organisational behaviour paper 2008

29th September 2008

FACULTY OF COMMERCE AND MANAGEMENT

Organisational Behaviour Paper

CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL

EFFECTIVENESS

Prepared by Maureen GIDEON

CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS 29Sep08

2 MS601 Paper by Maureen GIDEON,

Table of Contents CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS. ........................... 3 1.0 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................. 3 Change Management concepts defined ....................................................................................... 3 1.1 Management ....................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Organization ....................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Change Management ......................................................................................................... 3

The Task of Managing Change ................................................................................................... 3 An Area of Professional Practice ............................................................................................... 4 A Body of Knowledge .................................................................................................................. 4 A Control Mechanism ................................................................................................................. 4

1.4 Organizational Change Management. ............................................................................. 5 1.5 The Role of Management. ................................................................................................. 5 1.6 Organizational Effectiveness. ............................................................................................ 6 1.7 Types of Change ................................................................................................................. 6 2.0 IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE. ................................................. 6 3.0 CHANGE OVER TIME – SIGMOID CURVE .............................................................. 7 4.0 FORCES FOR CHANGE. ................................................................................................ 8 4.1 Nature of work force. ......................................................................................................... 9 4.2 Technological Advancement. ........................................................................................... 9 4.3 Competitions are changing................................................................................................ 9 4.4 Social changes. .................................................................................................................... 9 5.0 CHANGE STYLES. ........................................................................................................... 9 6.0 RESISTANCE TO CHANGE. .......................................................................................... 9 7.0 WAYS TO OVERCOME RESISTANCE TO CHANGE. ........................................... 10 8.0 CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS. ...................................................................... 11 8.1 Role for the Change Management Process. ................................................................... 11 8.2 Activity Description for the Change Management Process. ........................................ 11 9.0 ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS. ................................................................... 12 9.1 Theoretical view. .............................................................................................................. 12 9.2 Development point of view. ............................................................................................. 13 9.3 Managerial point of view. ................................................................................................ 15 10.0 CONCLUSION. ............................................................................................................... 16 11.0 REFERENCES. ................................................................................................................ 16



CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS.

1.0 INTRODUCTION. Change Management concepts defined 1.1 Management Management is that which is entrusted with the responsibility, accountability and authority to insure attainment of organizational objectives. 1.2 Organization Organization exist in a dynamic environment, it receive resources from the environment and gives to the environment its output. It also depends on its internal environment because an organization consists of individuals, groups and structure.

1.3 Change Management

In thinking about what is meant by “change management,” at least four basic definitions come to mind:

1. The task of managing change. 2. An area of professional practice. 3. A body of knowledge. 4. A control mechanism.

The Task of Managing Change The first and most obvious definition of “change management” is that the term refers to the task of managing change. The obvious is not necessarily unambiguous. Managing change is itself a term that has at least two meanings.

One meaning of “managing change” refers to the making of changes in a planned and managed or systematic fashion. The aim is to more effectively implement new methods and systems in an ongoing organization. The changes to be managed lie within and are controlled by the organization. (Perhaps the most familiar instance of this kind of change is the “change control” aspect of information systems development projects.). However, these internal changes might have been triggered by events originating outside the organization, in what is usually termed “the environment.” Hence, the second meaning of managing change, namely, the response to



changes over which the organization exercises little or no control (e.g., legislation, social and political upheaval, the actions of competitors, shifting economic tides and currents, and so on). Researchers and practitioners alike typically distinguish between a knee‐jerk or reactive response and an anticipative or proactive response.

An Area of Professional Practice

The second definition of change management is "an area of professional practice."

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of independent consultants who will quickly and proudly proclaim that they are engaged in planned change, that they are change agents, that they manage change for their clients, and that their practices are change management practices. There are numerous small consulting firms whose principals would make these same statements about their firms. And, of course, most of the major management consulting firms have a change management practice area.

Some of these change management experts claim to help clients manage the changes they face – the changes happening to them. Others claim to help clients make changes. Still others offer to help by taking on the task of managing changes that must be made. In almost all cases, the process of change is treated separately from the specifics of the situation. It is expertise in this task of managing the general process of change that is laid claim to by professional change agents.

A Body of Knowledge

Stemming from the view of change management as an area of professional practice there arises yet a third definition of change management: the content or subject matter of change management. This consists chiefly of the models, methods and techniques, tools, skills and other forms of knowledge that go into making up any practice.

