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Table of Contents
Abstract.......................................................................................................................................................3
Organizational Change................................................................................................................................4
Circumscribed.........................................................................................................................................4
Best Practices..........................................................................................................................................4
Sponsor...............................................................................................................................................5
Rally.....................................................................................................................................................5
Visual...................................................................................................................................................6
Values..................................................................................................................................................6
Analyze................................................................................................................................................7
Employee Involvement.......................................................................................................................7
Early Planning......................................................................................................................................8
Knowing Loss.......................................................................................................................................8
Open Communication.........................................................................................................................8
Middle Management........................................................................................................................10
Case Study One.....................................................................................................................................11
Case Study Two.....................................................................................................................................12
Case Study Three...................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................14
References.................................................................................................................................................16
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Abstract
Organizational change has seen many scholarly contributions from many researchers giving theories and
concepts of change in an organization. The global business perspective is the primary nature of
organizations in the modern world; people have interacted effectively and worked harmoniously without
realizing their differences; nor what has worked in the past and what has not. Below will be an
exploration-based piece that assesses current exploration and case studies centering on organizational
change. The piece will grant some of the current and well-known practices for organizational change and
offer at least three cases studies that could affect real-world organization-level change; both successful
and unsuccessful. The summary texts show the contributions of the authors in their works. The
evaluation section is provided in the content assessing best practices analyzing and exploring sources
critically and spiritually.
Keywords: change, management, organization
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Organizational Change
Organizational change is any alteration of employees’ roles and structural relationship in an
organization. It is an essential distinctive of organization in the current world since changes enable them
to achieve their goals. An organization that does not embrace change, in most cases, will take too long of
a period to achieve its objectives due to change resistance internally. All organizations must adapt to
changes and failure to this, an organization may not perform properly, or the change force may sweep it
away (Brandon, 2018). Organizational change is unavoidable in an advanced culture since modern
organizations are vastly versatile, dynamic, as well as adaptive to the diversity of changes.
Circumscribed
An organization can be altered in several ways since its structure, employees, or even technology
can be changed with a purpose. The change in an organization calls for a modification in the conduct of
an individual and especially the employees. These is a possibility of an organization growing, decaying, or
surviving upon the altering behavior of the workers. Several changes interrupt the balance of the
situation, as well as the atmosphere in which the groups or individuals exist. If the proposed amendment
is disadvantageous to the groups or individuals’ interests, then the change may be resisted by the
employees.
Best Practices
Various things lead to the need for change in an organization. These may include external
pressures such as market situation, change in equipment and technology, or social as well as political
changes. Various units in an organization have no ability to control political and social changes that occur
in the country. As a result, they may be expected to make a various change in the organization for them
not to be affected negatively (Smarp, 2020). Internal pressures may also influence the organization to
make changes. Some of these pressures include managerial personnel change, lack of some resources in
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the organization, development in the working environment, and the desire of the employees to have
increased wage. This paper focusses on organizational change, the current best organizational change
practices, and the real-world cases that demonstrate the level of change in an organization. The
organization to be focused on is a for profit largely known state-based hospital.
Sponsor
There are several practices for organizational change that are used in various organizations. One
of the best methods is mobilizing a visible active executive sponsor. Executive, along with senior leaders
is vital in a change period. All the organizations look to the leaders, therefore it is key that they have
visible change sponsors as well, to demonstrate the necessities of change. A form of lead by example
way of directing and guiding for positive change. They provide credibility and authority necessary for
effective change. Organizational sponsors are the key contributors to success. Even though many things
in the management of change in various organization has changed, the essentials of the role of a leader
have remained unchanged. Many organizational managements put their focus on the sponsors in terms
of organizational change because of the effectiveness of their decision.
Rally
There is a need for mobilizing roles when organizational change is needed. The manager who
oversees change can create a strategy for change management, develop the plans for change
management, and facilitate assessments even though they are the ones who are involved in change
management only. Other groups are involved in change management in an organization. These include
executive, senior management, project team, front-line employees, along with supervisors (MacKechnie,
2019). Before the sponsor begins to implement a change in an organization, it is essential to ensure that
each key player is asked to start making a change for the employees to emulate them. Nevertheless, it
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has not been easy for the key managers, but since the aim of the organization is to achieve its goals and
objectives, all of them need to implement the required change.
