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Different drives of change management

THE DIFFERENT DRIVES OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

Change is a constant driving force in any organization, requiring the need to meet the unique needs of both the external and internal environment of the organization that the management needs to address. Thus, change management is an empirical approach to constant transitions involving the individuals who are part of the organization, the composition of teams, the organization structures, and the organizational culture in order to maintain its survival. Rothwell and Sullivan (2005) define change management as the continuous process of aligning organization in its market place and being able to do it in a more competitive manner and better than its competitors. There are many published literatures that deal with change management that are written by scholars, philosophers and writers as course books about change management in the attempt to identify specific processes that will help the management bring about change in an organization with better competence. This paper will present three case studies involving change in the management within particular companies or corporations as well to associate the common processes involved by which the management is able to handle the issues pertaining to different market conditions to different literatures available in change management. This paper should be able to identify the principal determinants of change in the organization and to identify the roles that leaders should assume in solving complex problems affecting their organization and how to bring about change more effectively.

DISCUSSION

Change management is a process inevitable among organization because of the changing needs of the environment by which the organization operates. Paton and McCalman (2008) state that management and change are synonymous, involving the process of evaluation, planning, and the implementation of operational, tactical, and strategic journey. As Cameron and Green (2004) variably describes organization as a group developed in combination of education and experience, a political system, a machinery consisting of organizational structures, job designs and process of re-engineering, organizational management involves complex processes. Case studies involving change management are common and this paper will discuss three case studies involving change management here. The first involves the presentation of the Center for Management Research (ICMR) (n.d.) involving the United Parcel Service (UPS) where after getting good market in the courier industry, the management became complacent to delivering competent services to their customers later on, resulting to a decline in their market productivity. They became incompetent to lead against other competitors of the same services they provide due to their insensitivity to the changing needs of their customers and failure by the management to address those needs. The management took the initiative to invest in improving technology resources to improve their services and eventually win back customer satisfaction which result to growth in their profits. The second is a change of management case study involving the need for change at the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) involving the change of a leader. The new manager of the institution immediately introduced massive changes to develop flexibility on the bank's ability to respond to the changes in the market. The management change has implication of causing stress among employees for the new learning requirement from them, making the process of change more difficult to adapt. Thus, the management is facing with resistance. (ICMR, n.d.) Because the manager is not able to assess the strengths of its employees of being short of qualified human resources, the management experienced difficulties reaching its goals. The third is a case study of Sherwin (2009) involving the introduction of the government of the new working system to its 13 regions. They have undertaken an action workshop at three levels - local regional and pilot office - by teams in order to present these new changes more effectively to cover all regional management departments. The activity was very successful with a smooth flow of changes taking place in various regional management departments. Among the steps they took is to provide a workshop that will enlighten all management staff for the need for change and how their role could help in the attainment of the goals of their institution.

Based on various literatures, the effectiveness of bringing change in the management relies on the conscientious judgment of a leader, the ability to maximize all physical and human resources, recognizing the strengths and weakness in the areas of management, and to reinforce the employee skills and ability for better competency in their areas of expertise. Anderson & Anderson (2001) describe change as one requirement for continuous success, with competent leadership change being the most coveted executive skills. Among the main points in these author's insights regarding change management is the identification of driver's of change. They identify the various shifts in the external environment such as in the marketplace that require for more specific changes in the business market strategy, organizational designs, and the human aspect of domains involved in the organization involving cultures, behavior, and ways of thinking of members of the organization. The authors also explain about the need for leadership approaches to transformation in order to provide efficient change in management with a kind of leader who reacts to change more consciously than reactively. In support to these authors' point of view, Cook, Macaulay, and Coldicott (2004) also recognize the need to identify the driving forces and the restraining forces within the organization in order to address each one to be able to manage change in the organization more effectively. Most organizations struggle to implement change due to the inability or failure of the leaders to identify and attend to the cultural, mindset and behavioral factors that may result to resistance to change. In the case study involving the ICICI, the change in leadership and abrupt changes in the company's services and policies caused tension among the employees. Campbell (2009) emphasizes the need for managers to develop their ability to communicate to their subordinates. In this manner does the manager is able to understand the predicaments of his support groups and to be able to act upon it. If the employees lack skills on a particular area, they can initiate to undergo training and seminars to upgrade their competency. With effective communication, the manager is able to explain better among the employees the need for change and its importance to the success of their organization. Being able to communicate the needs of the organization can help promote better understanding and can recruit the cooperation among the employees. Additionally, Kofman (2008) also advocates the need for the top management to shift from unconscious to conscious leadership that enables leaders to appreciate and understand better the cultural values, behaviors and beliefs of the individuals forming the organization. This is an integral area of management leadership that influences the members take the responsibility of being a part of the organization to adapt to change with the least resistance.

