Organisational Change - Essay Example

 Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction 2 Types of organisational change 3 Theories of organisational change 3 Kurt-Lewin’s three step model of change 3 Adkar model for change management 5 McKinsey’s 7S model for change management 6 The dichotomy of organizational change 7 Conclusion 12 References list 13 Introduction Change is the most inevitable requirement of an organisation as it helps to optimise the level of performance of the employees. This is because; organisational change is a sort of response to combat the challenging scenario or it may be triggered by the higher authority of the organisation to augment the image in the market. In favour to the latter statement, Van de Ven and Poole (2008) described that organisational change is a response to the current crisis situation. Organisational change helps to increase the survival capability and sustainability of the organisation in this age of extreme competitiveness and bargaining power. Despite of analyzing this fact, most of the employees engaged in the global brands fail to accept it and hence, it creates varied types of discrepancies within the organisation as visualised in St Mungo’s Broadway (Weick and Quinn, 2007). St. Mungo’s is a reputed charity that works for the vulnerable individual of the society. The employees engaged within St. Mungo’s are highly experienced and loyal towards the activities of the organisation. However, with the recent merger of St. Mungo’s with Broadway, the reliability and dependability of the employees declined and it affected the position of the organisation significantly. The employees called for a strike and it declined the success rate of the organisation in the upcoming days as compared to other competitors. The prime cause for the strike is the pay cut of the loyal and existing employees of St. Mungo’s. The non-monetary benefits that the employees received from the organisation are also restricted by the senior management with the help of reorganisation and hence, it proved negative for the employees. However, the restrictions are mainly applicable for the employees of St. Mungo’s and not for the Broadway staff. This is the main key reason that increased the anger of the employees of St. Mungo’s and hence, it resulted in the commencement of a strike (Kotter and Schlesinger, 2007). This essay tries to evaluate the impact of change within an organisation. However, in order to evaluate it, varied types of theories and models of organisational change are also described in this part. Types of organisational change There are different types of organisational change that would be used by the managers to prevent the organisation from any sort of challenging situation. However, types of organisational change are segmented into two segments such as evolutionary and revolutionary change (Lewin, 2012). As per the view of Schein (2012), constant improvement may be possible only through evolutionary change. This may prove effective for the organisation to adjust to the current scenario in an efficient way. On the other hand, revolutionary change is rapid as well as dramatic in nature and takes place mainly due to the failure of the current policies and strategies of the organisation. Similar change is witnessed within the organisation of St Mungo’s Broadway. Recent merger of the two organisations created a change in the senior management team-mates and it proved extremely detrimental. The salaries of the newly recruited individual are lowered along with 19% pay reduction of the project workers (Jones, 2009). On the other hand, the work forces of Broadway attained a significant hike and the CEO also attained achievement of £30,000 (Jones, 2011). On the other hand, the fringe benefits of the employees of St. Mungo’s were also rationalized after the merger took place and this is also considered as one of the significant cause for the strike. This created a negative impact over the performance and productivity of the employees of St Mungo and it resulted in a strike. As a result, the brand image and presence of St. Mungo’s Broadway might be declined that may hamper its equity in the market. Theories of organisational change Kurt-Lewin’s three step model of change As per the views of Weick and Quinn (2007), three step model of change is mainly based on three steps like unfreeze, change and freeze as shown below. Figure 1: Kurt Levin’s Change theory (Source: Lewin, 2012) With the help of these steps, the approach of the employees towards change increases to a significant extent. Unfreeze: This is the first stage of Kurt-Lewin’s change theory and is also recognised as ‘ready to change’. This means the individual are motivated towards the change, but the level of awareness among the members is quite low. Due to low level of information, the intention or the motive of the individual towards change reduces significantly (Deming, 2011). However, in order to reduce such types of barriers, communication is extremely essential. Similarly, some of the employees of St Mungo’s are ready for the strike but