Introduction
Medicine
Organizations operate in an unpredictable environment characterised with price fluctuations, change in consumer behavior and legal provisions. In order to cope with challenges accruing from these changes, organizations need to implement effective measures to counteract the same. This implies that change is inevitable and that any organization desiring to transform into learning and dynamic organization should be ready to change. The rate at which organization need to change has increased steadily in the last few years especially with the advancement of science and technology coupled with the emergence of the computer era. Many organization have integrated technology in their production process and management system so that to improve productivity and efficiency. This move has also led to stiff competition in the business arena. Studies affirm that organizations, which survive and prosper, in such an environment posses effective coping mechanism and are ready for change (French, Bell, & Zawacki, 2000). This implies that change is inevitable, and any organization striving for high returns ought to embrace change and technology. In this case, wells Clinical Research Institute is no exemptions as it needs to advance it's data management software program. Previous studies affirm that technology is changing at an alarming rate and remains relevant over a short period. In order for Well clinical Research Institute to remain competitive and effective, it should be ready to change it's data management software program.
Discussion
John Kotter's Eight Steps for Leading Organizational Change
John Kotter is a prominent American author who has written many books on organization change management. In his famous book “The Heart of Change”, John proposed eight steps model that is useful in managing organization change. Well Clinical Research Institute should implement this model to manage change.
Step 1: Increase Urgency
Before commencing a change plan, there is the need to overcome internal and external forces that affect the process. This involves changing peoples’ thoughts, attitude and ideas and showing them that a paradigm shift need to take place. This move motivates people to accept, embrace and implement change. It also entails challenging the status quo, selling change ideas to other people and clarifying doubts and concern in peoples’ mind. As a Director, I will educate other employees change objectives, outcome of the change, strategies to achieve it and reasons why a new data management soft program is effective than the old one.
Step 2: Building a guiding team
Change cannot be realized unless a guiding team is established. This entails looking for change agents with relevant skills and knowledge to spearhead the entire implementation process (Kotter, 2012). Change agents carry the vision, mission and objectives of the change plan and disseminate it to other employees. In this case, every sub-department will have a guiding team leader to mobilize others and resources aimed at installing a new management program in the organization.
Step 3: Have a clear vision
Change should be an objective- oriented plan geared towards improving productivity and efficiency. The success of the plan depends on setting a clear visionary, strategy that provides guiding teams avenues to explore their potential. The teams may use a different approach to achieve their assigned goal and objective but focus on the plan vision. This will ensure that they maintain the course and achieve a desirable outcome.
Step 4: Communicate for Buy-in
Many parties in the organization should take part in change implementation process. Both junior and senior employees should be involved in decision making process. This move makes feel valued, appreciated and obliged to the change process. It promotes sustainability of change plan because all employees are regarded part and parcel of the process. In this case, an open-door policy should be implemented to facilitate the exchange of ideas between managers and employees.
Step 5: Empower action
Employees should be empowered with relevant skills and knowledge aimed at spearheading change process. Performance appraisal and reward system will be invented to recognize efforts of each employee in the organization. Seminars, field trips and vocational training will be organized to empower all stakeholders with the necessary expertise skills.
Step 6: Set short term wins
As a Director, there is the need to resize objectives and goals of a change plan into small and manageable parts. Goals and objectives that are easy to achieve should be enlisted first in the plan before proceeding to complex tasks. This motivates employees to forge ahead, devote their effort and become more focused. This implies that a change should be introduced sequential and not imposed on the people (“Change Management,” 2012).
Step 7: Do not let up
There are many obstacles bound to affect change implementation process but, one should be determined to forge ahead. As a Director one need, to motivate and encourage others despite recorded unpleasant outcome in other sections. Assessment and evaluation process should be done regularly to establish failures and successes achieved.
Step 8: Make change stick
There is a need to foster sustainability through recruiting new members into the organization. This helps to diverse skills and knowledge thus facilitating change process. Promotion should be accorded to hardworking employees coupled with provision of gifts. Employee with leadership skills should be appointed to lead others and deliver quality work. As a Director, all involve parties have an equal chance to be promoted thus promoting a culture of creativity and innovativeness.
Kurt Lewin's Change Model
Kurt Lewin is a social scientists and physicist who proposed a free stage change model in 1947. This model remains relevant until today. In his model, change plan involves three key steps namely; unfreezing, change and freezing. Freezing involves the act of challenging status quo, beliefs and attitudes, setting motivation and overcoming inertia forces within the organization. Change process involves transforming ideas into action. Time plan and communication propel this stage as people work towards achieving the goals. Freezing stage involves the unrest state caused by unfreezing stage. It entails restoring things momentarily so that people can celebrate, understand change direction and anchor a new culture. Although Kurt Lewin model provides this provision; it fails to apply a holistic approach change implementation as in the case of John Kotters model.
In conclusion, Wells Clinical Research Institute ought to install a new management software program so that to remain competitive. Since change is inevitable, the director should apply John Kotters change model as it integrates many involved parties. Similarly, it is sustainable because it employees’ own the change and work towards fulfil the organization objective.
References
French, W. L., Bell, C., & Zawacki, R. A. (2000). Organization development and transformation: managing effective change (5th ed.). Boston: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
“Change Management” (2012). Business Balls. Retrieved from http://www.businessballs.com/changemanagement.htm
