Consider your own
organization in terms of orientation to change model and review operations and
propose changes that you can effect to management in order to attain the
desired state.
I
leant that change in invertible with the sweeping demographic changes, technological advances,
geopolitical shifts, and pressures to be more sensitive to our physical
environment are combining with concerns for security and organizational
governance to generate significant pressure for organizational change.
Awareness of the political, economic, sociological, and technological (PEST)
aspects of any organization’s external environment forewarns us of the need to
pay attention to such factors. Naylor (1999: 7) observes, in any
organization, change management is about responding to the changing
environment: ‘a key part of the management function is to maintain an awareness
of such changes and prepare responses to them’. ‘Change is the norm in
organizational life’ (Connor et al. 2003: 1). Various change models have
been formulated according to Connor et al. (2003: 1) models can revel
why change occurs; how change will occur and what will occur. In addition each
model of change represents a different ideology with its own assumptions about
the nature of human beings and social organization. In presenting this answer l
will use John Kotter 8 step Change process in his book "Leading
Change."2005 to propose changes to Mashonaland Tobacco Company.
Step 1 Create Urgency-
Develop a sense of urgency around the need for change. Open an honest and
convincing dialogue about what's happening in the marketplace and with your competition.
Identify potential threats, and develop scenarios showing what could happen in
the future. Examine opportunities that should be, or could be, exploited. Start
honest discussions, and give dynamic and convincing reasons to get people talking
and thinking. Request support from customers, outside stakeholders and industry
people to strengthen your argument.
Step 2: Form
a Powerful Coalition-Convince people that
change is necessary. This often takes strong leadership and visible support
from key people within your organization. Managing change isn't enough – MTC
would have to lead it. "Change coalition" needs to work as a team,
continuing to build urgency and momentum around the need for change. This can
be done by Identify the true leaders in your organization, Ask for an emotional
commitment from these key people. Work on team building within your change
coalition.
Step 3: Create a Vision for Change-A
clear vision can help everyone understand why you're asking them to do
something. When people see for themselves what you're trying to achieve, then
the directives they're given tend to make more sense. This is done by determine
the values that are central to the change, create a strategy to execute that
vision and ensure that your change coalition can describe the vision in five
minutes or less.
Step 4: Communicate the Vision-Talking
often about your change vision and openly and honestly address peoples'
concerns and anxieties can reduce elements of resistance to change.
Communication is a very important tool in encoring change. Also applyingthe
vision to all aspects of operations like training and performance reviews can
create an environment that people are part of the change being advocated for
and mostly important leading by example is a very important way of
communicating the vision if Mashonaland Tobacco is aiming to restructure or any
other form of change.
Step 5: Remove Obstacles-Removing
obstacles can empower the people MTC would need to execute the vision, and it
can help the change move forward. This can be done by identify, or hire, change
leaders whose main roles are to deliver the change. Looking atMashonaland
Tobacco organizational structure, job descriptions, and performance and
compensation systems to ensure they're in line with your vision. Recognize and
reward people for making change happen. Identify people who are resisting the
change, and help them see what's needed. Take action to quickly remove barriers
(human or otherwise).
Step 6: Create Short-term Wins-Nothing
motivates more than success. MTC can create short-term targets – not just one
long-term goal. By looking for sure-fire projects that we can implement without
help from any strong critics of the change. Thoroughly analyze the potential
pros and cons of the targets. If you don't succeed with an early goal, it can
hurt our entire change initiative. Reward the people who help MTC meet the
targets.
Step 7: Build on the Change- Kotter
argues that many change projects fail because victory is declared too early.
Real change runs deep. Quick wins are only the beginning of what needs to be
done to achieve long-term change. Each success provides an opportunity to build
on what went right and identify what you can improve. Important that can be
analyzed are:
After
every win, analyze what went right and what needs improving. Set goals to
continue building on the momentum you've achieved. Learn about kaizen, the idea
of continuous improvement. Keep ideas fresh by bringing in new change agents
and leaders for your change coalition.
Step 8: Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture
Finally,
to make any change stick, it should become part of the core of the
organization. The corporate culture often determines what gets done, so the
values behind your vision must show in day-to-day work. Make continuous efforts
to ensure that the change is seen in every aspect of your organization. This
will help give that change a solid place in your organization's culture.
Talk
about progress every chance you get. Tell success stories about the change
process, and repeat other stories that you hear. Include the change ideals and values when hiring and
training new staff. Publicly recognize key members of your original change
coalition, and make sure the rest of the staff – new and old – remembers their
contributions. Create plans to replace
key leaders of change as they move on. This will help ensure that their legacy
is not lost or forgotten.
Bibliography
Connor
P, L Lake and R Stackman (2003) Managing
Organizational Change, 3rd edition, London: Praeger.
Kottler
(2005) Leading Change2rd edition, London: Praeger