a huge range of the employee still restricted their moves due to improper information (Jones, 2011). Effective communication among all the members clearly specified the positive effects of strike in the upcoming days. Apart from salary hike, the changed policies on the leaves might prove advantageous for the employees in improving the position and self-respect. Considering these points in mind, most of the employees of St. Mungo’s had decided to join the strike. As a result, the strike attained more momentum due to the cooperation of all the employees and it proved advantageous for the organisation in the future. Change: In this stage, the employees try to accept the change effectively. This is also recognised as the transition stage or motivating towards the change. Although the individual moves towards change, but a high range of uncertainty or fear remains within and it makes the process more difficult. In this process, the interested individual tries to learn varied types of new behaviours as well as philosophies (Jones, 2011). Therefore, in order to reduce the level of uncertainties and fear, communication is extremely essential for the customers. Similarly, in order to inspire the employees of St Mungo’s towards the strike, extensive communication is maintained among all. As a result, the employees remain motivated to the strike that proved quite detrimental for the organisation in this competitive era as compared to many other contending players. Refreezing: This stage is also known as refreezing or reinforcing. In this stage, the individual attempt to accept and try to act as per the new behaviour and activities. Considering this aspect, the employees of St Mungo’s decided to accept the strike wholeheartedly. As a result, the organisation failed to offer effective services to the vulnerable labours of the society and hence, the reputation declined significantly (Homewood, 2010). Against to the former statement, Van de Ven and Poole (2008) denoted that failure to accept the change or strike might smash both the essentialities and desires of the employees. On the other hand, the employees of Broadway would enjoy all sorts of hikes and facilities, by deteriorating the amenities. Hence, the respect and self-assurance of the experienced and loyal workforces of St Mungo’s would no longer be taken into consideration and this might decrease the performance. As a result, the position and dominance of the organisation would detoriate in the global perspectives among others (Deming, 2011). After critically analysing these points in an efficient way, all of the employees of St Mungo’s had determined to acknowledge the changes due to the strike. Hence, the strike would present optimistic results and it might be highly approved by all the members of the organisation. Thus, it may be revealed that the change mentioned in St Mungo’s Broadway would increase the monetary as well as non-monetary benefits in the long run. Hence, it would prove advantageous for the employees of the organisation to increase the efficiency and productivity. Adkar model for change management Adkar model is also recognised as another important change management model, entirely goal-oriented. Due to this, the individual involved in the change management process try to offer dedicated focus on the results. The model entirely depends on five prime elements such as awareness, desire, knowledge, ability as well as reinforcement. The aspect of awareness helps the individual to examine the requirements and the benefits of change. Along with benefits, the challenges present within the change are also highlighted in this stage (Homewood, 2010). Likewise, the employees of St Mungo’s tried to coordinate with all other teammates of the organisation so as to scrutinize the underlining advantages of the change or strike. This highlighted varied negative aspects of the new higher management of the organisation such as removal of the compensation from collective bargaining, 19% reduction in the pay of the project workers and many others. After knowing all these aspects, the employees of St. Mungo’s became more interested towards the change or strike. Hence, the desire to support the change increases significantly (Deming, 2011). The next stage of the Adkar model is knowledge. In this phase, the interested individual tries to work as per the norms and rules of the change, so that the change becomes successful in all regards and hence, the employees of St. Mungo’s attain their esteem as well as compensation accurately (Jones, 2011). Ability is the subsequent stage and it helps to mitigate the barriers that may inhibit the proper implementation of the change. Considering it, the employees decided to work uniformly so as to accomplish the results of the strike positively in the future. Contrary to this statement, Weick and Quinn (2007) denoted that failure to perform uniformly might hamper the essence of the strike and hence, the changes imposed on the policies and rules of St Mungo’s might prove detrimental. Reinforcement is the final phase and it helps to sustain the process of