Continuously Changing Business Environment - Essay Example

? Managing Change Table of Contents Reflective Journal 4 Reference 6 Reflective Journal 2 7 Reference 8 Reflective Journal 3 9 Reference 10 Reflective Journal 4 11 Reference 12 Reflective Journal 5 13 Reference 14 Reflective Journal 6 15 Reference 16 Reflective Journal 7 17 Reference 18 Reflective Journal 8 20 Reference 22 Reflective Journal 1 There is a unanimous opinion about the fact that change is an ever present element which affects mostly all organizations. The pace at which this change has been occurring in organizations is increasing with rapid strides because of the dynamic and continuously changing business environment and globalization. Authors and researchers have typically characterized change management by its rate of occurrence; by the way it comes about and finally; its scale of occurrence. The different steps associated with change management programs have been put forth by various researchers. Out of them the most prominent model is the eight step managing process of change as proposed by Kotter (1996) (Todnem, 2005, p.370). The process begins with the creation of a sense of urgency in the organization, i.e., major changes necessitate a sense of motivation among relevant people who can sense a potential crisis in the organization. This can arise due to lost markets, reduced profits, and entry of competitors, lost customers or even unacceptable products and services. Such aspects lay down the foundation for change requirements in the organization. This is followed by putting together of a guiding team or a group of enthusiasts who would recognize the indispensability and value of the change. The third step requires creating a vision and a strategy which requires motivating people, giving them a direction and aligning their efforts and processes. Vision gives employees the depiction that each one involved carries and evokes on a regular basis to ensure that the course does not get deviated. The next step is to communicate the vision to all subjects concerned. It is crucial to spread the change message across the organization through repetitive activities through as many channels as possible. Empowering people is the next step in which barriers and obstacles to the change are removed in order to remove hindrances which discourage people to take up the change. Following this step is to create momentum for the change by consolidating the accomplishments and allowing and enabling further changes. The final step is to implant the new approach into the culture of the organization (Tcherpokov, 2006, p.1-2). The change process was initiated in British Airways on account of consistent financial losses over a period of time, shrinking of the cabin crew, diminishing profits, diminishing share of the market, technological changes and cultural changes. The aim of the change process was to enhance organizational efficiency, reduce costs through restructuring of the organizational structure and strategy. The company’s mission and idea for the change process was communicated across all levels of the organization on a repetitive basis so as to ensure its acceptance and absorption into the system. Moreover, as per the steps put forth by Kotter (1996), British Airways implemented the change process by empowering individuals in the organization to actively participate in the change. This was achieved through training of staffs in the desired direction such as to make them efficient not only to participate in the change but also develop the changed culture throughout the organizational hierarchy. The idea was to bring about the productivity and performance improvement through the people. Only after the idea for the change was inculcated into the organizational culture, it could be implemented successfully. When the changed processes, norms, activities were completely ingrained into the culture of the organization the results were seen to be long lasting and a new culture was successfully developed in British Airways (Tcherpokov, 2006, p.2). Reference Tcherpokov, M. (2006). The Eight-stage Managing Process of Major Change. A Quality Management Perspective. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.freequality.org/documents/knowledge/ManageChange_MiniTutorial_MT%20_2_.pdf. [Accessed on March 29, 2012]. Todnem, R. (2005). Organisational Change Management: A Critical Review. Journal of Change Management Vol. 5, No. 4, 369–380, December 2005. Routledge. Reflective Journal 2 Researchers have distinguished between organizational difficulties and messes. According to the words of Ackoff, problems are not seen to exist in the real sense; rather they are distractions from the real situations. Messes are defined as a system of interrelated problems which is a greater concern for organizations. The solution for a mess must not be perceived as a sum of the solutions to its component parts; rather solution for the component pats must be derived from the solution for the entire mess. The case deals with the government’s decisions to make NHS into a less provider of direct services into and transform it to a purchaser of care. This has got important implications for the private hospital groups since the overseas providers are brought to the supply waiting list operations and diagnostic procedures. The change implementation in the case of NHS has been identified to have a number of messes. These are large scale problems which often extend out of the boundaries of the organization. It provides serious implications in the organization too. For example, direct comparisons between the NHS prices and the private are fraught with difficulty and the NHS prices are also expected to rise considerably since they are more accurate and can be used internally to pay the hospitals. This is an issue to worry for the private hospital executives as they suffer from the issue