1.1Discuss the background to change that exists in today

8/7/2019 1.1Discuss the background to change that exists in today

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Yagya Raj Gurung 2009

Managing change in organizations Page 0

Table of contents

Contents

Acknowledgement

1. Explore the background to change affecting the current organization

1.1 Discuss the background to change that exists in todays economy............................................... 3

1.2 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of bureaucratic organization...........................................5

1.3 Compare alternative forms of organization development.................................... ............................. 8

2. Develop systems for understanding and involving others in the process of change

2.1 Develop systems to involve appropriate stakeholders in the introduction of change................12

2.2 Analyse and evaluate these systems............................................................................................... .14

3. Plan to implement models for ensuring ongoing change ongoing

3.1 Develop and adapt appropriate models for change........................................................................ 17

3.2 Plan the implementation process and outcome............................................................................. 19

4. Bibliography....................................... ......................................................................................................21


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Acknowledgement

At first I convey my deep sense of gratitude and sincere indebtedness to my project

supervisor Mrs. Areeba Zafar, lecturer, EThames Graduate School, 277 Cranbrook

Road, Ilford for providing me with valuable guidance during this research endeavor

through development of ideas, invaluable comment and suggestions. It was a great

pleasure for me to work with him.

I would also like to gratefully acknowledge the management of this college fortheir

technical support and providing sufficient resources to study thi s project.

I am especially indebted to my friend Tapas and Chitrasen Gaikwad who helped me

very generously all through my project. Theirthoughtful suggestion and views helped

me to complete the project. Last but not the least would like to thank all my

colleagues and friends who supported completing this project.

Yagya Raj Gurung


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1. Explore the background to change affecting

the current organization


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Discuss the background to change that exists

in todays economy

Atthe very first beginning of human civilization people used to share their

things according to their needs and necessity. For an instance, a person who

needed 1kg of corns has to exchange with the otherthings which he has in

sufficient amount with his neighbour or any person in their locality. This

system of exchanging things according to their needs and necessity was

called barter system. Ages after ages this system has been transformed into a

system called business.

Business is a system of giving and taking for instead. The only difference with

the barter system is the cash. Cash is the common between people in

business. People give cash and buy whateverthey need. Many researches

and development have been undertaken forthe sake of busin ess and it is still

in progress. Comparing to the developing stage after human civilization

people have started organization, industries and many business firms and

projects forthe human survival and balancing the whole world through

business. Previously business used to be the means of communication

between different countries. They u sed to exchange theirthings whatthey are

rich in, with the other country.

When we look back to the human history of business, human needs have

been changing with the time and only those organizations has survived who

changed with the changing environment and those organizations which could

not adaptthe change has extinct long time ago. Even today we see many big

renowned organisations have been shut down due to this only reason.

When Discussing aboutthe background oftodays business and organization,Frederick W. Taylor who is remembered as the father of scientific

management deeply committed to the study and understanding of work and

the improvement of worker efficiency. He always beli eved in maximal worker

productivity that is workers specialization in one job. Later Henry L. Gantt

supported Taylor and continued his idea by introducing rewarding employees


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to increase their efficiency. According to Montana and Charnov (2000), in

1929 Henry Fayol developed an administrative theory in which he

differentiated the managerial and supervisory level giving more status and

recognition. Those all discussed above was called classical approach of

business.

Later in early 20 th century between 1927 and 1932 some social scientists

developed a different approach called behavioural school of management

theory.

Elton mayo, an Australian social scientist at University of Pennsylvania

discarded Taylors principle. After many surveys over Taylors principl e in

practice, he concluded the workers were unhappy and employee turnover was

over 250 percent per year. He believed that employees neednotonly build

production oriented efficiency, but also to address the social values of the

organization and its employees. There should be a familiar relation between

workers and the managers.

