Awareness and Habits in the KSA
Human Resources Management
(2761 words)
Change Management: Developing Environmental Sustainability Awareness and Habits in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Sustainability has become the shared goal of people around the world. The United Nations General Assembly has defined sustainability as “improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of the Earth’s supporting eco-systems” (UN 1987). The concept of sustainability is based on the need for changing to alternative energy sources and the need to respect the natural environment. The possibilities range from living in homes that make use of passive solar energy to living with state-of-the-art technology in smart and intelligent homes. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) experiences a dry, very hot climate throughout the year. Although different regions of the country have varying amounts of rainfall the basic need for Saudi Arabian homes is to take advantage of cooling strategies. Saudi Arabia has joined other Middle Eastern in the Gulf Organization for Research and Development (GORD) to promote sustainable building. Connie Susilawati and Muhammad Al-Surf (2011) from the Queensland University of Technology have researched the level of public awareness in Saudi Arabia about sustainable housing. Their research learned that more than half of the participants in their research “were not aware of sustainable housing” (p. 1). Setting a national goal for building sustainable housing will require the use of change management so the citizens will gain the knowledge they need and also be motivated to make a change in their own housing choices.
Saudi Arabia and Sustainable Housing
Historically Arabian architecture has been designed to take advantage of ventilation and shade. Kamir Elgendy is a London-based sustainable-design consultant and architect. Elgendy (2012) explained that during colonial control of the Middle East its Arabian heritage was “largely ignored.” And then “appropriate technology” for building was adopted rather than sustainability (Elgendy 2012). He described the concept of appropriate technology to mean “a common notion of the time which suggested modern complex technologies should not be used if simpler technologies would suffice” (Elegendy 2012). The concept did look to the historical building traditions for design ideas. In the 1990s the global discussion on climate change and global warming started influencing the national agendas of Middle Eastern nations. Qatari has been the leader in introducing standards for sustainable design and Saudi Arabia has joined with Qatari and other Middle Eastern nations in the Gulf Organization for Research and Development (GORD) is promoting for Qatar and for the MENA countries.
Saudi Arabia was blessed (or cursed) with underground reservoirs of fossil fuels so energy for homes has been cheap for several decades now. Although Saudi Arabia has been one of the biggest global producers of oil the country is not immune from having to face peak oil and making necessary changes. Anica Landreneau is consultant for global sustainable design at HOK Design and Architecture Firm. Landreneau (2012) stated that “Sustainability is a smart investment for a country that sees the end of an oil-based economy in sight.” Sustainability is not a simple concept though; in fact energy choices are the basis of sustainable planning but adopting the philosophy requires taking into account the residents of housing. The family living in the house must be comfortable in a residence and be able to rely on the systems in the house. Sustainable housing for families in villas or apartment buildings “is an integrated, holistic approach that encourages compromise and tradeoffs. Such an integrated approach positively impacts all phases of a building’s life-cycle, including design, construction, and operation and decommissioning” (Sustainable, 2012, p. 314).
According to the KSA Central Department of Statistics-Demographics (2003) the total population in the KSA is approximately 21 million and UNICEF (2010) reports that 82 percent of the Saudi Arabian population lives in the urban areas. The government and public organizations that have set sustainability as a national goal have a challenging project ahead of them. They need to convince the population of Saudi Arabia to make sustainable living an integral part of their decision-making in their daily lives. Change needs to take place at an individual level, in families, in groups, in businesses and in organizations.
Change and Change Management
Just as important as the steps in a change model is the ability to distinguish between change and change management because change and change management each mean something different. Change is the action that represents the movement from one state to a new state. Whereas applying a suitable model to implement change is done by appropriate change management. Change management is used as a tool to reach a specific objective. “While change is about moving to a future state; change management is about supporting individual employees impacted by the change through their own traditions – from their own current state to their own future state that has been created by the project initiative” (Seel 2008). The purpose of change management is to lessen the fear and anxiety that so many people experience by using a change model to reinforce the benefits of the change. Richard Seel is located in the UK working as an organization consultant so his definition of organization culture is informative.
The daily “conversations, negotiations and commitments” make up a culture. Seel (2008) “Culture is an emergent phenomenon it is patterned” so “new connections, diverse thinking, and new ways of behaving” are necessary so the conversation will change (Seel, 2008). Kotter (2011) expands on the definition by explaining that the simple definition for change management is “a set of basic tools or structures intended to keep any change effort under control. The goal is often to minimize the distractions and impacts of the change.”
