Values and Ethics in Business

Topic of assignment

Change management and Transformation

Submitted by- Submitted to

Simranjeet Kaur Prof. A.K. Sawhney

BBA 5th Sem (morning)

Roll. no- 52
Enrollment no- 0631701707

Date of submission- 30th Sep 2009

TECNIA INSTITUTE OF ADVANCE STUDIES

 INTRODUCTION
Increasing competition in the domestic and world market requires business
organizations to chance their structure and work environment. The world is
constantly changing and so are the organizations. Business organizations need
continuously interact with the environment and adapt to environmental changes.

Change is essential for survival of the business enterprises. Changes are

necessary if organization wants to
1) Adapt to environmental conditions
2) Compete in the domestic and international markets
3) Improve their performances
4) Enter into mergers and acquisitions

Change management can be viewed from two perspectives – from those

implementing the change and from the recipients of change. The view of change
management varies dramatically if one is the executive demanding the change
versus the front line employee who may be unsure why a change is even needed.

In many cases at the onset of a new change, neither the executive nor the front-
line employee is knowledgeable about managing change.

“Change is a window through which future enters in your life”

CHANGE MANAGEMENT DEFINED

The simplest definition of change management is;
“Making change in a planned and managed fashion”.

Today’s proliferation of digital media is making the conscious practice of change

management more important than it was only a few years ago.

Organizational change can be defined as;

“Any alteration in people, structure or technology”

Although change has always been a part of manager’s job, it has become even
more important in recent years. Change management entails thoughtful planning
and implementation, and above all, consultation with, and involvement of, the
people affected by the changes. Change must be realistic, achievable and
measurable. Whenever an organization imposes new things on people there will
be difficulties. Participation, involvement and open communication are the
important factors to introduce change.
 TYPES OF CHANGE

Changes in an organization can often be identified as one of four types, with the
definite possibility of overlap among them:

• Operational changes affect the way the ongoing operations of the business
are conducted, such as the automation of a particular area.
• Strategic changes occur in the strategic business direction, e.g., moving
from an inpatient to an outpatient focus.
• Cultural changes affect the basic organizational philosophies by which the
business is conducted, e.g., implementing a continuous quality
improvement (CQI) system.
• Political changes in staffing occur primarily for political reasons of
various types, such as those that occur at top patronage job levels in
government agencies.

These four different types of change typically have their greatest impacts at
different levels of the organization. For example, operational changes tend to
have their greatest impacts at the lower levels of the organization, right on the
firing line. People working at the upper levels may never notice changes that
cause significant stress and turmoil to those attempting to implement the
changes. On the other hand, the impact of political changes is typically felt most
at the higher organizational levels. As the name implies, these changes are
typically made not for results-oriented reasons but for reasons such as partisan
politics or internal power struggles. When these changes occur in a relatively
bureaucratic organization, as they often do, those working at the bottom often
hardly notice the changes at the top. Patients are seen and the floors are cleaned
exactly as they were before. The key point is that performance was not the basis
of the change; therefore, the performers are not much affected.

DEALING WITH RESISTENCE TO CHANGE /

CHALLENGES OF TRANSFORMATION

It is easy to change the things that nobody cares about. It becomes

difficult when you start to change the things that people do care about
—or when they start to care about the things that you are changing.—
Lorenzi and Riley

Resistance to change is an ongoing problem. At both the individual and the

organizational levels, resistance to change impairs concerted efforts to improve
performance. Many corporate change efforts have been initiated at tremendous
cost only to be halted by resistance among the organization's employees.
Organizations as a whole also manifest behavior similar to that of individuals
when faced with the need to change. Change can be a threat to people in an
organization. Organizations can build up inertia that motivates people to resist
changing their status quo, even though change might be beneficial.

Why people resist change?

It’s often said that most people hate any change that doesn’t jingle in their
pockets. Their resistance to change is well documented. Why do people resist
change? An individual is likely to resist change for three reasons: uncertainty,
concern over personal loss, threat to power and influence and the belief that the
change is not in the organization’s best interest i.e. a different perception.

MEANING OF TRANSFORMATION

Transformation is rediscovery of the entire business philosophy. The realization

of transformation has to be at all the levels including top-level management.
Business transformation is a key management initiative that attempts to align the
technology initiatives of a company with its business strategy and vision.

Business transformation involves a considerable mix of skills, not all of which are
required at the same time. Transformation can touch every part of an enterprise
and it is important to manage the process carefully and completely. It requires
shared vision by all organizational members. All must share common purpose
(goals), values (principles that guide human behavior) and results (outcomes-
goods, services, satisfaction, profits). Shared vision helps in moving the
organization from where it is to where it wants to go.

Elements of Transformation
“Business transformation is the process of altering the way in which an
organization does business”

Business transformation is defined as the combination of structural, technological

and human resource change focused around one clear vision, resulting in a
significant change in the organization and substantial financial benefits. These
change elements are discussed below

1) Structural changes: The organization structure is dynamic in nature and

changes according to changes in internal and external organizational
environment. Reorganization among various work groups may require
the organization to change from functional to divisional structure or vice
versa, change from centralization to decentralization or vice versa, change
from wide span of control to narrow span and vice versa. A change may
be required in the job design, work schedules, communication system or
job responsibilities. The purpose of change in any organization is to
improve the organizational performance in terms of production, employee
 morale and motivation and higher job satisfaction, both individual and
organizational.
2) Technological changes: Technology refers to tools, equipments, processes,
knowledge and techniques used for production of goods and services.
Technological changes refer to change in any of these aspects of
technology. Technological changes are necessary to face competition in the
domestic and international market.

3) People or Human Resource changes: Human resource changes focus on

changing the human behavior, skills, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs to
increase the organizational performance. Change in people’s attitudes can
be brought in the following ways:
• Training and development can enhance their behavioral skills and
knowledge.
• Recruitment and selection procedures can be changed to appoint
people with desired skills and knowledge.
• Organizational development techniques can be adapted to change
people’s behavior and attitude towards the work environment.

CONCLUSION

Transformation requires change. Change in the overall business philosophy leads

to transformation and transformation supports change. Change could be in one
component of business structure but transformation changes the entire business
philosophy and values. Change helps in organization’s growth whereas
transformation helps in organizations development and involves the whole
organization but change takes place in some parts of the organization
(technology, structure or people) or the whole organization.

Nothing is constant in this world,

except change!