Organizational Development: the Required Cultural at Scottish Road Network Authority - Case Study Example

Introduction Organizational change occurs whenever an organization alters its strategies for achieving success and when it makes alterations in its major practices. Organizational change also occurs when the basic nature of the functioning is changed in keeping with corporate goals and strategies. Organizations have to often evolve through different life cycles just as people have to do in order to attain success. Organizational Development (OD) often requires considerable changes to be made during the course of the development process, which is why organizational change has assumed a very important role in the context of organizational culture, leadership and behaviour. For businesses to grow and survive in a competitive environment it becomes imperative for business leaders to improve upon productivity, customer service and product quality. The business leader of today has a number of choices to bring about positive changes in the organization by using a combination of OD interventions such as Total Quality Management, improvement in Customer Service, team building and restructuring the working systems. This paper will argue that in order to achieve higher levels of motivation and performance by employees, the company will have to restructure the organization of work and performance objectives. This way the problem of effectively introducing the required cultural and behavioural changes at Scottish Road Network Authority (SRNA) can be resolved in keeping with the company’s plans for strategic restructuring. Problem Identification The problem in the instant case is to introduce the structural changes effectively without adversely impacting the performance of the company and satisfaction and morale of managers and employees. It is essential for senior managers to be genuinely convinced of the advantages arising from the change process. The changes can be brought about only if the organizational culture can be developed in a way that the transition takes place without any hurdles. The problem becomes more crucial to handle in the light of the present organizational culture within SRNA that is conservative, male dominated and more focussed on hands on execution of work. The senior management of SRNA has been considerably agitated over the sudden plans of bringing about massive structural changes, which they feel will have far reaching adverse consequences amongst staff in adapting to the virtual transformation in their roles. But the changes are essential in view of the long term objectives of the company to shift its focus only on planning of the road networks instead of continuing with the added functions of road building and maintenance. The problem is to bring about the changes effectively by managing cultural and behavioural changes. Literature Themes or Arguments A common question asked in businesses today pertains to what can be done in making the business live on and grow. The world is changing rapidly with several opportunities and problems arising every day, thus making it extremely difficult to predict the results of decisions and actions taken in executing strategies related to the achievement of business goals. In adding to the uncertainties are the hundreds of techniques and procedures available in enhancing productivity and customer satisfaction. In reaction to such uncertainties business leaders are often reluctant to take initiatives in fear of making the wrong choices to the detriment of the organization in the long term. According to Beer (1990), some organizations take wrong decisions and are unable to sustain the developmental efforts due to incompatibility of the chosen processes. Other organizations make efforts in resolving technical problems which may be initially successful but end up with complications related to large number of teams that are unable to implement the organizational changes effectively. The issue in hand is for SRNA to tackle the problems of managing the impending changes effectively by influencing the organizational culture and behavioural patterns amongst the leadership and employees (Koch, 2006). It is important for organizations to ascertain the kind of changes they are willing to have in order to develop and grow. They must decide about the change agenda for organizational change before they start implementing the structural changes. Organizations need to go through a formal decision taking process in regard to the different employee and management levels that will be engaged in the strategic implementation of the changes. There should be an effective measurement system, and the sequence of steps to be taken has to be decided beforehand. The company can then take initiatives in implementing organizational change (Conner, 1993). In the context of SRNA, the first steps in the process will require the management to shape and anticipate the future. Opportunities will have to be defined in terms of its strengths and weaknesses once the mission and measurement systems within the company are changed. After defining the mission and conducting a SWOT analysis SRNA can define its strategies and objectives. Next, the company will have to focus upon how the changed work will be re-engineered and accomplished in terms of efficiency and productivity (Yukel, 1998). In bringing about organizational change, SRNA will have to face issues related to molding the employees and managers so that changes are meaningfully implemented, but the problem of ready acceptance of the planned structural changes by majority of them may create delays in the effective implementation of the changes. Employees and managers will have to be involved from the beginning whereby they have considerable influence in framing the strategic plans. This will certainly reduce the resistance coming from their ranks although the management’s traditional power may be adversely impacted. A balance should be struck in terms of the extent of strategic changes that they can get involved with. Limits can also be imposed on their involvement in task focused teams that work on the technical issues only. The concept is very well explained by Gareth Morgan (1997), “as groups evolve over time, they face two basic challenges: integrating individuals into an effective whole, and adapting effectively to the external environment in order to survive. As groups find solutions to these problems over time, they engage in a kind of collective learning that creates the set of shared assumptions and beliefs we call "culture," (Morgan, 1997). The organizational culture approach focuses on the human aspect of organizational working and assumes importance even in the simplest aspects of the organizational structure. Culture in any company signifies the necessity to create appropriate systems to bring purpose in assisting people to work as teams and towards desired goals. It also implies that leaders have to be assertive in influencing the organizational culture. The perceived relationships amongst the organization and the prevailing environment are also influenced by the basic ideologies of the organization. According to Edgar Schein, “cultural analysis is especially valuable