Managing organizational change through learning and action research

Organizational Behavior

Within the modern business organization, there are many facets of behavior that are worthy of examining in order to improve effectiveness, employee satisfaction, and the like. This paper discusses several of those key areas.

Resistance to Change in Terms of Organizational Sources

Change is a common denominator in the growth and improvement of all organizations (Mills, 2003). Along with that change, invariably, comes varying degrees of resistance. Because of this, the organizational managers are faced with challenges to overcome the resistance (Weick & Quinn, 1999). Therefore, managers need to take positive action, such as the transformation of firms into learning organizations.

The Action Research Process

As the study of organizational behavior evolved from a sort of science into a practical area where hands-on actions proved to be effective, the concept of Action Research took root (Cunningham, 1993). This process consists of five defined steps, identified and explained as follows (Tomal, 1999):

Initial diagnosis: The process must begin with some sort of an assessment of organizational effectiveness; of course, this would most likely be defined by the particular problems or business units being evaluated.

Data collection: In this stage, various activities can take place, including studying of records on hand, discussions with staff members and management, outside research, and the like.

Analysis and feedback: Next, findings are presented to the stakeholders in the process, such as management, the action team, etc. This will allow for collaboration, additional suggestions for the action plans to come, corrections and so forth.

Action planning: At this point, a plan can be developed to remedy the situation being studied; the plans become something that delivers results.

Implementation: The adopted Action Plan is put in place.

Follow up: Lastly, the implementation, as well as the Action Plan itself, is reviewed in order to see if positive results have occurred. If not, the process may need to be repeated or modified.

It is important to note that the way that the Action Research Process is enacted will vary by organization, the expected outcomes, the stakeholders involved, etc. (Cunningham, 1999).

Stress and Its Consequences

The drive for organizations to constantly improve can, and does, lead to stress for the workers (Buunk & Verhoeven, 1991). This stress can have many consequences, such as increases in employee turnover, absenteeism, lower productivity, etc. (Gunasekara, 2003). Therefore, organizations must make sure that stress is kept to a minimum.

Conclusion

In conclusion, what can be seen from these topics is that the focus for successful organizations must be on behavior, improving that behavior, and adding value for stakeholders across the board.