Visual
Another practice is dedicating the resources for change management. Some of these resources
include flowchart, culture mapping, Gantt charts, Lewin’s change model, and stakeholder analysis.
Process maps, as well as flowcharts, are vital methods of visualizing the various processes in any
organization for every person to benefit, comprising those who are never involved directly in performing
the change. In the preparation stage of readiness assessment of the cycle of change management,
flowcharts are helpful in mapping out the present organizational process state (Quick Base, 2018). Any
change that needs to be implemented or discussed can be included in the flowchart, and it can be well-
maintained to be referenced in future.
Values
Culture mapping is used in visualizing the culture of the company, and this can be influenced by
the behaviour of the employees, norms, as well as values. It helps the management to discover the
crucial information to change initiatives, like the positive enablers, and it also helps in minimizing risks in
a project. It had different ways of using such as performing interviews, identifying the subcultures, and
organizing the information. The importance of organizing information in an organization is to identify the
area that needs change as well as the group of people who should initiate the change. The change needs
to be communicated to the group to ensure people are willing to initiate it. One way of motivating
people in a different department in an organization is by awarding the people who are doing well in the
area of change and encouraging the new employees to purpose to make change where it is needed.
Sometime employees may be resistance to change, but motivation will enable them to adapt it.
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Analyze
Moreover, force field analysis is used in an organization as a decision-making tool when change
is needed. It helps the management to identify and analyze forces against and for change, as well as the
proposed solution implementation. It is useful for defining the plan for the needed change. It can also be
used to identify the forces that are blocking the transition from working. There are various things in an
organization that prevent the change that is being implemented from working correctly. These may
include employees, infrastructures, development projects, and available work, among others. However,
in the analysis of the shareholders, shareholders are identified and categorized based on various factors
like occupation, groups of income, geography, and legal requirements. By the time the analysis is over,
the management will be able to identify their project’s stakeholders as well as the need for the project to
these stakeholders (Smarp, 2020). The list of stakeholders in most cases encompasses the individuals
who are affected by the project, those who care about the project, those who are not affected, and are
not interested in the project. Using the interest in the analysis of the stakeholders, it becomes easy to
prioritize the stakeholders based on the project stake as well as the engagement of each employee.
Employee Involvement
It is also good to engage with employees and encourage their participation. When the
employees are involved in change management in an organization, it becomes easy for the change to be
implemented. The more the employees understand and accept the essentials for organizational change,
the higher the probability of responding to the process of change. The employees may commit
themselves to their responsibilities in the organization. The management needs to understand that the
employees’ work my play a vital role in financial security, purpose sense, identity, professional
development, along with self-confidence. Changes that affect the roles, as well as responsibilities of the
employees, may contain a significant personal and professional impact. Staff may choose to perform
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their duties via sagacity of loss (Li, 2020). Nevertheless, fostering their involvement and understanding
will enable them to work positively as well as purposeful on the task of change.
Early Planning
There are various tips for enringing the employees in the process of change. One of the tips is
engaging staff on the planning phase. The employees or the team should be involved early enough on
the process of change as well as establishing a clear focus for staff input along with discussion. This helps
them to understand why change is needed and the importance of these changes in an organization. In
any decision that is made in an organization, the employees should be involved in here them vies since
they will be the ones to implement change (Carson, 2019). If they are resistance to change, the
organization may remain in the same position hence becoming hard for it to achieve its goals.
Knowing Loss
Another tip is helping the staff to manage the loss. Change involves the loss of some things or
conducts in the organization. Through the process of change, the employees may lose familiar elements
as well as processes of their responsibilities that offer security and confidence. In this case, it is advisable
for the management to help the staff in making a suitable transition using discussion sessions that are
designed to consent employees to discuss their feelings concerning the change.
Open Communication
The change should be communicated frequently and openly. Every efficacious senior manager
who has led the effort of successful change management expresses the over-communicating need during
the experience of change hence making the statement in retrospect. There is no even one organization
where the employees are all happy with communication. Communication is among the toughest issues
that exist in the organization because not every worker is impressed by the connection from the higher
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authority (Emma, 2019). Communication is one of the areas that employees complain about in most
cases, and this occurs mostly during organizational change as well as daily operation.