Similarly, Kotter (1996) also identifies the major driving forces to change involving the more large-scale change in organization, the social and economic factors affecting change, and the globalization of market and competition. Moreover, he further presents the 8-stage process of creating change. These are the variable steps that will help management deal with the driving forces of change, how to assert the need for transformation despite the hardened status quo of its implementation. Among these valuable steps include the establishment of sense of urgency; creation of guiding coalition of groups to lead the change; developing a vision and strategy, communicate such vision; empower broad-based action; generate short-term wins; consolidate gains and produce more change; and anchor new approach to in the culture. (Kotter, 1996, pp. 22) In the case study involving the UPS, the management is able to recognize the need to re-upgrade its technology in order to offer better and more competent services to their customers. Holland (2000) discusses that engineering change is one among the important areas of management consisting of assessing the physical needs of the organization. The management should find the need to re-organize and adopt improvement on their technology resource when such a need will help them position their market better for global competitiveness. Along with the introduction of technology change is the process of upgrading the skills of the employees in order to maximize the benefits of the newly adopted technology upgrade within their organization. Gustin (2008) supports the recognition of Kotter to communicate the change within the organization and implies communication as the core of the change management program. The changes itself must be communicated among the organization members in order to engage them to participate in the needed change through the process of definition, explanation, and progression. It is indeed a matter of communicating well to the people involved in the organization the need for change in order to win their commitment and cooperation as primary key players in organization to help in the attainment of the organization's success and progress. As in the case study involving the need for disseminating the new work process to at least 13 government departments from various regions, the activity of presenting the new changes in the regional department went smoothly because of the efforts given by the government to educate their employees in order to prepare them to future changes. Through the various workshops given to the member of the organization, each employee is able to understand their role in making the changes effective to the benefits of their institution.

Cummings and Worley (2009) emphasize that for change management to be effective, the management should be committed to organizational planning. This pertains to establishing direction by which the management is able to take the organization. If the organization wants to maintain its survival, they need to learn how to establish innovative ideas and learn to adapt to the constant changes affecting their existence in terms of profitability, market demands, and technology changes in order to be adept in keeping their competence against other competitors. Dubrin (2008) identifies the role of leaders or managers that in order to reach their objectives, they should be able to manage change almost daily as change has an impact to various aspect of the organization operation such as technology, organization structure, competition, human resource, and budgeting. Managers should hurdle the challenge of constant change demands almost everyday and must have a contingency plan in case anything goes wrong on the implementation of the change in the organization. Lastly, Kendrick (2009) provides his insight that in order to manage change better, it is vital to understand why the need for change while assessing the benefits for bringing change into the organization. Moreover, it is also as important to identify the impact of such change to the organization physical and human resources and prompt identification of the resources that could help assist in the implementation of change.

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, there are different factors that influence the demands for change in the organization. The fact that change is a continuous process is something that the management should keep in mind. Project planning and management are the effective processes that could help the management impose change more efficiently. Management leaders should be able to recognize the different drivers of change. This may involve the changing customer needs, the industrial technology development in the area of service of the organization, the need to adapt by the employees toward change and the support that the management could offer them, and improvement in the organization marketing performance. The scope of management change can be very vast and the effectiveness will rely on the ability of the leaders for advanced planning and make a critical analysis on the immediate needs of the company. Moreover, leaders take the burden of being responsible to make the change possible and to provide a support system on the management by maximizing the potential resources that could provide optimal benefits to the organization. Leaders are responsible to assist their subordinates to adapt to change such as helping them upgrade their skills through sending them to seminars and trainings. Prudent decision-making is valuable when taking the step to change. When the organization is not ready to make the change, the management takes the initiative to improve their system and structures in order to make them more competent and successful in attaining their goals.

REFERENCES

Anderson, D. & Anderson, L. A. (2001). Beyond Change Management. CA. Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Cameron, E. and Green, M. (2004). Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models, Tools & Techniques of Organizational Change. UK. Kogan Page Ltd. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Campbell, M. (2009). Communication Skills for Project Managers. NY. AMACOM. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Center for Management Research (n.d.) Managing Change at United Parcel Service (UPS). http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Human%20Resource%20and%20Organization%20Behavior/HROA002.htm. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Center for Management Research (n.d.) Change Management at ICICI. http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Human%20Resource%20and%20Organization%20Behavior/Change%20Management-ICICI.htm. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Cook, S., Macaulay, T., and Coldicott, H. (2004). Change Management Excellence Using the Four Intelligences for Successful Organizational Change. UK. Kogan Page Ltd. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Cummings, T. G. and Worley, C. G. (2009). Organization Development and Change. USA. South-Western Cengage Learning. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Dubrin, A. J. (2008). Essentials of Management. USA. South-Western Cengage Learning. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Gustin, J. F. (2008). Safety Management:A Guide for Facility Managers. USA. Fairmont Press. Retrieved May 29, 2010

Holland, W.E. (2000). Change is the Rule: Prcatical Action for Change on Target, On Time, On Budget. USA. Dearborn. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Kendrik, T. (2009). Identifying and Managing Project Risk. USA. AMACOM. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Kofman, F. (2008). Conscious Business: How to Build Values Through Value. US: ReadHowYou Want. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. USA. Harvard Business School Press. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Paton, R. A and MacCalman, J. (2008). Change Management A Guide to Effective Implementation. 3rd Ed. London. Sage. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Rothwell, W. J. and Sullivan, R. (2005). Practicign Organization Development: A Guide for Consultants. CA. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

Sherwin, L. (2009). Change Management Case Studies. http://www.lindsay-sherwin.co.uk/change/10changeex.htm. Retrieved May 29, 2010.

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