Then later Douglas McGregor came up with his renowned Theory X and

Theory Y of motivation. The work of Montana and Charnov (2000b) explains

the two theories by McGregor have the conceptualization of the different

philosophical cultures regarding worker nature. Theory x defines the negative

part ofthe view of the employees whereas; theory Y explains the optimistic

view of employees. In practice this theory increased the personal growth,

work performance and improved the productivity as well.

This behavioural approach had a strong impact on managementthought.

Then there evolved management science approach in mid 20th century

which believes that productivity of any business a nd organization can be

effectively increased by means of scientific method and mathematical models.

It was then successful in solving complex production problem.

Later it was criticised for its focus in production and workers.

There evolved a contingency approach which defines no any specific

methods or techniques for the problems in an organization. This approach

believes thatthe needs of any particular situation find outthe best approach

to the organization problem.


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To sum up, we see from the above an alysis of management studies and

strategies that theorists and socialists always try to come with a new

technique and idea to cope with the never lasting change in environment.

1.2 Evaluation of the strength and weaknesses ofbureaucratic organizations

Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulations in place to control activity,

usually in large organizations and government. It is represented by standardized

procedure that dictates the execution of most or all processes within the body, formal

division of powers, hierarchy, and relationships. In practice, large scale organizations

follow certain rules and policies and regulates from top to bottom to achieve their

goal and they are called bureaucratic organizations. In contrast, there is a

management system called democratic which has completely opposite style in the

way to achieve the objectives.

Bureaucratic organizations have several peculiar principles of achieving goal rather

than in democratic organizations which are listed below:

y Due to its well hierarchy of positions and responsibilities, the business is

conducted in a flow from higher level to the bottom

y The rules and regulations are strict

y the roles and responsibilities are well assigned according to the posts

y all the resources belong to the organization and they are never personal

National army of every country is the best example of a bureaucratic type. Most of

the government organizations, corporations, NGOs, hospitals and schools are some

ofthe most known bureaucratic organization.

Today we are going to discuss about the strengths and disadvantages of the

bureaucratic type of organizations in the present context ofthe economy

Strengths of bureaucratic organization

Specialization:


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In a bureaucratic organization, every employees are specialized in their

job which they are assigned in order getthe perfection in the productivity though this

is generally criticized by many economists because in my opinion, people doing

variety of job can lead to the imperfections and this may affectthe goal achievement.

Thus specialization plays a very important role in the development of any

organizations.

Proper line of authority:

This type of organization has a special feature that is called the proper

line of authority. This means thatthere is a flow of authority from top level to bottom

level which is a very effective factor to reduce the inefficiency and to maintain the

standard ofthe business.

Impersonality and non interference

Since the hierarchy is well defined, the orders and the decisions are

taken by the personnel at higher, the impartiality and non interference are the good

consequences of this type of organization. There is no any concern with the other

parties ratherthan the official and which fits the rules ofthe office.

Employment and job security

The post and promotions of the individual is well defined in the

bureaucratic organization. The qualification and the experience is the most important

to be in the post. The higherthe qualification and experience, higher is the post and

also the salary where the other type of organization lacks this benefit for the

employees. There is a full guarantee for not losing their job while in a democratic

type of organization there is no any guarantee of job security. The salaries are also

high paid and therefore the employees are supposed to be loyal and sincere to their

job.

Weaknesses of bureaucratic organization

Motivation

There are different types of employees and they have different style of

performing their job. Some people dont wantto take orders from their superiors and


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they like freedom in their job. This organization lacks to motivate such type of people

and this can affectthe productivity.

Predefined rules and regulations

Some employees are demotivated due to the strict and pre defined rules

and regulations because they are fed up with doing the same job and taking orders

and complain from the superiors. This can be another factor to reduce the

productivity the organization.

Managing behaviour

We can see the same type of behaviour all the time in a bureaucratic

organization. The change is seldom seen in such organization. The managing

behaviour is same all the time so it may not be sometime easierto compete with the

competitors and which can resultto a loss forthe organization.

Flexibility

This type of organization is less flexible for the employees. They cannot

share their ideas and concepts with the management board which results de-

motivation in the employees.

