Introduction
Organizational change is a very broad concept that transcends all aspects of change within an organization ranging from corporate organizational restructuring and the replacement of important personnel through to minor and simple modifications of the operating procedures of the company (Dawson, 2003). There are two basic categories of organization change definition: a change of the organization's character and a change of the organization's performance (Burling, 1996). A change of the organization's character is an alteration that has lasting or long-term impact; these alterations can lead to irreversible actions of the organization. On the other hand, the change of the organization's performance is an alteration of the procedures and operations of the organization to achieve the optimum potential and performance. Change may present itself in several forms such as diffusion, institutionalization, adaptation, innovation, and reform (Kezar, 2011). These models of change explain the different directions that are taken by organizations with regards to change.
In today's business environment which fluctuates from time to time due to several factor such as economics and the behavior of the consumer market, change is an essential part of the organization's forward direction to retain competitive advantage and keep a growing base of customers (Huber, 1995). First, change transcends the adoption of new technologies and tools that can be used to increase the productivity of the organization and to increase the performance quality of the organization. Second, change helps the organization to meet changing demands and needs of customers. Third, in today's economy, businesses should always be ready to react to any changes to keep growth. Fourth, changes help the organization to look for opportunities that will help it to grow and expand. It must be understood that change should transcend and include the bottom part of the organization and not be isolated among top members only.
In this paper, we will review how a major multinational company journeyed to organization change and what motivators encourage the organization to implement these changes. With the aid of proper strategies, the organization is able to adopt to the changes and is able to employ these changes for the betterment of the organization without much errors and difficulties. By analyzing the case, I will be presenting the different challenges faced by the organizations as well as the procedure taken by the organization in creating change, both internally and externally; and I will be explaining a communication and management plan to illustrate the direction that should be taken by organizations that are looking forward for major and minor changes of the organization.
Challenges Faced by the Organization
At the top of the challenges faced by the organization is the increased pressure of the manufacturing industry, which leads to the reduction of the revenue of the organization and the loss of expansion opportunities. Due to the fluctuation of the manufacturing industry and growing competition of the industry erodes the market share of the organization. As such, there are clear challenges and issues that the organization has to directly confront, which are as follows:
- Increased demand of customer for support services that can answer their queries. In the manufacturing industry, it is vital to quickly and effectively recover from the product failure to protect the reputation of the organization (Colomo-Palacios, et.al., 2011). This means that good customer support ensures higher customer satisfaction even if there are mistakes or errors with the product.
- Low level of sales and customers engagement. Without direct engagement with customers, it is difficult for the organization to increase sales. This is directly focused on the way the organization formulates strategies to reach out to their market segment.
- Slow speedy implementation and innovation at the frontline due to the behavior and mindset of members of those in the upper hierarchy. The structure of the organization slows down the decision-making process of those who are directly linked to the operations of the company. Without fast decision-making, the organization's operation is left to wait for the decision of those who are in the upper levels of the organizational structure.
- Lack of streamlined activities. The thick process of the organization's operations slows down the entire organization, which also leads to reduction of productivity. With several activities that should be done to produce a single result, there would be several people needed to complete the task, thereby reducing the holistic productivity of the organization.
Kurt Lewin's Stages for Creating Change
The Kurt Lewin's 3 Stages for Creating Change is an important tool to evaluate the procedure or steps taken by the organization regards to change (Meisenheimer, 1997). By using this method, the organization ensures a gradual and low-resistance organizational change to effectively translate the objectives and goals of the organization into success. Kurt Lewin's 3 Stages for Creating Changes follows the UNFREEZE to TRANSITION to FREEZE phase development.
Step 1: UNFREEZE. This stage prepares the organization for the change that will be implemented. It is necessary for the organization to prepare members of the organization and all other stakeholders for the changes. In this stage, the organization should show to stakeholders the need of change for them to be motivated to accept the change. When members of the organization do not see the need to change, they will not appreciate the changes that will be adopted by the organization. This stage should involve all stakeholders and not just those who are in the higher level of the organization's hierarchy.
The case shows the organization had been attempting changes within the organization for the past three to five years, but still the organization was not able to achieve its goals. In this regard, it is necessary for the organization to make structural changes to the organization. When the organization adopted this change, the HR department was tasked for the implementation. However, the HR department failed to answer the demands change. As a result, the HR department asked for a leadership team that will resolve the problems or challenges of the organization. This is a complete pattern that speaks volume to all members of the organization of the need to create change. With this achievement, the organization look forward for changes that will be accepted by all members of the organization.
