Organizations face huge pressures
Factors forcing Change
Organizations face huge pressures to change, from both internal and external sources, internal forces to change often as a result of long-term external forces. For example, Biggest Coal Mining companies internal pressure to expanding their activities to Coal mining and Energy plant Chemical industry, as a result of more and more other similar companies interested to engage with chemical industry.
Internal Factors forcing change
The factors internal to an organization that force changes can be identified through a formal analysis method. Most common among these methods is S.W.O.T. analysis.
Strengths
An organization’s strengths, which help identify a competitive advantage or unique selling point, are of vital importance when deciding on changing the focus of the company.
Weaknesses
An organization’s weaknesses are a real motivation to change. Weaknesses identified internally in a company’s product or service, will require immediate attention and changing. The weakness would be resolved by a cultural change.
Opportunities
Opportunities that present themselves, like new contracts on other continents will force changes in the company, sometimes as simple as new working hours. With the differences in different customer expectations, modern companies need to remain flexible. Flexibility is a major cultural change that needs to be introduced.
Threats
Threats to an organization, usually in the form of competitors and substitution products force a company to react. To react effectively companies have to react quickly, which is a cultural change in a company.
External Factors forcing change
The factors external to an organization that force changes can be identified through the PESTELI acronym.
Political
Political factors would include the current and potential influences from political pressures such as unions and national pay agreements.
Economic
The local, national and world economy impact can force an organization into changing their work practices or even product prices.
Social
Changes in lifestyle absolutely force changes in organizations, but at a cultural level, socially changing attitudes towards work or ethical issues can also have effects on the culture inside an organization.
Technical
The ever-changing technical world in which we live has probably the most profound effect on organizational culture of all external factors. Technical improvement that allow employees to work from home, working teams to be separated by great distances and for customers to be located on the opposite side of the world from their suppliers. Anything that changes the day-to-day work of the employees has a profound effect on the organizations culture.
Ecological
The local, national and world ecological and environmental issues that have effects on culture at national levels filter down into the organizational culture within a company.
Legislative
The legal issues both locally and at an EU level, such as taxes and working time regulations also have effects on culture at a national level, filter down into the organizational culture within a company.
Industry
Industry changes have a huge effect on national culture. The move away from agriculture into industrial and now information economies has greatly changed the national working culture.
WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE?
Managers and employees do not perform their duties in a value-free vacuum, their work and the way it’s done are governed, directed and tempered by the organizations culture. Burnes, B. (2004) ‘Managing Change’. There are three main factors affecting the culture of an Organization,
These are:
- The Founders basic assumptions
- The national culture
- The task in hand.
Gargan, D. (2005) ‘Change Management Lecture Notes’
The Founders basic assumptions
In a typical company the founders set up small and grow the company from one basic good idea. These founders go into business to make money, pure and simple. However, depending on the nature of their work certain assumptions made by the founders will immediately set the culture for the initial and all future employees.
For example, “Energy resource” company’s founders found out powerful innovation Coal-to-liquid (CTL technology). This is going to be very huge project and founders working on it very precise. That’s why they push all employees, who will probably not be given too much freedom and all work would be carried out along strict guidelines and the basic idea of management not trusting staff may be in place. The Founders basic assumptions immediately set the working environment and culture within an organization.
The national culture
National attitudes to working determine the employee’s general attitude towards working. Now every employee is different, but when talking about culture at a national level there are some basic truths that always apply. Some national cultural behaviour will lead the company toward organizational change, while others will hamper it.
National Cultures that help change:
- Mongolian people leaving work place at 6pm on Friday to go to pub.
This helps change culture, Idea is it leads to more integrated working environment, where everyone ends up talking about work and discussing opportunities and threats.
- Society encouraging further education
National Cultures that hinder change:
- Japanese people not leaving the office until their boss has.
