Technological Transformation and Change Management in Organization - Assignment Example

Running head: change management Change Management From your working experience discuss one factor that has been driving change. How has this factor affected policy or how change has been handled? Flexibility is imperative for all kinds of organizations, attributable to changing customer demands, which are dynamic and changing. Organizations need to upgrade their capability and skill set to sustain in the changing market. Change may be related to technology or people with different skill set, and even strategy. Hence, the changing nature of customer needs forms a vital factor for any organization to initiate and sustain transformation process. Change management should be an integral part of the organization; organizational success, in the long run, mostly depends on the way change is handled and implemented. One of the examples I would like to mention is the technological transformation that took place in our organization. Due to competition and sophistication in market and technology, respectively, the organization had to undergo a major change by upgrading its current software application to the latest one available in the market. This transformation process was managed in a planned manner, through a project team consisting of members representing all levels and functions of the organization. Whilst doing that, the project management team formed a project plan which had details like, impact on all stake holders; role of project leads and project team; and important deliverables, deadlines etc. Project Plan also mentioned governance plan such as important dates and teams involved in these changes (Verzuh, 2008). A successful project should actively engage all the people involved in the project. Once the project plan was ready, the leaders/board members reviewed the project on an agreed date. Active involvement by all key stakeholders in the project enhanced the project’s success rate, increased chances of considering all potential failure points covered in the problem statement. This activity helped the project team to address these failure points, and ensured that the new process will exclude previous failure modes. 2. Think of a major organizational change you have lead, managed or been part of. Could you identify if a particular change management theory had been used? If so, what was it? If not, what theory should have been applied? Transformation of technology and its implementation is a complex process in a large organization that I have been a part of. In the managerial role, I was responsible to communicate regarding the change in the software version to the supervisors and team members. This change process adopted a planned approach, precisely like Kurt Lewin’s (1951) three phase model of change management, three phases being unfreezing of present behaviors and attitudes, activities to facilitate the change, and refreezing of new behaviors and standards to ensure changes are embedded properly (Pizam, 2005). The process of change on a broader level included planning, testing, executing and stabilizing the usage of upgraded software. Planning phase involved budget planning and analysis, resource forecasting, risk assessment and contingency planning, communication plan, and delegation of responsibilities. Testing phase included system applicability, feedback documentation of potential issues and failures, and documentation of the positive aspects of the upgraded software. Once the software applicability was confirmed after testing, execution involved communicating to the front line employees who actually work on this software. This also involved training of employees on the new software. Performance of the new software was recorded, and compared to the results obtained during testing phase. Some issues that had been missed out during testing phase had surfaced during this time; these issues were then escalated to the vendor who eventually fixed them. Apart from the gaps found in the applicability of new software, issues related to people’s attitude and behavior could not be ignored. During communication process, much resistance to the new software was experienced, which was addressed by giving the team members accountability and empowerment to test and identify gaps in the software. In addition, their suggestions on how to improve it further were welcomed; this improved their motivation and confidence in the new system. 3. Identify and discuss one major learning you took away from a recent organizational change process you were part of. How will you use this learning in future change management processes? Organization had to sustain its competitiveness in the market, and for this its overall performance had to be enhanced. The reason for this transformation was to enhance organizational performance in order to meet customer demands, and this could be achieved by upgrading one of the most important components of the organization, i.e. technology. Through an advanced technology, organization can improve on customer satisfaction and deliver better results in lesser time. Change is a constant process, and organizations need to adapt to the changing customer demands, market trends, and competitors’ progress in order to sustain their position. Various elements that need to be constantly transformed or refined include technology, organizational systems and procedures, employee relations and leadership approaches. Organizations have to be prepared to face the challenges that change management process brings with it, including ability of management to carry out the transformation process effectively. This management perspective encompasses activities of planning and execution through appropriate strategic integration of the intended transformation; appropriate plans for documenting; communicating and executing; driving the change process through leadership by addressing employee resistance and alteration of their attitudes and behavior towards the transformation. Most importantly, expectations of the employees have to be set appropriately to make them flexible. If employee resistance is not handled appropriately, or handled in an autocratic manner, it may result in dire consequences that may even hamper the entire change process. The entire change process at an organizational level requires high level of cooperation and coordination between different departments and teams (Asprey & Middleton, 2003). . In a nutshell, change management process cannot be achieved in isolation; it is a combination of complex activities that are interdependent on each other, and requires absolute cooperation and coordination between different departments. At the same time, organizations cannot survive without being prepared to manage change effectively. 4. Good change management is a function of good leadership. Change management is an integral part of organizational functioning. Large organizations implement change through formal change management teams. These change management teams are actively involved in all the organizational level changes by ensuring successful implementation of all the activities planned in the transformation process at all levels. All activities in this process have significant impact on the organization, either positively or negatively. Although change management is a process implemented through systematic plans and tailored activities, its effectiveness is a function of the leadership that drives the change. When change management becomes the function of management, the effect of the change will be less or negative because it does not instil ownership among the people at the lower levels. Any change that the organization implements directly impacts the front line employees; in turn, the front line employees play maximum role in making the transformation process a success as intended. If change management is driven as a policy or a rule from above, it will remain so and people will follow the rule. Secondly, change management as well as the intended transformation have to become a part of the organizational culture; this may be possible only when everyone who is a part of the organization owns the change and contributes to the transformation of culture. Thirdly, change management should actively engage people through involvement and empowerment so that the change is sustained. Based on these objectives, change management needs to be driven through appropriate communication, relationship building, maximum participation and openness. Although change management process can be laid out as a plan, it will not succeed without driving these functions through appropriate leadership. In conclusion, considering the critical aspects of planning and implementing change, it can be inferred that change management is essentially a multidisciplinary function. It is not a distinctive management practice or tool that can be achieved through specific plans and strategies without right leadership approach. References Asprey, L and Middleton, M. (2003). Integrative document & content management: strategies for exploiting enterprise knowledge. U.S.A: Idea Group Inc (IGI). Pizam, A. (2005). International encyclopedia of hospitality management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Verzuh, E. (2008). The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management. (Ed 3). New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Read More