How is it important for managers today to understand the process of change?
Background
What does change really mean for organizations? Unless organizations could define what change would mean to them, quantifying its impact to each organizational member would only be detrimental. Organizational change could mean the unquestioning adoption of innovative, pre-packaged transformations developed and propagated by several organizational interventionists. Or, it could be the awareness that times change and that the organizations should respond to the times. Or, organizations should adopt the freshest, most creative trends in order to appear legitimate to the masses (Helms Mills 2003).
Whichever way, the most important premise is that organizational members must be able to reflect on and learn from their various change initiatives and to evaluate the feasibility or successability of that particular change initiative. Between the two, the latter pose a more complicated endeavor. Change initiative is more likely to happen in concurrence with organizational efforts that might compete with it. Different organizational groups, as well, might have contradicting ideals for determining success. In effect, organizational changes would be too difficult a task for managers and other organizational leaders (Ibid).
Besides, there are several advocates of a particular change, there are many change approaches to choose from and there are numerous sources that could question or challenge that particular change. The ability to discern between the competing forces to change and their value should one of the most important skills for managers to learn (Ibid). There is a drive then to investigate the importance for modern managers to understand the process of change and how it can contribute to the success or failure of the organizations.
Introduction
This paper proposes to investigate and explore the depth of the importance of understanding the process of change for the managers. Organizational management has evolved considerably over the years. The focus or organizational efforts had shifted from traditional operations to flexible specialization, strategic alliances, outsourcing and project teams. Quality, speed-to-market, flexibility, innovation, customer service, networks and customization are now central to key requirements to operate (SRI International 2001).
Provided that the traditional economy has now been replaced by modern ways of management, the success of the contemporary models now depend on the effective use of diverse informations, the implementation of global concepts and the creation of connections among economic mediators (Castells 2000). As we go on, the paper will present as many concepts as it should as the basic purpose of this study is to provide in-depth evaluations on acquiring knowledge about the process of change especially for the managers. Through this purpose, it is the researcher’s intent to be able to present clear and concise conclusions more specifically on the breadth of thoughtful considerations of the process of organizational changes.
Theoretical Framework
The model that supports the concepts of this research is the model developed by Martin P. Charns. Charns claims that there are specific activities for effective management of change as determining the context for change, building support for change, developing a motivating mission and articulating clear, specific and realistic goals and strategies.
Fig. 1 Theoretical Framework: Commitment to Change (Source: Charns, 2000)
Statement of the Problem
Many management theorists assumed that organizations are relatively acquiescent. The structural inertia theory challenged this supposition wherein the inflexibility of organizations to adapt to changes could possibly lead to difficulties and dilemmas. Diverse organizational attributes are to account for dealing with change and the process itself; with linking organizational change, the environment and the subsequent resistance of the organizational members to changes and with establishing roles and functions and the creation of formal organizational rules (Amburgey et al 1993).
When the organization is faced the need to change, it is expected that the culture or the identity of the organization would be most targeted for change. Whatever the theorists wish to call the transformation process itself, the ‘paradigm shift’ amplifies that the existing cognitive structures would be in great jeopardy. As changes are associated with different actions including change in organizational strategy and personnel, there is a need to interpret organizational activities and guide organizational member behaviours so as not to further jeopardize the internal cognitive structures or the change processes.
The role of the managers, as change agents, is crucial. Their responsibilities include becoming culturally aware, understanding the organization culture and communicating or conveying consistent messages to the membership at the very least. It is the manager’s role to assists them to make sense of their own change experiences as well (Poole). However, there are multiplicities of perspectives that confront the managers regarding the change process.
Research Questions
To effectively communicate with organizational members, there is a necessity for managers to fully understand the change process, its value and how he himself could contribute to effectual facilitation. In order to address this research problem, the study will seek to answer the following research questions:
1. How should the organizations prepare managers in light of the anticipated or current organizational changes? What are the functions and responsibilities of the organization? What support should be extended to them?
2. How do managers perceive their roles as agents of change? What are their roles, functions and responsibilities?
3. What are the conditions that facilitate or impede effective understanding and implementation of organizational changes? How managers could influence or contribute to these endeavors?
4. What are the implications of understanding the change process to effective employees’ participation or involvement, motivation and continuous improvement?