for dealing with aspects of organizations that seem irrational, frustrating, and intractable. The bottom line for leaders is that if they do not become conscious of the cultures in which they are embedded, those cultures will manage them." (Schein, 1993). It will do well for SRNA to deal with its organizational culture in keeping with such perceptions. The members in every organization understand the behaviour and languages used by other people in terms of their own cultural beliefs. The problems at SRNA can be diagnosed from the fact that the values and perceptions of all members are their own realities and the behaviour that they are confronted with is perceived as being contrary to their own belief systems. It is in this context that the planned change process at SRNA is being received with doubt and apprehensions since theoretically there is no right or wrong procedure but the conflicts ignore the behavioral patterns of the concerned members. If the leadership at SRNA is able to examine the experiences that resulted in the conflicting situations, culture can be effectively molded in achieving the desired goals (Galbraith, 1993). Culture is deep rooted and hard to alter but the leadership in an organization can change the organization culture. It is difficult to do so and cannot be done immediately but leaders have a significant role in influencing culture. According to Schein (1993), the following measures ought to be used by leaders to effect cultural change: Leaders should pay attention to measure and control Leadership reactions to important events and organizational predicaments Purposeful role modeling, coaching and teaching Establish systems for allocation of status and rewards The elements of organizational behavior depend on the goals, vision, values and philosophy being followed by the management of any organization. This determines the organizational culture in any organization which comprises of the formal and informal organization and the social environments. The prevailing culture influences the kind of leadership, communications and group dynamics prevailing in the company. Employees look at the culture in terms of the work-life qualities that influences the extent of motivation they have in performing their duties. The eventual results are demonstrated by the levels of performance, employee satisfaction levels and growth opportunities. By looking into these aspects SRNA can develop frameworks that the organization will work from. The behavioral frameworks could be autocratic, custodial, supportive or collegial. However it is not possible for any organization to operate exclusively in one model. It is more appropriate for SRNA to follow a combination of the four models with focus on the collegial option since its basis lies on partnerships and management’s orientation towards teamwork. The performance results are good and the self actualization needs of employees are met (Argyris et al, 1996). Recommendations Organizational culture should not be confused with the environment, values and corporate beliefs since it is the culture that influences and triggers these variables. If SRNA tries to alter the values and environment, the efforts will prove to be futile. The influence of culture reaches further than the human aspect of the organization in influencing its core missions and goals; hence culture should not be labelled as being dependent only on the human resources. Culture is different since it is not controlled and influenced by leaders but mainly by the members of the organization. In fact culture can eventually influence the actions of the leaders. Although there is no concept of a correct or incorrect culture, it is essential to have basic fundamentals that meet corporate objectives. A culture ought to be strong enough to support the objectives and strategic goals of any organization. Sometimes certain elements of the organizational culture could have very little influence on the way the organization functions and the leadership is required to differentiate between the different elements in ascertaining the ones which are important (Cunningham, 1990). According to Senge (1999), behaviour in organizations is difficult to alter in view of the cognitive processes and protective routine. People attune themselves to past patterns of behaviours which restrain them and make them more committed to self and to their team members. Employees and managers endeavour to avoid threats and embarrassing situations for themselves. Such human characteristics make the implementation of changes within the corporate structure a very difficult task and organizational practices tend to persist even when hectic efforts are made to bring changes. This problem can be resolved only if new skills and procedures of inquiry are cultivated. Hence, behaviour appears to be a product of the convergence of a number of aspects whose interface and adjustment controls the transformation of the organization over time (Kotter, 1996). . Conclusion It is essential to have a thorough understanding of the organizational culture for leaders at the Scottish Road Network Authority. They must recognize the need to transform the culture which is a vital skill for them to imbibe in achieving the strategic outcomes. Leaders at SRNA must have logical and feasible perspectives in view of their position in the organization so that they can realize the dynamics of the prevailing culture and the need to transform what is no longer required. By adopting the requisite behavioural traits they ought to have an understanding of what needs to be transformed and what needs to remain unaltered. This is the only way that strategic success can be achieved to make the structural changes a success. Organizational behaviour needs to be altered by identifying and managing the attitude and action of teams and individuals in making them motivated and realizing the advantages of the impending structural changes. Effective teamwork, efficient accomplishment of tasks, and adopting flexibility and innovative practices are the core requirements that can be achieved by a changed behaviour. Reference List Argyris C and Schon D A, (1996). Organization learning II, Theory, method and practice, Addison Wesley. Beer M, (1990). Organizational Change and Development: A Systems View, Goodyear Conner, Daryl R. (1993). Managing at the Speed of Change: How Resilient Managers Succeed and Prosper Where Others Fail. New York: Villard Books. Cunningham, J. B. & Eberle, T. (1990). A Guide to Job Enrichment and Redesign, New York: McGraw-Hill. Galbraith J R, (1993). Designing Complex organizations, Addison Wesley. Gareth Morgan. (1997). Images of Organization, Sage Publications. Johns, Gary. (1996). Organizational Behavior: Understanding and Managing Life at Work, Harper Collins. Koch, C. (2006). The New Science of Change. CIO Magazine, Sep 15, 2006 (pp 54-56). Kotter, John P. (1996). Leading Change, Harvard Business School Press. Schein Edgar, (1993). Organizational Culture and Leadership, Harcourt College Publishers. Senge, Peter M. (1999). The Dance of Change: The Challenges of Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations, Doubleday. Yukel G, (1998). Leadership in Organizations, Prentice Hall. Read More