of sustainability (Case Example, 2004, p.1-2). The condition of British Airways and its reason for the change can be explained from the above facts. The purpose for the change implementation is born out of the surrounding and competitive forces against which it is required to act to maintain sustainability and profitability in the market. The fact that a number of low cost airline such as Ryanair and Easyjet were providing better and more efficient services than the company had been the vital reason for its reducing customer base, declining profits and increasing costs. However, for British Airways which had been a market leader for quite some time and had been operating for a long time, changing strategies and operations was a difficult task to achieve. It even called for workforce change and reduction which was the cause for serious resistance and opposition from employees within the organization. Controlling and countering employees’ resistance and making them believe that the change process would eventually benefit them was one of the greatest challenges before the company which made its task all the more difficult. These are some of the messes or soft problems that British Airways had to deal with in its change implementation process. Reference Case Example. (2004). NHS Revolution breathes new life into private sector. Financial Times. Reflective Journal 3 The case of XYZ Corporations depicts organizational difficulties in implementing changes successfully. The change process initiated in the organizations was apprehended to brining negative impacts on a number of employees in the company who accounted for the major resistor towards the change. Change in power, responsibility and position, promotion prospects were some of the concerns for employees who resisted to the change. The change arrangements in the company seem to be planned change. This can be explained by Lewin's 3-stage model. The first stage in Lewin’s model is to create the right conditions conducive for the change. In this stage even the beneficial alternatives can be cause for discomfort and displeasure. The challenge lies with moving people from this frozen condition to a more ‘change ready’ state. The next step is the transitional stage in which people are generally aware that the change is happening but lack clear understanding of the new ways in which to replace the older ones. With the role and responsibility changes people generally face with a downfall in efficiencies and progress and their goals are also lowered. Leadership plays a prominent role in counselling, coaching and mentoring them to bring them out of the frozen condition. Finally the next important stage is refreezing in which the new stability is obtained or re-established in the organization. Refreezing refers to take people out of the phase of low productivity through the transition state to a more productive and stable state (Burnes, 2004, p.3-7). In British Airways, the first stage in Lewin’s model was achieved through the changes in roles and responsibilities of people from their current ones. It even called for changes in positions and power of these people. People were uncomfortable and dissatisfied with their new positions and wanted to retain their old position. Their performance and productivity also fell as roles were not clearly defined; there was lack of clarity between desired activities and organizational objectives. Finally the refreezing stage was attained through extensive training and development programs on their new skills and expertise. Staffs were particularly trained to inculcate a customer focused and specific culture and its importance in the competitive airlines industry. People were particularly mentored and coached on the benefits that the change programs were likely to have on the organization and their career too. Extrapolating the future needs and requirements of the customers formed one basic aspect that employees were trained in. The new organizational goals and objectives were clearly specified to the people and their roles were particularly aligned with those objectives too. For example, a customer service executive was coached in the ground how his/her activities would be effective in attaining greater satisfaction and how the extent of customer satisfaction influences company’s success and profitability. The direct link between his activities, performance and productivity and its implications in organizational effectiveness, productivity revenue and success are some of the basic components of the refreezing state which consequently restored the confidence and commitment of employees to the organization considerably. Reference Burnes, B. (2004). Emergent change and planned change – competitors or allies?. International Journal of Operations & Production Management. Volume: 24 Number: 9 Year: 2004 pp: 886-902. Reflective Journal 4 The case of Ryanair depicts a low price and cost driven approach under which Michael O’Leary’s leadership style was particularly suitable. He puts a unique style of leadership and a large than life character. Great passion for his work and responsibilities, Michael O’Leary rarely shows any apology for his behaviours. He demonstrates a perfect picture of autocratic leadership style which particularly suited the situation or conditions in which Ryanair was operating. The decision making powers are retained by the leaders and remain centralized for all to follow. Suggestions, views and opinion of followers are not entertained. Such was the case of Ryanair. The work structures and processes were completely inefficient and unsuitable for operating in a competitive and dynamic business environment. It was only under strict guidance and control could the work processes and structures be reorganized such as to retain sustainability. There was need to counter employee resistance with strict administration so as to