The content or subject matter of change management is drawn from psychology, sociology, business administration, economics, industrial engineering, systems engineering and the study of human and organizational behavior. For many practitioners, these component bodies of knowledge are linked and integrated by a set of concepts and principles known as General Systems Theory (GST). It is not clear whether this area of professional practice should be termed a profession, a discipline, an art, a set of techniques or a technology. For now, suffice it to say that there is a large, reasonably cohesive albeit somewhat eclectic body of knowledge underlying the practice and on which most practitioners would agree — even if their application of it does exhibit a high degree of variance.

A Control Mechanism



For many years now, Information Systems groups have tried to rein in and otherwise ride herd on changes to systems and the applications that run on them. For the most part, this is referred to as “version control” and most people in the workplace are familiar with it. In recent years, systems people have begun to refer to this control mechanism as “change management” and "configuration management." Moreover, similar control mechanisms exist in other areas. Chemical processing plants, for example, are required by OSHA to satisfy some exacting requirements in the course of making changes. These fall under the heading of Management of Change or MOC.

To recapitulate, there are at least four basic definitions of change management:

1. The task of managing change (from a reactive or a proactive posture) 2. An area of professional practice (with considerable variation in competency and skill levels

among practitioners) 3. A body of knowledge (consisting of models, methods, techniques, and other tools) 4. A control mechanism (consisting of requirements, standards, processes and procedures). Generally, change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state The current definition of change management include both organizational change management processes and individual change management models, which together are used to manage people side of change.

1.4 Organizational Change Management. Organizational change management includes processes and tools for managing the people side of change at an organizational level. These tools include a structured approach that can be used to effectively transition groups or organizations through change. When combine with an understanding of individual change management, these tools provide a framework for managing the people side of change. Organizational change management processes include techniques for creating a change management strategy (readiness assessments), engaging senior managers as change leaders, (sponsorship), building awareness of the need for change (communications), developing skills and knowledge to support the change (education and training), helping employees move though the transition (coaching managers and supervisors), and methods to sustain the change (measurement systems, rewards and reinforcement).

1.5 The Role of Management. Management’s responsibility (and that of administration in case of political changes) is to detect trends in the macro environment as well as in the microenvironment so as to be able to identify changes and initiate programs. It is also important to estimate what impact a change will likely have on employee behavior patterns, work processes, technological requirements,



and motivation. Management must assess what employee reactions will be and craft a change program that will provide support as workers go through the process of accepting change.

1.6 Organizational Effectiveness. Organizational effectiveness implies the ability of organization to realize its multiple goals that is profitability, productivity, employee satisfaction, social responsibility, financial stability and survival in a changing environment.

1.7 Types of Change • A change is external and internal environment if not well managed can completely halt the

organization and makes very hard to achieve its purpose. • The external environment includes technology, political, social economic conditions, legal

market condition etc. In order for an organization to attain its multiple objectives, it must manage the internal and external environment as well as any change that occurs in either the internal or external environment. Thus change management focus on proper coordination, planning, controlling, directing and rising firms resources which are both internal and external so as to attain its multiple objectives.

• The ultimate goal of any organization is to be effective .This means be able to attain its goals which are the purpose of its being.

• The survival of an organizational will depend on its ability to adopt and control the changes in its environment, which is the source of its resources these can be either proactive or reactive.

• A technological development changes the method of producing and providing goods and services, jobs become increasingly complex and technologically interdependent, such changes can present challenges for organizations and their managers. They need to be effectively managed.

2.0 IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE.

The environment provides the resources and opportunities for the organization’s existence. It also determines what an organization can do and what it cannot do. If the organization wants to be effective as it should, then it must adapt to the demands of the environment. Since these demands/conditions are constantly changing, organizations must also change. Changes are usually introduced through people, people must therefore be willing to accept the need and responsibility for organizational change, if the intended changes has to occur. Nevertheless people also depend on the organization; they must therefore learn to change their attitudes and behavioral patterns to match the constantly changing environment for the sake of the survival of the organization.