Change Management Models
Dr. Anne Gilley is the vice-president of the Trilogy Consulting Group and an associate professor of management at Ferris University. Gilley (2005) has written that the main reason implementing change fails is because resisting change is part of human nature. William Bridges, the CEO of William Bridges and Associates is an expert on change management and on change. Bridges (1991) has shared some important advice "Remember, transition starts with an ending. You can't grasp the new thing until you've let go of the old thing . . . it's this process of letting go that people resist, not the change itself" (p. 15). Bridges advises change managers to evaluate the people who are being asked to change in terms of their perceptions of what change will bring. For example many will feel that they will lose something if their work or life changes in some way.
The changes do not always have to be significant to cause fear in some people which motivates them to hold on even tighter to the old ways of doing things; the things they know best and feel they have power using. The status quo must have something positive to offer to people who either fear change or resist change or both. Dr. Anne Gilley has listed some of the reasons that attempts to make change happen fail more often than they succeed. Managers fail in making change happen because there are layers of resistance to change starting with the individual. A healthy foundation is needed in order to help achieve change; and it is good to realize that change occurs more slowly in some while other embrace change quickly. A few of the reasons Gilley (2005) shared in her book Management for Change are (a) not addressing mistaken assumptions or lack of knowledge about the particular change, (b) no understanding of the benefits for change, (c) a lack of trust towards the people or entities trying to implement the change, (d) ignoring signs of resistance when they first appear, and (f) the natural tendency in people to resist change. (Gilley, 2005, 11)
Gilley (2005) has explained the relationship between an atmosphere that discourages change and one that allows people the freedom to change. "At its worst, culture may insulate, even suffocate, the organization and its members, preventing actions needed to survive. Dysfunctional culture may inhibit organizations from differentiating between necessary and unnecessary change, and may doom its members to gradual decline. Conversely, supportive work atmospheres encourage a free exchange of ideas and feelings, and provide employees with a safe environment (free from harm or consequences) in which to implement change” (Gilley, 2005, p. 44).
Other problems that could impact the success or failure in Saudi Arabia are the difficulties inherent in making change happen in a hierarchical management model. Since the 1980s this has been the judgement of most management academics and experts. A. Gilley placed much importance on the culture of an organization in predicting the success or failure of change. “An organization's response to change both drives and is influenced by its culture” (Gilley, 2005, p. 7). An organization needs to create and nurture a culture of change where change is not a bad move but one that leads to success; according to Gilley’s experiences she has observed that management is effective but on the other hand leadership is ineffective.
John Seely Brown, a former Xerox company chief scientist has emphasized in an interview with James A Euchner, editor of Research-Technology Management, “sense making and knowledge sharing cannot be separated” if a change has any hope of success. (Euchner, 2009, p. 8) Euchner (2009) agreed “We learn not only by doing but by sharing" (p. 8). The author of The Reflective Practice, Donald Schon (1983) also raised a challenge to the hierarchical model saying it was a trickle-down “theory of knowledge passing from academia to practice.” Euchner (2009) describes Schon’s change model as “reflection in action” which understands that “deep knowledge is also derived from practice, and that this knowledge complements theory” (Euchner, 2009, p. 8). The overall point is that sharing knowledge from the top-down is not enough. Knowledge can be shared from bottom-to-top and horizontally. Learning from another person’s experience is a valuable way to gain knowledge.
Kotter’s Eight Step Change Model
Many change models are published in the literature and some have been used with great success over many decades, but all models do not work for introducing every kind of change to all people. An appropriate change model needs to fit the type of change and the type of people who are being asked to change. A change model that could be successful for moving towards sustainability in Saudi Arabia could be Kotter’s Eight Step Change Management Model. John R. Kotter is the author of Leading Change which was published in 1996. Leading Change was an international bestseller as have other books on the subjects of change and leadership that Kotter has written.
