Today’s business environment produces change more suddenly and frequently than ever before. The ability to adapt to changing work conditions is key for individual and organizational survival. Change will be ever present and learning to manage and lead change includes not only understanding human factors but also skill to manage and lead change effectively.

Reflecting on my learning over the past 12 weeks, the chapter that has resonated the most with me is week  8′s managing resistance to change. Resistance has been cast as adversarial – the enemy of change that must be defeated if change is to be successful (Albanese 1973). The success of an organization relies heavily on how effective it is in overcoming resistance to change.

I find that no matter what industry or organisation you are in, change is always inevitable. If organisations do not comply with change, and its employees resist change, it will have a negative effect on productivity and performance.

Palmer Dunford & Akin (2009) states that the most difficult change to manage amongst is the lack of conviction that change is needed.
Managing resistance to change, the procedures and strategies involved are extremely challenging. Therefore I find that if we can manage to make people resist change by emphasising the benefits of change, we can thus manage resistance. The challenges involved in understanding these occurances and being able to find ways to resolve the issues is interesting as it will be beneficial to me in the future/work life.

The fact that managing resistance to change is the most difficult task management seeks to resolve, thus it is why I think that being able to understand and have knowledge in dealing with this matter will provide me with a great stepping stone and give me the experience to deal with this matter in my future working life.

Therefore it is vital that a change manager pays close attention in managing the lack of conviction that change is needed.

References:

Palmer, I, Dunford, R & Akin, G 2009, Managing organizational change: a multiple perspectives approach, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York.

Albanese, R. (1973), “Overcoming resistance to stability”, in Bartlett, A. and Kayser, T.,Changing Organisational Behaviour, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Managers have always asked questions such as “What is the right thing to do? Tall or flat organizational structures?” It assumes that there is no universal answer to such questions as because organizations, people, and situations vary and change over time.

According to Palmer et al (2009) the contingency approach to change identifies five change styles:

• Developmental transitions – Situations in which there is constant change as a result of the organization adapting it to external, environmental changes.
• Task-focused transitions – Directive management style with the change leader acting as a captain seeking the compliance of organizational members to redefine how the organization operates in specific area.
• Charismatic transformation – People accept that the organization is out of step with its environment and that there is need for radical, revolutionary change.
• Turnarounds – Aimed at inspirational change.
• Taylorist – Aimed at frame breaking changes.

On the other hand, Huy (2001) categorizes change in the context of a contingency approach into four ideal types:

• Commanding change intervention – one where the time period is short term, abrupt, and rapid.
• Engineering intervention – oriented toward a medium-term, relatively fast-change perspective and often assisted by work design analysts
• Teaching intervention – a more gradual, longer term OD change perspective. Assisted by outside process consultants.
• Socializing intervention – Gradual and long term. See change as developing through participative experiential learning based on self monitoring, democratic organizational processes.

The contingency theory suggests that what managers do in practice depends on, or is contingent upon, a given set of circumstances – a situation.

Tthe effectiveness of various managerial practices, styles, techniques, and functions will vary according to the particular circumstances of the situation. Management’s task is to search for important contingencies. The main determinants of the contingency view relate to the external and internal environments of the organization. (James et al, 2003)

Reference List:

Wren, D.A (1994). The Evolution of Management Thought, 4th Ed. New York: Wiley & Sons.

Palmer, I Dunford, R & Akin, G 2009 Managing Organisational Change; A Multiple Perspective Approach, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York

James, D.T, 2003, Organisations in Action: Social Science Bases of Administrative Theory (Classics in Organisation and Management Series), Transaction Publishers.

OD is a long term plan that is action oriented and involves a systematic diagnosis of the whole organisations system. (Palmer Dunford & Akin, 2009). This approach to change is implemented through three value sets which include humanistic, democratic and developmental approach. OD emphasises groups and members as the key fundamental contribution to change.

In relations to the case study of DuPont, it is relevant that OD is present within the context of organisational change. Indicators of the presence of OD in this context can be seen by the changes being implemented within the organisation and the use of an OD practiotioner.

The changes being made within DuPont is seen as one that emphasises the aim of providing a better working environment thus improving organisational effectiveness and productivity, involvement of top management in committing to a positive change, responsibility of groups and teams working together to meeting the needs and aims of the organisation(the formation of the Leadership Core Team), and also the fact that the plan is action oriented and long term focused.

The plant manager, Tom Harris hired an OD practitioner Gib Akin , thus indicates the presence of OD within DuPont.  Gid Akin was called in to provide professional advise , monitor and analyse affects of changes on people, ways to improve and further increase organisational standards and productivity. The fact that the presence of Gid Akin to better make the condition of the current situation in DuPont was announced by Tom Harris gave a positive reaction on staff members. These are all essential values of the presence of OD within the organisation.

