Org Leadership-MOD 3

Tamalya Lewis

LCO 610

Jane Gibson

Module Paper 1

The world is changing, customer trends, technology, economy, and the population. Businesses are embracing change to keep up with the current trading conditions. Without change, companies would still be dictating emails to their secretaries, editing words, and sending them back to the original document wasting time that managers could use for something else. Organizations are currently adopting technology. Managers do not have to dial a rotary phone to get a person who might have useful resources; they just search experts online via search engines or social media sites. Currently, the growing communication technology symbolizes changes that allow companies to learn more effectively than before. Customers who were only doing business during regular working hours now have an opportunity to swipe their smartphones and do business any time they feel comfortable. As the globe evolves, customer needs are growing and creating a gap for new products and services. The increasing demand for goods and services has led most organizations to change their structure or facilities to meet customer's demands.

I have worked for a tech company that deals with the development of software and cybersecurity. Different clients hire the company to develop software that can perform a certain task as well as make sure the software is not vulnerable to attack, or the information does not land to unauthorized persons. Initially, clients' requests were recorded on paper, filed, and stored in one store. The store always remained locked unless there was a request for a certain file. After a certain period, there were numerous cases of client's information landing on the wrong hands or competitor organizations having an idea of what software the company wants and developing a similar counter fit software hence having a competitive advantage. Therefore, the organization decided to change its filling system since it was losing potential clients. There was need to adopt a system that would store ever information in the organization as well as eliminate all paperwork.

The first thing the manager did was to create a sense of urgency in the organization. This was to alert other stakeholders of the existing problem as well as explain the possible solution so that other employees could support the need for change. 75% of the stakeholders supported there was need for change however others did not since they claimed not every personnel in the organization was computer literate (Kotter & Cohen, 2012). The manager promised that once the change was effective every employee could be trained on how to operate the system depending on what they want to access. Second, the manager created a coalition since he understood it was impossible to implement change in the organization alone. The coalition involved employees from all departments with different range of experience, skills and abilities. These individuals were assigned the task of spreading messages throughout the company, delegating duties as well as ensuring there is support to change the filling system in the organization.

Third, a vision was also created by the change team, which was creating a paper-free working environment (Kotter & Cohen, 2012). This means the organization was in a mission to end any paperwork and embrace the use of a system where any information would be typed in a computer, stored and processed by the relevant authority if needed. The manager used different channels such as memos, departmental meetings, and emails to communicate the vision to ensure every employee, including those at the lowest hierarchy, understood the importance of changing the filling system. Forth, all obstacles that were likely to reduce the chances of a successful change process were removed. For instance, training was held to teach all staff how to operate a computer and navigate essential tools such as Microsoft word, browsing different things from the internet and sending emails. All departments were given a new computer, and the system administrator installed the new system. Piloting was first done where few administrators worked with the system for the first months; then, it was incorporated in the whole organization. There were access privileges in the system; top administrators had more access rights than junior administrators. After every employee was conversant with the system, the filling system was done away with, and all the transactions were done online, ensuring client’s information was safe, and employees were relieved of the burden of going through huge files while searching for a certain client’s information.

I believe the change process was successful because of a strong leadership that formulated a clear vision (Jones et al., 2019). Employees in the organization accepted the change process after they understood the problem and solution that would help the organization get a competitive advantage. The manager also engaged all stakeholders in the decision making process and any obstacle that arose was solved immediately.

References

Jones, J., Firth, J., Hannibal, C., & Ogunseyin, M. (2019). Factors contributing to organizational change success or failure: a qualitative meta-analysis of 200 reflective case studies. In Evidence-Based Initiatives for Organizational Change and Development (pp. 155-178). IGI Global.

Kotter, J. P., & Cohen, D. S. (2012). The heart of change: Real-life stories of how people change their organizations. Harvard Business Press.