Discuss the need for change for the company in the scenario using either the systems contingency model or the organizational life cycle model.
There is a dire need for change in the company to ensure it remains functioning and competitive. Given the age of the company, it is now an established organization with rapid global growth. With the current hierarchical structure and the cultural limitations imposed on creativity and decision making, the company has a tremendous need for change. As such, it should consider the organizational life cycle model that uses a road map to enable organizations to know the areas they need to improve while highlighting its capabilities. The model consists of several stages which include:
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Growth through creativity which is the initial phase of an organization and the organization has an informal structure.
Growth through direction whereby an organization has some form of leadership structure which is broken down into departments depending on individuals’ areas of expertise.
Growth through delegation which is a phase that requires managers to become more responsible to enhance the accomplishment of organizational goals.
Growth through coordination phase entails using more formal systems.
Growth through collaboration which requires flexibility concerning the previous phases.
Differences between a learning organization and a traditional organization
Learning organizations encourage adaptation to change and empower employees and leaders to positively accept change. Organizations that embrace change view it as an opportunity for growth and can easily adapt to changes in the market (Jayatilleke & Lai, 2018). Traditional organizations do not share this same view. They are often inflexible and embrace change less readily. Traditional organizations have a stable foundation but are slower to adapt.
1. Identify which stage of Woolner's 5-stage model the company is currently in
It is in the third stage of Woolner's stage model given that it is an established organization.
Why is the company in the identified stage of Woolner's 5- stage model ?
Despite the company having a solid business model and products, it lacks a proactive learning situation but has outsourced training. It has not invested in training and development opportunities for the employees that would facilitate innovation.
2. How Senge's five disciplines would help the company become a learning organization
Systems Theory and Thinking is the foundation of Senge's 5 discipline and can help the entire company transition to a “we” mentality. Having all parts of an organization function collaboratively is vital for success, and the systems thinking allow the integration of all individual parts to become one.
The personal mastery, which is the second discipline, would be utilized in the company by allowing the employees to focus on self-improvement, which will lead to team improvement through learning. As individuals strive towards their personal growth, they ought to remain patient and focus on their energy. This is important for each individual as the company transitions into a system thinking approach.
Mental Models, the third discipline will help to scrap off the previous mental models by creating new ones that will allow the employees to express their creativity in coming up with solutions to problems in the company.
Also, Senge's shared vision, the fourth discipline, which begins with leadership, would ensure the company becomes a learning organization. The company's leadership can ensure that all components of the organization have a shared vision. When the vision is clear to all, they will endeavor to achieve it. Team learning is the final discipline that encourages learning within the organization by encouraging collaboration when solving problems or coming up with new products.
Identify the end result and nature of the change to take the company from a traditional organization to a learning organization using Balogun and Hope-Hailey's model.
Nature of change is incremental, and the end result is transformational (Jayatilleke & Lai, 2018). The company has exhibited growth and has been successful over the last decade, so the nature of change has to be incremental and progressive.
Explain why the end result and nature of change would be appropriate for the
company in the scenario
This company ought to transform from traditional to a learning organization by first evolving from top-down management to a bottom-up approach. The culture of change will need to be adopted and accomplished over time.
Four steps of the action research model could be applied to the change process
Problem identification.
This is a manufacturing company that has operated for ten years, grown and expanded internationally. It wishes to change from being a traditional organization to learning organization.
Consultation with Change Management Expert
The company has consulted a change management expert and are awaiting a report to guide it in the execution the change management plan.
Collection of Data
The consultant will need access to the business processes through various ways such as interviews, surveys, and examining financial data to gather all the relevant information required.
Preliminary diagnosis
After the process of data collection is completed, the management consultant is expected to provide a preliminary diagnosis. In this case, the management has noted underutilization of employees, and the pyramid structure limits communication and collaboration between teams. Also, the top-down approach to management limits their ability to offer suggestions or make decisions. Thus, the company ought to create an action plan to be implemented over time which would include changing the structures of the departments within it.
Recommend two innovation strategies that could be used by the management to transition the company from a traditional organization to a learning organization .
Based on the transition from traditional to learning organization outlined with the action research model, my recommendation would be that the company continue developing innovation using exploration and innovation.
1. Explain how one recommended innovation strategy would be used by management in the company's change process.
Exploration would be beneficial as it uses a bottom-up approach that would combat the top-down structure, h ence generating ideas from the employees through internal contests that foster internal growth through creativity.
F. Discuss how four steps of Kotter's 8-step model could be applied to the change process for the company in the scenario .
The first step in any change plan is to define the goals and envisioned outcome of the change. Development of the vision and strategy important as it becomes the foundation of all other steps (Kuipers et al., 2014). To implement change successfully, communication is vital. As such, the next step would be communicating the change vision. Communication ought to be clear and quickly disseminated to employees. Thus, devising elaborate channels of communication is critical. The other step would be empowering the others to act on the vision. Getting all the employees, managers and the top leadership aligned with the vision is imperative in working towards achieving it. Moreover, generating short term wins to help with motivating and maintaining commitment from all, hence accelerating the process of change.
G. Explain how each of the five pillars of sustainable change could be applied to sustain the learning organization environment of the company in the scenario.
Leadership is the basis of the five pillars of sustainable change. Leaders must guide the design, diagnosis, and implementation of change.
Strategy is integral to the implementation of change. A strategy has to be clearly defined and mirror a company's vision and values (Jayatilleke & Lai, 2018). It becomes the ultimate roadmap which the change plan operates.
Organization culture can prevent a company from change if the leaders, managers, and employees are unwilling or unable to change. Culture is challenging and complex, but when a culture is aligned across an organization, and everyone is unified in understanding the goal, an organization can be most successful in implementing change.
Systems and processes enable effective data collection to inform decisions. Systems are vital to the decision- making process by maintaining resources to evaluate if change is adequate, effective, and necessary.
References
Kuipers, B. S., Higgs, M., Kickert, W., Tummers, L., Grandia, J., & Van der Voet, J. (2014). The management of change in public organizations: A literature review. Public administration, 92(1), 1-20.
Jayatilleke, S., & Lai, R. (2018). A systematic review of requirements change management. Information and Software Technology , 93 , 163-185.
