Change management, organizational structure, and culture: critical analysis

Change Management

Organizational Change

Organizational change aims at ensuring that the implementation of changes in an organization is smooth and successful. Moreover, it ensures that the benefits of these changes are achievable (Burke 2010). The introduction of social media and technology has recently had much effect on business in the recent past. Accessing information by the organization is easier nowadays thus; the need for introducing changes to business to cope with the changing world.

Organizational change can take many forms. Introduction of changes is according to the goals of the organization. For instance, changes might occur in the organization's mission, strategy, operations, technology, and attitudes and behaviors of the employees (Burke 2010). Introduction of change only takes place with a systematic diagnosis of the current state to determine the need for change and the possibility to change.

There are various steps that organizations take for management of change to be successful. The organization should realize the aims of the stakeholders and manage its benefits finely (Burke 2010). There should also be effective communications to inform stakeholders the reasons for the introduction of changes. This will also help in informing them on the benefits of implementing the changes successfully. Training and providence of education to employees is also key to successful change management.

The organization should also manage resistance among employees of the organization to align them to the general direction of the organization strategically. Moreover, the organization should provide counseling to its employees, which will help in alleviating any fears that relate to change (Senior & Swailes 2010). Fine-tuning of the whole process of implementation of the changes is also significant, as it will help in keeping the process in line with the final expectations.

Organizations Principles

To effectively attain its goals, organizations need to have principles. These guidelines dictate how each employee works. Principles decide on how the company works. This means that without them, the organization will not attain its goals. Unity of objectives is key to the success of an organization (Senior & Swailes 2010). It helps collect all the efforts of the organization's employees so that they work towards the organization's goal. Clear understanding of the organization's employees ensures that each employee understands what he or she should do.

Division of work and specialization is another principle. This confines each employee to a single task. This aspect enhances efficiency and quality as each employee does not have to move from one task to another. However, the tasks connect with each other because they all aim at the same goals. Job definition is a crucial principle too. Every position in an organization should undergo appropriate definition (Fellowship of Christian Athletes 2009). This is in relation to the available positions in the organization. There should not be overlapping of responsibilities because it would result to confusion. This is possible through proper assignment of duties and responsibilities to every task in the organization.

Organizations should properly separate lines and functions of its staff. Line functions help in the attainment of the main goals of the company. Staff activities should also be different from line functions. Definitions of the channel of communication need to be proper (Lewis 2011). This is possible through delegation of authorities to respective employees who can coordinate and direct the various sections of the organization. This will ensure that the chain of command works accordingly and there will be no miscommunication in the organization.

With a proper unity of command, every employee will report to his respective superior. It will help in avoiding confusion, conflicts, and disagreements that might result from lack of unity of command. Additionally, directional unity is paramount to the success of the organization. One person manages a group of activities that aim at a common goal (Lewis 2011). This helps in building cooperation among employees.

Exceptional matters are for exceptional people. This means that high level managers attend to matters that need specific attention. These include unusual matters and decisions that touch on the policies of the organization. However, lower level managers attend to common tasks in the organizations. Managers should also manage a limited number of subordinates (Lewis 2011). This will ensue that they have enough time and ability to efficiently direct them on their respective tasks.

Functions in the organization also receive equal treatment, as they are all crucial. However, tasks that are of high priority receive exceptional attention. The number of employees in these tasks differs because of the difference in priorities (Slocum & Hellriegel 2009). The company should also design a good communication system that will ensure proper assignment of responsibilities. This is crucial in uniting the organization into one unit that will effectively produce the company's organization.

The organization also needs to be flexible in its design. Flexibility helps the organization adapt to changes that might occur in the path of its functions. The transformations might be in terms of technology, operations, or strategy (Lumpkin & Katz 2007). Continuity is extremely paramount to any organization's success. Performance of an organization requires continuity so that it maintains its efficiency. This is through proper implementation of changes that the company faces with time.

My organization

Organizational structures deals with the allocation of tasks, supervision, and coordination. These aim at attainment of the organizational goals (Lumpkin & Katz 2007). Organizations use different structures according to their objectives. Therefore, the structure determines the mode by which the organization will operate and achieve its goals.

My organization still uses a pre-bureaucratic structure in running its operations. The organization suffers a lot from miscommunication as decision making is at a central point. As a contract manager, I give various advices on operations of the organization. However, few of the advice I give get to undergo implementation. The owner of the organization mainly believes that he is the one to make key decisions. Due to this, some of the operations fail to occur due to wrong decisions made by the owner. For instance, he ignores the need for employing a director of the company who would oversee the operations of the company. He believes that most of the directing decisions are to involve him. He has assumed all the roles that involve decision making in the organization.

There is also no right channel of communication in the organization. Miscommunication is common as it is not easy to reach the boss on urgent matters. This leads to poor decision making by the person who needs assistance. This is because one might have to complete a certain task even without the manager because of its urgency. Due to this poor structure, employees' welfare is poor. Many of the employees cannot reach the authority to air their views about their welfare. Moreover, it takes unusually long time for the manager to give his response on the issue.

The manager does not take time to understand the needs of the employees, which largely affects the worker's morale. A good example is when the manager automatically cancelled the employees' request for a pay rise without any consideration. He claimed that he already pays enough for the work they do. On the contrary, the employees strain themselves at times to attain the owner's daily targets.

The owner has not set any policies that would drive the organization into the right direction. The owner makes instantaneous decisions that aim at solving arising problems. Most of these decisions are not long-term as they fail to work after some time. The owner mainly relies on himself to make decisions that affect the company directly. This is wrong because such a large company needs professionals with varied knowledge for its betterment. For example, the marketing department needs to have someone that ill effectively run it. The owner fails in this because he resorts to use people of his race only in running most of the key departments. Therefore, this gives people with no skills to run departments they do not understand.

