Organizational Change Management Paper Example

Introduction

Over the years, there have been massive changes in the management of organizations, especially business, which have seen continuous development in their operations. One of the areas where change has been consistent is technology; an ingredient that businesses cannot operate without. These continuous changes have resulted to decision makers in the organizations to initiate change management in the bid to deal with these changes in the operations. Ideally, most organizations in the global business are in constant flux as they attempt to deal with the fast-moving external business environment, as well as the advancement of local and global economies and the challenging technological advancement, as already mentioned. The implication of this flux is that change management has to be initiated so that the organization remains relevant and competitive in the market. To understand this phenomenon, this study delves into bringing some of the changes that have occurred in business organization and the different types of management theories and practices that have evolved over the years.

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Organizational Change Management

Organizational change usually arises when a company makes a transition from its current state to another for the purposes of upgrading its operations. Managing organizational change can be referred to the process of planning and implementing changes so that maximize productivity and profitability (Caraman, 2015). The dynamics of today's business environment requires organizations and business to carry out changes almost constantly so as to maintain their relevance in the market and to increase their competitive market. Factors such as globalization of markets and the constant evolution of technology, as well as the corporate population, are some of the factors that prompt businesses to respond accordingly in order to stay sustainable. It is vital to note that all these areas are related and companies must institute a change in all areas of their operation because of this relatedness (Topping, Duhon and Bushardt, 2006). Strategic change is arguably the first change that needs to be initiated in a company and can be done on the large or small scale. For instance, large-scale strategic change can occur when a company shifts its resources in order to enter into a new line of business, and small-scale strategic change can occur when a company makes changes in its productivity in order to reduce the cost of production (Aramburu, Saenz and Rivera, 2006). Technological changes are often initiated as components of larger strategic changes, although they can occur on their own. It is important to determine who the change of technology would threaten. For technological changes to be successful, then it is essential that they are incorporated into the company's overall systems and a management structure instituted for its support. Changes in the company's population of people can become necessary as a result of other changes, or in the event that a company seeks a change in personnel or their attitude to work and behaviors in the bid to increase their effectiveness and productivity in their roles in the organization. It is certain that changes in the population of the company are almost the hardest and the most important for the organization.

Organizational change is very vital in order to survive in a competitive market along with continued innovations of new products. Organizations are required to adopt new strategies that in line with new developments and dynamics of the market if they are to remain sustainable and competitive, even with enhanced competition (Aramburu, Saenz and Rivera, 2006). Redesigning of an organization in terms of its operations as already mentioned is not easy, but only the successful of redesigning generates value. The procedure of organizational change requires a clear communication between the stakeholders so that it does not become cumbersome and out of order, hence become a risky endeavor for the organization.

History and Application of Organizational Development Theory

Organizational development can be traced back to the 1890s and are influenced by the behavior of an employee and the working environment. Further research on the subject has provided valuable tools for the assessment of organizational change. Rapid changes in an organization and the complexities of the working environment are meant to bring in new experiences and knowledge for the policies of the organization for the required transformation. There are key concepts in development theory that need to be mastered (Berdayes, 2002). One of these key elements is the organizational climate which is generally the mood at the organization. The collective behavior and the attitudes provide the approach to the organizational climate. It should be noted that the different qualities of the employees, the quality of their service, management styles and other qualities are some of the factors that affect the climate of an organization (Francis, 2003). Another key concept of organization development theory is organizational strategies, which are depended on the negotiation and research with four steps. The first step is the diagnosis, which helps the organization to identify the resistance to the change, which can then hinder the effectiveness of the changes. The other step is action planning, which is based on the first step of diagnosis. Planning assesses different change strategies before the actual implementation (Berdayes, 2002). The other steps are intervention and evaluation, which refer to monitoring the change programs and tracing the implemented efforts for change implementation respectively. The evolution of change management can be traced back to more than a century ago, but its progress in this study will be looked into from the Lewin's change model, who in 1951 introduced three stages for change in an organization and which continues to be the basis for the implementation of changes in an organization today.