ensure there were no room for redundancies, errors or wastages. The style was beneficial for the business during its rapid stage of growth and flourish under the low cost and low price driven business model. His leadership was perfectly suitable for bringing down prices and lowering costs in the organization. This was brought about by eliminating wastages and errors through strict and stringent work procedures, guidelines and structures. In the case of British Airways, the change management program calls for a participative style of leadership. Under the participative style of leadership, decisions are approved and considered by the leader based on the views, suggestions and opinions of its followers. Leaders and followers, both have equal say in the ultimate decision making though the leader may rule out ideas which he thinks does not deem fit for the situation. The structural and cultural changes in the organization were brought about by attaining the willingness and participation of the audience to accept challenges for delivering the benefits of the company’s business through the development program. This included making assessment of the present skill levels in the organization and making comparisons with previous learning and development programs. The leadership seeks to attain commitment and loyalty from employees who would account for the critical success factors of the program. A great deal of responsibility rested with the training and development group which laid down clear definitions and guidelines of the new roles and responsibilities of members. Besides the implementation of training programs regular workshops were held in the company to make the program successful. Through such programs the confidence and participation of employees were attained for the change process and employee resistance could be handed comfortably to a large extent. The idea was to enlighten them with the benefits that the change process was likely to bring to their career and the organization at large. Through participative leadership style the work structures were reorganized considerably and redundancies could be removed too. The overall efficiency and productivity of the company was raised through the change management strategies and competitive position of British Airways was restored back in the market successfully (British Airways, 2009, p.36). Reference British Airways. (2009). The way we run our business The workplace continued. 2008/09 Annual Report and Accounts. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.britishairways.com/cms/global/microsites/ba_reports0809/pdfs/Workplace.pdf. [Accessed on March 30, 2012]. Reflective Journal 5 The case of Happy Homes reflects a perfect case of change resistance and management. The call centre seeks to implement a change program in which employees are required to undertake a slight change in responsibilities. The company conducted a survey on their customers and the research revealed that certain questions encourage customers to have favourable feelings towards the company. One such question was ‘do you enjoy living in your current home?’. The idea was to monitor the calls of customer advisors to ensure that they were all asking the questions. However, the analysis revealed that while some employees willingly accepted the change in their task activities, majority of them did not. They resisted to this change on the ground that they were not adequately compensated for the additional tasks. Some considered that they were comfortable with their regular activities and thus resisted any change to this status quo. Some claimed the change in their tasks should have been negotiated before and that employees concerns were addressed in this regard. Finally some employees revealed that negative customer feedback created a negative impact on their performance rating which was detrimental for their progress in the organization. Thompson (1998) have put forth that employees resist change due to the change in their work activities and tasks. However, this is different from their usual attitude towards change processes. According to Vroom’ expectancy theory, individuals choose their activities and course of actions consciously and this based on their beliefs, attitudes, perceptions resulting from their desires to avoid pain and enhance pleasure. Porter and Lawler (1968) have put forth that every individuals’ efforts are driven by his expectations that a particular action would yield a particular result and similarly an individuals’ attitude towards change and his subsequent behaviour also is determined by the extent of perceived outcomes of the change and its implications of their goals and values (Lines, 2004, p.198). The change resistance in British Airways generated on account of reduction in the workforce of the company by downsizing and the consequent change in the work structures. Employees were required to work on certain skills in which they had never performed before and lacked competence. Additionally new targets were set and new efficiency of performance which they were not comfortable with the new expertise and skills. Also since work performances were related with their promotions and compensation, employees resisted to the change process as they were apprehensive of their success and competence on the newly acquired skills and expertise. The links between their performance and outcomes were uncertain and employees were not comfortable with this. Considering the career perspectives of employees there were apprehensions about their future prospects in the organization and the industry on their new skills and experiences. Overall there was an apprehension that the change program would be detrimental for position in the organization and in their long run career (Corporate Responsibility Report, 2006, p.1-6). Reference Lines. R. (2004). Influence of participation in strategic