The Need for Change - Coursework Example

1 Introduction – The Need for Change Environments have a great impact on companies. In the face of increased pressure, competition, and a continually challenging business environment the decision for new strategies is not really a choice but an essential requirement for retaining competitive advantage. In current thinking organisations are socially constructed systems that share values and meanings (Burrell & Morgan, 1979; Pfeffer, 1981; Weick, 1969), and the mission of the management is to promote and develop these shared meanings in order to achieve their objectives of fitting the organisation in its environment. It is this fitting act that is strategy. However to remain fit is a constant challenge and change is imminent to keeping a good fit with the environment. The need for change is threefold and all are external factors. Customer requirement, competitive environments and societal expectations all force changes. This was highlighted by George Gordon (1991). He has concluded that these outside influences change both basic assumptions and values. Organizations that fail to recognize these pressures will loose their competitive advantage. For survival organizations need to retain or obtain competitive advantage. Strategies are made by leaders who have a vision and a mission to accomplish. For achieving this they need to change the organization’s focus to the future that is more profitable, productive and provides a better quality of life to its stakeholders. All this points towards, and calls for, changes. But the forces of change are beyond managements control and cause a significant shock provoking the organisation to adjust internal processes and systems. These changes are met with resistance through clash with the existing culture of the organization that is under threat from these changes. The current beliefs, values and customs form the ingredients of culture. The first two are difficult to break but easier to mould. Changes should be introduced in an adaptive mode to work through existing cultures. This calls for major shifts in the organisation’s culture and change management is the prescribed for implementing this change effort. This is what Human Resource Management experts wish for but it is beset with the huge problems. 2 Changing Organisational Culture Shared views, aims, ideals and practices are the basis of cognitive behaviour. These are the ingredients that form the culture of an organization. Before attempting to change them, they must be understood in depth. According to Nelson and Winter (1982) routine interactions within the working environment forms the basis of organizational culture and a predictive pattern emerges. Deal and Kennedy (1982) describe it as “the way we do things here”. The importance of this routine is gaining importance as has been acknowledged by Cohen et al (1972) and Hedberg et al (1976. Ritual activities form another view of practices as shown by Trice and Beyer (1984, 1985). Training, assessments and promotions resulting in awards and recognition are other practices. The culture of the organization has been defined by Edgar Schein (1985) and acknowledged at three levels of cultural phenomenona: basic assumptions, values, and artifacts. Basic assumptions are the conditions taken for granted in an organization and considered to be the "correct" way of doing things. These are the foundations and are the deepest level of culture and are the most difficult to change. At the next level are values and these are perceived to be changeable and also that need to be changed. The artifacts are behavioral usages at the front like rules, procedures, communications and technology that are readily changed and indeed do not change values or traditions but are mere change of presentations or mannerisms. The most practical way to bring about any change is to work through the existing culture. This avoids vacuums that are created if one culture is to be replaced by another. This also provides smooth transition from one state to another in gradual and regulated fashion. After studies undertaken by Beer et al (1990) they concluded that if work is the focus of change then it will be successful. They suggest that instead of trying to change the culture, effort should be on changing the work. Hofstede (1990) clarifies this as change in work practices. They go on to state that organizational renewals should begin at the bottom for any change to be effective, and not with the top. Direction from top as diktat fails to change the basics. Instead they argue that their study reveals that outside consultants are more effective in bringing about the coordination, commitment and competencies in the staff and departments as compared to the organization’s own specialists. This has been corroborated by Bates (1990) who further states that actually focus on networking and relationships brings about successful change. The ingredients of change are coordination, commitment and competencies. Coordination is the key to improving the organization. Commitment is the key to concerted effort to achieve the vision that magnifies the desired improvement. Competencies are the skills that are required to bring about the change. 3 Sources of Power There are some problems too. The two biggest causes of failure are the spreading of rumors or circulation of wrong information. Mostly the sources of these are the outsiders and are a result of communication failure on part of the management. This has been highlighted by Larry Smeltzer (1991) who goes on to say that the worst kind of communication is a lean one which uses a memo as the means of conveying instruction or information. This is too cold and impersonal. They emphasize the importance of face-to-face meetings, the personal touch being vital and convincing. Every organization is beset with internal politics. It is common to find power groupings that aim at self development for individuals or groups of people. These are vested interests and can be detrimental to any change effort. But again these can be used for the cause of the change as well. With deft handling they can be convinced that it is in their best interest to support the change program. For this however the power groups have to be identified and their compulsions have to be understood. Only then they can be deconstructed and drafted for the cause of change. It is suggested by Anthony Cobb (1986) that, in an organizational change effort, the investigation of its political centers must be carried out at three levels: individual, coalition, and network. People who hold powerful positions and have developed reputations for power, possibly through their influence reflected in important decisions need to be identified. This is the individual level. Power groups or coalitions are to be identified by the influence the group exerts over certain areas and the decisive role their opinions play in the final outcomes. These groups or coalitions are formed over a period of time and exercise great influence over key areas or resources of the organization. They have to be brought on board for the change program. Often, a whole group of people or team needs to be removed from the scene in change management process or they will block the change. At the macro level management needs to find out the network that functions within the organization. These networks can be between individuals, between coalitions and between individuals and coalitions. The network cannot be eliminated but it is to be converted to become positive towards change. The forces of power have to be understood and harnessed for effective change management. Political maneuvering, not unlike that at national level, is required and Kumar and Thibodeaux recommend (1990), that the extent of political manipulation and maneuvering should vary with the level of change required. 