Strategies that Can be Adapted to Initiate Change - Case Study Example

Case Study Name Course Lecture Date Introduction Change seems to be inevitable, and it is usually triggered by an opportunity or a problem within the organization. The opportunities and problems are usually from internal or external sources. This paper sets out to: analyze the major issues that are inherent in each of the case studies, Discuss the likely challenges in each of the case studies. Recommend focused and appropriate strategies to address the issues in the case studies and Validate perspective through acceptable interpretation and linkage with current and relevant literature Discussion Case study A One of the primary personal goals that would guide me in effecting change throughout the clinical service division of Ambrose health is caring for others without any form of discrimination (Russ 2008). Through this, I would ensure that all patients in the Coronary Care Unit are admitted through the admission office to ensure that people are served on a first-come basis. The other personal goal relates to working under the right procedures but not based on who you know in the organization. Through this goal, I would ensure that all the correct channels and procedures of communication are followed with the aim of eliminating and dealing away with system failures. This is opposed to going through the nursing unit manager to order the drugs. The last personal goal would be the improving of servicing delivery. This can be achieved by eliminating all the challenges that are evident in working in Ambrose Health such as poor communication. One of the major restraining factors to change at Ambrose health are the employees who are not willing to adapt to change. A good example is the nursing unit manager who comments that that how they work around there. All employees regardless of their positions need to adapt to change (Wiggins 2009). Also, some employees seem to be skeptic about change. If the problems that exist in the organization are not personal to the employee, they find it unnecessary to implement any change. Though the changes may be implemented these employees can have a little readiness to the change process. One of the driving factors of change in Ambrose health is the change in managerial personnel. When old managers are replaced with new, the new ones comes with new ideas and way of working in an organization. The other driving factor is due to the existence of deficiency in the organization (Fernandez & Rainey 2006). Changes are at times necessary due to weakness in the organizational current process and arrangement. This will provide the organization to make any necessary improvements. One of the major strategies that can be adapted to initiate change is through manipulation and co-optation. Through manipulation, the manager is likely to use certain selective information in structuring the events. For instance, a manager can co-opt by giving the employees who are likely to resist a desirable role in the implementation of the proposed change. Managers can also apply agreement and negotiation. Through these managers can offer incentives to potential and active resisters (Todnem 2005). For instance, they may increase the wage rate for a change in some work rules. Also, through the unfreezing methods such as communication the employees can be informed of the planned change, the logic behind it and how it can eventually be of benefit to the employee. The idea behind it is that the more people know about the change, the more they can feel that it is urgent and necessary and the more they can be motivated to accept the change and participate in the change process. Refreezing in change symbolizes the act of stabilizing, reinforcing and solidifying the current state of the change that have been implemented. This step is essential to ensure that people do not revert to their old ways of doing or thinking prior to when the change was not implemented (Senior & Swailes 2010). Managers must ensure that change is not lost; rather the change needs to be cemented into the organizational culture. The response that would be well fitted for the Nursing Unit Manager who commented that “it has always been in this way” is that all people in organization irrespective of their position need to adapt to change and should embrace the right way of working to achieve maximum results. This will imply that one can restrict change if it is for the good of all. In relation to the changes that I plan to implement I predict that I have a 95% chance of making successful change in the organizations in the next two years. This is attributed to the change strategies that have been proposed in the above paragraph. The proposed plans that have been proposed have a high chance of convincing the employees to adapt to the proposed changes (Watson 2006). Case study B The organization seems to be facing a number of difficulties. One of the major difficulties relates to falls in number of medical staffs members. Since the volunteer organization mainly deals with aspects related to offering of first aid services in sporting events the presence of medical staff seems to be essential (Oreg 2006). With a small number of medical staff members, the organization may not achieve its goals in an efficient manner. Another major problem is that there a few policies that act as guides and all the protocols in the organization have not been updated for a period that exceed ten years (Wright & Pandey 2009). The other difficult is that the poor management of the director who has been running the voluntary organization so as to meet his needs that are in conflict with the accepted medical practice. Additionally, the director also