A flexible organizational structure should encourage adaptation. Rapidly controlled organizational relationships between and within work groups can impede the information processing activities. Task complexity occasioned by technological changes require people to be trained in their jobs for the future and the present .Task interdependency demands people work together in groups rather than as individuals. Members must therefore be technically and psychologically prepared to adapt, faiure to which may lead to major problems. 3.0 CHANGE OVER TIME – SIGMOID CURVE Every organization will follow its own sigmoid curve, but different organizations will move at different paces for different reasons. Charles Handy, who basically suggested that change might result in improvement and progress but that progress will plateau and eventually decline, highlighted the sigmoid curve in relation to management studies. To avoid such decline, decisions have to be made about further improvement at the point where success is growing and before the business starts to experience this plateau. For many in business, this is a difficult thing to get staff to do; many may have just been through testing and anxious times and just when it appears that there might be time to relax and bask in success, the management are asking for further sacrifices and effort to be made. Charles Handy describes how the Sigmoid Curve can be used as a concept for change management. The Sigmoid Curve sums up the story of life itself. We start slowly, experimentally and falteringly, we wax and then we wane. It is also the story of a product's life‐cycle and of many an organization’s rise and fall. Luckily, there is life beyond the curve. The secret of constant growth in any organization is to start a new Sigmoid Curve before the first one peters out. The right place to start that second curve is at point X. At this point there is the time, as well as the resources and the energy, to get the new curve through its initial explorations and floundering before the first curve begins to dip downwards. That would seem obvious, were it not for the fact that at point X all the messages coming through to the individual or the institution are that everything is going fine, that it would be folly to change when the current recipes are working so well. All that we know of change, be it personal change or change in organizations, tells us that the real energy for change only comes when you are looking disaster in the face, at point B on the first curve. At this point, however, it is going to require a mighty effort to drag oneself up to where, by now, one should be on the second curve.



Wise are they who start the second curve at point X, because that is the way to build a new future while maintaining the present. Even then, however, the problems do not end. The second curve, be it a new product, a new way of operating, a new strategy or a new culture, is going to be noticeably different from the old. It has to be. Without further change, the business will eventually witness a decline in progress around point Y. For many businesses in a rapidly changing global market this may be too late. However, if the business looks at its position at point X it can look back to see how far it has come and could sit back and reflect on its success. If it looks ahead, it can try to forecast the likely dip in progress and begin to implement changes that will take it onto a new sigmoid curve (the gold line). This period (indicated by the shaded area) is a very difficult time for leading change, there may well be anxiety, confusion and cultural change required before the successful transition to the new curve. The leadership skills here could make or break the change process and it is this skill that many corporations are willing to pay big money to acquire! 4.0 FORCES FOR CHANGE. More organizations face a dynamic and changing environment. This in turn, is requiring these organizations to adapt “change or die”.



4.1 Nature of work force. Human resource policies and practices have to change to reflect the needs of an aging labor force, so companies are required to spend more money on training so as to upgrade employee’s skills. 4.2 Technological Advancement. Technology is changing jobs and organizations for example introduction of computers, now almost every organization they use computers.

4.3 Competitions are changing. Because of globalization, competitors are likely to come from outside and inside the country. Then it makes necessary for organizations to defend themselves against competitor who develops new products and services. Successful organization will be the one that can change in response to the competition.

4.4 Social changes. Social changes reflect in terms of people’s aspirations, their needs, and their way of working Social changes have taken place because of the several forces like level of education.

5.0 CHANGE STYLES.

The right change style is needed to implement the change management process. Different types of change styles include:‐

• Collaborative: the target populations are engaged in the change process, typically through

cascading workshops or meeting. They will be kept up to date on the issues. Their views will be actively sought and acted upon. Feedback will demonstrate how their input has been acted upon.

• Consultative: The target population is informed about the changes and their views are sought.

• Directive: Informing the work force about the changes and why those changes are important.

• Coercive: Telling the work force that change is taking place and the new rules must be obeyed.

Organizational change management may provide various types of change styles, but defines a specific outline that is easy to follow for the future success of the company or entity involved.

6.0 RESISTANCE TO CHANGE.



Several things have to be in place for organizational change management to work. Many projects fail when certain things do not line up. Some of the major reasons for failure include:

• Technical issues. • Management problems. • Lack of definite objectives. • Lack of communication: When change is not communicated to all parties affected by the

change, resistance becomes a huge problem. • Inexperience and complexity: It is another major cause for failure of organization so there

has to be an understanding involved for the change to take place, resistance to change can be overt, implicit, immediate or differed. It is easier to deal with resistance when it is overt and immediate for example a change is proposed and employees quickly respond by complaining ,engaging in a work slow down, threatening to go strike or the like. The greater challenge is managing resistance that is implicit and differed these results to loss of morale to work, increased errors or mistakes.

