded on different stock exchanges. The company boasts of an income of 638 million pounds and is currently employing over 143 thousand in its organization, serving the whole of the United Kingdom. They have been known for their marketing campaigns based of fair/low price products that have kept the competition alive in the retailer market. SWOT ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE SWOT Analysis is considered one of the most viable and popular methods of understanding the peripherals of the organization. This analysis helps the researcher understand two important things; the external environment of the organization, as well as the internal environment of the organization. By understanding the strengths of their organization, they can bank on them to decide to enhance these strengths and bank on them to increase profits and shareholder value. By understanding the weaknesses of the organization, steps can be taken in order to decrease their intensity and turn them into strengths. Similarly, the opportunities that are present in the external market, if timely identified, can provide immense competitive advantage to their organization. The timely evaluation of threats would the organization undertake important measures to overcome them. (Patrick, 2007) Strength, Competitive Advantage The biggest strength or the competitive advantage of the organization is its competitive prices that the organization it offers. The basic marketing campaign is the development of their marketing strategy on the basis of cost cutting and providing affordable prices to their customers. They claim that they are the cheapest providers of retail services to the market of United Kingdom; a claim that is usually challenged by its rivals and competitors. Another important strength of the organization is its affiliation with the US based giant Wal-Mart. Since the takeover of the US organization of this UK based organization, there would have been a sound transfer of resources, technological base and competitive processes between the two organizations. (Peter, 2007) Weaknesses There are a number of weaknesses that are present in the organizational structure and the workings of the organization. They have been banking on the Wal-Mart type large retail stores strategy, by making their stores at least 20% bigger than their rivals. This provides them with a differentiation in terms of store layout when compared to their rival competitors; however, it proves to be disadvantageous as well as their layout stores 15% fewer stocks. Threats The biggest threat in their organization is the presence of other retailer chains in their environment such a Tesco and the fact that they are a part of Wal-mart; they can be a focal point for many organizations to beat them. They can be the target of all the competitors present in the market, for this they have to maintain their position, if not increase their position. Opportunities As times are becoming competitive, the need for acquiring key resources is understood by organizations. Described as a set of qualities and intangible characteristics by the guide, the activities make an organization striking, by promising prospective and current employees a certain kind of experience that would appeal to them to work to their best in the culture. Employer branding is deliberate and carefully planned. It can be termed as the marketing of the culture of an organization that the people should expect while working in the organization. CHANGE MANAGEMENT Change management is a process of planning, controlling and leading change in an organization. It is a conscious effort to bring teams, groups of people, organizations from an existing state to a preferred one. Since human nature is always resistant to change, courtesy the uncertainty that is coupled with such changes, it is important that change is properly implemented, managed in an organization. Therefore, change management becomes a continuous process where old methods are forgotten; new methods are adopted and are encouraged. (Rob, 2008) For ASDA, it is important to react to the changes that are taking place in its environment. The sales will be affected by the economic downfall, and it will affect their profits and might in turn effect the investment made in their employees. They are already considered as one of the best places to employed at, means they have maintained a sound standard in the labor market and their competitive advantage is one of the fruits of their strong investments in manpower. In order to cope up with the changes that are taking places in the environment, that least affects their man power, they need to make their organizational structure flexible and proactive to the changes. Maybe lesser and less frequent perks and bonuses etc. all these factors should be communicated through a proper change management process. BACKGROUND TO CHANGE Change is a complex process. Since it restricts a person to practice its old practices and threatens the person’s well being, people are reluctant in accepting change in any way. Therefore, certain measures are taken before making a person subjected to a change in its environment. Unfreeze- change-Freeze: Usually one of the earliest methods that have been developed was developed by Kurt Lewis and it is a three stage process. Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze is one of the oldest and effective methods of bringing about a change in the organization and its people. The first step involves overcoming the practices and changing the inertia so that the new ideas and methods can be adopted. Then the change is brought about in the organization and is reinforced by using various methods. In this part, the leadership and management of the organization play a vital role, because all the employees look up to their management and leaders to guide them for a way. The management and the leaders have to take the front seat and practice what they want to be achieved in the organization. The third step involves reinforcing those practices so that the new ones become the practices of the organization. ADKAR Another model that can be used is called the ADKAR model, which stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement. These steps are followed in line and the idea is reinforced in the end; but the awareness about the change and creating desire for that change is really important for the organization management. This can be done by linking the change practices directly with intrinsic or extrinsic rewards; whichever is more appealing to the respective employees. (Elearn, 2005) DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES TO MANAGING CHANGE: The reason that people have different perspectives regarding the