MU0018 Change Management

Q1. (a) What is change management? (b) Explain the importance of change management.

a) Change Management is a systematic approach of dealing with change, both from organization and individual perspective. It can be seen from two perspectives, one is from those implementing change and the other is the recipients perspective. Your view on change management varies if you are an executive who is demanding a change, versus an employee on whom the change is executed. Change management is the successful management of a business change, wherein the executive leaders, the managers and the front line employees work in order to successfully implement the needed process, technology, or organizational changes. b) It plays an important role in any organization, as the task of managing change is not an easy one. hen we say managing change, it means making changes in a planned and systematic fashion. ith reference to the I! pro"ects, the change means the versions of a pro"ect and managing these versions properly. !echnology has compressed the distances across organizations. Internet and web technologies have given rise to honest corporations. #utomation, mechanization, manufacturing systems affects at both micro and macro levels of the organization. !hese technological advancements are examples of an external factor that impacts on change within the organization. !echnology not only refers to machinery, e$uipment, and tool but is concerned with the use of information and knowledge as inputs that are transformed into final outputs. !his process involves technology% hence choice of appropriate technology is a key factor for competitive edge in the new environment.
Change management process undergoes like below 1. !dentif"ing the need for change in an organi#ation. $. %esigning the changes as per organi#ations re&uirement. '. (aking others to understand the need for change for the proper functioning of an organi#ation. ). *ltering some organi#ational processes such as technolog"+ performance meters to incorporate changes. ,. (anaging both production and changes in such a wa" that the customers and stakeholders are bonded with each other in a long run. (anaging the changes in an organi#ation re&uires certain set of skills like political skills+ anal"tical skills+ people skills+ s"stem skills+ and business skills. If you have good analytical skills, you can be a good change agent. You should examine the financial and political impacts of the changes that can take place. &o, change management is important in the business world, where the things are assessed based on their perfection and capacity to address the needs of customers and clients.

Q$. -ist and explain the stages in organi#ational -ife c"cle?

.rgani#ational life c"cle is di/ided into the following phases 1. 0tart1up (or 2irth). $. 3rowth 4his phase is sometimes di/ided into an earl" growth phase (fast growth) and maturit" phase (slow growth or no growth). 5owe/er+ maturit" phase further leads to decline. '. %ecline While declining+ an organi#ation will undergo either renewal or death. ). 6enewal. ,. %eath. The Start-Up phase !n this phase+ the entrepreneur thinks about the business+ forms a management group+ write a business plan. 4he compan" goes into the growth phase when the in/estor writes the check. 4he start1up ends for those that don7t need outside funds. The growth phase !n the growth phase+ we expect to see re/enues increasing+ new ser/ices and products de/eloping+ more emplo"ees recruiting and so on. In organizations that have been running for a few years, dry rot sets in. 'ry rot refers to decaying of timber in buildings and wooden furniture caused by fungi. &o, many companies have their own types of programs relating to organizational development in place. The decline phase Corporate insanit" is seen in this phase. Corporate insanit" can be defined as doing the same thing in same wa" but expecting different results. (anagement expects to be better next "ear+ but doesn7t know or is unwilling to change to get better results. , http 88www.legacee.com89ast3rowth8.rg-ifeC" (an" organi#ations will not enter decline phase unless there are precise program of transformational leadership de/elopment. !f senior leaders detect the s"mptoms of decline at earl" stage+ the" can easil" deal with it. The renewal phase .nce the organi#ation starts declining+ it doesnt mean that it should continue. 0ome of the external experts ha/e focused on the importance of organi#ational de/elopment as a wa" for pre/enting decline or reducing its effects. 'ry rot can be reversed through the use of training as a way of in"ecting new knowledge and skills. You can also have rigorous programs to change and transform the organization(s culture. !his assumes that though you have enough transformational leaders to change the status $uo, without the right type of leadership, the organization will go down to bankruptcy. The death phase *bout :;< of business failures occur due to the factors related to leadership control. E/en firms that are close to bankruptc" can o/ercome this ad/ersit" and nurse themsel/es to be financial health". * /er" good example is -ee !acoccas turnaround of the Chr"sler Corporation.

Q'. Explain briefl" the recent approaches to organisational de/elopment and change.

It includes structural and technological changes and focuses on the working environment among the employees within the organization. It is a modern approach to manage change for human resource development. !he basic approaches of organizational development are techno)structural approach and human process oriented approaches. !he recent approaches to organizational development and change are broadly divided into two categories* 1. The top down approach: The classical paradigm .rgani#ations consist of functional areas such as production+ sales and accounting+ etc. 4he top management will dri/e these areas through command and control. 4he assumption here is that management should tr" hard to maintain change. 2. The bottom up approach: The systems paradigm 4his approach deals with organi#ation as a s"stem which easil" gets affected b" en/ironmental changes. !t is also known as the li/ing1s"stems approach because the organi#ation is considered to be a learning organi#ation which has man" feedback s"stems between its sub1s"stems. 5ere+ change occurs continuousl" and is considered natural when an opportunit" is present and is not dri/en externall". #ccording to systems approach, organizations should simultaneously pursue both process and structural intervention strategies in order to bring about change. +rocess intervention strategies focus on changing people s behavior, culture, attitudes, interpersonal and inter)group interactions, and also organizational communication styles and flow of information ,-eer, ./012. !hese strategies help to bring in team work, cultural change, and systems maintenance in the organization. #nother way of analyzing change models is to consider the external or internal forces as influencing change. !he adaptation model focuses on the role of external factors in bringing about changes in the organization. &ome of the examples include a new government policy, competitive environment. !he proaction model says that explanation comes from within the organization as actions and change by itself. #ccording to process model, successful change needs to be planned by helping people to develop process competencies. &ome of the examples are ways of planning, decision)making, problem solving, communicating, etc. +eople will find new ways of organizing things by this. 0ome of the change models ha/e had rele/ance and existed o/er a span of time. 4hese models are categori#ed based on their nature of change+ anal"sis+ and treatment into three groups. 4he" are 1. =rocess1based models. $. Content1based models. '. !ntegrated models.

