Synopsis
This submission begins by proving a general background to change and the change process. The introduction also details the environment in which the twenty first century organization operates in and how it determines or influences the change process. The submission also discusses the central role that the management plays in providing leadership in organizational change triggered or influenced by various factors such as technology, globalization, environmental concerns and the growing knowledge of the workforce. The submission also provides various examples to illustrate the key role of the management in providing leadership in organizational change. The submission highlights the case of Kodak Company as a classic case where the management failed to provide proper leadership to achieve successful organizational change with the end result that the company had to be wound up. The submission then concludes by restating the central argument of the article which is that the primary task of the management today is the leadership of organizational change.
Management of Change and Sustainability
It has been said that the only permanent thing in life is change itself. Put differently, almost everything is always in a constant state of change. Indeed, there is a lot of credence to this statement especially with regard to organizations. From the very onset, organizations are comprised of people. People are always changing in one way or the other. The net effect of all these individual changes is that they may have an effect however minimal on the organization. This perhaps provides an instance of organizational change. A more poignant illustration of organizational change could be provided by the events happening in most organizations in the twenty first century. The twenty first century organization is faced with a number of both internal and external factors that necessitate the organization to constantly be in a state of change so as to continue thriving. However, this change has to be managed. It must be managed successfully if the organization is to emerge unscathed from the change process. The responsibility of managing such change rests with the management of the various organizations concerned. Therefore, it follows that the primary task for management today is the leadership of organizational change. This submission thus proceeds to argue out this position by advancing arguments on the role of the management in providing leadership in organizational change as well as providing relevant examples.
Organizational change can simply be defined as the adoption of new practices, a new way of doing things or a new culture within an organization. The end result of such an adoption process is that the organization no longer operates in the same manner it used to operate before with regard to certain activities. Organizational change can be triggered by both internal and external factors. However, irrespective of the causative factors, the management of the organization must rise to the occasion and provide leadership during the organizational change process. Indeed, the importance of this task can neither be understated nor overemphasized in a twenty first century world which is highly dynamic. If there is no leadership in managing organizational change, the end results may be catastrophic. The organization may find it is unable to survive in the new terrain and may ultimately be wound up. All these will have resulted from failure by the management to provide leadership in organizational change. It may well be the case that any other management functions ought to be viewed in light of management’s role to provide leadership in organizational change as any failure to effectively play these role may eventually render the other roles that the management plays redundant.
Unlike the industrial age where the focus of most organizations was more production, in the knowledge age, organizations must seek much more than just production. They must keep up with the changing trends of the consumers of the organization’s products and services. In other words, the organization must be flexible enough to readily adapt to changes in its operating environment. The management must be in the forefront in identifying such areas of change. Consequently, they must plan ahead and ensure that such plans are implemented successfully if the organization is to remain relevant. The management must seek to and continuously monitor any changes taking place in its environment. They must also take cognizance of any changes taking place in the industry generally. This should be done with the principal aim of successfully bringing and implementing these changes in the organization so that the organization is able to remain ahead of its competitors. Management teams, which continually engage in such practices, will enable their organizations to always have a competitive advantage in the industry in which they operate. This will in turn result to increased profits, stable jobs for the organization’s employees and increased longevity and staying power of the organization.
One of most common forces of change in many organizations today is the multicultural nature of the workforce. Indeed, long gone are the days when organizations would restrict themselves to only hiring from persons of one particular race, culture or nationality. On the contrary, most organizations today are comprised of persons from different countries and different cultures. With most organizations increasing expanding across borders and continents, the need to employ persons who subscribe to different cultures has also arisen. Of course, there is the option of the organization bringing in employees from its parent country to work in its outstations. However, this comes with a risk which such an organization would be well adviced to avoid. The risk is that while such employees may have the necessary skills for their job, they lack an understanding of the new environment in which they are to work and thus cannot effectively apply their skills there. The end result may be a total collapse of the operations of the organization in the new country where it had pitched tent. The whole concept of going multinational is itself a process of organizational change. In this respect, the management has a key role to play in the leadership of organizational change. The management must ensure that while the persons from different cultures and nationalities are integrated into the organization, the organization does not lose its core values and way of doing things. The organization must retain its identity. As organizations can no longer thrive simply on a homogenous workforce, it is for the management to provide leadership in the organizational change process of integrating persons from diverse backgrounds into the organization. If done effectively, then the organization may gain in two key ways. First, it will be able to attract and retain skilled persons from all backgrounds thus successfully operate in new environments. Secondly, the organizations will retain its identity even as it develops global footprints.
