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ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
Term Paper ID:30813
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Essay Subject:
Managing change.... More...
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9 Pages / 2025 Words
6 sources, 32 Citations,
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Paper Abstract:
Managing change. Discusses tools or strategies available to a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a diversified manufacturing organization. Available tools including communication, team-building, motivational system, quality assurance programs, and employee empowerment. The influence process of leadership during a change process. Need of leader to persuade and motivate others.
Paper Introduction:
Organizational Development: Leading Change
For the new Chief Executive officer (CEO) of a diversified manufacturing organization, managing change, coping with uncertainty, conflict and other complexities of organizational life is inherently challenging (Pierce & Newstrom, 2000). In this brief report, the various tools or strategies available to a CEO in such a situation will be examined. Among these tools are communication efforts, team-building, motivational systems, quality assurance programs, and job enhancement via employee empowerment. French and Raven (2000) characterized leadership – particularly during a change process or initiative – as an influence process rather than a managerial process, suggesting that the effective leader must persuade and motivate others to success.
John P.
Text of the Paper:
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For the CEO, strategicplanning is an important element in leading change initiatives effectively. ReferencesFrench, J. P. French and Raven (2 ) characterized leadership -particularly during a change process or initiative - as an influenceprocess rather than a managerial process, suggesting that the effectiveleader must persuade and motivate others to success. Wheelen and Hunger (2 ) argue that the strategic thrust of a changeinitiative must be tailored to specific business units, their goals andobjectives, and an overall corporate plan for growth and development.Errors such as those described by Kotter (1996) are generally a consequenceof a failure to think and plan strategically. D. Both top-down and bottom-up as well as diagonalcommunication are needed to ensure that all members of an organization aregiven sufficient and accurate information regarding the change that theyare embarking upon; additionally, obtaining adequate input and feedbackfrom workers involved in the change process is a necessity (Ivancevich &Matteson, 2 2; Kotter, 1996; Pierce & Newstrom, 2 ) Empowerment, like globalization, is a term that is heard constantlyin the fast-paced business and industrial world today. Kotter (1996) sees four key characteristics asessential in guiding effective coalitions: 1. Credibility, or the presence of people with good reputations4. John P. Kotter (1996) believes that major change does not occur easily for along list of reasons. Even thousands and thousands of individuals, in a remarkably fast and efficient way (P. D. It creates anxiety and fear. (2 ). Getting individuals motivated to"but into" change initiatives can be facilitated by empowering theseworkers to become amore deeply connected to and embedded in the culture;granting workers a stake in the outcome of a transformation is inherentlyan empowering and liberating action. 68).Kotter (1996) states that leadership creates vision as a sensible andappealing picture of the future, and develops strategies that are a logicfor how the vision can be achieved. Leaders & the Leadership Process. 85).It is through effective and ongoing as well as consistent communicationthat individuals faced with the necessity of a major change can achieve "ashared sense of a desirable future" that itself is capable of helping "tomotivate and coordinate the kinds of actions that create transformations"(Kotter, 1996, p. Leadership or the presence of sufficient proven and recognized leaders to bring about the change process.Implicit within the functions of the coalition described by Kotter (1996)is the notion of power - power, understood by Ivancevich and Matteson(2 2) as a weapon that can be all too easily misused and become littlemore than coercion. Often, communication even during a major change ortransformation effort is excessively unidirectional - top-down, oremanating from the executive suite and filtering down to the lower levelsof the organization. Any student of organizational behavior and managerial theory issurely well aware of the overwhelming importance of effective communicationin the organization. This in turnleads to transformation in organizations, described by Kotter (1996) asconsisting of reengineering, restructuring, quality programs, mergers andacquisitions, strategic change, and cultural change. (2 ). While it is true that suchleaders can be enormously instrumental in helping their subordinates toadapt to change and meet its challenges (and in shaping