Diagnosing Organizational Change - Coursework Example

Running head: organizational change Diagnosing Organizational Change Change management will be successful only when executed in a planned and systematic manner. Many change management models have thus been proposed by various management specialists, but Kotter’s 8-step model is unique and comprehensive. Hence, Kotter’s 8-step change process has been recommended to implement a transition at Xerox Corporation’s finance department. A brief explanation on how each of the steps may be implemented has been given along with the positive outcomes that can be expected have been highlighted. 1. Introduction: Change has been the way of life in all spheres, including business and hence management. Technological advancements have being the driving force behind ‘change.’ As a consequence, a variety of changes have gripped the business world; some of these include increasing competition, changes in customer expectations and preferences, changes in employee needs etc. Competition necessitates organizational change in all spheres, like change in systems, structure, employees, and culture. In order to thrive, all companies have to adopt newer ways of conducting businesses and their processes. A standing example of this change in 21st century is that of Xerox Corporation that has experienced multitude of changes in last decade, in order to sustain its presence and thrive in the market. This paper explains the growth of Xerox by highlighting the changes it experienced in order to sustain its presence and evolve from debt to profits, under the able leadership of its present CEO, Ursula Burns. However, the areas that need further change need to be explored, which will be recommended in the present discourse. 2. Company Overview: Xerox Corporation, USA, known as the photocopying and printing giant, provides diverse range of products and services currently. Xerox’s looming future was managed by its present CEO Ursula Burns, who has worked with Xerox for the last three decades. She joined Xerox as a mechanical engineering intern in 1980, and after that she has worked in almost every function and department. Her performance, passion and seriousness towards the business led her to the role of President in 2000 and she was chosen to be the CEO in 2010. Today, Xerox Corporation’s businesses are in sectors like customer care, finance and accounting, HR, application etc; and, serves a variety of industries like energy, financial services, government, healthcare, higher education, high tech and communications, insurance, manufacturing, retail and consumer products, transportation and logistics and travel (Xerox, 2012). All major transformations at Xerox involved systematic approaches and a high level of employee involvement along with effective leadership guidance. As pointed out by Fisher (n.d), Xerox has adopted Kotter’s approach in some of its transformations. 3. Diagnosis: Xerox, which was a huge player in the photocopier world, faced serious challenges with advancement in technology and subsequent changes in customers’ preferences. Burns was quick to identify these challenges that loomed Xerox, and she introduced a variety of transformations in the business, that transformed Xerox as one of the thriving businesses in the world (Miller, 2012). It should be noted that change will not stop once the company has reached its top; in order to stay there, changes must continue. One change that can improve profits through greater productivity and efficiency as well as quality is the upgradation of existing software to the new version in the finance and accounts department. The immense growth of Xerox and its business allies has resulted in enormous volume of work in the finance and accounts department, which is resulting in large work volume for the staff. Consequently, the number of errors committed by the staff has also significantly more, which is a concern for Xerox and its clients. These errors are causing payments being routed to incorrect beneficiary suppliers; delay in payments; errors in data, and so on. Furthermore, these errors are causing significant rework for some staff members thereby reducing productivity and efficiency. The new version that is sourced from an external software company is ready to be implemented; however, this transitional change would require a systematic plan, and the Kotter’s 8-step approach can be recommended for this purpose. 4. Kotter’s 8-Step Approach: The transition process to new version would include planning, testing, executing and stabilizing the usage of upgraded software. Planning phase would involve budget planning and analysis, resource forecasting, risk assessment and contingency planning, communication plan, and delegation of responsibilities. Testing phase would involve system applicability, feedback documentation of potential issues and failures, and documenting the positive aspects of the upgraded software. Once the software applicability is confirmed after testing, execution involving communication to the employees who actually work on this software needs to be accomplished in the right manner. This should include training of employees on the new software as well. Performance of the new software needs to be observed and recorded, and compared to the results obtained during testing phase. Some issues that might be missed during testing phase can be identified during this time; these issues can be escalated to the vendor, who will address them. Although this process seems simple and direct, it would require a systematic approach in order to yield desired results. Hence, Kotter’s 8-step approach would be best suitable for this purpose. This model may be applied in the following manner through eight steps described by Kotter (1995): i. Establish a sense of urgency: Kotter (1995) asserts that urgency is required to make individuals to work together as a group towards a new goal, and this group effort will have the power and credibility to influence or take key decisions. Creating a sense of urgency also helps in creating the momentum required for this transition, thereby, mitigating the sources of complacency (Sabri, Gupta & Beitler, 2006). Sense of urgency can be created by the manager by highlighting the errors committed by the staff in recent times, clients’ complaints and dissatisfaction, and the way these would affect the company’s business. The manager would have to create short-term goals that he/she expects after implementing the new software. ii. Form a powerful guiding coalition: The most important part of this transition process involves bringing a group of people together that not only understand the seriousness and need for change, but also work together effectively to guide the rest of the staff members towards successful implementation of the new version with complete support and no resistance. This, Kotter (1996) refers to as, ‘creating the buy-in,’ which is of utmost necessity to implement any change activity (Sabri et al., 2006). A group consisting of the most talented and high-performing