Introduction
Change is an integral component of successfully operating and sustaining a business. Ashland Inc., a Fortune 500 company, is no stranger to the problems and issues that arise in the struggle to achieve change within the organization. The company began in 1924 and had passed through multiple stages of change in order to become a company of an international scale . It steadily grew as it acquired various companies to gain strategic advantages in the market. The company has strived to follow a unified, efficient and low-cost structure to achieve success, as is mentioned in its mission statement. Honesty, integrity, innovation, responsibility are some of the values that the company follows.
Definition and Discussion on Change Management
Change management, in its essence refers to the strategy employed to ensure the incorporation of a planned and systematic change . It can be an important means of the planning, initiation realization and stabilization of the fundamental change processes that can be employed by the company in for long term or short-term purposes. In order to remain competitive and sustainable within one’s industry, it is important for the company implement change effectively. In order to achieve this, an effective change management plan is critical for a company.
Background of the Case
Ashland Inc., since its inception, had strived to incorporate multiple changes to its operations, scope, business structure, and activities. The company, although managed to become rather successful, it still faced numerous discrepancies and issues regarding the new strategies, plans and operating systems that were incorporated in the organization. The business underwent a resource group restructuring exercise during the years 1998-2003. The discrepancies caused unwanted employee turnover and reduced performance. The organization initiated a change management plan to overcome such change management issues. The plan included a training curriculum that focused on building the competencies of the managers, supervisors and other employees. Resistance to change was an important issue in the implementation of the change strategy of the company.
Objective of the Assignment
The objective of the assignment is to understand the successfulness and appropriateness of the change management strategy that was employed by Ashland Inc. Recommendations for the better implementation of the present as well as future change strategies will also be provided in this paper. In addition, to this development of an innovative plan for the company is also included in the objectives of the discussion.
Ashland’s Evolution in Change Management Efforts
Change management needs to be effective to attain maximum outcomes of the implementation. However, it is noted that the changes must be identified and well planned before the implementation phase. In the case of Ashland’s change management programs, there seems certain lacking that would have affected the success of the change implementation. Since its inception, the company has been focused on providing quality products and services based on its innovative approaches to achieving the company’s objectives. Besides, there has been a considerable role of an Executive layer of the company in the decision-making process regarding change management. The progress of Company’s change management reflects that the management has been involved in adopting small and larger changes as well. The company has adopted several periodic mergers and implemented various change management programs. However, the outcomes were not as expected as the need of change was not rationalized all across the organization. The change leaders’ involvement in mergers and other change management programs was just focused on maintaining their business traction and their post integration rather than maintaining the impacts of change all across the organization.
Change is vital to sustain organizational competitiveness in the market. It is aligned with the understanding of its need within the organizational environment. If the organization lacks in accepting the needs of change, the implementation results in worsening the existing conditions. In the case of Ashland Inc., the need for change could have been demonstrated to the employees at all the levels. The change management programs require hierarchical strategies of developing readiness for change among the employees and the managers. Before the implementation of change, the overall impact of the change must be analyzed in both the aspects of organizational success and the employees’ acceptance. If the management of Ashland had acknowledged the employees’ and staff’s concerns proficiently, the risks of change would be lowered. Although the return on investment (ROI) was desirable, the organization is lacking in effective leadership development yielded ineffective outcomes. The intense level of vigilance and prudence must be assured to avoid the chances of disruptive outcomes of change management programs. The business transitions seem daunting in certain conditions of change management programs that result in hassle effects. Therefore, the change must have the leverage of innovations and advancements along with the contribution of all the employees in the decision-making process.
Recommendations for Change Implementation
Although the organization’s approach to implementing change reflects the attainment of competitiveness in the market, the management team must have acquired the changes strategically. The overall process must be aligned with the long-term organizational objectives, incorporating the equal contribution of all the stakeholders and shareholders. In order to eradicate the chances of failure in change implementation, it must be ensured that the whole organization realizes the worth of change and its need for the success of the organization. Everyone must comprehend the urgency of the change as a motivating factor. Once the employees at all the levels are ready for adopting the change, it yields positive outcomes of the change implementation. Therefore, employees’ training sessions and workshops and other seminars must be arranged to make them realize the significance of change within an organization, and the value of their participation and contribution towards organizational success.