change: resistance, organizational commitment and change goal achievement. Journal of Change Management. Vol. 4, No. 3, 193-215, September 2004. Reflective Journal 6 The effectiveness to organizational changes is large determinant on the extent of internal communication strategies applied to give effect to the changes. Very often many change participants do not remain informed about change initiatives and ambiguity associated with these changes which consequently leads to the creation of anxiety, rumours and ultimately resistance to such changes. The case of Office of Qualitative Social Science demonstrates effective organizational communication for its introduction of a new scheme of job evaluation. The idea on introducing the new scheme was developed with the consent of the union leaders and its members with the aim of maintaining transparent and fair communication between employees and the management. Not only was the change process discussed with them but their views and suggestions were also considered before effecting the changes. Researchers have put for the different theories for bringing about organizational change successfully. Firstly it is crucial to understand the personal implications of the changes. This means that the flow of information must be continuous, concrete and multi-directional such that people feel assured and comfortable of the fact that they are aware of the process and its implications. Some aspects which researchers Katz and Kahn (1978) have particularly stressed upon are clarity of new roles and responsibilities of employees; control and authority over one’s job and responsibility; change in efficiencies; and finally adequacy of compensation and rewards for employees as per their new roles and responsibilities (Klein, 1996, p.42). British Airways was effective in making the change process possible through transparent and clear communication strategies. The first step in its communication strategy was building of the turnaround team which was responsible for giving a fresh perspective to company and regain its focus. The idea of achieving a shift from the conventional and engineering and operationally driven culture towards a more productivity and profitability oriented culture by placing greater value on its customers was primarily communicated to this turnaround team. Organizational leaders spent a great deal of time in terminals with the staffs of the company constantly communicating and reinforcing the culture they desired for the company. In addition to this they created an environment in which people would free and comfortable to come forth and express their views and ideas. This culture was effective in creating feeling that their suggestions were valued in the company and they were part of the company’s success too. Education and training programs were also part of their communication strategy. It tried to make the change implementation visible. In December 1984, British Airways revealed its new fleet livery at the Heathrow along with its new uniforms. The training programs in the company particularly included participants for examining their interactions with other people. Included in the positive relationship message would remain a sturdy emphasis on the importance of customer service. More than 40,000 British Airways employees participated in the programs. Some of the basic components in the communication strategies were culture, leadership, trust, vision and feedback (British Airways-a, n.d., p.1-2). Reference Klein, S. M. (1996). A management communication strategy for change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 9 No. 2, 1996, pp. 32-46. © MCB University Press, 0953-4814. JOCM. British Airways-a. (No Date). Changing the culture at British Airways (BA). [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.emergeeducation.com/case_studies/BA.pdf. [Accessed on March 30, 2012]. Reflective Journal 7 The case of David demonstrates a condition of amateurish and immature behaviour lacking enough diplomacy which holds him from accomplishing his task in the organization. The need for a LAN in the organization to enhance communication in the system drives him to initiate a plan of action to implement the LAN. However, he fails enough cooperation and assistance from people, departments and leaders in the organization which finally causes him to quit his objective. He does not display enough diplomacy for convincing superiors and subordinates which finally compels him to give up the idea of implementing a LAN in the organization. Researchers have brought forth the importance and criticality of organizational politics for successful management of projects. Successful management of project bears a direct association with the ability of project managers and other major players in the organization to understand the importance of politics and apply them effectively in the project. Researchers have brought forth that some managers regard organizational politics as the key to their success and promotion. Lynch and Kordis have suggested managers to cultivate the right and appropriate political tactics in organizations. The first step is to understand the exact political nature of the organization before the application of political tactics. Managers are particularly required to gain knowledge of the fine tactic of influencing people. Managers must also develop adequate negotiating skills. Finally effective conflict management considering that conflicts are imperatives of projects management must be understood by the manager (Pinto, 1998, p.2-7). The main diplomatic tactic that organizational leaders as British Airways applied was convincing their staffs towards believing the positive effects that the change process would bring to them. Such aspects like change in their organization position and how it would benefit them in their career progression in future in the