(Over tired and less productive staff)
- Lunchtime drinking culture
- Unions and their involvement
- National pay agreements
The task in hand
The task in hand it the major defining factor towards the culture of a company. If the company’s job is mainly customer service, meeting and dealing with people, then the organizations culture should be focused to customer. However, if the company is an innovator, its culture should be one of exploration and give more individual freedom to the employees. In this case we need look at how cultural change turn mining company employees into power plant industry employees. At different levels within an organization there are usually different tasks. For example, in “Chemical industry” company, there may have 3 distinct groups.
1) Research and Development
This group will have brain storming culture and scientific research for innovative technology.
2) Professional Services
This group works directly with customers, culture will be more customer focused as they are under more pressure.
3) Sales
The sales group will have a “Yes” culture, never turning down any opportunity, and putting pressure onto the other two groups to deliver.
Organizations structure effects on Culture
“Energy Resource” company organized with Matrix organization structure. Its resources are shunted around the organization to meet the demand for attention that tasks require. Employees work less in fixed groups for long periods and so no pockets of different cultures can grow, but rather if Employees are unhappy with their work, the chances are that they can be easily moved, so as to maintain good working culture.
Factors forcing Change
Organizations face huge pressures to change, from both internal and external sources, internal forces to change often as a result of long-term external forces. For example, Biggest Coal Mining companies internal pressure to expanding their activities to Coal mining and Energy plant Chemical industry, as a result of more and more other similar companies interested to engage with chemical industry.
Internal Factors forcing change
The factors internal to an organization that force changes can be identified through a formal analysis method. Most common among these methods is S.W.O.T. analysis.
Strengths
An organization’s strengths, which help identify a competitive advantage or unique selling point, are of vital importance when deciding on changing the focus of the company.
Weaknesses
An organization’s weaknesses are a real motivation to change. Weaknesses identified internally in a company’s product or service, will require immediate attention and changing. The weakness would be resolved by a cultural change.
Opportunities
Opportunities that present themselves, like new contracts on other continents will force changes in the company, sometimes as simple as new working hours. With the differences in different customer expectations, modern companies need to remain flexible. Flexibility is a major cultural change that needs to be introduced.
Threats
Threats to an organization, usually in the form of competitors and substitution products force a company to react. To react effectively companies have to react quickly, which is a cultural change in a company.
External Factors forcing change
The factors external to an organization that force changes can be identified through the PESTELI acronym.
Political
Political factors would include the current and potential influences from political pressures such as unions and national pay agreements.
Economic
The local, national and world economy impact can force an organization into changing their work practices or even product prices.
Social
Changes in lifestyle absolutely force changes in organizations, but at a cultural level, socially changing attitudes towards work or ethical issues can also have effects on the culture inside an organization.
Technical
The ever-changing technical world in which we live has probably the most profound effect on organizational culture of all external factors. Technical improvement that allow employees to work from home, working teams to be separated by great distances and for customers to be located on the opposite side of the world from their suppliers. Anything that changes the day-to-day work of the employees has a profound effect on the organizations culture.
Ecological
The local, national and world ecological and environmental issues that have effects on culture at national levels filter down into the organizational culture within a company.
Legislative
The legal issues both locally and at an EU level, such as taxes and working time regulations also have effects on culture at a national level, filter down into the organizational culture within a company.
Industry
Industry changes have a huge effect on national culture. The move away from agriculture into industrial and now information economies has greatly changed the national working culture.
WHO CAN CHANGE CULTURE?
Changing the culture of an organization is an extremely difficult task, but it may be necessary to get the results required. If an organization were thought of as a restaurant, and the employees as the waiters, content and well looked after waiters would go about their jobs in a pleasant manner and as a result tips would be high and the restaurant turnover would be high, as customers would enjoy eating there. However, on the other hand, if working at the restaurant was made difficult for the waiters, with an unpleasant working environment and impersonal culture, they might not go about their jobs with such enthusiasm, a lack of motivation would become obvious in their demeanour, tips would be low and restaurant business would suffer. So it’s in an organization’s best interests to maintain a healthy and productive working culture. Changing an organizations culture can be done at the three distinct levels with an organization:
Executive Management, Middle Management and regular employee level. Lets look at them in turn and consider two very different football clubs
(Manchester United and Arsenal) as differing organizations.