the kinds oforganizational culture that promotes and accepts change), a team is neededto ensure that all members of the organization will become invested inchange. In fact, theissues related to change and organizational transformations are issues thatare abundantly examined in business texts as well as the scholarly andpopular press. Kotter (1996, p. Newstrom, (eds.), Leaders & the Leadership Process. Even when change is necessary, Kotter (1996, p. Ivancevichand Michael T. Other organizational theorists, including John M. The eight stages of the change process identified by Kotter (1996)are: 1) establishing a sense of urgency; 2) creating the guidingcoalition; 3) developing a vision and strategy; 4) communicating the changevision; 5) empowering broad-based action; 6) generating short-term wins; 7)consolidating gains and producing more change; and 8) anchoring newapproaches in the culture. J., & Hunger, J. M. The bases of social Power. In addition, organizations characterized by low overall performancestandards or internal measurement systems that focus on the wrongperformance indexes are seen by Pierce and Newstrom (2 ) as fosteringcomplacency and inhibiting the development of a sense of urgency.Ivancevich and Matteson (2 2) contend that external and internal forces ortriggers can create crisis-like situations that demand a change effort.Ivancevich and Matteson (2 2), in their discussion of the effects ofstress on workers, believe that a lack of challenge can itself be a sourceof stress, leading to boredom, a decrease in motivation, absenteeism, andapathy. Position power, mandating key players on the coalition 2. Corresponding to each of these stages in theprocess of facilitating change are the errors of: 1) allowing too muchcomplacency; 2) failure to create a sufficiently powerful guidingcoalition; 3) underestimating the power of vision; 4) undercommunicatingthe vision; 5) permitting obstacles to block the vision; 6) failing tocreate short-term wins; 7) declaring victory too soon; and 8) neglecting toanchor changes firmly in the corporate culture (Kotter, 1996). Ivancevich and Matteson (2 2) makereference to the importance of team building as an aspect of overcomingresistance to change. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill.Kotter, J. Expertise, or points of view relevant to the task3. In J. P. R. 3), in the introduction to his text titledLeading Change, notes that "by any objective measure, the amount ofsignificant, often traumatic change in organizations has grown tremendouslyover the past two decades." Kotter (1996) takes the position that leadingchange succeeds when managers understand why organizations resist neededchange, what exactly is the multistage process that can overcomedestructive inertia, and most of all, how the leadership that is requiredto drive that process in a socially healthy way means more than goodmanagement. In discussing these failures of changeefforts, Ivancevich and Matteson (2 2) agree with these assumptions andlist three steps that can be effective in bringing about successful change: 1) all employees must participate in the process; 2) team building must beused to develop employee collaboration; and 3) the organizational structuremust be reorganized to accommodate the new levels of participation andcollaboration. These forces include technologicalchange, international economic integration, maturation of markets indeveloped countries, and the fall of communist and socialist regimes. Newstrom, (eds.), Leaders & the Leadership Process. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice- Hall. Pierce & J. M., & Mattson, M. Vision is seen by Kotter (1996) as essential because: it simplifies hundreds of thousands of more detailed decisions . Kotter (1996) sees power as more appropriatelyunderstood in terms of position, linked to broad expertise and highcredibility. While Kotter (1996,p. Training of employees for new roles andresponsibilities, creating cross-functional teams, re-engineeringorganizations and creating greater integration functions and a qualityorientation are equally useful tools for the CEO. Kotter (1996) sees various economic and social forces as driving theneed for major organizational changes. Kotter (1996) states that: A great vision can serve a useful purpose even if it is understood by just a few key people. L. Personal factors associated with leadership: A survey. Resistance to changeis a very human attitude; change places very real and at times heavyburdens and demands on individuals. Organizational Development: Leading Change For the new Chief Executive officer (CEO) of a diversifiedmanufacturing organization, managing change, coping with uncertainty,conflict and other complexities of organizational life is inherentlychallenging (Pierce & Newstrom, 2 ). These are some - but hardly all - of the tools and strategies thatcan and should be employed by a CEO in leading an organization through achange initiative. (1996) Leading Change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.Pierce, J. 1 1) recognizes that such terms take on a life and validity of their ownand can become