change. This helps to attain the positive results of the change in an effective way. Similarly, the employees of St. Mungo’s supported the strike entirely so as to fulfil its outcomes. This means that the employees desired to reduce the rules imposed on salaries, disciplinaries as well as grievances (Homewood, 2010). However, Kotter and Schlesinger (2007) criticised that improper support by the employees might increase the inconsistency and this may decrease the pace of the change. Thus, it may be mentioned that the employees of St. Mungo’s supported the change or strike in order to attain a better future. McKinsey’s 7S model for change management The model of 7S of change management comprises varied types of factors like shared values, strategy, structure, systems, style, staff and skills. Proper implementation of all these aspects may boost the success of the change within an organisation (Yang et al. 2009). Similarly, in St. Mungo’s, all the employees synchronized uniformly so as to accomplish the change effectively. The employees followed the rules and regulations of strike so as to reduce the after-effects of the norms and guidelines activated by Howard Sinclair, the CEO (Jones, 2011). Apart from this, the rules imposed on the employees might present negative effects that would hamper the retention rate. This would increase the redundancy situations of the employees accepting the sudden change in the rules and policies by the higher authority of St. Mungo’s Broadway (Weick and Quinn, 2007). As a result, strike was called by the association of employees of St. Mungo’s. Hence, it may be analysed that a change may become effective only if all the above mentioned factors operates positively. Failure to function in a positive way may hinder the swiftness of the change and thus it would achieve the final objectives. The dichotomy of organizational change Change, the most unpleasant situation may be of two types like continuous or radical way. As per the views of the Van de Ven and Poole (2008), continuous change means a change that takes place in a constant basis in large or small scale organisations. On the other hand, a radical change is also recognised as transformational alteration that results in modification of the underlying rules and regulations, implemented by the enterprise in the previous era. However, Schein (2012) argued that most of the changes in the organisation arise from the continuum or continuous stage and proceed towards transformational or radical phrase. The incremental or continuous stage is not as important as radical stage, since numerous bold decisions and actions are introduced in this period as shown below. Figure 2: Organisational focus (Source: Hammer and Champy, 2011) However, any organisational change focuses on four different factors like culture, structures and procedures, attitudes and behaviour as well as tasks and policies as shown below: Figure 3: Change focus (Source: Kotter and Schlesinger, 2011) If the organisational change is based on structure, culture or attitudes, then it would become discontinuous in the long run. This is because; it may not be supported by the employees, whole heartedly. In favour to the former statement, Lewin (2012) denoted that the pace of change reduces considerably with time as presented in the below mentioned figure. Figure 4: Flow of Change (Source: Jones, 2009) The figure mentions three types of changes like discontinuous, smooth incremental and bumpy incremental. Among them, the discontinuous change is a transformation that occurs mainly due to shift in the thinking strategy and idea. Smooth continuous change progresses very slowly but systematically in the long run (Jones, 2011). Other than this, bumpy incremental is a sort of change, characterised by periodic acceleration in the velocity (Kotter and Schlesinger, 2011). However, the change visualised in St. Mungo’s Broadway is related to the restructuring of the policies and rules of the organisation, obeyed previously in a constant way. This is also recognized as smooth incremental change (Burnes, 2009). It takes place mainly due to lack of interruptions by the other employees of the organisation (Homewood, 2010). After implementation of the merger with Broadway, the employees of St. Mungo’s had to face varied types of alterations in the rules and regulations (Jones, 2011). Most of the rules are designed in such a way so that it acts pessimistically on the performance of the employees of St. Mungo’s. For example, the salaries of the newly joined project managers are reduced by 19% along with the remuneration of the existing workforces are also dwindled. The remuneration amount is also deducted from the collective bargaining method. Considering it, the speed of the strike of the employees of St. Mungo’s increased from the initial to final phase. This became possible mainly due to the communication and coordination among the employees of St. Mungo’s and it raised the scope of success of the strike (Jones, 2011). In respect to the above mentioned points, Hammer and Champy (2011) contradicted that improper