Organizational Change

Change management is serious business. The success or failure of an entire business entity can rest upon how well one responds to and manages change. Change requires a committement of time, resources and perseverance (Holland, 2003). Without these ingredients, almost all change will be doomed to fail.
Individuals like to feel their work is a part of a larger whole, something meaningful or important (Lewin, 1973), and this simulation organization is no different.

The employees responded best with strategies that promoted a feeling of belonging to a larger whole and allowed them some freedom and autonomy within the structure of their jobs. Within the organization one saw the norms regarding the work changing, so this lessened some of the resistance to change (Lewin, 1973); however, workers had to be handled in such a way that the changing norms were made evident to them. Incentives such as pay and bonuses did not function as satisfactorily as they might have in a different situation because, according to Lewin's work, change is more likely to occur when that which resists change is lessened, rather than when that which drives change is increased (Coughlan, 2003). However, they did impact the overall receptivity to change.

The employees of this organization seemed driven by a need to feel competent in their work. This was further intensified by a changing job market, changes in the technology of the job. While the external forces driving the change were not often outweighed by the internal drivers, they were a present factor and one any leader contemplating change for this organization would want to keep firmly in hand.

Resistance to change may come in a variety of forms. There is outright resistance in which employees simply refuse to work. Other forms of resistance can appear as work slowdowns, increased error rates and increased absentee-ism (Holland 2003). Simple inertia and fear and can limit or resist changes (Tiang 2005).

Leadership and Change

Change should be undertaken as a real-world measure, not as an application of random, "proven" principals (Lewin, 1973). In this way, a leader must examine his or her own leadership style as well as the corporate culture he or she is engaged in to find a series of solutions that will fit the given situation. However, in order for change to be successful, the leader must maintain a high degree of employee involvement and ownership over the proposed change (Coughlan 2003).

An organization should already have a climate that encourages change. Some characteristics of workplaces that encourage change are: strong social structure including a strong support system within the organization, good working climate and solid systems for distributing information about the upcoming change (Tiang 2005).

One problem is that organizations need to function just at the edge of chaos and maintain their ability to respond quickly to change (Burnes 2004); however a great many leaders regard change as an incremental process that slowly builds and grows. This poor fit between perception and the changing nature of business can lead to serious errors in change management for corporations (Burnes 2004). However, this doesn't mean an organization should simply leap into change. Any process change or change in the basics of the work must be stages carefully (Holland 2003). Several sources agree, planning for the change at hand can be one of the single most important aspects of managing the change process, followed by managing the follow-through once change has begun (Tiang 2005).

A leader must also deal effectively with the need to re-educate employees. For many, this is a frightening process and even one that can spark some feeling of inadequacies. Educating employees is an effective way to deal with rapid changes.

The leader should be someone who is highly involved and comfortable giving praise and other incentives to perform (Holland 2003). These things can also lower stress, which also impacts some of the resistors to change: absenteeism, low job performance and low job satisfaction (Tiang 2005).

Conclusion

Change is stressful for individuals and for organizations. Individuals may feel threatened or overly challenged by the changes whereas businesses may fail utterly. In order for change to be successful and growth to continue, several factors need to be in place. Communication, fairness, flexibility and the opportunity to prepare for the coming change are all important issues.

The organization in the simulation requires a blend of increased communication between all levels of staff and management, a strong dose of incorporating team-based learning structures and improvement in the educational opportunities available to the employees. These things will help quash some of the usual resistors to change as well as build confidence and morale in the employees.

References

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Coghlan, David & Brannick, Teresa (2003). Kurt Lewin: the practical theorist for the
21st century. Irish journal of management: vol 24 iss. 2 p. 31.

Holland, Dutch & Skarke, Gary (2003). Change management for big systems. Retrieved
University of Phoenix EBSCO Publishing July 7, 2005 at 10:30 pm.

Lewin, Mirian. (1973). Kurt Lewin and his contributions to modern management theory.
Academy of management proceedings: p 317.

Tiong, Tang-Ngo (2005). Maximising human resource potential in the midst of

organizational change. Singapore management review: vol27 issue 2 p.25.