Ashland’s Future Strategic Direction
The success of Ashland Inc. depends upon the strategic approach of its change leaders to lead the organization towards thriving success. The overall process of change requires gradual advancement in executing the step of change management programs. Before implementing or even settling the alleged plan, the change leaders must persuade the key stakeholders for change along with examining the opportunities, identifying the threats, and carrying out convincing discussions with the employees in the decision-making process as well (Goetsch & Davis, 2014; Wagner III & Hollenbeck, 2014). More specifically, the company’s vision must be established, and the values of the organizations are aligned with the change. Meanwhile, the inadequacy of the employees to cope with the needs of change implementation must be catered by facilitating them with the training sessions and workshops.
In addition to this, the overall process must incorporate the employees’ participation along with periodically reviewing the progress of the plan and the performance appraisal strategies as well to keep them motivated and passionate. In the meantime, the periodic evaluation of the change management plan will also assist the change leaders in modifying the plan accordingly. In certain cases, the adopted plan may result in inappropriate outcomes affecting the viability of the system; therefore, modification of the plan will be effective in eradicating the possible risks of implementation of the plan.
More specifically, Ashland’s management must ensure that the organization is focused on the achievement of long-term goals so that the sustained competitiveness may expand the vision. The employees at all the levels must be ready for accepting the need for change and adopt innovative approaches and strategies for making their organization successful among the competitors. Consequently, the implementation of change will assist the Ashland Inc. through collaborative efforts of all the employees along with equipping the leaders and managers with the crucial expertise to achieve seamless outcomes.
Discussion of Theoretical Models and Approaches
There are multiple models of change that are practiced and applied throughout the business organizations of the world. Some of these theoretical models of change include the John Kotter’s 8 Step Process for Leading change, Lewin/Schein Theory of Change, and the Deming cycle of Plan-Do-Check-Act, etc.
In Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model, the organization begins to implement change in the structure and employees by creating a sense of urgency and a coalition in the workforce . These are followed by developing a vision, its communication and empowering of action in the employees. After generation of company and employee wins and consolidating their gains, the new approaches can be anchored in the organizational structure.
According to the Lewin/Schein Theory of Change, an organization needs to go through three stages of change to implement proper change in the organization . These include the stages of unfreezing, change and refreezing. Where the first stage motivates the change, the second stage makes the change, and the third stage involves sustaining the achieved change in the organization.
The third model of change under consideration is that of the Deming Cycle. The Deming cycle involves the stages of the plan, do, check and act. “Plan” stage requires insight into what needs to be achieved, how and where . The “Do” stage requires acting on the plan and monitoring the results. “Check” includes and analyzes of the effectiveness and “Act” involve reinforcement of positive action and behaviors in the cycle.
In addition to these models, several other approaches may also be utilized. It depends on the management of the company to decide which model or theory needs to be implemented in the organization. It has been argued that Kotter’s model is still highly practical despite the fact that it was introduced in 1996 .
Comparison
The approach that has been suggested for the company under consideration is that of Kotter’s 8 Step Model. The history of change management in Ashland Chemical can be observed by the fact that the company adopted a haphazard approach to the incorporation of change in the company. The organization suffered from a lack of understanding in what it meant to be a change leader and did not create a sense of urgency or coalition in the company. However, Kotter’s 8 Step Model suggests that the employees are taken on board while deciding on a plan of action and change leaders can be designated. A sense of urgency and communication between the employees should be built at all levels of the organization . Similarly, the management at Ashland Inc. did not consider resistance to change as part of the change implementation process where is Kotter considered it a vital element in his 8 step Process.
Innovative Plan for Continuous Change Management
Conclusion
Thus, it can be observed that Ashland Inc., although strived to achieve effective change management, it struggled considerably with its implementation and effectiveness. Numerous hindrances arose which negatively impacted the effectiveness of its change management program. The change management strategy that has been suggested above, in coordination with Kotter’s 8-step management plan, would serve the organization well in terms of implementing and sustaining the organizational change in the business. Consequently, the organization will attain sustained competitiveness in the market by recognizing the value of employees’ participation at all levels. More specifically, the periodic evaluation of the change management plan will enhance the success rate of the organization.
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