Technology has had a profound effect in the way organizations today operate. Indeed, there are numerous examples of organizations which have gone under simply because they failed to read the warning signs early and embrace technology. A case in point is the Kodak Company which despite pioneering the field of digital photography, still stuck to paper photography. The end result was that it had to be wound up as the world moved full steam towards digital technology. The Kodak Company case provides a clear example of how technology can affect the very core of the organization. This calls for management to provide leadership in the area of technology as it is an area which any organization that seeks to be successful in the twenty first century must confront. Indeed, any organization which seeks to be successful in today’s world must go beyond confronting technology to embracing it. However, the embracing of technology in an organization can be a very delicate process and this is where the management is called upon to provide leadership in the organizational change process of introducing new technology. The management must ensure that the organization acquires the correct technology for its operations. Secondly, the management must effectively plan for the introduction of the new technology as this will enable the organization to deal with such issues as employee redundancy that may arise as a result of the new technology.
Most organizations today operate in a highly competitive environment. This competitive environment may arise because many organizations are providing similar products and services. It may also arise due to the availability of substitute products. In other words, a consumer who has the purchasing power is spoilt for choice due to the various options available in the market. It therefore follows that in such an environment of heightened competition, the only organizations which will emerge successful are the ones that can change is response to the competition. The response to the competition is usually spearheaded by the management. Consequently, the management must provide the required leadership in the organizational change processes that are necessitated by an organization’s response to its competition. It goes without question that an organization, which fails to effectively respond to competition, will ultimately be would up as the competitors will take away the clients of such an organization. However, the response to the completion must be well planned and reasoned out before execution. This is principally because such a response may involve fundamental changes in the organization and thus the change process must be carefully steered. In leading the organizational change during such times, the management must ensure that the change takes place gradually but at a pace which is fast enough so as to ensure that the organization does not lose out to its competitors. The management must also ensure that the change process in response to competition is handled in such a way that takes into account various competing interests which may be at stake. In providing the required leadership, the management must see to it that even in the change process; it establishes and maintains a balancing act between the various competing interests.
Environmental concerns also have a great bearing on the operations of most organizations today. For instance, organizations must be sensitive to the issue of environmental pollution and such other matters as global warming. Indeed, organizations can no longer ignore environmental concerns raised by various stakeholders and any organizations which do so will only have themselves to blame when they find it increasingly difficult to operate in an environment which will have become hostile to them. Taking into account environmental concerns may involve a degree of organizational change in certain respects. For instance, an organization may cease the production of a particular product because of concerns that it is a pollutant of the environment. A different scenario may arise where an organization is forced to change the processes employed in the production of particular products due to environmental concerns. This may often come at a great cost to the organization but more often than not, it is a cost which the organization has no choice but to bear. These two examples provide illustrations of how environmental concerns can trigger or influence organizational change. Yet again, it is the responsibility of the management to provide leadership in the organizational change process arising from environmental concerns. The management must be able to map out strategies that will ensure that as the process of organizational change is taking place, the environmental concerns of various stakeholders are taken into account fully. They must also balance these concerns with the best interest of the organization. Indeed, for successful organizational change, they must straddle the fine divide between the environmental concerns of various stakeholders and the best interest of the organization.
In conclusion, this submission contends that despite the various roles that the management of any organization plays, the central role of the management today, as illustrated in the discussion above, is the leadership of organizational change. Indeed, all other roles and duties of the management flow from this primary task of managing organizational change.
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