Managing and Leading Strategic Change Expository Essay

Introduction

According to Weick and Quinn (1999), organizational change is a fundamental practice. Organizational change involves numerous practices that aim at introducing new approaches. Enhancement of organizational functions leads to the improvement of performance in organizations. It includes the restructuring of organizational functions so as to pave the way for the introduction of the desired changes in the organization.

In most cases, the change affects the culture of an organization as it may call for an overhaul of organizational norms and routines. In this paper, it is argued that organizations have varying practices. The introduction of these practices impede to the management of change.

According to Cameron & Green (2004), the success and sustainability of organizational performance can be achieved through the strategic management of change in organizations. When managing change in companies, managers need to be aware of the potential impacts of introducing change programs in the organization (Burnes, 2004).

The most critical factor that needs to be given attention in the management of organizational change is the culture of an organization. Strategic change often affects the culture of a company and should thus be planned and implemented by factoring in all the operational features of organization (Stace and Dunphy, 1991). This paper discusses the management of strategic change in business ventures.

The study looks into organizational culture and how it is affected by strategic change. The paper discusses how the culture of an organization affects the introduction and implementation of change programs. In the paper, it is argued that organizational culture can affect organizational change in either a positive or negative way.

Organizational Culture Theory and strategic change

Organizational culture entails the values, beliefs and attitudes that are held by a firm. These elements define the practices implemented in an organization. Organizational members often consider organizational realities based on their practices. Patterns of behaviour in organizations are best explained through observing the culture of organizations.

Culture is critical to the routine operation of a firm. Management of the organization is faceted by the culture of the particular company (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2010). Therefore, any force that is likely to induce changes in the culture of an organization brings about disturbances to its management. However, modern organizations operate in an environment that is dynamic and continues changing all the time.

This means that they have to keep adjusting their managerial styles. This has a direct impact on culture. In most cases, organizational change programs are seen as sources of conflict in the managerial practices of organizations. Change brings about new practices. Organizational members often get it hard to adapt to the new practices because of the habit to use long-held approaches (Amagoh, 2008).

According to Stace and Dunphy (1991), organizational culture shapes the internal environment of a company. Culture in the context of an organization is composed of many practices, which define the operational environment of an organization. It includes the long-held assumptions, practices and norms. It also includes the rules and modes of organizational operations developed over a long span of time.

The long-held practices of an organization are often normalized and form part of the code of conduct for the organizational employees. Culture includes written and unwritten codes to which organizational employees are to be adhered. They are considered to be valid by organizational members and thus commonly accepted and widely practiced.

The valid practices and long-held patterns of conducting organizational practices are combined to form the corporate culture. The corporate culture presents itself in a number of ways. The main way through which the corporate culture is manifested in the organization is the mode of business activities. The flow of business transactions differs from one organization to another.

The nature in which firms are organized is part of the culture of the company. The other salient feature which depicts the culture of a certain business venture is the manner in which power is distributed in the entity (Fineman, 2008).

Power structure which defines the distribution of power and authority in organization varies from one company to the other. This separates one firm from another, hence it is a component of organizational culture. The treatment of organizational workers, customers and the other publics is also a component of organizational culture.

Therefore, it is worthwhile to deduce that organizational culture is derived from a wide range of organizational functions. The manner in which these functions are performed by companies is what is referred to as corporate culture. Corporate culture defines the characteristics of organizations and how they play out in the interaction between the organization and the environment in which the business operates (Fineman, 2008).

The relationship between organizational culture and strategic change management

Organizational culture is the strongest force in organizations. Therefore, it is quite hard to eliminate the long-held practices in a company. However, organizational change has forces which demand a restructuring of organizational operations. With organizational change, the interruption of the culture of an organization is an unavoidable activity.

Strategic change management is a desired activity in organizations given to the fact that organizations operate in an environment that keeps changing. Change, which occurs in the external environment, necessitates strategic change in organizations as well. The goals and objectives set by the firm are patterned by strategies. Strategies help in the organization to discharge of duties among its workers and managers.

They propel organizations towards meeting the laid-down goals. The need for organizational change emanates from forces in the larger environment in which firms carry out their activities.

In order to adjust to the forces and maintain their performance records, organizations are often forced to make adjustments to their activities. This helps them in absorbing the stocks from these forces and forging ahead with their operations without impediments. In some cases, change is not only necessitated by the forces of the external environment (Clegg, Kornberger and Pitsis, 2005).