At an Executive Management level
Executive management are the group that direct the organizations goals. So, in
order for them to effect cultural changes, they may have to change the organisations
direction. The organisation may need to be streamlined in order to make provisions
for the desired changes. Inspiring and motivating staff through vision and mission
statements as well as overall policies would be a common approach taken at this level.
Changes introduced at the executive management level are the most difficult changes
to resist, because employees are largely powerless against them.
In the terms of the football clubs, the executive management would be the
boards of directors, who can release certain amounts of funding for the operation of
the team and/or make performance goals for league finishing positions.
At a Mid-Management level
Middle management is the level from which most organisational change
comes from. These changes can take the form of new operations rules (e.g. Forced
timesheet logging). Changing the working practice for employees, by making their
working life more strict or more lenient, pushing more responsibility onto the
individual employees or smaller changes like more frequent or earlier meetings.
However, changes enforced or imposed by the mid-management are the most resisted.
In the terms of the football clubs, the middle management would be the team
managers. The managers can effect change by shouting at players and demanding
results, as done by Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, or by talking through the
current issues are working for a solution together with the players, as done by Arsene
Wenger at Arsenal.
As a regular employee
Regular employees can change the culture in an organisation in the most
effective manner. Through an observed work ethic or levels of professionalism or
levels of “completeness” in their work, employees can pressure other employees to
change how they work and this will filter around the organisation, effecting the
change.
Now there are two types of motivation that people respond to. One, the people
who are shouted at and told what to do and told there will be consequences if they do
not perform. This was the kind of tactic employed by Roy Keane at Manchester
united. Two, the people who like to be told that they are doing a great job and
encouraged to do a little more, but encouraged by someone who was obviously
performing better. This was the kind of tactic employed by Patrick Viera at Arsenal.
Guidelines for changing culture (Burns 2004)
1) Formulate a clear strategic vision.
An organisation needs a clear vision with a well define strategy and values in
place in order to be effective.
2) Display top-management commitment.
Cultural change needs to be managed from the top down. Executive
management need to agree to the plan and stick to it.
3) Model culture change at the highest level.
Cultural changes need to be communicated through the actions of executive
management. Management need to lead by example.
4) Modify the organization to support organisational changes.
Cultural changes need to be reflected in organisational changes in order to
back them up, if at all possible.
5) Select and socialize newcomers and terminate deviants.
To really effectively change organisation culture, those who resist the change
may need to be let go. People stuck in their ways that cannot adapt are of no
benefit to the organisation going forward, sometimes this will manifest itself
in the form of early retirement. The hiring of new people will be done with the
new organisation culture in mind.
6) Develop ethical and legal sensitivity.
Changing a culture then radically changing all the staff in a company may not
only send out the wrong message, but actually be illegal or in breech of union
regulations. Such plans need to be enacted very carefully.
Conclusion
Culture is a complex beast, derived from the personalities of all the current
and previous employees of an organisation. As such, changing culture is equivalent to
changing peoples thinking, which is a non-trivial exercise. The intricacies of culture
and office politics are potentially huge and the initially obvious culture may just be
the tip of the iceberg as regards the culture at large.
The culture of an organisation does indeed determine its ability to change
effectively, but this is a good thing. For small innovative organisations, where the
company is based around a core nucleus of core staff, the attitudes and actions arising
from those people will define the culture, usually into a vibrant and dynamic
workplace, capable of changing quickly and often ahead of the times. On the other
hand, in mature hierarchical structured organisations that have a large amount of
management supported by a lower amount of staff, the culture will become more
complex. Large organisations that have this structure (e.g. Financial Institutions), take
time to change effectively, because not only does the structure of the company mean
that it will take time for the changes to be propagated around the organisations, but
the changes are more likely to be resisted at every level down the hierarchy from the
executive management to the “real” works, who the changes will most likely effect
the greatest
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