Greg Temple
Suzanne Brock
Change Management
10/04/2020
Organizational change
- Organizations are dynamic rather than static, and several factors inside and outside the company keep changing. The change will be a critical component of the company. There is a need to alter the organizational structure and activities to increase organizational functionality. The change will enable the company to increase its competitive edge against companies that offer similar products and services.
According to the organizational life cycle model, there are five empirical stages in organizational change. The first is the growth spurred by creativity. In this phase, the structure of the organization is very informal (Lehner). The second stage is growth through the direction. In this phase, the organizational structure is well structured into various departments. The third stage is growth through delegation. In this stage, the structure adopted by the organization is the top-down approach. Managers play a crucial role in ensuring that the organization achieves its objective. The fourth stage is growth by objective. In this stage, the organization deploys the use of formal systems. Examples of these systems include the systems to track inventory. The final stage is growth through collaboration. In this stage, an organization demonstrates increased flexibility. The organization in the case study uses the top-down approach and has no employee empowerment programs.
- Several differences exist between traditional organizations and learning organizations. On the aspect of conflict resolution, traditional organizations use hierarchical influence and power to resolve conflicts. On the other hand, the learning organizations resolve conflicts through collaborative learning approaches and integrating new ideas and points across administrative personnel (Harper et al., 355). The organization in the case study is in the second stage of the Woolmer’s stage model. The company is in stage two since it is in the developmental stage with solid products but insufficient training and learning programs to motivate employees.
The company, however, can deploy the Senge’s five disciplines to become a learning organization. The company can deploy the system by considering the organization as a whole rather than just the individual parts. System thinking will offer employees in the company with opportunities to give their views and opinions. The organizations should embrace contributions and suggestions from their employees. The company can deploy the concept of personal mastery. The employees should be encouraged on the need for self-improvement to influence team improvement. The company needs to devise strategies to ensure employees are self-motivated. Senge’s third principle will be critical in breaking mental models. The company will have to generate new mental models that encourage innovation and creativity from the employees. The organizational staff needs to share a common vision through motivation and encouragement programs (Lehner). In the final stage, the company should apply the use of synergies to solve organizational challenges jointly.
- The result is transformation, while the nature of the change to be adopted by the organization is incremental.
There is a need for the organization to transform a traditional organization deploying a top-down approach to a learning organization that deploys the bottom-top approach. The development of training teams will facilitate change over time.
- The four steps of action research include; problem identification- the company should identify its major problem as a lack of opportunities for innovation for its employees and low motivation. The company needs to move to a change organization that focuses on employee motivation. The second stage is consulting managerial experts to execute a change plan. The company should embrace wide consultations in developing a plan of change. The third step is data collection through surveys to access the organizational performance and levels of employee satisfaction. The organization should engage the employees through surveys and interviews to determine their general feeling at work. The final step is the preliminary diagnosis. The company should apply the final diagnosis step to provide insights into the underutilization of employees by the management and low level of innovation and creativity among the employees.
- In the organizational transition, the recommended strategies are innovative roles and exploration. The exploration strategy will guide in reviving innovation in the organization (Ghosh). Exploration strategy will emphasize on the need to embrace new ideas from employees. The strategy will guide the organization to move from a top-down to a bottom-up approach.
- The application of Kotter’s 8-step change model will have a huge impact on the company. With the increasing activities of the organization, there is a need to create urgency. The consumer demands need to be addressed at the minimum time possible. This would push them to feel determined to win. However, it would be important to ensure that the sense of urgency created does not evoke feelings of frustration, anger, and anxiety, maybe because the employees and partners are worried about the new direction seeing as that may obstruct the change in a learning organization. Forming a powerful coalition by convincing its employees on the importance of change is also essential (Harper et al., 355). This means that every team member should be powerful enough, knowledgeable, and excellent leadership skills, and also, the team should cooperate to enhance a smooth transition. The third is a vision to give the organization a sense of direction and also guide the steps of decision-making. A vision encourages people to take even the painful steps and coordinate different people’s actions in a similar, efficient, and effective manner, thus promoting the transition process (Harper et al., 362). The organization then communicates the vision powerfully and frequently across all its departments and various branches in the various countries. This is done using different communication methods seeing as words alone cannot convince people fast on the need for the move.
- There are five sustainable change pillars in organizational change; leadership involves showing the employees the right direction and mentoring them. The leadership teams can sustain change by using their knowledge and expertise to create strategies for keeping their employees motivated in the learning organizations. The leaders can also mentor departments, individuals, and teams on working together and maintaining the change.
Strategy- the organization should become more customers centric to maintain a competitive edge. The company needs to develop strategies that ensure the consumers’ needs are met. Meeting the consumer needs will help to increase the market share of the company further. By relying on the new organizational culture, creating more strategic plans, and building a positive customer relationship, the organization can maintain change and prosper.
Culture incorporates the incorporation of willingness to be open-minded and encourages employees in the organization to think and share ideas. The company needs to emphasize its culture to the new as well as existing employees (Cleg). A good organizational culture involves employees being able to work together and also, supporting one another, and learning from mistakes to create a favorable working environment. An organizational culture that involves open communications will also encourage accountability, transparency, and teamwork, thus sustaining change.
Structure- the organization should ensure that information is sharing in real-time, and its innovation is exploited to the full capacity. A flat structure in the organization whereby everyone is free to communicate with everyone, where creative thinking and participation, and new ideas are encouraged will encourage teamwork, motivate staff members, and foster success (Cleg). From learning new ideas and communicating freely, there will be a healthy work environment and change sustainability.
System- it incorporates the use of technologies in data collection to guide timely decision making. The use of technology will enhance efficiency in the organization. The new learning organization can incorporate instant messaging and texting in the workspaces to improve communication easiness and efficiency. This advancement may also help improve customer service and the ease with which tasks will be accomplished within the organization, thus maintaining change.
Work cited
Clegg, Stewart, and João Amaro de Matos, eds. Sustainability and organizational change management. Routledge, 2017.
Lehner, John A. “Teamwork, Emotional Intelligence, and the Skills Organizations Need Now.” Critical Librarianship. Emerald Publishing Limited, 2020.
Harper, Lesley M., Michelle Maden, and Rumona Dickson. “Across five levels: The evidence of impact model.” Evaluation 26.3 (2020): 350-366.
Ghosh, Koustab. “Developing organizational creativity and innovation.” Management Research Review (2015).