The need for improvement of internal efficiency also necessitates organizational change. Strategic change management is a process that entails a deep look into the operations of the environment and the need to improve the operations through the introduction of new ways of handling organizational tasks.

Strategic change can take place in two ways. One of the models of strategic change in companies is the introduction of new programs to replace the prevailing programs. Such cases occur when there is a need for an overhaul of organizational functions so as to meet the demands of the external environment of a firm (Fineman, 2008).

For a business company, this is a common practice due to the existence of competition from the external environment. Business firms face a lot of competition in the market, therefore, they keep monitoring trends in the industry and adjust to those trends accordingly. They also keep monitoring other business firms which are considered to be their rivals.

Therefore, change in strategy by their competitors forces them to make changes to an equal degree in order not to be competitively disadvantaged in the market. As they keep working, organizational managers seek to identify areas of weakness in organizations. Organizational weakness resonates from a number of features. These include policies, structure, operational environment and strategies (Bamford and Forrester, 2003).

The identification of the areas of weakness is a crucial step for organizational managers as these areas are the sources of inefficiency in the operation of the companies. Therefore, change is needed in streamlining areas which have weaknesses. This means that the routine operations will be interfered with so that the operations can be streamlined. Organizational change is a continuous process.

Change occurs in cycles. This means that change cannot be avoided. Change prevails at all times. Strategic change has an enormous impact on the organizational culture. With organizational change, the culture of an organization is often subjected to adjustments (Bamford and Forrester, 2003).

According to Teece, Pisano and Shuen (1997), organizations keep seeking for better means of improving efficiency and effectiveness in performance. Unlike in the ancient times when organizations stuck to certain modes of operation, modern organization are dynamic.

The ancient environment favoured the maintenance of organizational culture because the ancient operating market was less competitive as compared to the current one which is distinguished for high competition. Modern organizations highly embrace dynamism. This is caused by the fact that there is high competition and the need to attain a competitive position in order to benefit from the operational environment.

Organizations keep searching for mechanisms of improving the processes of management. Strategic change management is thus a dynamic process which enables organizations to develop and implement strategic goals. Strategic goals are often detailed and seek to address issues within organizations.

Organizations engage in a wide rage of activities. Most of these activities force organizations to make changes to their structures (Teece, Pisano and Shuen, 1997).

Corporate change and strategic management – influence on organizational culture

Organizations seek to raise the levels of performance by diversifying their programs and functions. Corporate strategies lead organizations to the attainment of practices and activities that help them in meeting their corporate goals. Corporate change starts by the evaluation of the competitive landscape within which an organization works.

Organizations are required to analyse their capabilities. Capabilities of organizations are reflected in their assets and liabilities. Strategies of change are often developed based on operational capacity of firms. Strategic changes are implemented using organizational resources.

This means that limitation of organizational resources will often pose difficulties in the implementation of corporate change. Corporate change entails cumulative changes that are made to the design of organizations (Lucke, 2003).

Corporate change is driven by the need for an improvement of organizational practices so as to capitalize on opportunities that exist in the operational environment. On the other hand, corporate change may be directed at eliminating harmful effects that come from the environment. All in all, the motives for organizational change are to improve the performance of an organization.

In situations where the forces in the environment are too strong, companies may be forced to use resources to put them in a position in which they cannot be swayed by the forces. In case of mounting pressures from external organizations, businesses are left with limited options. They work under limited timelines. If it takes them longer to adapt to changes, they are bound to fail.

Thus, they make quick adjustments to corporate functions. This is a risky exercise and puts organizations in a tight angle. Corporate change has to be aligned with organizational strategies. However, this is a daunting task because change results in modification of organizational culture from which organizational strategies are derived (Alvesson, M & Sveningsson, 2007).

As earlier observed, the current management environment is competitive and highly dynamic. Therefore, firms engage in various activities to help them in keeping pace with their rivals. Organizations must learn to deal with different pressures that result from change as it is a process that cannot be avoided (Argyris, 2001). Organizational change is an activity that has a high degree of dynamism.

An example of such activities that are commonly practiced by firms as a way of raising their competitive strengths are mergers and acquisitions (Kavanagh & Ashkanasy, 2006). Mergers and acquisitions are among the practices in strategic change management.

They are part of the operational strategies that are applied by many firms today (Buono & Bowditch, 2003). They have an immense impact on the culture of organizations involved. Acquisitions and mergers have proved to be effective mechanisms of attaining growth, corporate diversity and rationalization of organizational operations.

