Change Management Argumentative Essay Example

can arise from the perception of an external event (Barney ; Griffin, 1992, p.755). Contemporary organizations frequently experience disruptions in their environment. Internal factors such as new strategies, technology advancements, and shifts in employee composition or attitudes can all generate driving forces for change.

The implementation of new equipment or technology in the workplace can lead to the need for changes. Staff members will have to acquire skills in using the new equipment, and this may impact their job responsibilities. It may also require a redesign of their roles. Additionally, changes in company strategies, such as modifications in management practices, enterprise agreements, and industrial relations, will generate a wide range of change needs. Similarly, employee attitudes can necessitate new company strategies, particularly in cases of job dissatisfaction, weak team dynamics, lack of dedication, and job insecurity.

External forces impose change on an organization, presenting both threats and opportunities that the organization must address. These external forces manifest themselves in several aspects of the organization's external environment, such as political-legal, technological, economic, marketplace, and sociocultural dimensions.

The political-legal environment encompasses government bodies, pressure groups, and laws. It is crucial for companies to stay updated on and adapt to changes in the political environment as they can have significant impacts. Such changes can result in the introduction of legislation that may make selling or providing a product unfeasible or challenging. Various political factors and laws can influence business, including pricing, competition, fair trade packaging, labeling, advertising, product safety, and minimum wages. Forces for change in the marketplace are primarily driven by shifts in customer buying needs, expectations, and habits. The removal of import tariffs or market deregulation are additional factors.

The technical environment is shaped by advancements in new products or processes that affect an organization's opportunities and operations. These technological advancements bring benefits and compel organizations to adapt.

Motivating change in an organization requires considering whether there are clear reasons for change, such as competition, pricing pressures, evolving customer needs/expectations, technological advancements, reduced funding, or regulatory changes. Change occurs only when the driving force exceeds resistance. Even those unaffected by the change still contribute to resistance. People resist change due to uncertainty and ambiguity, but effective management can eliminate these uncertainties and reduce resistance.

Planning involves setting goals, devising strategies, and creating a hierarchy of plans to coordinate activities in an organization (Robbins et al., 2000, p.247). It helps minimize the impact of change by creating an environment that is open to change and by predicting it (Robbins et al., 2000, p.247). However, no matter how much planning or foresight is done, change will always occur (Robbins et al., 2000, p.437). Planning allows us to effectively deal with and oversee change. Change can be compared to calm-waters and white-water rapids metaphors. The calm-waters model is suitable when the environment is predictable and planning helps predict changes. In this model, the organization undergoes unfreezing to implement changes addressing differences and new goals and then refreezes to sustain these changes (Robbins et al., 2000). Total quality management follows this model as it involves continuous incremental changes compatible with the calm waters metaphor.The concept of continually seeking out problems and implementing changes to improve efficiency and effectiveness has become obsolete in today's dynamic organizational environment. Instead, the white water-rapids metaphor is now more prevalent, portraying change as a perpetual

event in an uncertain setting. Managers must be able to respond quickly to changing conditions.

Organizing, which involves creating an organization's structure, can contribute significantly to organizational change. The ever-changing technology landscape adds to the uncertainty but also provides opportunities for managers to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. As jobs become more complex, job specialization becomes necessary and can increase efficiency. However, specialized jobs may not be adaptable enough to accept change easily.

To address this issue, managers could consider adopting a multi-skilling approach that creates a workforce capable of easily adapting. Decentralization is commonly found in complex and uncertain environments as it involves delegating decision-making authority to lower levels of the organization. Increasing decentralization enables faster decision-making and better responsiveness to change.

For organizations well-structured for quick reactions to change, known as organic organizations, characteristics such as wide spans of control, cross-functional teams, free flow of information, and low formalization are essential.They also incorporate the use of teams to enhance flexibility and adaptability. Teams employ a more decentralized style of management. The learning organization is the most effectively structured organization for adaptability and change. This concept becomes evident in the following definition: "An organization that has cultivated the continuous capacity to adjust and adapt because all members actively participate in identifying and resolving work-related issues" (Robbins et al., 2000, p.376). To achieve this, the organization adopts a boundaryless structure.

Leadership involves the ability to influence a group towards achieving goals (Robbins et al., 2000, p.593). Transformational leaders possess qualities that are well-suited for driving change, including individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, and charisma (Robbins et al., 2000, p.617). Leadership plays a critical role in fostering the vision necessary for an

organization to become a learning organization. Additionally, leadership can be leveraged to decrease resistance to change by modifying people's attitudes, expectations, perceptions, and behaviors through motivation, communication, participation, facilitation,negotiation manipulation,and coercion.

Control refers to the process of monitoring activities to ensure they align with plans and correcting any significant deviations (Robbins et al., 2000,p.683). Therefore,the organization's control mechanisms must be flexible enough to accommodate and address change.Managers should shift from a bureaucratic style of control to promote change in organizations. Bureaucratic organizations heavily rely on rules, regulations, procedures, policies, and hierarchical authority. To foster a better environment for change, organizations should consider using a clan or market approach to control. The question arises: how do we incorporate management functions and potential organizational changes into the change process? One solution is reengineering, which involves radically redesigning work processes to enhance productivity and financial performance (Robbins et al., 2000, p.64). However, it's important to note that reengineering can be highly stressful for an organization. Despite the uncertainty and stress it may cause employees, the benefits of reengineering can be significant (Robbins et al., 2000, p.717). Organizations that have undergone reengineering become more experienced and open to embracing future changes. By creating an environment that stimulates innovation, organizations cultivate flexible structures, effective communication, and a supportive culture that encourages new ideas. An organization's culture plays a crucial role in either promoting or hindering innovation.Leadership and the ability to provide a shared vision for the future are crucial for successfully implementing cultural change. In today's chaotic and dynamic world, generating new ideas and inventions is essential for competing in the global market. Those who excel at innovation gain a competitive

edge. Survival is closely tied to change as managers must be intuitive and adaptable, making strategic decisions and allocating resources based on evolving circumstances.

We have explored how change is represented and the factors that drive it. Implementing change effectively can unlock employee creativity and potential, streamline processes, reduce costs, and foster ongoing improvement within an organization. Given these advantages, promoting and encouraging change is advisable.

For further reading on this topic, references include "The Management of Organizations" by J. Barney and W. Ricky (1992), "Organization Development & Change" by T. Cummings and C. Worley (1997), "Creating an Environment for Successful Projects" by R. Graham and R. Englund (1997), and "Management" by S. Robbins, R. Bergman, I.Stagg,and M.Coulter (2000).