clichés that have little to do with real-world practices, hebelieves that "the idea of helping people to become more powerful isimportant." This importance rests on the understanding that even whenemployees understand and support a change initiative, if they are not ableto act effectively and with a degree of autonomy, the change will not be assuccessful as is desirable. In J. However, these characteristics orskills required of a leader depend in part upon the demands of a situationin which the leader functions. Stogdill (2 ) conducted a meta-analysis of studies assessingpersonal factors associated with leadership and found that most suchstudies indicated that capacity, achievement, responsibility, participationand status are attributes of leadership. Pierce & J. L. motivates people to take action in the right direction...(and) helps coordinate the actions of different people. . L., & Newstrom, J. In other words, effective leaders are thosewho meet the demands of whatever situation they find themselves in,including situations in which change is needed. In this brief report, the varioustools or strategies available to a CEO in such a situation will beexamined. The consequences of these errors identified by Kotter (1996) rangefrom a failure to implement new strategies appropriately, a lack of synergybetween acquisitions, excessive time and cost of reengineering, qualityprograms that do not generate hoped for results, and the inability ofdownsizing to control costs. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill.Stodgill, R. T. P., & Raven, B. 631) point out that "even in situations in which changecan be considered the best choice in a work situation, there is fear,anxiety, and resistance" which become more intense in tandem withsignificant changes in structure, task, technology, and human assets. These are tools that can be used by the CEO in anyorganization, regardless of its size or focus, to facilitate change. To reducethis set of negative affective responses, empowering employees to becomeactors and not responders may be needed. 2 )claims that it can "still stall because of inwardly focused cultures,paralyzing bureaucracy, parochial politics, a low level of trust, lack ofteamwork, arrogant attitudes, a lack of leadership in middle management,and the general human fear of the unknown." Similarly, Ivancevich andMatteson (2 2, p. . Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill, 3 - 34.Wheelen, T. Strategic Management & Business Policy. Kotter's (1996) second stage in the change process consists ofcreating a guiding coalition that will lead change and the organization.It is Kotter's (1996) belief that the image of the charismatic, dynamic,and transformational single leader responsible for change is just that - animage, with little support in the real world. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill, 86 - 91.Ivancevich, J. (2 2) Organizational Behavior and Management. Finding the right people for the coalition - or selecting themost appropriate change agents from inside and outside of the firm, asdescribed by Ivancevich and Matteson (2 2) - is key in this stage of theoverall change process. Complacency can be created by too much "happytalk" from senior management, excessive resources, a failure to address badnews, human nature, a lack of sufficient performance feedback from externalsources, and organizational structures that focus employees on narrowfunctional goals (Wheelen & Hunger, 2 ). Management, on the other hand, makesplans or specific steps and timetables to implement the strategies anddevelops budgets that are plans converted into financial projections andgoals (Wheelen & Hunger, 2 ). 85). In discussing the importance of introducing change by establishing asense of urgency, Kotter (1996) makes the point that complacency is theprimary barrier to change. In their discussion of the importance of effective organizationalcommunication, Ivancevich and Matteson (2 2) commented that a number ofbarriers exist within all types of organizations that negatively impactupon communication. (2 ). (2 ). Among these tools are communication efforts, team-building,motivational systems, quality assurance programs, and job enhancement viaemployee empowerment. The lack of a "guiding coalition" often results in a failure toinspire subordinates to change. Matteson (2 2), also argue that "the combination of globalcompetition, computer-assisted manufacturing methods, and instantcommunications" have brought about the creation of an environment in whichchange is endemic, pervasive, persistent, and permanent. Theend result of these forces, according to Kotter (1996), consists of morehazards (i.e., more competition and increased speed) and more opportunities(i.e., bigger markets and fewer barriers to market entry). D. Empowerment is also seen by Ivancevich and Matteson (2 2) asdirectly related to overcoming resistance to change. But the real power of a vision is unleashed only when most of those involved in an enterprise or activity have a common understanding of its goals and direction (P.
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