Leadership and Change Management
Introduction
The gap between designing a new organization on paper and bringing it into reality is the domain of organization change and development. Kurt Lewin, a famous social psychologist, once wrote that a social organism becomes understandable only after one attempt to change it. It often happens that management's awareness for a new organization design emerges only after the start of an intensive change process. And even if it were possible for an omniscient manager to develop a master blueprint before introducing organization change, it is doubtful that other employees would readily accept the new design or have the required skills for making the design work. For these reasons, managers need to be as skillful at handling the question of how to introduce change as they are in diagnosing what needs to be changed (Adams and Spencer, 1986).
This essay focuses on large-scale organization change, not on individual or small groups. The latter are obviously essential building blocks to organization change, but do not assure that a larger organizational unit will itself be transformed. Attention to additional variables beyond the individual and group is required in any organizational change, including such dimensions as multiple levels of authority, relationships between departments, environmental forces impinging on the organization, the climate of the organization, and the nature of the work flow that moves across departmental boundaries.
In this paper I will discuss the concept of leadership as I have understood from my experience of what I have seen in a professional service firm. I will also discuss the change management process and my role in it.
Objectives Of Organization Change
If one were to "step back" after observing a number of organization changes, a variety of goals would seem to be present. These goals may be explicit and written down, or they may be implied by the actions of management. On the surface, the most common goals can be categorized under such labels as higher performance, acceptance of new techniques, greater motivation, more innovation, increased cooperation, reduced turnover, and so forth. Organizational changes are frequently directed at one or more of these general goals.
Underlying these more obvious goals are usually two overarching objectives:
Changes in an organization's level of adaptation to its environment, and
Changes in the internal behavioral patterns of employees.
Organizations are continually struggling to adapt themselves better to their external environment. Because the management
Leading Change was named the top management book of the year by Management General. There are three major sections in this book. The first section is ¡§the change of problem and its solution¡¨ ; which discusses why firms fail. The second one is ¡§the eight-stage process¡¨ that deals with methods of performing changes. Lastly, ¡§implications for the twenty-first century¡¨ is discussed as the conclusion. The eight stages of process are as followed: (1) Establishing a sense of urgency. (2) Creating the guiding coalition. (3) Developing a vision and a strategy. (4) Communicating the change of vision. (5) Empowering employees for broad-based action. (6) Generating short-term wins. (7) Consolidating gains and producing more changes. (8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture.
Change is a double-edged sword (Fullan, 2001). Change is a word that might inspire or put fear into people. Leadership is challenging when it comes to dealing with change and how individuals react within the organization to the change. Marzano, McNulty, and Waters (2005) discuss two orders of change in their book School Leadership that Works; first and second. Fullan (2001) also adds to the discussion in his book Leading in a Culture of Change, with regard to understanding change. In Change Leadership, Keagan and Wagner (2006) discuss many factors of change and the systematic approach to change. Change affects people in different ways. Leaders need to be able to respond to the individuals throughout the change process.
Change is when a person does not follow their everyday routine. They may want to try something different, or be forced to. Change can be for the good and the bad. Places can deal with change ranging from the weather, to the animals present, or the seasons changing. Also, objects can deal with change too. Objects like an iceberg can start to melt, or a forest fire can kill many trees in an area. As a human, we are the ones deciding on change. We are in a position to make big decisions and possibly even become a leader in order for change to happen. If one person starts to change, others will follow and hopefully, the change benefits all.
Kanter, R.M., Stein, B.A. and Jick, T.D. (1992) The Challenge of Organizational Change (New York: The FreePress).
Change is inevitable and bound to happen in all aspects of life including business. Although change is important in an organization, it can also be seen as a strength and weakness. Effective leadership is about mastering change. One must be willing to change in order to grow and be successful. This paper will compare and contrast Kotter and Kurt Lewin step in their change management models. Furthermore, it will elaborate on the concepts and explain whether these methods can be used at the same time. In addition, this paper will include a Christian worldview of the information discussed and how it relates to the change management models.
Leaders benefit from building a team to create and implement change, this is a key theme in the Kotter model of change. This teambuilding engages employees throughout the process. Allowing employees to be a part of the change process gives them the opportunity and trust to be creative moving toward the future (Cochrane, 2002). Leaders can create opportunity for employees and leaders to dialogue about the change, which can help troubleshoot the process. Leaders who engage employees throughout the organization from various levels of the organization will receive perspectives from the entire organization helping them make better-informed decisions. Employees want to be allowed the opportunity to help an organization they believe in, in a way that enhances the
Change is a fundamental element of individuals, groups and all sorts of organizations. As it is the case for individuals, groups and societies, where change is a continuous process, composed of an indefinite amount of smaller sub-changes that vary in effect and length, and is affected by all sorts of aspects and events, many of which cyclic are anticipated ones. It is also the case for organizations, where change occurs repeatedly during the life cycle of organizations. Yet change in organizations is not as anticipated nor as predictable, with unexpected internal and external variables and political forces that can further complicate the management of change (Andriopoulos, C. and P. Dawson, 2009), which is by itself, the focus of many scholars in their pursuit to shed light on and facilitate the change process (Kotter 1996; Levin 1947; et al).