4 Criteria for Change However a change can be meaningful only if it is planned according to the needs but is also based on the following sound principles. 4.1 Motivation Topmost in handling change is to motivate the people to achieve the purpose of the change. This means highlighting the glorious future and contrasting it with the disgraceful past. However it has to be conveyed positively with rewards accompanying results. Effective communication will be required to generate support and participation at all levels. Teamwork and togetherness is the core issue here. Some amount of pressure is to be built up for this to show the benefits of change. To bring about active involvements in the procedure the employees have to be given a vision of the future. 4.2 Creating a Vision The idea is to create synergies for higher productivity and more concentrated efforts by cutting inefficiencies in order to develop competencies. The vision requires standing up for fair practices with genuine efforts backed by world class products and to inform the customers that they could depend upon products that measured up to the best standards in the world. The objectives are the values the vision creates and the value features are the consistent commitment to quality and service to be provided to the customers. 4.3 Developing Political Support For the change to be effective and for the realization of the company vision it is imperative that all the stakeholders support the various steps all along the way. The attempts have to be genuine and in common interest for benefits all round. The primary requirement is to have the knowledge of all sources of power in the company and to harness them and motivate them to work for a common goal. The ideal is to get them to agree on and obtain a consensus to avoid sudden conflicts of interest midway between any initiatives. The personalities involved are diverse which means that they have to be handled individually according to the status and mental make-up of individuals, but they have to be brought around to common and mutual understanding and respect. It is often possible by straight talk and sincerity is the best method; but often the goals are to be achieved through use of social networks or by adopting certain circumventions. Whatever the methods that may be employed, this aspect needs a constant and effective open communication channel to overcome any roadblock during the transition period. 4.4 Managing Transition In continuation of the change policies the change manager needs to plan activities that will involve the stakeholders to see through the transition period. These activities have to be practical and oriented towards achieving the targets as set out in the vision statements and need to be understood with clarity by the stakeholders performing them. The must know and feel that this is their vital and positive contribution that will result in realizations of larger goals. The activities have to be planned carefully and there should be a commitment by both the planner and the stakeholder to plan and perform respectively. Planning also entails dividing the tasks to teams and individuals towards a common objective to give the exercise a momentum that increases as the change process evolves. 4.5 Sustaining Momentum In order to finally achieve the targets momentum of change efforts need to be sustained and it is the management’s job to provide the financial, human and technological supports to keep it going. These are vital inputs that enable the teams and individual to rise up to the occasion, perform and deliver. Often emotional and psychological supports are also required to maintain or increase the morale and timely appreciations or rewards go a long way to motivate people. On the way people develop new skills and reach higher competency levels and both should be recognised early and suitably compensated. This will bring a radical change in the behaviour of the people and when this happens, finally the change can be considered to have been achieved. 4 Role of the Managers In this entire effort the leaders is to play the critical role stepping in wherever required and intervening directly or through change agents to smooth out the effort and to achieve strategic goals by means of changes in the organization. According to Senge (1990b), by sharing the vision with more people the vision becomes more real and people imagine it to be achievable. With this sharing the leaders now have partners, co-creators; the vision no longer set on their shoulders alone. Some higher level of political bargaining or persuasion can be done by the leader to facilitate change through felicitation. Sometimes and interventionist approach is useful (Kumar and Thibodeaux 1990) where the management takes an activist attitude by encouraging dissent against present beliefs. At the end of the day most people are not motivated by being pushed. The motivation comes out of the desire to meet their own needs, to achieve something that holds value for them, to be in control, to be recognized, to have self esteem and the satisfaction of having achieved their personal objectives. A successful leader connects with these human values and excites people with his vision that will help them achieve their personal objectives through his visionary strategies. This involvement must be real and for this the leader has to formulate a vision that takes these aspirations into account. The results of this vision come out in the shape of recognition and reward for the people. This then is the measure of success of a leader. 5 Conclusions HRM practitioners, whether outside consultants or company change managers, need to understand the problems and limitations of change management programmes and need to prepare themselves for a long haul. Change does not happen overnight. It requires careful understanding of the organisational culture, the power bases, the devising of suitable interventions and deep commitment of leaders of the organisation. Rewards are important as people are motivated by them but intrinsic rewards like self actualisation, empowerment and recognition of achievements are much more powerful stimulators than the ordinary compensations. 6 Bibliography Burrell, Gibson & Morgan, Gareth. 1979. Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis.London: Heinemann. Cobb, A.T.,"Political Diagnosis: Applications in Organizational Development," Academy of Management Review, 11 (1986): 482-496. Bate, P. "Using the Culture Concept in an Organization Development Setting," Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 26 (1990): 83-106. Beer, M. Eisenstat, R.A and. Spector, B.,"Why Change Programs Dont Produce Change," Harvard Business Review, November-December 1990, pp. 158-166 Cohen, M.D., March, J.C., and Olsen, J.P. 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