2 Focus Of Organization Change

Sessions two

Focus of Organization Changes

Why planned change is needed 

Planned change defined:

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The systematic attempt to redesign an organization in a way that will help it adapt to changes in the external environment or to achieve new goals.

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Planned change aims to prepare the entire organization or a major part of it to adapt significant changes in the organization goals and direction.

Why planned change is needed 

A detailed definition of planned change is ‘the deliberate and implementation of a structural innovation, a new policy or goal or a change in operating philosophy, climate or style.

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Change programs are necessary today precisely because of shift in time and the relationships that we have seen throughout the organizational world.

Planned change 

The sophistication of information processing technology, together with the increased in the globalization of organizations means managers are bombarded with more new ideas, new products, new challenges than ever before.

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Many large organizations have change management programs to increase the ability of people throughout the organization to anticipate and learn from the changes that are occurring.

Introduction to focus of organizational change 

When managers decide that change is needed, or when they realize that they have no choice but to make changes, one of the issues they face is: 

What to change? 

In organizational settings, at least many component or context can be affected and most change involve several.

Introduction to focus of Organizational changes 

Especially complex and comprehensive changes will involved six of the following:      

Technology Culture Strategy Structure Processes/procedures people

1. Technology 

For many organizations, the most obvious and most frequent object of changes is technology.

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Always been the case in manufacturing and capital intensive companies where replacing and upgrading equipment and technology have been the keys to organizational survival and an ability to keep ahead of competition.

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Recent years, virtually all types of companies, government agencies and non-business organization have been increasing attention to improving and expanding their information technology.

Technology 

Any organization at the beginning of the 21st century making changes in technology becomes a prime and a continual focal point.

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Critical issues for managers, therefore, involve the significant and often unexpected spillover effects of changes in technology on other areas such as structure, processes and people.

Technology 

New equipment, for example, can result in entirely different patterns of work relationships among employees, and that in turn can create considerable confusion. 

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Such effect, if they are major or last a long time can dilute or even cancel the positive effects of the improvement.

A focus of technology is therefore, a frequent starting point of changes but it is not necessarily a good indicator of where major problems may occur.

Culture 

The culture of an organization is a second potential focus for change.

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In its way, changing an organization’s culture can be as potent in its consequences as making major changes in technology.

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The embedded traditions and accepted ways of doing things that constitute an organization’s culture can be extremely difficult to change successfully.

Culture  

Example of a case The founder and chairman of apparel distributor Lands’ End asked for the resignation of the CEO and also the director of human resources and proceeded to scrap three years of efforts that had tried to change Lands’ End’s culture.

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Those efforts had included new personnel evaluation methods, new project tams, increases in meetings and various devices (eg, posters, banners) to proclaim the organization’s rewritten mission statement.

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Veteran Lands End employees resented all these changes, believing that they were counter to the company’s long-standing family-like culture.

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Their reaction doomed the culture-change attempt.

Culture 

A key to changing an organization’s culture is to start by trying to change its values, since what is valued is the underlying essence of the culture.

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Substituting new values for old values is hardly a simple process.

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The assertion of new values in a mission statement is easy. 

Getting them accepted and ‘institutionalized’ it is extremely difficult.

Culture 

Changing a culture, by whatever means, may take a long time.

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Culture does represent a significant target for fundamental changes.

Strategy 

Since an organization’s overall strategy, along with its basic mission statement and espoused values, provides major direction for its activities, it can serve as another potent focus of managerial change effort.

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In contrast to its culture, an organization’s strategy or set of strategies may be less difficult for managers to change.

Strategy 

Top management typically is more in control in setting strategy than other parts of the organization.

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Thus, by announcing strategic changes, which may occur after extensive consultation with all parts of the organization, managers at highest levels can influence change.

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Whether strategic changes are effective or not is another matter.

Structure 

Changing structure makeup of an organizations is sometimes one of the most valuable tools for managers have to create as improved productivity or more creative problem solving.

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Many structural changes such as reorganizing on a product basis rather than a geographic one or consolidating major division, can be made at the macro or total organization level. (e.g Cocoa cola bottling and can division)

Structure  

Example The top management of AT&T capital Leasing Services at the end of 1980s decided to redesign major elements of the company.

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The new structure included greater centralization of operations, a flattened hierarchy and related changes in personnel evaluation criteria.

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Before implementing the structural changes throughout the organization. A pilot program was tested in one of the company’s main offices.

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The pilot program revealed several potentially disastrous flaws that if the organization had been put in place as originally planned, would resulted in failure of the entire organization change program.

Structure 

Other structural changes can be made at the immediate level, involving such actions as combining or dividing departments or changing locations and reporting relationship within or among units.

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Still other structural changes can be made at very micro level, such as forming new project groups or altering the composition of particular jobs or position.

Structure 

As with changes in strategy, changes in structure are not especially difficult to pull off initially, but making them work to generate the desired effects can be particularly challenging for managers.

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Strategy changes may affect the structure to changes too. 

Eg, a diversification strategy may necessary resulted altering structure changes such as new change of command structure.

Processes/procedures 

Another major object of change can be the processes or procedures used in, and by, an organization.

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Such changes involve attention to the sequence and manner in which work activities and operations are carried out.

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Changes in processes and procedures often come about because of prior changes in technology or structure.

Processes/procedures 

In this sense, modifications of the way which work is performed, whether by individuals or groups, can be considered residual changes. 

The purchase of new equipment, for instance, would be primary change, as in the case of the adoption of new procedures because of this equipment would be the secondary change.

People 

Finally people, both individuals and groups, can be the focus of major changes.

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Essentially, changes that focus on people involve one or more of four elements:    

Who the people are. What their attitudes and expectation are. How they interact interpersonally How they are trained or developed.

People 

In the first instance, change can be brought about by adding, subtracting or interchanging people.

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Bringing in new supervisor or transferring a difficult employee from one unit to another are examples of change focusing on the selection and placement of people.

People 

The second element, attitudes and expectation, often can be an important focus because people act on the basis of them and they sometimes can be modified without excessive effort or cost by the managers. 

Providing people with new information or a new way to look at problems, issues, or events has the potential but, no certainty of, creating significant change in their behavior.

People

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Attempt to alter how people relate to each other – such as by being more cooperative with, and more supportive of, each other – represent a third people oriented change focus.

People 

The fourth and often most lasting peoplechange approach involves direct enhancement of their knowledge, skills, and abilities, typically through education, training, and personal development activities. 

Such change can improve the performance of individuals, groups and even larger units, regardless of any other changes a manager initiated.

People 

As with other types of changes, however, efforts to change people can be costly. 

Managers need to weigh the costs of managerial time and effort, and frequently significantly budgetary expenditures, against potential benefits such as a more capable workforce, increased creativity and innovation, better morale, and perhaps, decreased turnover.

End of lecture