5. How could managers possibly implement changes? What are the main drivers of effective change implementation?
6. What are the necessary skills, knowledge and expertise do the managers must possess in order to efficient understand the change process? What are the specific attitudes and behaviours that the managers should posses?
7. What are the consequences of insufficient understanding of the process of change for the managers themselves? for the employees? for the organization?
Objective of the Study
The aim of the study is to synthesize the significance of acquiring knowledge about the process of change. The following specific objectives will be addressed:
- To established the role, functions and responsibilities of the organizations in effort to prepare their managers
- To established the role, functions and responsibilities of the managers in the change process
- To investigate different conditions that probably lead to effective facilitation of understanding the role of the managers in change processes
- To understand the implications of manager’s action to employees and the implications of insufficiency in knowledge in the process of change
- To distinguish different factors of effective change understanding, management and implementation
- To explore the requirements of being an effective manager in light of understanding the process of change
Significance of the Study
The need to understand the process of change within an organization is fundamental to establishing systems of change management. Manager’s understanding of the process is itself an end that could further enhance how organizational participants could proactively respond to changes. The assessment of manager’s understanding could also deliver efficient schemas as to what extent organizational strategies must work to address internal resistance and task conflict as brought by changes. The funnel effect of the manager’s knowledge, expertise and skills could drive not just the competence of the employees but also the organization’s as a whole.
As managers are stimulated to increase the organizational effectiveness, they should initiate changes that meant at motivating others in order to support change. Managers serve as instruments of legitimate compliance wherein they become emblems of effective change mechanisms as well. The need to deter resistance that is confounded on the problem of implementing organizational changes is a fundamental effort that places managers at the core.
As such the completion of this research paper will provide understanding of the concepts presented. Richful insights could be used by different organizations to come up with organizational designs and schemas that will strategically position them in the highly-competitive, ever-changing, diverse and complex-laden business environment of today.
Scope and Limitation
This research in particular is descriptive and exploratory in approach. The descriptive intent of the study is to provide insights on the current status of managerial role and responsibilities; the prevailing practices in organizations on how to respond to self-inflict and unexpected changes and the general understanding of the change process. The exploratory purpose of this research is to concentrate on the importance of manager’s understanding of the process of change and the consequences of the inadequacy in change process information.
The researcher is primary concern with the perceived and actual functions of the managers in face of organizational changes. In addition, the study also concerns the role, functions and responsibilities of the organizations on preparing their managers for the coming changes. It is the basic target of the researcher to include the implications of the manager’s actions to the employees based on the degree of the manager’s understanding of the change process.
Methods and Procedures
Primary and secondary research will be conducted in the study. In primary research, the study will use the survey method. A semi-structured questionnaire will be developed and will serve as the survey tool for the study. The design of the questionnaire will include a five-point Likert scale as well as ranking questions. The questionnaire will also include probing and hypothesizing questions. The purpose of using probing questions is to enable the researcher to dig deeper on the emerging issues that are not directly related to the subject but will contribute relevantly. The hypothesizing questions are for allowing the respondents to freely provide insights on foreseeable issues with respect to understanding the change process.
The secondary research will include previous research reports, newspaper, magazine and journal articles and managerial reviews, management books and the Internet. Secondary research could be required in the preliminary stages of the research to determine what is already known and what new informations are required. There is an urgency then to update literary readings in later part of the research prior to secondary data analysis. Existing findings on journal and existing knowledge on books will be evaluated and analyzed. The interpretation to be conducted would be quantitative in nature.
Bibliography
Amburgey, T L, Kelly, D & Barnett, W P 1993, ‘Resetting the Clock: The Dynamics of Organizational Change and Failure’, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 1, 51+.
Castells, M 2000, The Rise of the Network Society, (2nd ed.), Oxford, UK, Blackwell Publishers.
Charns, M D 2000, Organizational Change – Primer, Management Decision and Research Center, retrieved on 19 February 2008 from www.hsrd.research.va.gov/publications/internal/organizational_change_primer.pdf.
Helms Mills, J 2003, making Sense of Organizational Change, New York: Routledge.
Poole, P P 1998, ‘Words and Deeds of Organizational Change’, Journal of Managerial Issues, vol.10, no. 1, 45+.
SRI International 2001, Chapter 1 – FedEx and Key Industry Drivers, retrieved on 19 February 2008 from www.sri.com/policy/csted/reports/economics/fedex/chapter1.pdf.
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