7.0 WAYS TO OVERCOME RESISTANCE TO CHANGE.

• Education and communication: Help the employees to see the logic of a change. This

assumes the source of resistance is misinformation or poor communication. • Participation: It is difficult for individual to resist a change decision in which they

participated before making a change for those who resist can be brought into the decision process.

• Facilitation and support: Change agents can do a range of supportive efforts to reduce resistance.

• Planned organizational change: A technical change necessitates a change in production systems.

A change in consumer demands calls for a change in the company’s products and services. Some changes in an organization may occur naturally, however most of them require careful planning and implementation. The change process involves three stages:

• Unfreezing: This involves looking of existing attitudes and values systems, managerial

behavior and organizational structure • Change: This is the action stage whereby actual changes occur in the current value systems,

managerial behaviors and structures. • Refreezing: This involves the refreezing of the newly acquired values, behaviors and

structure, this leads to status quo.



8.0 CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS. Change management process is a process of requesting, determining attainability planning, implementing and evaluation of change to a system. Change management is an important process because it can deliver vast benefits by improving the system and then by satisfying customer needs.

8.1 Role for the Change Management Process. • Customer: the customer is the role that requests a change due to problems encountered or

new functionality requirements can be in – or external to the company that is asked to implement the change.

• Management: It is management responsibility to estimate what impact a change will likely have on employee behavior patterns, work processes, technological requirements and motivation. Management must assess what employee reactions will be and craft a change program that will provide support as workers go through the process of accepting change. The program must then be implemented, disseminated throughout the organization, monitored for effectiveness and adjusted where necessary.

8.2 Activity Description for the Change Management Process.

• Identify potential change.

− A customer desires new functionality and formulates a requirement. − A customer encounters a problem in the system and this leads to a problem report. − A customer proposes a change through creation of a change request.

• Analyze change request.

− Management determines the technical feasibility of the proposed change request, leading to a change technical feasibility. Management or change agent determines the costs and benefits of the proposed change request, resulting in change costs and benefits.

• Evaluate change.

Based on change requested its change technical feasibility and change costs and benefits then change committee or management makes go/no‐ go decision.

• Plan a change.

Analyze a change impact; the extent of change is determined in a change impact analysis. A change planning is created for the implementation of the change.



• Implement change.

The change is programmed then a new system is released which reflects that the applied change is made public.

9.0 ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS. Organizational effectiveness can be achieved through a number of points of view; • Theoretical point of view. • Developmental point of view. • Managerial point of view. 9.1 Theoretical View. This assumes that an organizational effectiveness can be achieved when there exist a fit between: • Organization and its environment. • Various organizational components. This perspective defines organizational effectiveness as one with; • Satisfactory profit or return on investment. • An ability to achieve its current goals. • An ability to satisfy its members/stakeholders. • An ability to adapt continuously to changes and to survive in the changing environment. The organization should be concerned with both current and future state. This view is based on two hypothesis;‐ • That an organization is composed of several components, and • That it is part of the environment in which it functions.

The organization ability to transform the inputs into outputs depends on its ability to organize the internal components and respond to the changing conditions in the environment. Thus there should exist fundamentally two fits: • Among the various internal organizational components, and • Between the organization and its external environment. a. Internal organizational fit; These include; • Task‐Individual fit; Matching people and the jobs they do. • Task‐group fit; matching the group to the group task.



• Task‐structure fit; matches the task informational requirements. • Task‐leader fit; matching manager’s leadership style with the task. • Leader‐group fit; matching leadership style with the people. • Reward‐group fit; Reward system can encourage cooperation or promote competition. • Reward‐task fit; Tasks differ in their international requirements, some tasks require a high

degree of interaction, others do not. b. External Organizational fit; Environmental forces have a major impact on the nature of organizational tasks, information processing requirements and the organization structure: Thus managers need to maintain three key fits to deal with the external environmental threats; • Environmental task fit; is the environment simple and static or is it simple and dynamic? • Mass production system fits simple static environment intensive technological system fits simple

dynamic environment. • Environment information fit; • Simple static environment requires low level of information processing. • Complex dynamic environment requires higher level of information processing.

o Information structure fit; • Functional structure fits well to simple static environment • Matrix structure fits well to complex dynamic environment. 9.2 Development Point of View. This focuses on the effort to increase the ability of its internal components to fit to the demands of the environmental changes. The managerial effort to find the sources of misfits and to correct them is defined as organizational development. This involves; • Diagnosing organizational components. • Identifying the sources of misfits, and • Undertaking corrective action. c. Identifying the sources of misfits, The most common misfits are; • Environmental –task misfit • Environmental‐structure misfit. • Individual –structure misfit (too restrictive from individual).