The approach to change was implemented through the three value sets:

Humanistic approach: Tom Harris’s nature and how he calls staff by their first name, giving people comfort and openess and show them that he cares for them and not only the organisation itself.

Democratic: making sure that all staff members are working together as a group and that emphasising the fact that the DuPont wont be where they are without their commited staffs, making them feel appreciated and involved.

Developmental: Emphasing that the change is necessary and is beneficial for growth and self realization.

Reference List

Palmer, I Dunford, R & Akin, G 2009 Managing Organisational Change; A Multiple Perspective Approach, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York

Warren,B, 2000, “Managing the Dream”,Perseus Publishing,Cambridge, Massachusetts, ” Chapter 16, pages 212-226

There are a number of reasons why people resist to change, Palmer Dunford and Akin (2009) discusses three reasons why people resist change and the three of those are as follows: the dislike of change, belief that the timing is wrong and the lack of conviction that change is needed.

Whilst all three are important signs, the most difficult to manage amongst is the lack of conviction that change is needed.  Palmer Dunford & Akin (2009) states that people are likely to react negatively to change when they feel that there is no need for the change.

It will be a difficult task for the change manager to create a belief within the organisation that change is evident. People tend to be sceptics and resist change when there are unsure that a change will be beneficial for them. Stakeholders and employees in this case will retaliate in believe that a change will only bring about more issues within the organisation.

When there is doubt by stakeholders that a change will bring about a positive result, the change manager then has to deal with the fact that it is unlikely that they will provide assistance, support or interests towards the organization. It is extremely crucial that stakeholders are prioritized when it comes to dealing with changes, thus lack of conviction is a big threat in undermining this issue.

On the other hand, same goes for employees within the organization. When there is doubt that a change is needed, employees will assume that it will only bring about problems such as stress, extra workload, new rules, policies and guidelines, new work environment and many more. When employees start to resist, their performance will decrease and it will have a negative effect on the organizations production and out put.
Therefore it is vital that a change manager pays close attention in managing the lack of conviction that change is needed.

References:

Palmer, I, Dunford, R & Akin, G 2009, Managing organizational change: a multiple perspectives approach, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York.

Albanese, R. (1973), “Overcoming resistance to stability”, in Bartlett, A. and Kayser, T.,Changing Organisational Behaviour, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

After examining the case study of airplane makers – Boeing, it is evident that the rightful diagnostic tool needed to be implemented in order to provide results and see positive changes would be the use of the “Burke-Litwin” model. , the company needed a dramatic transformational change from its management to technological capabilities.

The “Burke-Litwin” model developed by Warner Burke and George Litwin shows the causal effects of change between 12 key areas of organizational design. Using the model, you can learn which organizational variables to change and why. You can then use this understanding to analyze, diagnose and even predict the effects of change throughout an organization.

The four transformational factors are external environment, mission strategy, leadership, and organizational culture. These are all the factors that Boeing needs so vitally to pay attention to in implementing change for the benefit of a brighter future and growth prospects.

External environments comprises of their main rival, Airbus who managed to get more orders thus this created a shock to management thus changes were implemented to overcome the structure, technology, manage practices and work unit climate. It is vital that Boeing pay close attention towards tackling external forces as it one of the most important elements in determining the success of a company.

Strategy and mission refers to Boeing’s efforts in tackling issues and responding to changes. They serve as a guide line of what the organization needs to achieve and strive to be.

Leadership is vital in ensuring that an organization is guided and order is placed in a work environment. It is important that a leader set the best example in response to the working environment between employees to create positive outcomes.

Communication is also vital in a organization culture. Boeing was lacking communication skills in the past thus negative results prove so. Boeing needs to implement a culture that can work together and have management teams solve issues that are in the way of a harmonies productive work ambience.

References
1 Holger Jensen, ‘Low pay, high desire: a tale of 2 swooshes in Indonesia’, Denver Rocky Mountain News, July 2, 2000 p. 41A; Esther de Haan and Vivian Schipper, ‘Nike Casefile’, (Clean Clothes Campaign, www.cleanclothes.org/companies/nikecase99-11-2.htm), 1999
2 Sarah Severne, ‘Nike’s Journey to Sustainability’Paper presented at the Business and the Environment: Solutions for the new millennium, Sydney, 20-21 July 2000.
3 Michelle Cole, ‘Nike sporting a new color: green’, Oregon Live, August 14, 2000.
4 Nike pledges to improve conditions in Asian factories’, Asia Pulse, July 18, 1997; Jensen, p. 41A.