communication and awareness level of the employees might create varied types of uncertainties. Doubts would present negative effects within the change and hence, the speed would get declined considerably. Therefore, to maintain the strike in a uniform way, the employees offered equal contribution and commitment. This proved helpful to the organisation. Force field analysis model: Deming (2011) mentioned that force field model is a change analysis technique that comprise of two factors, restraining force and driving feature. The restrictive force is that force that checks the movement of the change. On the other hand, driving factors are mainly those that boost the path of success of the change. In case of the strike of St. Mungo’s, the restricting factors are quite less as entire workforce accepted the change. So, the growth of the strike was slow initially but increased considerably in the following days for the support and coordination of all the members of the organisation (Jones, 2011). This presented positive aspects over the strike and helped in its successful accomplishment. Although, the restricting forces like the senior management of St. Mungo’s Broadway tried to hamper the strike of the employees, but it failed to do so (Jones, 2011). The senior employees of St. Mungo’s Broadway failed to highlight their opinions in front of the other members of the organisation and hence the strike retained its speed. Figure 5: Force Field analysis model (Source: Jones, 2011) Contrarily, Cummings and Worley (2011) denoted that improper dexterity among the employees of St. Mungo’s may act as a limiting factor for the strike. Hence, the strike may not become successful. Moreover, the fact that staff of Broadway attained a significant hike in the income is also acted as a motivating factor for the employees to retain the interest towards the strike. Despite of huge decrease in remuneration of the employees of St. Mungo’s, the CEO attained a huge hike in his salary (Armenakis et al. 2010). This fact is not at all accepted by the employees of St. Mungo’s as it declined the stimulus towards the work. This decreased the popularity and position of the organisation in the market of the UK as compared to many other competitors (George and Jones, 2011). Thus, it may be revealed that the above mentioned theory presented a deep overview of the two forces that works, while a change takes place within an organisation. The factor that includes more force successfully drives the change (Jones, 2011). In the case of St. Mungo’s, the positive factors or the employee motivation or motive towards the strike is extremely high as compared to the negative characteristics. Hence, the speed of strike boosted significantly. Conclusion By evaluating all the above presented points and theories, it may be mentioned that change is the most effective strategy that enhances the reputation and proficiency of an organisation. Along with this, change also operates as a stirring agent for the employees to achieve its requisite desires effectively. However, in order to maintain a change, all the employees might offer extreme dedication. The change would get failed, if the coordination or bonding among the members gets lower. Considering it, the employees of St. Mungo’s intermingled with one-another and maintained a crystal clear bonding among one-another. This acted as a catalyst for the employees of St. Mungo’s that retained the speed of the strike in a continuous manner. Despite of the presence of numerous restrictions, the employee maintained the strike in an uniform way. This is mainly due to the proper knowledge and communiqué of the employees of St. Mungo’s. References list Armenakis, A. A., Harris, S. G. and Mossholder, K. W., 2010. Creating readiness for change. Human Relations, 46(1), pp. 681-703. Burnes, B. 2009. Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organisational Dynamics. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C. G., 2011. Organization Development and Change. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing. Deming, W. E., 2011. Out of the Crisis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. George, J. M. and Jones, G. R., 2011. Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior 3rded.New York: Pearson Education, In. Hammer, M. and Champy, J., 2011. Reengineering the Corporation. New York: HarperCollins. Homewood, I. L., 2010. Leadership change: The eight steps to transformation. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Jones, A., 2011. Organizational Theory and Management of Technology and Innovation. New York: HarperCollins. Jones, G. R., 2009. Organization Theory, Design, and Change. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Kotter, J. P. and Schlesinger, L. A., 2007. Choosing strategies for change. Harvard Business Review, 57(2), pp. 106-114. Kotter, J. P. and Schlesinger, L. A., 2011. Choosing strategies for change. Harvard Business Review, 57(1), pp. 106-114. Lewin, K., 2012. Field Theory in Social Science: Selected Theoretical Papers. 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