organization could be used to convincing them to support the change process. Restructuring pays and rewards of employees and making them gainful in the process to attain their support and participation in the change implementation can be regarded as one of the influential tactic used in the organization. In 2005 British Airways started a communication program of three months for interacting with them face to face to ensure that they were all informed and aware of their new pension schemes. This way they implemented the influential tactic for highlighting the employees’ benefits and in return gaining their favour and support towards the change process. In 2005 the (IRCP), i.e., Industrial Relations Change Programme was initiated. This was an effort to bring together managers and trade union embers to eliminate communication barriers and improve mutual understanding in the system. Over 1800 managers and 220 TU representatives attended the workshops. Joint work will continue in 2006-2007 to improve relationships. The company also mage big investments in conducting workshops for developing the capabilities and skills of people and also bring forth the grievances and challenges faced by employees in the organization with the aim to address them. The main idea was to provide them with benefits and advantages in the organizations and gaining their acknowledgement and goodwill towards change implementation (Corporate Responsibility Report, 2006, p.4-7). Reference Corporate Responsibility Report. (2006). THE BA WAY IN THE WORKPLACE. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.britishairways.com/cms/global/pdfs/corporate_responsibility_report_2006/the_BA_way_in_the_workplace.pdf. [Accessed on March 30, 2012]. Pinto, J. K. (1998). Understanding the role of politics in successful project management. International Journal of Project Management 18 (2000) 85±91. Pergamon. Reflective Journal 8 The case of Walter Hollestelle is a vivid depiction of improper coordination of activities of different organizational structures which ultimately led to the failure of the evening’s banquet of Plastix International. The experience confirms that in spite of having a systematic approach and planned change implementation approach optimal performance benefits could not be achieved on account of lack of coordination, collaboration and communication between organizational design structures. The duality theory provides insight into the fact that implementation of change management in organizations requires complementary manipulation of organizational processes, boundaries and structures. If structural changes are required to succeed, they must be simultaneously complemented with changes in processes and boundaries. The interactive and synergetic characteristics of processes, structures and boundaries in organizations require extensive collaboration and interaction between work processes and elements for successful performance of work activities. Processes act as a medium, connecting and permeating different components of boundaries and structures, and facilitating interaction and communication with the external environment of the organization by effective IT systems and people processes (Graetz & Smith, 2007, p.325). The transition program initiated in British Airways was brought about through different structured work streams which were particularly aligned and structured such as to remove errors or gaps between them. The change processes covered the various aspects including work systems and structures, equipment and baggage handling, workforce management, passenger preparation, planning and control etc. The successful change implementation was brought about effective collaboration and coordination between the wide varieties of aspects mentioned above. For example, the component of equipment and baggage handling had to be linked with the component of passenger preparation so as to ensure that there were no hurdles, backlogs or delays in the final services provided to the customers. Such coordination of activities was attained in all other component involved in the change process in the organization. Particular emphasis was provided to the internal communication system in the organization. The company operated a unified control centre for managing operations at the three different airport terminals in Heathrow Airport. The centre was responsible for managing and coordinating activities across all the different terminals of airports so as to ensure that flights were operated punctually and impacts caused due to operational disruptions were minimized. The Operations Control Centre was particularly responsible to ensure that the worldwide operations of British Airways were completely coordinated and collaborated throughout its entire network. Additionally a single and integrated approach towards the handling of all voice communications was implemented by the company for providing the potential for enhanced and improved decision making of the company. Streamlined procedures were developed for combating and dealing operational events ad issues within the organization. The integration process also included a consistent and reliable technique of contacting the key operational departments in case of emergence of a hurdle or barrier in the system (Mueller, n.d.). Reference Graetz, F. & Smith, A. (2007). Organizing forms in change management: The role of structures, processes and boundaries in a longitudinal case analysis. Journal of Change Management Vol. 5, No. 3, 311–328, September 2005. Routledge. Mueller, D. (No Date). Zetron Provides Integrated Communication System to British Airways. [Online]. Available at: http://www.zetron.com/data/site/templates/ZetronTemplate.asp?_resolutionfile=templatespath|ZetronTemplate.asp&area_0=pages/Menus/NewsPressRelease&area_1=pages/News/Press%20Releases/2006/0606. [Accessed on March 30, 2012]. Read More