Changeand Change Management
Student’sname:
Changeand Change Management
Changehas become an inevitable aspect of the modern society. It can eitheroccur within an individual, society or even business organization.With the massive developments being undertaken today, changes havebecome rampant. More so, there are different driving factors behindthe change. For example, technology, business strategies, etc. whenit comes to organizational change, this is the process through whichan organization changes its strategies, methods of operations,structure, technologies or the culture and in turn adopting a new setof each. Change management, on the other hand, is an initiative ormeasures that are adopted by an organization to ensure the changesare effective achieved without negatively impacting employee andorganizational performance (Sofat et al, 2015). Having gone throughtheories and models of change, as well as techniques of changemanagement, this paper will involve the application of knowledgeacquired in answering three questions.
QuestionI: SixEnvironmental Pressures for Change Faced By Managers
Thereare different pressures that are known to force an organization toundergo change (s). The two well know factors are organizationalpressure and environmental pressure. The environmental factors arealso known by the name external factors that cause change.Environmental factors are regarded as factors that emanate fromoutside the organization or else, they are factors that anorganization has very little power over them. One of these factors isthe Geopolitical Pressures. These include long-term re-arrangementthat is experienced or even crises. According to Kotter, the 4geopolitical pressures include technological, maturation and slowdown a greater economic integration and also the fall of nationsregarded as socialist (Benson, 2016). Another factor is the MarketDecline. This whereby whenever there is a decline in the market forgoods and services offered by an organization, it exerts pressure forsuch an organization to remain relevant in terms of being competitivein the market. Thirdly, there is the issue of Hyper-CompetitionPressures. This the way an organization reacts to consumer andcompetition changes in order to maintain top performance within themarket and at the same time attract and maintain their customers.Reputation and Credibility are the other factors under environmentalpressures (Sofat et al, 2015). Every organization has to maintain thereputation and its credibility to the customers. This, in turn,exerts pressures to the managers as they have to balance performance,credibility and reputation. Another environmental related pressure isthe Fashion Pressures. With the demand for modernity, professionalismand to maintain progressiveness, organizational managers are requiredto change the organizations in order to align with the latestinnovations (Palmer et al, 2009). Finally, there is the sixth factorwhich is, Mandated Pressures. Mandated pressures entail organizationstaking in changes such as the ones with other organizations in thesimilar industry due to the demand of the external world such as thecustomers. Mandated Pressures come in two types which are the Formaland informal Coercive pressure.
QuestionII: SixImages of Managing Change and How Each Can Affect an Organization
Focusingon the change implementation process, different images areresponsible for an effective management of the process. For everyorganization to achieve the best or successful change implementation,the different images play different but important roles toward thechange process. These change images in an organization include theorganization Director, coach, Navigator, Interpreter, Caretaker andthe Nurturer. The 6 images are entitled to different functions withinan organization which includes controlling for the director, shapingwhich is done by the coach, the navigator focuses on intended change,and finally there is the partially and unintended change.
Fig1.1 Images of change (Nalband, 2016).
Eachof the 6 images has a different effect on an organization and more soduring the change implementation process. The directors provide theright tools for change implementation. This includes making theenvironment conducive for the change implementation and managementprocess. In the case of the coach, he ought to ensure that, the rightset of skills, values that look to be the best are drawn to theprocess of change management. This, in turn, helps to achieve thedesired organization results both in change and performance. Thenavigator, on the other hand, ensures the control of the process iseffective as it is the heart of change management process (Nalband,2016). Ineffective evaluation of both external and in term changefactor may result in failure in the process. Hence, it’s thefunction of the navigator to ensure there is an effectivesense-making organizational change. Finally, there is the caretakerand the nurturer who’s their contribution is equally immense to thechange process as it is the change process. Their effect is measuredwith regard to the extent to which any change process is implemented.
Thesix images of change play three key roles in every organization.First is that they make highlights in terms of every assumption thatevery manager in charge of change process ought to make, henceincreasing the awareness in terms of different approaches to change.Secondly, they help towards drawing notable attention to the imagesthat are dominating in terms of the change process in anorganization. Finally, they offer at varying ranges of perspectivesthat may be available to the managers in charge of the change process(Kang, 2015).
QuestionIII: Waysa Manager Can Determine if the Organization Is Ready To Change
Oneof the determinants of change implementation and management successin an organization is the ability to determine the readiness time.Change readiness is the ability of an organization to adapt andrespond to change in such a manner that it gives the maximum benefit,less change resistance and at minimum risk. As a manager in anorganization, it is key to evaluate and understand when anorganization ready for a change. This can be determined through a setof ways. One way is the evaluation of organizational culture. Thishelps the manager to understand, whether the organization culture isflexible enough to absorb change. Secondly, the manager can evaluatean organization change mechanism. For an organization to be passed asready for change, change mechanism should promote clear goals,ability to integrate changes in the already working system as well asbehavior change management. Next, there is the change reaction, whichentails the evaluation of how ready are the rest of the employees andleaders ready for a change (Nalband, 2016). Lastly, there is changeagility and awareness as another set of ways that a manager candetermine whether an organization is ready for the change process.Readiness entails the ability for an organization to refine itselfwhile agility is the ability to engage relevant people in theprocess. Change readiness determination is key to the successfulchange process. This due to the fact that is helps an organization tomaximize the desired results, hence avoiding unnecessarydistractions.
Inconclusion, with the ever cases of change implementation, changes andchange management in organization have become key to their success.Change management is the plan that is adopted within an organizationto prepare and support the change process. Ranging from the internaland external forces of change, to the ways to determine whether anorganization is ready for the change process, every change strategy,approach and process is crucial in every organization.
References
Benson,D. (2016). Embracing Change: Four Critical Concepts. PhysicianLeadership Journal, 3(3),36-39.
Kang,S. `. (2015). Change Management: Term Confusion and NewClassifications. PerformanceImprovement, 54(3),26-32.
Nalband,N. A. (2016). Change… Changes the change?. Journalof Competitiveness Studies, 24(1),35-49.
Palmer.I., Dunford, R., & Akin, G. (2009). Managing OrganizationalChange: A multiple perspectives approach. (2ndED.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Sofat,K., Kiran, R., & Kaushik, S. (2015). Management of OrganizationalChange and its Impact on Commitment: A Study of Select Indian ITCompanies. GlobalBusiness & Management Research, 7(3),69-86.