different change theories lies in the fact that the change theories are administered on different people who have their own personalities and therefore, the react differently to different cues. Also, people feel differently about the practices because some theories are successful with a different genre of people and so on. Therefore, the subject needs to be carefully studied and the background of the employees in order to choose the right kind of strategy for the change. (Rob, 2008) Importance of Communication in Change Management According to the changes that have taken place in the current market practices, transparency and communication is considered fundamental for every organization. Communicating effectively the reason for the change and how important the change is for the organization can help the management get the required response and interest from its employees. In today’s world, the management tries to create identity of the employees with the organization so that they put in more effort in its betterment. This can be only done by making the employees a part of the decision making process, make them comfortable with the prospective change and implement the change with their help and advice. Reward Systems In order to reinforce the new ideas, reward systems should be used so that the employees are encouraged to follow the same practices. It works as the change agent and reinforce for the employee because the employee would want to practice the change if he or she is rewarded with intrinsic or extrinsic rewards. Systems for Understanding change The organization should realize that in such turmoil and times of economic downturn, they need to effectively address to the issues of change and keep one of their competitive advantages/ strengths alive and thriving. ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TEAM BUILDING: Organizational development activities such as team building and symbolic leadership were being applied in the organization. In order to introduce this cultural change, specific methods should be used, such as directly linking rewards with specific employee ideas. For example, with each usable idea they offered a lump sum amount. They should also fostered team building activities in the organization’s employees, such as developing a program in which they asked to form teams and find specific solutions to specific problems. Although their employee programs are well known all over the country, there have been some mishaps related to them too. In order to change the image of the organization, many such programs can be reintroduced. (Jeff, 2001) Organization Design Dimensions: Basically, the organization is undergoing change that needs to be flexible so that it is able to interact with the changing environment and adapt to it firmly. Therefore, they should improve on cost cutting, a measure that would directly have a positive effect on their marketing strategy of providing low cost products to their customers. Apart from this, they should also focus on the power of team building and task identity in order to strengthen their organization and facilitate the change. Contextual dimensions have already been introduced, such as introduction of technology and a sound working environment. The goals of the organization remain the same; however, the approach used to reach the goal has been changed. (Stephen, 2007) ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION Daft (2003) defines leadership as being the ability to influence people towards the attainment of a single goal. By this definition we can gauge the role that the leader plays in any group or team. The leader is assigned with the responsibility of not only accomplishing the task, but doing it in such a manner that the whole team contributes towards its fulfillment. (Richard, 1996) Motivation and Leadership form a circular relationship as both affect each other and tracing the origin is extremely difficult to do. A person may be motivated by the leadership to work harder or more efficiently if the leader creates a favorable impression or the leader may have to adjust his style to accommodate the nature of the employee to bring out his/her true potential. (Webb, 2003) Hence, the conclusion can be made that both Leadership and Motivation affect each other equally and a good leader must always be flexible to accommodate change in his style of leadership and motivate the employees under any circumstance. (Maxwell, 2007) Use of CEDAC: Another problem solving method called CEDAC (Cause and effect diagram with the addition of cards). This program proved to be fruitful in finding out the problems to persistent major problems such and encouraged the teams to develop the solution to those problems. Most of these practices that increased unwanted costs should be cautiously changed and manipulated according to the needs of the employees and the techniques used should be culturally manipulated to suit the culture of the country. FORCES FOR CHANGE There are no visible forces against the movement of change in such a dynamic organization. However, the initiative required is missing. They have the required resources to carry out such advanced changing mechanisms and they should do so in order to maintain their position. If they are able to proactively handle the changing environment and effectively plan for the future, they might become the leading retailer brand in the United Kingdom CONCLUSION The application of these processes will help the organization change the culture of the organization to a one which is more suitable for the current economic conditions of the industry. After the implementation, next year, the employee input towards successful ideas about improvement in the processes and innovations. BIBLIOGRAPHY Paton, R., McCalman, J. (2008) Change Management: A guide to effective implementation. SAGE Publications. Elearn Limited (Great Britain), Pergamon Flexible Learning. (2005) Change Management. Elsevier Daft, R. L. (2003). The Nature of Leadership. In R. L. Daft, Management 6th Edition (p. 514). Thomson South Western Robbins, S., Judge, T., Chelte, A., Lanier, P. (2007) Organizational Behavior. Pearson/Prentice Hall Webb, R. L. (2003). Motivation and Leadership Styles. from Motivation Tools: http://www.motivation-tools.com/workplace/leadership_styles.htm .Retrieved April 15, 2009. Harris, J., Hartman, S. (2001) Organizational behavior. Haworth Press Drucker, P. (2007)Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. Transaction Publishers Montana, P., Charnov, B. (2000) Management. Barron's Educational Series Steers, R., Porter, L., Bigley, G.(1996) Motivation and Leadership at Work. McGraw-Hill. ASDA, www.asda.co.uk. Retrieved April 15, 2009. Read More