staff members will be ideal for this situation as they would not only facilitate the transition but also be able to provide necessary support without compromising their own productivity and efficiency. Moreover, getting selected for such a critical task can boost their motivation further and hence their commitment. The group should include all important staff members in order not to lower the motivation of staff, if left out. A clear communication needs to be sent to all the members about the criteria for selecting specific members; transparency will help in avoiding further obstacles and reduced commitment. These group members should be respected by the rest of the team so that the group’s decisions are followed in proper manner. iii. Develop a vision and strategy: For a successful change/transition, effective leadership is a must, and this starts with a vision and a strategy. The manager will have to devise a clear strategy for the transition along with clear goals by involving the group members. Involving the group will not only help in designing better strategies, but can also highlight potential issues to implement the change. The group members would be the best people to recommend possible solutions to these issues. An effective vision should have six important characteristics such as imaginable, desirable, feasible, focused, flexible, and communicable (Kotter International, n.d). The vision, in this case, could be improvement of customer satisfaction scores during their next evaluation term through improvement in quality and productivity to certain level post implementation of the new version. iv. Communicate the vision: According to Kotter, the group so formed would be the best choice for communicating this vision, and that this group along with the manager should also repeat the vision and goals a number of times in different ways to ensure all staff members are fully aware of their new vision and goals. They can adopt practices such as putting up posters or flyers with the new vision; floating interesting and animated emails conveying the new vision and goals; conducting quiz programs every now and then along with appreciation and reward for the winners etc. v. Empower others to act on the vision: Employee involvement in executing the change process can be reinforced through empowerment. Empowering employees will encourage them to take responsibility of the transition process and also highlight and solve issues cropping up in the process, to the possible extent. Secondly, empowering also allows them to come up with innovative thinking that might be useful for the organization. Ideally, empowerment must be given to the able candidates, like the coalition group, instead of all staff members. The rest of the staff members must be instructed to route their observations, ideas and issues to their respective leaders before taking any further action. This not only avoids negative outcomes but also minimizes wastage of time and effort in case of ineffective initiatives or practices. vi. Plan for and create short-term wins: Highlighting and appreciating short-term wins will keep the team enthused through the transition process; and will also provide them an assurance that they are in the right direction. Therefore, it would be a good idea for the manager to set short-term goals, monitor the performance, and announce these achievements publicly. These short-term goals must be aligned with the vision; goals such as 25 % improvement in quality and 10 % improvement in productivity on a periodic basis will help in reaching the final goal step by step. It is important for the coalition group members to make note of all issues that might arise during this phase in order not to make inappropriate or unjust evaluation/comparison. vii. Consolidate gains and produce more change: All short-term gains must be consolidated at the end of transition period to check if they are able to achieve their final goal. All suggestions, ideas and practices that were included in the transition process also need to be incorporated before evaluating the final performance outcomes of the new software. The suggestions that proved to be effective and implementable must be officially incorporated into the procedures and/or the software with technical help. viii. Anchor new approaches in the culture: After successful inclusion of the suggestions and ideas into the new version, it could be announced as the standard for the process. By now, the staff would have gotten used to the new version and most of them would have acquired the required knowledge and skills. The manager should reiterate achievements from the new version and its impact on the organization as well as external customers. This way, the manager will be able to prove that the new version is best for the company. 5. Conclusion: Considering the need for change in order to perform better, the finance and accounts department at Xerox Corporation is recommended to upgrade their current software to the new version, which will not only handle larger data but also provide better platform to execute various functions related to the finance and accounting processes. This change will also improve the productivity of the staff by reducing erroneous transactions and rework. However, this transition would require a systematic approach in order to be successful and produce the desired outcomes. Kotter’s change model is recommended for the same. Any change in the organization or department requires involvement from all employees at all levels. Besides, this process also requires knowledge and skills to implement the change process at every step. The head of the unit or department where transition is being implemented needs to have effective leadership skills in order for the transition process to be successfully completed. Kotter’s model would be highly effective in order to put leadership, people, knowledge and skills to right use through the transition process. References Fisher, L. (n.d). Thought Leadership Change Management. Xerox.com. Viewed 4 December 2012 from http://www.xerox.com/downloads/usa/en/gdo/newsletters/GDO_Fisher_newsletter_9212009.pdf Kotter, J.P. 1995. Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review, 73 (2): 59–67 Kotter International: Because change is essential. KotterInternational.com. Viewed 4 December 2012 from, http://www.kotterinternational.com/our-principles/changesteps/step-3 Miller, C.C. 2012. Xerox C.E.O. on the Company’s ‘Earth-Shattering Transformation,’ Bits. The NewYork Times. Published 2 October 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012 from, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/xerox-c-e-o-on-the-companys-earth-shattering-transformation/ Sabri, E.H, Gupta, A P and Beitler, M.A. 2006. Purchase Order Management Best Practices: Process, Technology, and Change Management. Lauderdale, FL: J Ross Publishing. Xerox. 2012. Xerox-At-A-Glance. November 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012 http://www.xerox.com/downloads/usa/en/gdo/brochures/at-a-glance-monthly.pdf Read More