Kotter is ‘chief innovation officer’ at Kotter International. His successes and his books have made him famous for his change management expertise. The role of Kotter International is to train leadership practices that will help leaders design and implement effective organizational strategies. Kotter (2011) has explained change management in an easy to understand way; change management objectives are to provide an environment for receiving the largest amount of benefits from change while at the same time minimizing any disruptions on employees and organizations. Kotter’s Eight Step Change Management Model is highly respected in academic circles and among Human Resource managers. Jerry W. Gilley is a professor in the Organizational and human Resource Management Department at the University of Iowa. J.W. Gilley and Maycunish, a professor at Colorado State who has taught consulting and communications, strategy and strategic management, published an academic paper about the problems Kotter designed his change model to overcome. J.W. Gilley and Maycunish (2000) listed problems that can sabotage the most well intentioned plans for change but lead to failure because the plan is (a) too costly, (b) the change plan does not gain the traction necessary to provide momentum, (c) a bad change model plan, (d) a plan that is more harmful than helpful and (e) not staying with the initial plan but adding or subtracting elements while the process is ongoing.
Kotter (1996) has demonstrated that eight wrong steps can guarantee failure; (a) too much complacency, (b) not having enough support from groups holding the necessary resources (and the power) to implement the change, (c) not incorporating visionary thinking, (d) not consistently and continually take advantage of communication as a tool to explain the vision, (e) ignoring or not dealing with obstacles to success as soon as they become apparent, (f) not recognizing and not celebrating short-term successes, (g) allowing a declaration of success too early, and (h) stopping the change project before the changes have deep roots in the culture. (p. 16) The category addressing supportive groups which Kotter called “building a coalition of agreement and excitement for change” is the extremely important concept of building a sense of urgency or as Kotter explained “organizations should establish a sense of urgency (for change) to gain needed cooperation” (Kotter 1996).
Challenges to Change in KSA
Susilawati and Al Surf (2011) have added a lot of insight for the importance of the public awareness of sustainability and the sharing of knowledge in KSA. Their research used an exploratory survey method focussed on “understanding the potential of the implementation of sustainable housing in Saudi Arabia” (p. 1). The survey was distributed to a targeted group of citizens in Saudi Arabia via the web because although the research was Saudi Arabian based the researchers were not in the country at the time of the research. The participants were all members of The Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE) with members who are architects, civil engineers, urban designers, and other professional fields dealing with the large variety of
engineering projects. Susilawati and Al Surf (2011) explained that the SCE was chosen because its members are from all the professional schools of engineering and because “all architects and urban designers are categorized as engineers in Saudi Arabia and are members” (p. 7).
The researchers concluded that helpful factors for implementing the change to sustainability include the fact that Saudi Arabia is a developing country, the rate of construction is very high and solar energy is abundant. The researchers suggest that “local materials and knowledge of how the historical buildings were built (must) be considered together” (Susilawati and Al Surf, 2011, p. 11). They also noted the importance of the government working together with engineering societies like the SCE so reasonable and appropriate legislation can be made. Susilawati and Al Surf (2011) strongly recommend the “understanding and knowledge of the community is (also) crucial to the successful implementation of the concept” (p. 11). Susilawati and Al Surf (2011) also highly recommended more research about public awareness be conducted especially about the large group of people who are renters.
Conclusion
Saudi Arabia needs to meet the challenge of changing to sustainable buildings and lifestyles for two essential reasons; the extreme heat and fresh water supplies must be appropriately managed for generations. There are few reasons to be pessimistic and many reasons to be optimistic because Saudi Arabia has an overabundance of solar energy and wind energy. These natural resources can be used to supply electricity to home and business air conditioning systems as well as power water treatment and water saving strategies. Perhaps most positive of all the factors are the historical traditions of building which can be revitalized with a modern face in order to bring a sustainable lifestyle to Saudi Arabia. The Kotter Eight Step Management Model was suggested for us to implement change in KSA. Changing to sustainable housing and living can easily be presented using the steps with Kotter’s method or another suitable change model that allow people to be creative and make choices that reflect their personal identity.
A home is a very important way to display a family’s values and status in KSA therefore those cultural elements of values and status in residential buildings should be respected. Sustainability is not a rigid concept; it is a concept that can easily be personalised based on the tastes of individuals, families and organizations. Although the idea of so many voices may sound like chaos to some managers; the ability to hear the opinions and desires of people needs to be learned. In that way no one will be left out of the change process. The more people who are invested and motivated to make the change to sustainability the more successful the enterprise will be. Giving more importance to the benefits of making the change to sustainability instead of focusing on the difficulties of implementing sustainability should not be difficult because the long term advantages of sustainable living will benefit future generations.
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