As also mentioned in this study, organizations must change in order to survive in the market and ward of continued competition. A successful evolution of companies is replicated in their success in the market. Comprehension of the evolution of an organization for both the stability and profitability requires that the transformation would ensure that the organization does not succumb to stagnation its operations (Ansari and Bell, 2009). Over the years, the transformation of an organization has been explained by a number of views that depict how the understanding of the revolution of organizations has been over the years. The traditional view of organizational evolution is one of the ways that that depict the strides that have been made to understand the progression of organizations over the years. On the historical point of view, the reigning paradigm that encouraged mass production of good had reached its peak after the World War II, but soon after quality-oriented productions in organ9ization boomed which steered some of the developing markets into the global limelight (Francis, 2003). Management can, therefore, to be traced to the times of profession of arms since the history of the world is the history of public administration. Organizational skills then gradually developed out of war management and they also constitute to the basic elements of all administrative processes. During those times a greater emphasis was placed on the hierarchy, staff, and personnel in general, logistics and communications, all of which were highly developed by the ancient armies.

There are many paradigms that can be used to explain the evolution of management, although it can arguably be said that it started when men grouped themselves during civilization. History recordings stipulate that strong men organized themselves into groups, which were determined by their intelligence, physical and mental capabilities as well (Gover and Duxbury, 2012). Ancient Greece is the prerequisite of the emanation of recognized principles of management, due to the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church and the organization of the military forces. This effectively implies that organization and management have been in existence in one way or another in different parts of the world since the beginning of civilization. The rise of industrial revolution meant that management and organization would undergo a significant change to accommodate various changes and functions of the institutions. At this point, it was necessary that a formal theory of management was developed. The traditional management or the authoritarian mode of management was the initial one, a classic model that was used in military governance (Ansari and Bell, 2009). A manager who leads under the traditional or authoritarian doctrine places a great value on the adherence of order in the organization, precision in the dealings, and consistency in the execution of duties as well as obedience. According to them, the power that flows from the structure is supreme and should not bend by anyone within the organization. Further, the relationships that are established under such doctrine are hierarchical and are based on dominance and dependence on the authority.

Organizational Theories

The other development on organization and management was the principles approach to management, which was a pivotal part since it sought to bring the science of what was considered just an art. This ideally led to what would be referred to as the organization theory. The organization theory seeks to explain how different groups and individuals in an organization behave. This is extremely paramount information for any manager, as they seek to design ways of improving the functionality of the organization (Ansari and Bell, 2009). It is vital to note that organizational there was in existence even in the authoritarian model of management which was offered by the military. Although its significance could not be found during those ancient times, the rise of industries and civilization was the force behind the development of the organizational theory. The organizational theory attempts to draw from numerous bodies of knowledge and disciplines and some of the organizational theories that explain how the understanding of the organization has evolved over the years. Some of the perspectives exhibiting variations of the organizational theory have views that can be categorized as both modern and postmodern.

Classical Organizational Theory

Classical organization theory is the first one to be developed, as its name suggests and still continues to be base of all the other schools of organizational theory. Albeit its traditional nature, its tenets and the assumptions thereof, which were primarily built on the industrial revolution of the 1700s and the available professions of mechanical engineering, industrial engineering as well as economics have never changed (Caraman, 2015). These tenets wee only added upon, refined and restructured by the scholars, so that they were made more sophisticated. This, therefore, implies that the comprehension of the classical organizational theory has helped the formulation of the other concepts, and it is essential not only because of its historical background but because of the other stem their knowledge from it. One of the provisions of this theory is that it focuses primarily on the efficiency and the productivity of the employees and does not consider the cultural dimensions of the employees such as their behavioral attributes. Another characteristic of this theory is that it is a combination of scientific management, the administrative theory, and the bureaucratic theory (Caraman, 2015). Ideally, scientific management aims at optimally obtaining equipment and workforce and then scrutinizing carefull...