Reference no: EM133186481

1. What is organisation? What is the purpose and object of organising?

2. What are centralisation and decentralisation, what are their advantages and disadvantages?

3. What is the difference between linear and functional organisational structures? What are their advantages and disadvantages?

4. Why is change management needed in organisations? What are the sources of resistance to change planning?

5. Read this article provided below on change processes. What are the steps involved in change management? What are they?

The change processes:

1. Preparation.

This is the most important stage: it prepares the ground for implementing the change. Preparation for change is more about creating a climate conducive to change than it is about identifying the actions that will lead to change. If you are the initiator of the change, it is necessary to analyse and determine how to get support for your ideas from the people who will be directly affected. The following leadership skills are essential: networking, communication, explaining the need for change, fostering a sense of acceptance of the change. 

At this stage, it is particularly important that people realise the need for change and start looking for ways to adapt to it. Lewin's idea of 'thawing' or breaking free from old stereotypes of relationships and activities is important here. It is important to recognise the past achievements of staff and to take time to complete unfinished business. If there is a sudden crisis within the organisation or a significant change in the environment, people become anxious. Reactions such as anger, frustration, opposition, denial, sadness or over-optimism are common. After people have expressed their reactions, and these have been assessed and accepted as valid, and the reality of the situation has been gradually accepted, action plans are proposed for further implementing change.

In preparing for change and blocking people's resistance, it is not possible to avoid working with people's different reactions and confrontations. Change cannot progress unless resistance is managed effectively. Practical steps to reduce resistance will be suggested in the next section.

The idea of the force field must be used with care! Thinking in terms of opposing categories, in terms of pitting parties against each other, carries a certain danger. This is especially true when you want to share your views with other people. The purpose of a force field analysis is not to identify opposing fronts, to reinforce confrontation and hostility, but to make a realistic assessment of a proposal for change. Try not to associate the forces holding back change with something negative. Opposition to a particular proposal may be for perfectly valid reasons and not be opposition to the change itself.

Example: Developing a change in a Scottish factory

A UK factory faced a fundamental problem in its Scottish branch. The Scots were deservedly proud of their work and of the fact that they had built the factory themselves and were producing high quality products that were 20% cheaper than the equivalent English factory. Meanwhile, the world has seen a series of changes. Management realised that if they did not reduce costs by at least 10%, competitors would drive both plants out of the market. Production in Scotland was particularly vulnerable. Although its cost of production was 20% lower than that of the plant in England, the cost of transporting the products to European markets cancelled out this advantage. 

In preparation for the change, the Managing Director of the factory took four actions:

Firstly, he praised the achievements of the Scots. The company's in-house newspaper published an article about their new approach to management and the application of progressive movements for quality improvement in production. A meeting of the Board of Directors was held at the Scottish plant, which praised the plant's performance.

Secondly, the production director was offered a promotion to another job in the company. He was replaced by a new director who was well known and respected by the people working in the factory.

The next step in the changes made by the Managing Director was to openly share confidential information about the economic threat with the senior and middle management of the plant.

Finally, a group of senior managers and shop floor supervisors were invited to visit sister plants in Europe. All efforts were successful. After the change, the Scottish plant reduced costs not by 10% but by a full 15%.

2. Replacement.

Actually putting the change process into practice will test your management and leadership skills: planning and control, managing people and groups, using power and influence, applying leadership qualities, and keeping your group or organisation in line with the environment. Each of these skills can be crucial to the success of change. 

Change of any complexity is usually problematic. Therefore, be prepared to face factors that were not foreseen at the time of the forecast, unforeseen sources of resistance, unexpected consequences, etc. Alexander's studies of companies in 1985 show that the following problems are most common at this stage:

- the implementation of the change took much longer than expected;

- previously unforeseen problems arose in the process of implementing the change;

- coordination between people was not always effective;

- other activities distracted from the implementation of the change;

- the talents, skills and knowledge of some of the people involved in implementing the change were insufficient;

- the training and instructions received were inadequate for the change being implemented;

- the implementation of the change was adversely affected by uncontrollable factors in the external environment.

Careful preparation and planning of the change minimises the negative impact of these problems, but they cannot be avoided completely. The complexity and uncertainty of change means that things often do not go as planned. It is therefore advisable to keep a reserve of funds, a contingency reserve of time, when planning for change.

3. Fortification

The outcome of this phase is the incorporation of new desired behaviours, new ways of doing things and new rules into the day-to-day operations of the organisation. Existing systems and procedures need to support the change, and if they do not, they need to be modified. The above applies to creating and embedding a culture that is compatible with change.

It would be naïve to expect that there are no problems in the third phase. It follows that it is necessary to monitor the progress of the change and to take the necessary management action. It is unlikely that this phase will be successful without an evaluation of the change. There is always the risk of reverting to old ways of doing things, of an unplanned change that has been modified by the people themselves, of reasons for rejecting the innovation, creating a new wave of resistance to change. In any case, the increasing pressure from the external environment leaves very little time for the consolidation phase of change.