Channels
For the change to work in an organization, there is a need for the management to make use of
various communication channels such as writing, focusing groups, intranets, bulletin boards, and
speaking face-to-face with the employees. Frequent as well as clear communication is essential since the
employees will understand the need for change and adapt it. It is suitable for the change management
team to communicate everything that employees know about change ant time the information is
available (Satell, 2019). The employees should be granted a specified period for asking questions for
better understanding. In most cases, when the need for change is not well understood by the client, they
may not take it positively hence hindering the aim for change.
Open Door
When the manager communicates the mission, vision, as well as the objectives for change to the
employees, it will help them understand the way the changes will impact them personally.
Communication cannot be just a presentation, but instead, it is good to know that it is a two-way where
the real discussion should be expected to result (Prasad, 2020). The reason for the change should be
communicated in a way that the employees will get the understanding of the context, the need, as well
as the purpose. In any question that the employees present, the answer should be provided for them to
feel as if they are part of change and purpose to implement it.
Positive
Furthermore, engaging with middle managers is also another best practice for organizational
change. Middle managers are referred to as the “eyes as well as ears” of higher management since they
are closer to daily operations, front-line employees, and customers. They act as upper management
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communicators delivering information concerning organizational change strategies and initiatives to the
employees who are in the lower organizational levels. The tone they use to deliver the message can
influence it the initiatives fail or succeed. Since the message can be affected by the emotion of an
individual towards the information, it is vital that the middle managers are proficient at interpreting the
events’ meaning as well as sharpen their judgement to communicate in a way that guarantees success.
Middle Management
Change can lead to distress in an organization which cannot be handled by the upper
management. Through the personal relationship that exist between the employees and these managers,
the middle managers can reveal resistance as well as those barriers to change implementation, hence
providing workers with a suitable environment for them to continue with their daily activities. Change
processes that are originated by middle management plus executed by upper management reveal higher
workers change support (Britton, 2020). They are known for working closely with top management and
supervisors to ensure the change in an organization has succeeded. They deal with decision making for
the department level and goal setting in an organization. Thus, they require a summarized monthly,
quarterly, and yearly data horizontally on the organization’s functional lines. The information is essential
since it helps them in analysis, and this helps them to identify the area where change is needed and why
it is crucial to initiate this change. Some of the typical functional lines include human resource,
marketing, accounting, services as well as manufacturing, and development plus research. Middle
managers have responsibilities to all these areas and for dedicated unites in these functional lines. They
need data from the top management to get the strategy and other information from supervisors to track
progress and current condition.
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Essential
In most cases, the change in an organization is based on this information; that is why it is
preferable to involve them in the change process because, in several instances, they are aware of the
organizational trend. Given that middle management work closely with the employees on a daily basis
and know the employees by name, where they come from, what their work ethics are like, their families,
how many kids or pets they have, sports teams they like, and so on; they understand the organization
staff on a personal level. For that reason, it becomes easy for the middle managers to influence the
employees to accept change. They do well in explaining the need for change to other employees, as well
as encouraging them not to resist any change in an organization.
Case Study One
There are various real-world cases that demonstrate organizational-level change within the
hospital managerial structure where changes were successful while others failed. One case that was
successful in this organization and that was a leadership change. The hospital management noticed a
problem with the leadership that was there and decided to make changes. The leaders were prioritizing
their needs more than the needs of the other employees and the patients, and this affected the
performance of the organization. Most of the employees stopped providing the much-needed quality
care to the patients in reflection to the leaders and their attitude. This affected the lives of several
patients and the performance of the hospital went down due to the influences of it.
As a result, the management developed a way of implementing changes to ensured they
communicated they understood the need for the change frequently and clearly. The middle managers
played their role in motivating other employees not to become resistant to the changes for the
organization to pick again and perform better than it was showing before. After a precise discussion, the
employees understood the need for a leadership change, and they were positive about it.