Changing situations throughout the world affect all organizations in business today. Therefore, most organizations acknowledge the need to experience change and transformation in order to survive. The key challenges companies face are due to the advancements in technology, the social environment caused by globalization, the pace of competition, and the demands regarding customer expectations. It is difficult to overcome the obstacles involved with change despite all the articles, books, and publications devoted to the topic. People are naturally resistant to fundamental changes and often intimidated by the process; the old traditional patterns and methods are no longer effective.
3. Organizations must change in order to meet the needs of the changing workplace, environment, technology, and economy in order to be competitive. Change is good for an organization if it is done in a controlled and structured manner. Change is also risky because it is often met with resistance. For example, people may feel threatened and fear power loses and subsequently, resists the change. Change can also be ineffective if it is narrow and doesn’t concern itself with people and is over determined. In Enron’s case, the organization was constantly changing with no collective rhyme or reason.
The concept of leadership as a whole encompasses different explanations, theories and leadership styles and has been popular not only from the organizational perspective but in the educational and political context as well. This essay aims to address the key concepts of Transformational leadership which belongs to the more recent approach taken towards leadership.
The change process within any organization can prove to be difficult and very stressful, not only for the employees but also for the management team. Hayes (2014), highlights seven core activities that must take place in order for change to be effective: recognizing the need for change, diagnosing the change and formulating a future state, planning the desired change, implementing the strategies, sustaining the implemented change, managing all those involved and learning from the change. Individually, these steps are comprised of key actions and decisions that must be properly addressed in order to move on to the next step. This paper is going to examine how change managers manage the implementation of change and strategies used
The goal of organizational change management is to create a prosperous work environment through strategic change and applying those changes through the people side of management. Organizational change management is a branch of handling the outcome and strategies of new business processes, changes in organizational structure or cultural changes within a company. There are multiple components in understanding the techniques and goals of Organizational change management. The first part discussed will be on setting goals for an organization as it can be a complex process because if aimed too high, the goals will most likely not be attained and performance will deteriorate.
The idea of change is the most constant factor in business today and organisational change therefore plays a crucial role in this highly dynamic environment. It is defined as a company that is going through a transformation and is in a progressive step towards improving their existing capabilities. Organisational change is important as managers need to continue to commit and deliver today but must also think of changes that lie ahead tomorrow. This is a difficult task because management systems are design, and people are rewarded for stability. These two main factors will be discussed with reasons as to why organisational change is necessary for survival, but on the other hand why it is difficult to accomplish.
It is apparent that the only thing constant in business is change. Organizational change is often an overwhelming challenge for business leaders, managers and employees alike. The need for change may be the result of market shifts, economic environment, technology advancements or changing work force skill-set demands. Today Organizational change occurs for reasons that originate external to the organization (Chandler, 1996: Hannan & Freeman, 1984), as well as internal to the organization (Baker 1990: Prechel 1994). Thus, External constraints, internal constraints, resource dependency and increasingly growing competitive markets force organizations to change in order to maximize economic potential. Although organizational changes are usually a response in reaction to an event, companies and leaders should still expect to encounter issues. Organizations need to be more proactive and contingent on how to handle the problems that will inevitably come about. This will make the process of organizational change go smoothly as well as reduce resistance through proper management techniques. Resource dependency argues that both environmental and organizational constraints impact organizational change (Pfeffer & Salancik, 2003).
The world is constantly changing in many different ways. Whether it is technological or cultural change is present and inevitable. Organizations are not exempt from change. As a matter of fact, organizations have to change with the world and society in order to be successful. Organizations have to constantly incorporate change in order to have a competitive advantage and satisfy their customers. Organizations use change in order to learn and grow. However, change is not something that can happen in an organization overnight. It has to be thought through and planned. The General Model of Planned Change focuses on what processes are used by the organization to implement change. In the General Model of Planned Change, four steps are used in order to complete the process of change. Entering and Contracting, Diagnosing, Planning and Implementing, and Evaluating and Institutionalizing are the four steps used in order to complete the process of change in an organization. The diagnostic process is one of the most important activities in OD(Cummings, 2009, p. 30).