describes the medical staff as being arrogant and elitists, and he also does not like it when the medical staff tries to bamboozle him with scientific information. This is likely to create poor working relationship between the director and medical staff (Mullins 2005). In my new leadership role, one of the major challenges that may likely to face is dealing with medical staff volunteers who have low morale levels. The morale of the employees affects the productivity as well as the financial stability of a business. Low morale is also likely to lead to reduced levels of concentration on the job that can lead to high number of mistakes (Walker, Armenakis & Berneth 2007). The other major challenge relates to dealing with the director. In relation to the case study, the directors seem to be working to satisfy his needs and do not seem to be adhering to the accepted medical practice. He also seems to be arrogant and does not listen to the opinions of the volunteers. In my new leadership role, I would ensure that the accepted medical practice is adhered to in the organization. This would apply even to the director who seems to be only serving his interests. Also, I would listen to the ideas of the volunteers when they have new scientific information that can aid in the improvement of first aid services in the organization. In addition, I would call for the volunteers to propose any form of changes that they think should be implemented in the organization to improve the service delivery (Tummers & Bekkers 2012). This would include a formulation of new policies and protocols to guide the volunteers in their daily activities. The policies and rules would play an essential role in moving the organization to new levels and increasing its overall productivity of the volunteers since they are many. Another issue that I would seek out to fulfill is improving the morale of the volunteers this can play an essential in retaining medical staff (Dam, Oreg & Schyns 2007). Employees with low morale are likely to leave their jobs and at times they underperform. I would also advocate for regular training to be offered to the volunteers. Training of employees ensures that the employees gain additional skills that can aid them in performing their duties in a more efficient manner (Holbeche 2009). Through the training, the volunteers can improve their first aid skills, and this would go a long way in ensuring that they offer the right kind of service in sporting events. Also, they can know how to deal with conditions that call for further medical attention. Based on the changes that I plan to implement I predict that I have an 80% chance of achieving successful change in the organizations. The reason for this is derived from the fact that the employees seem to have low morale. By listening to them and improving their morale, they are more likely to embrace the changes that can be implemented in the organization (Self, Armenakis & Schraeder 2007). Thus leading to better results. Conclusion Based on the above discussion, the two organizations seems to be facing a number of challenges such as outdated protocols, lack of clear procedures, low number of volunteers and volunteers with low morale. All this problems can be solved by implementing change in the respective organizations. Because change may face resistance clear strategies ought to be in place to curb such resistance. When change is adopted it should be integrated into the organizational culture through this is unlikely to it to be lost. References Dam, V, Oreg, S & Schyns, B 2007, ‘Daily work contexts and resistance to organizational change: The role of leaders-member exchange, development climate, and change process characteristics’, Applied Psychology, vol. 57, no.2, pp.313-334. Fernandez, R & Rainey, H 2006, ‘Managing Successful Organizational Change in the Public Sector’, Public Administration Review, pp 168 – 176. Holbeche, L 2009, ‘Organizational development – what’s in a name?’, Impact, vol. 26, pp.6-9. Mullins, L 2005, Management and Organizational Behavior, FT/Prentice Hall, London. Oreg, S 2006, ‘Personality, context, and resistance to organizational change’, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 73 -101. Russ, T 2008, ‘Communicating change: A review and critical analysis of programmatic and participatory implementation approaches,’ Journal of Change Management, vol. 8, no.3-4, pp.199-211. Self, D, Armenakis, A & Schraeder, M 2007, ‘Organizational change content, process and context: A simultaneous analysis of employee reactions,’ Journal of Change Management, vol. 7, vol. 2, pp. 211-229. Senior, B & Swailes, S 2010, Organizational Change, Financial Times/Prentice-Hall, London. Todnem, R 2005, ‘Organizational Change Management: A Critical Review’, Journal of Change Management, vol. 5, no. 4, pp.369 – 380. Tummers, S & Bekkers, 2012, ‘Explaining the willingness of public professionals to implement public policies: Content, context, and personality characteristics’, Public Administration, vol. 90, no. 3, pp. 716-736. Walker, H, Armenakis, A & Berneth, J 2007,’Factors influencing organizational change efforts: An integrative investigation of change content, context, process and individual differences’, Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol.20, no. 6, pp. 761-773. Watson, T 2006, Organizing and Managing Work, Pearson Education Limited, UK. Wiggins, L 2009, ‘Managing the ups and downs of change communication’, Strategic Communication Management, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 20-23. Wright, B & Pandey, S 2009, ‘Transformational leadership in the public sector: Does structure matter?’, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, vol. 20, pp. 75-89. Read More