Conclusion

According to Weber, this type of organization is capable of achieving the

highest efficiency. Although there are some bad aspects, bureaucracy is considered

to be the successful management. In conclusion, this system of management is the

best among other because of its line of authority, its discipline and the job security

for the employees since there is recessions and redundancies going over due to

global crisis and many people are losing their job daily.


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1.3 Comparison between alternative forms of Organizational

Development

An Organization is defined as two or more people working togetherunderthe

same roof to achieve a goal. Moreover, the development is an improvement that is

more effective over time and its smooth performance at achieving goals.

Organization Development (OD) is the approach towards improvement ofthe overall

performance and effectiveness of the organization, which may be a benefit to

individuals, groups, and organizations as a total system. According to Beckhard,

organization development is an effort planned, organization-wide, and managed from

the top, to increase the organization effectiveness and health through planned

interventions in the organizations processes using behavioural - science knowledge.

According to Warren Bernus, organization development is about the change in

beliefs, values and en

tire s

tructu

re ofthe organiza

tion. Modern organiza

tion req

uires

characteristics like flexibility, responsiveness, innovation, and openness whereas

control, rigidity, and predictability are the ma in characteristics of the traditional

organizations. Thus, todays organizations need to replace the traditional

organizations. Companys progress should always be monitored as well as

performance and results should be oriented.

The alternative forms of OD are discussed below:

Organizational culture:

Organizational culture is a concept, which describes the attitudes, experiences,

beliefs and values of an organization. This provides employees with an opportunity

to reflect on the values and behaviour that is needed by the organization. For the

development ofthe organization, there should be the culture orthe system oftaking


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views and ideas from customers and everyone in the team must be involved in

crucial events. If the participation of employees, team members and customers are

ignored, the organization certainly will vanish in this changing environment. Culture,

actually is not otherthan a system, needs to change with whatthe time demands in

orderto develop the firm.

Organizational climate:

Climate and culture are both important to an organization. Climate generally

symbolizes to the situation, context, and environment of an organization. Climate is

sometimes regarded as an individuals perception and cognitive representatio n ofthe

work environment. According to the Reichers and Schneider (1990) define

organizational climate as the shared perception ofthe way things are around here.

By knowing the climate of an organization it is easierto identify and measure those

aspects of a workplace which impact on stress, morale, quality of work, employee

engagement, turn over and performance.

Employees commitment:

Employees commitment is all aboutthe passion ofthe workers with the work.

It shows how much the workers are committed to the job that is towards the

achievement of the objectives of an organization. Job satisfaction is the only factor

that motivates the employee to the higher performance. Thus forthe development of

the organization, it requires a higher le vel of commitment by each and every member

of the company. Committed employees tend to have the better attendances and

longer job tenure than the less committed employees. Commitment must be to the

organization and to ones team.

Conclusion:

In todays team based, empowered, and technology dependant organization

every forms of OD is essential to manage it. Organization climate should be

appropriate for everybody. The involvement of employees, team members, and


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customers in the production and decision making process are appreciable in

development ofthe organization.

If any new type of conflicts occurs, it should be fixed from the argument

between all the employees and board so that it can be easily overcome in future

although it brings problems.


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2.Develop systems for understanding and

involving others in the process of change


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2.1. Develop systems to involve appropriate stakeholders

in the introduction of change

A person, group, organization, or system that affects or can be affected by anorganizations objectives is called stakeholders. They may be internal or external to

the organization. They include owners or shareholders, managers, employees,

customers, government, suppliers or may be the community around the organization.

Stakeholders are one ofthe main factors that affectthe organizational development.

Each type of stakeholders has their own roles and responsibilities in

organization. Thus an organization must understand them and should expand a

system to involve them in building up itself.

Today change has become a must in an organization in order to develop it.

Moreover participation of stakeholders is much more important. According to

Marshall et

al (2000) change and development

processes are central

to s

uch

organizational phenomena as careers, group decision making, innovation, and

interorganizational networks. According to Friedman and Miles(2006), the objectives

of the corporation is to maximize the number of potential stakeholders value either

as maximizing long-run profits, growth, or dividends which is also named a social

responsibility of business by Friedman(1962:74).