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The change was successful because several employees supported the change since they were
not being treated in a reasonable manner, and they were also fighting for their rights. The reason why
this change was successful is that the middle management was able to work closely with the top
management and the supervisors to communicate the importance of change in all department and
everything was clear to the employees (Suleman, 2019). Furthermore, they used the right method to
approach the employees, where some of them were involved in the decision-making process. Employees
always feel valued and respected when they are involved in making the decisions that concern their
working environment since they also benefit from the right choice that is made.
Case Study Two
Another change that was implemented and it became successful within the hospital managerial
structure is the payment method. This isn’t a recent common issue in the United States today, but
twenty years ago, yes, and other Third-World countries battle with it today. This was implemented to
curb theft that was going around in the hospital. Most hospitals that accept cash payments incur losses
because some workers are not trustworthy. This problem remained in this hospital for a long time until
when they implemented a new payment method, and this changed everything in the hospital. Some
patients were complaining of being overcharged for some tests and medicines which was not
considerable comparing the level of the hospital and some expenditures. This made some patients opt
for the services from other hospitals since the functions in this hospital were low, yet the payments were
high.
The management implemented a no-cash payment method where every payment was made via
the phone using the hospital number or electronically. This reduced the rate of theft, as well as the
services that were being offered to the patient, became improved. As a result, the outcomes, rendered
services, along with the model for payment aligned with lower cost and better quality (Suleman, 2019).
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The change in the philosophy of payment moves the employees and the patients on the side of more
magnificent slide of quality, pricing, as well as safety information.
Since the change was communicated well in the entire organization, the employees were not
resistance to it since some of them were waiting for the moment such change will be implemented.
Again, different roles were delegated to different employees to monitor the transition and ensure the
rest of the employees adopted it (Control, 2020). The management offered training to the employees
since this was a new thing to most of them, and after the training, all worked well within the
organization. Sometimes, the employees may mishandle the hospital resources, and this may affect the
performance of the entire hospital.
Case Study Three
Nevertheless, despite the changes that were successful in this organization, there may be a
change that was implemented, but failed. Among the many changes, one that failed was the
implementation of new technology. This change did not work because the management did not involve
the employees in making the decision concerning it nor obtaining it for its use. The administration
wanted to implement a machine that will be used to screen patients for diseases without even going to
the laboratory for test. Management had good intention and were looking for ways to minimize
employees’ duties, as well as minimizing the costs for the hospital. A machine such as this, most of the
resources like laboratory testing materials wouldn’t have be outsourced anymore. Therefore, limited the
number of staff needed on hand for collecting, facility space and sources for storage, packaging,
disbursing, and receiving. This shows that some people will lose their jobs from the hospital, especially
the lab technician, saving costs and increasing profits.
This change failed because there was no clear communication to the employees. The
management did not disclose the information because they were aware that some people would lose
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their work, and they were informed that most of them, especially who will be affected directly would
resist. Even after involving the middle managers to communicate the change to the employee, it did not
work because it was exposing some workers to some risk. Again, the management had not taken time to
sit with the employees to discuss why they wanted to implement the new technology in the hospital
hence hindering the employees from speaking out their views. For any change in the organization to
work, the top management should involve the employees in various need for change to hear their
opinions concerning the change. It does not take long for the employees to adopt change if they are
involved in change discussion and given a clear explanation of the need for change (Bibles, 2016,). With
clear explanation, it takes no time for the employees to admit it and work towards the organization’s
goal.
Conclusion
In conclusion, all organizations should make use of the best practices for organizational change.
For the organization to achieve its goals as well as objectives, the management and the employees
should adopt the changes that are needed in various departments to avoid remaining in the same
position. The organization may take a long time to achieve its goals; then the management resist changes
or it many never achieve them forever. The best practices such as engaging the middle management
when change is needed, communicating change clearly and frequently, the use of force field analysis,
and others should be considered in an organization for the transition to occur in an organization. Just as
Merida stated in his book of Kings and the building of the tabernacle in Exodus 35:21; and they came,
every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the
LORD's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy
garments (Merida, 2015). “We may look not merely at the words of our text, but at the whole section of
which they form the introduction, and find large lessons for ourselves, but in reference to all which we
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have to do for all” (Unknown, 2020). Many people lose their focus because of the management since
sometimes; the administration may not put effort or emphasize where change is needed. For any change
to be successful, these practices should be considered, and the employees should be motivated and
encouraged to take the changes positively.
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References
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