Step 2: TRANSITION. After the unfrozen of the people of the organization, it is easy for the organization to do the process of change. It must be noted that change does not happen in just a single moment. It is a process that should be followed through by members of the organization. This is anchored on the implementation of change to the day-to-day operations of the organization. Instead of pushing for transitions in just a single step, the organization should implements day-to-day until all the necessary changes are adopted. It is important to transfer the competencies of the plans of the organization to the regular and day-to-day behaviors of the organization.
Step 3: FREEZE. After the transition phase, when all the changes are already implemented and adopted, it is necessary to make the system stable. It must be noted that for people to be comfortable with the new process and relationships, time is an important player. The stability process happens when the organization is already flexible for any error or incidences that necessitate the people to react to risks. The organization of this case acknowledges the need of stability through its development programs for change leaders and the facility of the personal insight of members of the organization.
Communication and Management Plan
For the guidance of the organizational change, the communication and management plan below details the key area results targeted by the adopted and implemented changes of the organization. By enumerating the different activities that should be done to achieve these key results, the organization will know the actions that should be done.
| KRA (Key Results Area) | Objectives | Activities | Responsible Person | Time Frame |
| Marketing Innovation | To become the leader for more virtual and flatter organization | Outsource system for a better virtual world | Marketing manager; marketing personnel; finance officer | 1 semester; on-going (Freeze Phase) |
| Creation of Support Services | To improve the way the organization respond to customers | Establishment of a customer support system | HR Manager; Finance Manager | 1 quarter |
| Customer Engagement | Development of Supply Chain, Distribution Channels, and sales strategies | Partnership with distribution channels and creation of promotional activities and programs | Supply Chain Manager; Finance Manager; Marketing manager | 1 semester; on-going (Freeze Phase) |
| Organizational Restructuring | To relax the rules of hierarchy of the organization | Review and creation of new rules and policies for the process of decision-making and flow of command in the organization | HR Department; Leadership Team; Executives | 1 quarter |
- Marketing Innovation. Technological tools should be employed to streamline the activities and tasks of the organization to improve its marketing impact.
- Creation of Support Services. By establishing a customer support service, customers' complaints are easily addressed to avoid damaging the reputation of the organization.
- Customer Engagement. By inking agreements with distribution channels, it is easy for the organization to meet customers and sell their products.
- Organizational Restructuring. Relaxation of the rules of the organization is very important to keep the organization active and ready to react to risks, threats, and opportunities faster and better.
Conclusion
The organization is facing threats of market decline due to the current environment of the industry. With the increased competition in the market and the changes of consumer behavior, threats to the organization's success have grown in number. This means that for the organization to maintain its growth and development, it is necessary to run the organization in a different direction and phase. Otherwise, the organization will fail to maintain its market share and it will result to the stagnation and decline of its financial value. The organization's forward direction is to implement organizational changes.
The organization should improve its marketing innovation by crafting a better virtual world that streamlines the activities and tasks of the organization. By establishing a support service section, the organization can keep consumers satisfied to ensure strong reputation. This must also be punctuated on the customer engagement plans of the organization by making its products more available to consumers. Tracing back at the heart of this is the structure of the organization. With a thinner and relaxed organizational structure, those who are bottom part of the organization can easily reach those who are in the upper hierarchy to increase the coordination and cooperation between key players.
In leading and managing change, it is necessary to prepare the organization for the adoption of these changes. There is no short-cut to the change of the organization. It takes time and process to ensure that all aspects of change are taken into account.
Analysis
Kurt Lewin's 3 Phases of Creating Change is an essential part of the organizational change direction. With the aid of the unfreeze – transition – freeze process, it is easier for the organization to implement changes without the expense of the organization's other components. However, in reality most organizations would rush the implementation of these changes. At the top of all problems is the resistance of the people of the organization. When people are taken out from their normal or regular department and from the people they worked with for a time, they seem to rebel from such change. They don't want to adopt to this change to ensure the retention of the status quo. When people resist change, their actions reflect this resistance and they lose their responsibility.
In Kotter's 8-Step Change Model, there is a need to communicate the vision and objectives of the organization. Yet, in reality the lack of communication seems true (Biech, 2007). The top members of the organization just implement change without talking directly to their employees. The lack of humility of the executives become a problem of the change implementation of the organization.
References:
Biech, E. (2007). Thriving Through Change: A Practical Guide to Change. American Society for Training and Development.
Colomo-Palacios,R., et.al. (2011). Customer Relationship Management and the Social and Semantic Web: Enabling Cliens Conexus. Idea Group Inc (IGI).
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Huber, G. (1995). Organizational Change and Redesign: Ideas and Insights for Improving Performancev, Issue 1995. Oxford University Press.
Kezar, A. (2011). Understanding and Facilitating Organizational Change in the 21st Century: Recent Research and Conceptualizations: ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Volume 28, Number 4. John Wiley & Son.
Meisenheimer, C. (1997). Improving quality: a guide to effective programs. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
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