Thus a system needs to be developed to involve the appropria te stakeholders in

the introduction of managerial change in an organization. In orderto develop the

system, we need to identify the definite stakeholders. Stakeholder analysis is a very

powerful tool. The analysis makes us aware of politics and positions and therefore

we can influence people to getto our end goal. Stakeholders if carefully taken they

are the main asset ofthe organization who can contribute their ideas, insight and

support in shaping the execution. They should be represented by specific r oles in the

organization through which they can participate in the business. We need to develop

the capacity ofthe stakeholders which is the toughest job.

In orderto make the participation ofthe influencing people to the organization, we

need to develop some systems. Some ofthe methods are:

1. Identifying the appropriate stakeholders:

Identification ofthe stakeholders is the first process of participating them in

the organizational development. Those people who are interested in theproject and understanding their power and position should all be convinced

with the objectives ofthe projects because they are the people who know the

present situation ofthe organization and their knowledge can be the great

asset forthe organization.


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2. Evaluate the relative power and influence of each stakeholder

This step is about prioritizing the stakeholders that are affected by my work

Fig .1.: power and interest rate

The work of stakeholder analysis (2009) figures outthe power ofthestakeholder according to their interesttowards the firm or organization.

y High power, interested people: these are the people who must be fully

engaged with, and the greatest efforts should be made to satisfy.y High power, less interested people: enough work should be put in with

these people to keep them satisfied, but not so much thatthey become boredwith message.

y Low power, interested people:these people should be adequatelyinformed, and talk to them to ensure that no major issues are arising. Thesepeople can often be very helpful with the detail of your project.

y Low power, less interested people: again, monitorthese people, but shouldnot bore them with excessive communication.The ability to understand the often hidden power and influence of various isthe crucial skill for successful project managers. We need to drive theattention and the interests ofthe stakeholders from the current interestsposition to where it is required.

3. Influencing them forthe action plan

The third most important process and system is the influencing the

stakeholders in the action and plans ofthe organization . We should

communicate with stakeholders early and often, we have to ensure thatthey

know what you are doing and fully understand the ben efits of our project

which means they can supportus actively when necessary.


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2.2.Analyse and evaluate the systems for the

stakeholders involvement

Identification of appropriate stakeholders

Stakeholders are the most crucial part inn the development of an organization.

According to Freeman(1984:242) there are several questions which facilitate

stakeholder identification, analyze their potentiality and capacity use them. As

defined by him those related questions are:

y Who are our current and potential stakeholders?

y What are their interests/rights?

y How does each stakeholder affectus( challenges and oppertunities)?

y How do we affect each stakeholder?

y What assumption does our current strategy make about each important

stakeholder?

y What are the current environmental variables that affect us and our

stakeholders?y How do we measure each of these variables and their impact on us and our

stakeholders?

y How do we keep score with our stakeholders?

If we can answer these questions above, we will be able to analyze and map

stakeholders in the development process.

Analyzing the stakeholders

Next step is analyzing stakeholders behaviour. This should involve an

investigation of past and future stakeholder actions that could enhance or hinder

corporate goals. According to Freeman, if a manager explores all possible scenarios,

strategic surprise is limited and the downside risk dealing with the particular

stakeholder is covered. Then the managers must attempt to make logical


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explanation of why a stakeholder could act in the manager observed. Managers

should manage the environment for instances of interests, beliefs, or objectives

between stakeholder groups and then they should examine group stakes a ccording

to economic, technological, social, political, and managerial effects. They should be

accurately understood and they should be always clear about their position and

roles.

