Managing Change - Essay Example

The fast-changing socio-economic dynamics have created a fiercely competitive business environment. In the rapidly changing environment of globalization, change is essential for development and organizations tend to adapt to the constantly evolving business environment. “Organizations must change because their environments change” (Bateman, 1990). The changing business strategies to cope with the fast-transforming socio-economical paradigms of the times have become crucial factors that enable businesses to compete against their rivals.

The roles of leaders, managers, and administrators of organizations have, therefore, become more challenging. The changing socio-economic environment made it necessary that more consideration be paid to the socio-cultural and political environment so that the requirements of the people became the focal point in the development of strategy. McGregor has been emphatic that proactive participation of the workforce in decision-making is imperative for the sustainable growth of any organization.

He said, ‘The effectiveness of organizations could be at least doubled if managers could discover how to tap into the unrealized potential present in their workforces’ (McGregor, 1960). Thus shared learning needs to become an intrinsic part of HR Strategy that involves the employees in decision-making processes and promotes collective goals. The advancing technology and the advent of computers have greatly influenced the changing paradigms of business strategies. Knowledge management has become a crucial part of managerial leadership (Garvin, 2003).

While the technology has considerably improved the overall performance of the organization, the managers have also realized the vast potential of the emerging new technologies in opening a huge vista of business opportunities that are global in nature but made easily accessible through new technology like the internet and tech gizmos. ‘The Internet with its low-cost entry and ease of use quickly changed how information was exchanged and removed the distance barriers for business partners’ (Gottardi et al. 2004). Globalization has ushered in an era of a pluralistic society that comprises people from different cultures, races, colors, and nationalities, giving a new perspective to business compulsions.

Levitt, an eminent social scientist, in an article, says that ‘A powerful force drives the world toward a converging commonality, and that force is technology’ (Levitt, 1983). Managing diversity has, therefore, become a crucial issue with businesses that need to be addressed urgently if they want to maintain a competitive edge over their rivals. The diverse ideologies and opinions promote creativity and therefore, managers need to diversify and encourage creativity and innovative practices that give a unique perspective to the participatory approach of management and employees.

One can, therefore, conclude that managing change has become an intrinsic part of business strategy. The different contextual factors vis-à-vis size, technology, environment, diversification, and globalization are vital elements that have a significant impact on managerial decision-making. Thus, the strategy of the managerial leadership to transform the workforce into human capital is being accepted as an inherent part of organizational culture in the fast-transforming business paradigms and social values.