According to Van Knippenberg and van Leeuwen (2001), mergers and acquisitions entail a wide range of activities which have a direct effect on the culture of organizations. When organizations involve in merger and acquisitions, they are forced to adopt new models of working. Firms which have emerged often come up with a new charter that defines the functioning of the resultant organizations.

Structures of operation used by each organization keep changing. This means that new cultures are developed by such strategic practices of managing firms. Therefore, organizational leaders that are involved in conducting merger and acquisitions are often faced with difficult tasks. They have to ensure that they align the structures of the organization with its function.

Stable working organizations are developed when the culture of companies, taking part in merger exercise, is properly aligned (Kavanagh & Ashkanasy, 2006). This helps in eliminating hitches that may hinder the work of such organizations. Introduction of new structures involves a change in the style of leadership in organizations. Change in organizational leadership necessitates modifications in the pattern of work.

Experts in strategic leadership and management argue that change in cross organizational contact is realized when organizations communicate changes to all their members (King et al., 2004; Herscovitch and Meyer, 2002).

The impact of radical change on the stability of organizational members

Huy (2002) observed that there are different circumstances that necessitate the introduction of change programs in organizations. In a number of cases, organizational managers introduce rapid change to contain certain situations. Rapid change is introduced to aid in arresting certain situation which seem trivial to organizational functioning.

While rapid change programs are applauded for mitigating the barriers to organizational performance, they also have negative effects on the emotional stability of the companies. Rapid changes come with rapid adjustments to work patterns in the businesses. In most cases, employees are taken aback with these change programs. Stability of emotions among organizational employees is a crucial factor.

Employees feel more content when they are performing the tasks that they are used in organizations. Rapid changes introduced may require employees to perform the tasks which they had gotten used to performing in the past.

The nature and pace of adjustments are defined by the rapid change programs which are often undesired. The situation is further aggravated if there is a failure of organizational managers to perform a quick assessment of the organization, prior to introducing such program (Fineman, 2003).

In most cases, such programs end up failing to meet their intended objectives because they do not take into account the emotional state of organizational employees. The emotional state of employees is determined by the operational norms of an organization, thence organizational culture. Every activity, which has the potential to sway the mental state of employees, needs to be approached with caution.

Therefore, the quality of strategic management is critical at this stage. The introduction of such change programs calls for closer supervision, guidance and continuous encouragement of workers as they perform the stipulated tasks. Emotional intelligence management is highly desired in the discharge of duties that come with rapid change programs in organizations (Plowman et al., 2007).

Diversity of strategic options may occur in challenging and at the same time in normal times. In any case, the quality of leadership which is part of organizational culture becomes the key determinant of effective choices (Delbridge, Gratton and Johnson, 2006). The high level of professionalism of organizational leaders is desired since it helps them to make rational decisions for organizations.

If mistakes are made at this stage, then there is a high likelihood of missing the mark in pursuance of change in organizations. In most cases, organizational members differ with the choice of strategies. Sound leaders are manifested at this crucial point (Latta, 2009).

This helps organization in reaching consensus about the desired strategies. The choice of change strategies is affected by the culture of an organization. The choices that are made by the managers must be compatible with organizational operations (Pettigrew, 1990).

Conclusion

Change is a desired practice in the management of organizations. Organizational change entails the introduction of several adjustments to the operations of the companies. Change in organizations is a dynamic process. Strategic management of change is a combination of activities that help businesses in meeting the demand from the external environment. It has a direct effect on organizational culture.

It is therefore imperative to say that culture can have both positive and negative impacts on organizational change. When the practices of an organization favour a given course of events, which denotes change, then it becomes easy to implement change programs.

When a number of new organizational programs and process impact heavily on organizational norms, it becomes difficult for organizations to implement the programs and processes. In such cases, it forces organizations to devise and implement strategies which would ensure that organizational members and structures absorb change.

Organizational culture entails the practices that are embraced by business ventures. From the discussion, it can be deduced that organizational culture is highly impacted upon by change programs. Strategic change programs are desired as they help organizations adapt to the practices of strengthening the competitive forces of organizations.

Leading strategic change entails the analysis of organizational practices and making recommendations that favour the performance of companies. More often, organizational change involves practices that force organizations to make substantial adjustments to their system of operation. Many companies are working on modalities of improving performance.

Most organizational practices have a significant effect on the way firms work. It is, therefore, vital for organizational managers being vigilant as they introduce new programs. Change programs have many aspects of dynamism which affect organizational culture.

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