Influencing stakeholders for the action and plan

More we work with and involve the stakeholders, the more chance you getto

observe them. Before we go for implement ing the stakeholders into their actions the

manager should check and review their views and interests whetherthey still feel

secure and relevantto the objectives of organization. Ifthey are not satisfied, they

should be asked the reasons and they should be well treated. The main aim is to

move stakeholders negative attitude to a positive one. Finally, the stakeholders

should be monitored and their expectation s should be managed well. They should be

keptup to date which can promote the goodwill and build up reputation as an

excellent manager. They should be thanked afterthe objectives are fulfilled and they

should realize thatthey are the important person in the development process ofthe

organization.


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3.Plan to implement models for

ensuring ongoing change


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3.1. Develop and adapt appropriate models for

change

I am appointed as a manager for the Woodland Restaurant from this comingfiscal year 2008/09. The Woodland is a fine Nepalese and Indian eat -in and

takeaway restaurant located near Lewisham Railway station. There are total 6

people working in the floor and 4 people working in the kitchen where 3 person work

as a waiter, 1 person works as a porter, one of them as bartender and me as a

manager. Although this is a small business, last year it couldnt do well. There was

decrease in the number of customers. The restaurant needs a complete change in

everything. Its management was very poor and it was adopting the same

management for whole years and couldnt progress for lasttwo years.

Nowadays, credit crunch is very famous all over United Kingdom. Recession

and redundancies are cosmopolitan. The whole business world is suffering from two

diseases viz.recession and redundancies. The only remedy to survive from this crisis

is the change in management or may be change in plans, policies, rules and whole

system as well. Those who could not adapt the change, they have lied down their

knees on the ground and many ofthem are in process to go down. For an instance,

Woolworth and Marks&Spencers who used to be the leading businesses in UK.

Almost every organization needs change today to sustain in this changing

environment. Many theorists, economists, philosophers and specialists have given

their different views as a model for change and development of all types of

organizations.

Firstly, I would like to discuss aboutthe well known model for change called

Kaizen model for change. According to BBC.co.uk, Masaaki Imai is the first person

to evolve this term in his book, Kaizen: The key to Japans competitive success.

According to Japanese literature Kaizen means continuous improvement. The basic

concept of this model is to identify and quickly remove waste. There is not any set

methodology to use this model. According to Steven et al, the Kaizen attitude

supports a continuous process of incremental improvements within an organization.


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There is another famous model for change which is called Kotters model of

organizational development. This model was originated by J.P.Kotter. This model

deals with several seven essential elements to all organizatio ns.

They are listed as below:

y Key organizational processes

y The external environment

y Employees and othertangible assets

y Formal organization arrangements

y The internal social system

y The technology and

y Dominant coalition

Each of them should be considered carefully in order to develop the whole

organization. This type of model is generally preferred by large scale businesses.

Downsizing is a very classical model of the change for the development.

Downsizing refers to the reduction of the work force. According to this model, the

possible loss can be maintained by eliminating the unwanted employees from the

organization. The elimination of 10,000 employees from British Telephone and

removal of 1200 people from Nissan Four -wheeler Company are the best examples

of downsizing. Even large companies adopt downsizing model for change.

Rightsizing is also similar to downsizing model for the crisis management. It

means bringing the number of employees into right size by reducing unnecessary

employees from the company.

Delayering is another important concept or model to be discussed. It is all

about delayering or cutting the unimportant sections or departments and making

them single layer. This may cause the elimination of employees too. Some large

businesses start their business with many departments but after their pr ofit is

reduced they manage their loss by delayering process.

Last but notthe least; process reengineering is a new and a better concept for

the business to exist in this rapid changing world. This model is about remodelling

the whole process of the organization. According to this methodology some of the


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organization copy the competitors technology and try to come with new things like

price and technology. This type of model is generally used by supermarkets, hotels,

restaurants and almost all kind of small and medium scale business.