Q). %iscuss in brief about the role of leaders in the change process.

4he leaders work towards achie/ing the goals in the organi#ation. 1. %ifferent people react in different wa" for the changes 4he opinion of different people /aries in a different wa". 0ome people like to follow the old s"stem and the" want things to be as it is+ so the" like to be at the stabilit" end of the spectrum. 0ome other people encourage for the new upcoming change+ so the" like to be at the change end. (an" problems come when the people find that their opinions do not match with the situations. !n such a condition the indi/iduals will be dissatisfied+ experience stress+ and dislike indi/iduals at the other end. 2. E/er"one has fundamental needs that ha/e to be met 4he need /ar" depending on the people. 4here is some degree for each of the needs. 4he change programme has to meet the control+ inclusion and openness needs of the individuals otherwise there is chance for negative reactions ranging from the resistance to the opposition. 3.>Change often in/ol/es a loss+ and people go through the ?loss cur/e? 4he loss of cur/e explains the feelings of the indi/iduals as the time proceeds in the change process. 4. Expectations need to be managed realisticall" 0ome of the enforced changes do not meet the expectations of the emplo"ees that time certainl" the" will be unhapp" and the expectations ha/e to be set at the realistic le/el. 9or example 0uppose that we are a contractor for an" pro@ect and we expect to be paid in 1) da"s but the contract sa"s '; da"s then we need to discuss and make sure that we get what we are expecting. !f this not happening then we must make sure that the expectations are managed b" both contractor and bu"er. Fears have to be dealt with: !t is the tendenc" of human beings to go out of the window+ whene/er there are some significant changes. 0ome people fear the worst since their minds will not be /er" conscious to know the things better. (an" fears which an emplo"ee faces during a changing phase. 1. -oosing the @ob. $. !nabilit" to sur/i/e in changed setup '. Aot getting a new @ob. ). 9uture problems arising due to loss of @ob. !he fears have to be addressed by leaders in an understanding way by making them understand that the redundant people can get the better "ob.

Q,. Explain the strategies for competiti/e ad/antage.

* competiti/e ad/antage 'is an ad/antage o/er competitors gained b" offering consumers greater /alue+ either b" means of lower prices or b" pro/iding greater benefits and ser/ice that @ustifies higher prices. (ichael =orter )has gi/en four generic business strategies that are anal"#ed b" him on his work in the competiti/e industr". 5e has gi/en four strategies taking consideration of the scope of a business versus the degree of product differentiation. Strategy: Di erentiation 4hese are the strategies which include the selection of one or more criteria that can be used b" the customers for taking the product in the market. *ccording to the criteriaBs+ the organi#ation can de/elop the special strateg" to meet the needs of the customers. !his involves the product with the premium price to demonstrate the production costs and the value added features that are present for the customer needs. Strategy: !ost leadership 4he main aim of this strateg" is to pro/ide the product with the less cost in the market. 4he lowest cost producer is its main aim. E/en the market segments suggest the same thing. !he lowest cost producer will be -enefited when the product rate is at minimum e$ual to the average price in the market. 3sually this type of strategy is associated with the large scale industries which aim at offering the standard products with a minimum differentiation and perfect product. Strategy: Di erentiation ocus 4his strateg" aims at differentiating the product with a minimum number of target market segments. 4his strateg" is applicable to the special needs of the customer. 4he customer well in ad/ance informs the industr" for the production of the special with the needs that will be differentiated with the alread" existing product in the market. !here is a valid factor for the differentiation and the existing competitor products are not meeting those needs. Strategy: !ost ocus 4his strateg" focuses on the cost of the product which is the base for the business of the organi#ation. 4here are some products+ which ha/e features that are not needed for the customers. 4hat time the sale will also be less since the cost is more+ which is not worth according to their needs. %uring that time+ it will be /er" helpful if the organi#ation pro/ides the product with the+ less cost and the specific needs that are re&uired for the customers.

QC. (a) %efine learning organi#ation. (b) Explain the need for learning organi#ation.

a) &enge defines 4earning 5rganization as the 6organization in which you cannot 7not( learn because learning is so
insinuated into the fabric of life.8 #lso, he defines 4earning 5rganization as 8a group of people continually enhancing their capacity to create what they want to create.8 e can define learning organization as the organization which has embedded the philosophies like anticipating, reacting and responding to change, complexity and uncertainty. !he competitive advantage mainly depends on the rate at which the organization can learn. b) Many of the companies in the world focus on improving the existing products and services, and innovating things to excel in the business strategy. !his resulted in the starting of many activities like !9M ,!otal 9uality Management2 and -+: ,-usiness +rocess :eengineering2. !hese programmes can be successful or a failure, depending on some factors likes individual skills, attitudes and organization culture. 4here are few factors that are needed for learning organi#ation to deal with. 4he" are to 1. 9ace sudden and unexpected changes where there are no responses for the existing programmes. $. Expect the changing situations. '. *llow the staff to respond to the customer needs in a proper wa".