• Task individual misfits; Individual needs not adequately met by the task or the individual does not have the necessary skills.

• Individual‐group misfit. • Leader‐member misfit • Reward –task misfit. d. Undertaking corrective actions. Once the misfits have been identified the management can undertake developmental activities aimed at correcting them. These include two categories; • Behavioral, and • Structural. e. Behavioral Programmes These target the development of both individuals and groups. They aim at changing attitudes, behavior and interaction patterns and the ability to solve problems by changing in the authentic and cooperative behavior. Some of the popular development programmes are;

i. Career development; improving individual’s capacities to function productively in the organization at different levels of their lives and planning human resource utilization.

ii. Assertiveness training; this is given to employees to help then express themselves in a constructive way.

iii. Sensitive training; a method of changing peoples attitudes and behavior through unstructured group interaction.

iv. Transactional analysis; when a person communicates with another the pattern of interaction can either be complimentary or conflicting .Understanding this pattern can help people interact in a connective way.

v. Process consultation. vi. Team building; this focus on solving task‐related problems rather than on improving

interpersonal sensitivity. vii. Inter group team building; this focuses on helping group interact better with each other.

f. Structure Programmes. These seek to change the task, structural and managerial components of an organization .They includes;

i. Behavior modification; this integrates the re‐enforcement theory with managing organizational rewards.

ii. Job enlargement. iii. Job enrichment. iv. Flex time.



v. Linking –pro organization; this uses participative workgroups at all levels of management.

vi. Matrix organization; this facilitate the flow of information within the organization and its environment.

vii. Management by objective. viii. Survey feedback.

9.3 Managerial Point of View. Managers need to have certain skills in order to carry out their managerial responsibilities most effectively and efficiently some of these skills include, a. Human relation skills; these include interpersonal skills, leadership and group process skills

• Group process skills are the ability to work through and with various groups. • Interpersonal skills are needed to create and maintain a network of contacts with people

outside the chain of command. • Leadership skills includes the ability to ;

o Match the people with jobs. o Motivate and lead employees. o Know what is expected from a leader in a given leadership situation and meet this

expectation o Function effectively in various situations and with varying tasks and followers.

b. Conceptual skills; these mental abilities to acquire, analyze, and interpret information

received from various sources. These include analytical, entrepreneurial, decision making and allocation skills.

c. Administrative skills; these include the ability to establish and follow policies and

procedures process paper work in an orderly manner and manage expenditure within the budget.

d. Technical skills; these include the ability to use knowledge, tools and techniques of a

specific functional field. e. Personal qualities; although there is no definite list of these qualities, there are certain

qualities found more frequently among successful managers than among less successful managers and non‐managerial personnel. These include;

• Intelligence, physical health, energy, drive, emotional and mental health, emphathy, desire to

manage and influence people , the ability to tolerate ambiguity, frustration and pressure and willingness to take risk..



10.0 CONCLUSION. Change management and organizational effectiveness involves taking necessary steps to combat changes within and without the organization so as to ensure the organization maintains positive fits between itself and its components and between itself and the environment. To achieve this management would require to apply several strategies such as: • Adaption strategies. • Avoidance strategies. • Control strategies. As a means of copying with the environment and apply the the three step strategy of planned organizational change namely: • Unfreezing ‐ change ‐ Refreeze – And finally should ensure existence of both internal and external organizational fits, carry out necessary organizational development programmes as well as development of managerial skills. 11.0 REFERENCES.

1. Organisational behaviour by Stephen. P. Robbins. 10th Edition pg 555‐576

2. Organisational Behaviour by John M. and Matteson, Michael J. Pg 554‐580 and Pg 18‐42

3. Management and organizational Behaviour by Mullins, Laurie. J. Pg 520‐524 and pg 499‐504

4. Human relations: A job oriented approach. By Dubrin, Adrew J. Pg 393‐414

5. The Planning of Change (2nd Edition). Warren G. Bennis, Kenneth D. Benne, and Robert Chin (Eds.). Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York: 1969.

6. Human Problem Solving. Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon. Prentice‐Hall, Englewood Cliffs: 1972.

7. Organizations in Action. James D. Thompson. McGraw‐Hill, New York: 1967. 8. Fred Nickols Article: "Change Management 101: A Primer." 9. Handy, C. (1994) The Empty Raincoat, London: Random House

organisational behaviour paper 2008

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