But I elect Kaizen model for my restaurant for developing because this is the

appropriate and effective model in todays dynamic world

3.2.Plan the implementation process and

outcomes

The Woodland restaurant is the top and fine Nepalese and Indian cuisine restaurant

located in the heart of Lewisham. This restaurant is running profitless from lasttwo

years and the only reason is negligence towards the increasing number of

competitors in the surrounding. The system ofthis restaurant was managed in the

same traditional way which used to be profitable in the past and now it needs a

complete change. As we know thatthe business world is facing a disaster, the

survival and the future prosperity has become the only target of recent existing

organization whether it is a large or a small organization. As I am appointed as a

new manager here the next step that I would take is the change in the whole

managerial system. I would like to implementthe Kaizen mode l for change. The

whole implementation process is discussed below very briefly. The Kaizen model

process includes planning, directing, problem finding, clear, acknowledge, check and

act. The cycle of kaizen activity can be defined as:

y standardize an operat ion

y measure the standardized operation (find cycle time and amount of in -process

inventory)

y gauge measurements against requirements

y innovate to meet requirements and increase productivity


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y standardize the new, improved operations

y continue cycle

Planning is the first process ofthe Kaizen model. There should be some kind

of advertisemen

ts in

the local newspapers and leafle

ttings sho

uld be done

to

promote the business. After the advertisements at least local customers will get to

know about the prices and offers of the restaurants because local people are the

main target ofthe business. Each customer who comes in the restaurant for eating

or take-away is equally potential so they should be well treated. To attract more

customers the price of the dishes also plays a very important role. There obviously

needs a change in the price of the menu too because the price are too high in

comparison to other restaurants. Special offers will be given for every eat -in

customers For an instance Buy 1 main dish get another main dish free of costs andfor every single table a small bottle of lager free for limited time..

Weekends are very busy time for most ofthe restaurants and each day every

customers will be counted and find outthe average weekend customers so thatthe

average income and expenses will be evaluated. Similarly in weekdays number of

customers is calculated and find out the average. This is the Do part of the whole

model.Similarly no service charges will be added to the bills. Highly experienced

waiters and kitchen staffs will be hired by the restaurant and every employee will be

motivated to give their best in customer care. There will be hygienic service and

interiors will be fine and well furnished. We will take the feedback from the each

customer about the food and their care through direct and indirect process. For an

example, placing feedback questionnaires on the table is the best way of getting

comments and sometimes just simply asking them about it. Whatever is the

feedback we will presentto the staff meeting which will be discussed within and find

outthe solution which is the problem finding part ofthis model. We change the things

and we will continue to take comments from them. If the change is not needed we

will pass it and regulate the process.

We have positive attitude towards the outcome and we will be changing

as required until the process ends and we are fully prepared for any kind of change.

Earning profit and the customers satisfaction are the obvious outcome which will

surely be achieved.


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References

Books

French W.L. and Bell C.-- Organization Development: Behavioural Science

Interventions fo

rOr

ganization Improvement(Pren

tice-Hall, 1999), ISBN:

013242231X, 9780132422314

Friedman, A. L. and Miles, S. -- Stakeholders: theory and practice (Oxford University

Press, 2006), ISBN 0199269874, 9780199269877 Gallos, J. V. and Schein, E.H.--Organization development: a Jossey-Bass reader

(John Wiley and Sons, 2006), ISBN 0787984264, 9780787984267

Have Johnson B.M and Webber P.B.An Introduction to theoryandreasoningin

nursing(Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2004) ISBN: 0781748429Have S.T., Stevens F. and Coyne F.P.Key management models (Pearson

Education, 2002) ISBN: 0273662015

Karake-Shalhoub Z.A.Organizational Downsizing, discrimination and Corporate

social Responsibility(Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999), ISBN 1567202519

Kusluvan S. -- Managing Employee Attitudes and Behaviours in the Tourism and

Hospitality Industry(Nova Publishers, 2003) ISBN: 1590336305

Waters D. -- Operations Management(Kogan Page Publishers, 1999) ISBN

0749427760, 9780749427764

Websites

Mind tools2009: Stakeholder analysis

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htm bbc.co.uk2007: management studies

www.bbc.co.ukbusiness2000: organization management

www.business.com


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Documents

1.1Discuss the background to change that exists in today