Due to the poor organizational structure, the company suffers massive losses annually. Communication system is one aspect that suffers wastages (Lewis 2011). The system is not in the proper use. Even with its frequent repair, the system breaks down in a remarkably short time. This is because the communication channel is not definite and one can communicate with any department. With a proper communication channel, the cost of communication would reduce tremendously thus reducing the frequency of repair.

The organization's culture fails a lot in its working. The vast population worsens the situation, as most employees do not interact often. Lack of leadership is a key problem. This implies that no one is in charge of a given section of the organization thus everyone does what he believes needs attention. The control management is extremely poor hence failure in the whole leadership system (Lewis 2011). The result to this is teamwork failure. Different race backgrounds also contribute to a poor culture. It has minimized interaction among employees because every race in the organization considers itself as being superior to the other.

Racism affects the success of the company. It has affected they payment system and impacted negatively on the morale of many employees (Lewis 2011). Racism has contributes to the fact that the majority of the employees work in isolation. Disagreements are also common in the organization and are mostly along ethnic lines.

Just like any other transport organization, my company's mission is to provide better transport services to its customers. This is through ensuring passengers their safety as they transport them across Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the customers should expect outstanding transport services. However, this has not been the case (Lumpkin & Katz 2007. The can does not provide services that it states in its mission. Additionally, there has been a drop in the number of passengers who use this organization's services.

The organization's objectives are increasing its annual earnings by more than 10% every year, increasing the number of its buses annually, and to expand its business across the country to reach more places. All these aim at surpassing that of other companies in the transport sector. The company has not been able to reach these goals over the recent past. This is because the employees fail to work towards the same goals.

The company has enough resources to accomplish its mission and objectives. This is because of the large number of vehicles it has. However, the organization's culture does not allow it to achieve them. Its culture affects the company's image, which has led to poor interaction with the customers. The key staff has also failed in executing its functions. Inexperience has been a leading cause for this thereby reducing the organization's operational efficiency. Our operational capacity has reduced tremendously as due to the inefficiency of the employees.

Change models have changed with time in different organizations. These models make this different when organizations use them to bring change. Therefore, they transform something into a different form. This may be in the form of technology, marketing strategies, or management and practices that involve decision-making (AlmasI & Fullerton 2012). These models aim at improving the general performance of the organization achieving its goals. For instance, improvement of technological infrastructure may be aiming to shift from the use of a mainframe environment to a distributed system. There are various models available: McKinsey 7-S Model, Lewin's method, and Kotter's Eight Step Change Model.

Team work brings together employees in an organization to work together. It ensures that everyone participates in the operations of the organization towards the achievement of the organization's goals. Teamwork has many benefits: problem solving, accomplishes tasks faster, healthy competition, developing relationships, everyone has unique qualities and increases safety (Fellowship of Christian Athletes 2009). Teamwork requires the following elements for it to be effective: appropriate members' selection according to individual's technical and interpersonal skills, proper leadership skills in the respective groups, effective communication among members, and sharing of values and visions of the project for effective collaboration.

Models of change aim at bringing change to an organization. This includes all aspects of an organization. The McKinsey 7-S Model is a model introduced Tom Peters and Robert Waterman (Fatout 1992). This approach collectively determines how the company will operate. This method focuses on several aspects of the company: mutual values, approach, arrangement, systems, skills and also style. This method is an effective way of diagnosing and understanding the organization. It is also a good guide for change. The method brings together rational and emotional constituents to problem solving. Moreover, the method relates all parts and addresses all proportions equally.

Lewin's method by Lewin is a method that identifies three stages of change: unfreeze, transition, and refreeze. Unfreeze stage motivates people to change (Fatout 1992). Transition is when the changes happen. Refreeze is whereby the company re-gains a stable condition. This method is straightforward and is easy to understand.

Kotter's Eight Step Change Model involves eight steps that ensure change: increase urgency for change, build a team for change, construct the vision, communicate, empower, create short-term goals, be persistent, and to make the change permanent (Fatout 1992). This method is easy to follow and does not focus on the change itself, but also focuses on acceptance and preparedness for the change. This makes the transition easier.

The theory of conflict is an outlook in sociology that emphasizes the political, material, and social inequality of a social group. It draws to power differentials and normally differentiates main ideologies in a historical way. This theory analyses the society from a macro level (Almasi & Fullerton 2012). This theory arises from the fact that Karl Marx was aware that capitalist societies never helped people in shaping the operations of the society. Karl was against capitalism and the idea that most poor people lack initiative and skills. He was in support of socialism and viewed it as the only way to ensure social justice.

This is relevant to any organization that wants to succeed. Equality at the place of work can boost employees' morale and the desire to work. Problems always arise in an organization when there is no equal treatment of employees. Equal treatment of employees assures one of security at the job and shows him that they value him (Almasi & Fullerton 2012). It also encourages teamwork as they feel they are the same level. However, the organization should ensure that there is effective leadership that would control how subordinates interact with their superior. This is because others may forget to ensure a healthy relationship with their superiors, which might result to lack of respect.

Teamwork is a crucial aspect in attaining the objectives of any organization. It ensures that employees work towards a common goal. This improves communication among employees. Therefore, operations of the organization get to run smoothly and faster. Teamwork also creates understanding among employees. One gets to know the weaknesses and strengths of others (Maxwell 2002). It will be easier to assign tasks to individuals for effectiveness. Effectiveness leads to quicker achievement of organizational goals. Unity is another importance of teamwork. It is easier to achieve goals when working in unity than when working individually.