Organizational Development and Change: Growth & Performance

Introduction

With so much competition in the modern business environment, every company or institution must invest in an elaborate adaptation plan if it is to remain competitive. As change and evolution become mandatory, executives face increased pressure to initiate and manage changes that will make their organizations stronger. Consequently, analysis related to organizational change has taken precedence in organizational research. Nonetheless, the field still suffers from limited research on the precise impact of organizational change on firm growth and performance.

At present, organizational change research remains inconclusive, as most studies have established that very few change programs lead to anticipated results. These studies show that organizational change programs generally do not produce any short-term growth or boost in firm performance. Although a number of papers have been published to address and conceptualize organizational change models, very few studies actually examine the impact of different change processes on both organizational size and overall performance (Shirokova, Berezinets, & Shatalov, 2014).

Any change that will have a significant impact on a company's success and productivity will inevitably be expensive and time consuming. Due to their demanding nature, more than half of such changes will fail. Despite this, organizations have no option but to keep trying or develop an elaborate plan that will guarantee a successful change program. This is because change is inevitable, and those who fail to adapt to the market will soon lose hold of their market share (Cabrey & Haughey, 2014).

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), change management is a necessary and mandatory capability that spans a company's portfolio, project management, and programs. Since project and program management is the backbone of any firm's operations, a successful change project will focus on altering how these two aspects of the company are handled. By managing these successfully, the company stands a better chance of initiating a swift and successful change process, saving money, and gaining considerable advantage over competitors (Cabrey & Haughey, 2014). Therefore, the thesis of this paper is as follows: organizational change programs can lead to both enhanced growth and productivity, provided they are aligned with the organization's ongoing projects, programs, and portfolio.

Organizational Development Defined

Organizational development (OD) refers to the systematic organizational efforts aimed at improving a company's efficiency and productivity. Despite this straightforward definition, most OD theorists offer more elaborate definitions of the concept. Although these multiple definitions may suggest the topic's breadth, some experts believe this variety reflects a general lack of consensus and understanding within the field.

OD focuses on a company's readiness to instigate, implement, and adopt change. In totality, any OD initiative should help a company adopt changes in beliefs, attitudes, and overall relevance with reference to evolving technology and market forces. This means that, contrary to what many people assume, OD is never merely about training or the personal development of individual employees.

This common misconception places OD in the same category as Human Resource Development (HRD) and Learning and Development (L&D). OD does involve managing change, and it therefore partly overlaps with HRD and L&D. However, since it is also about developing processes and organizational systems, it encompasses far more than either of these employee improvement disciplines alone. The fact that OD is fundamentally about developing the organization as a whole — rather than merely training staff — makes it both broader and distinctly different (SJBIT, 2014).

The Impact of Organizational Change

For an organization to maintain a profitable business, it must invest in changes that respond to events and circumstances in the market. In practical terms, the only way to stay in business is by embracing and incorporating change into daily operational plans. Organizational change falls into a number of categories, which may include:

• Changing individuals within the organization
• Changing company or job structure and description
• Shifting specific employee or asset roles in production
• Introducing new processes and rules into the daily work schedule (Brazier, 2014)

Since these changes will almost certainly disrupt the normal flow of operations, the company must be prepared to accommodate the resulting turbulence as it implements changes to its operational plan. Failure to plan adequately could lead to catastrophic results, as this disruption is harmful to both operations and organizational survival. The business environment is dynamic, and regulations and expectations are constantly shifting. Because a company has little control over these external factors, such changes fall under the category of "unpredictable change" (Burnard & Bhamra, 2011).

With so many factors to consider, any organizational system is at risk from both internal and external forces (Burnard & Bhamra, 2011). One of the most significant concepts in modern capital organizations is organizational culture. The development of the organizational culture concept is driven by recognition of the role humans play in the evolution of any organization. Despite its importance in today's dynamic business environment, research on its significance and role in organizational functioning has declined in recent years (Muscalu, 2014).

Creating an organizational change process that produces tangible impact requires a great deal of complex planning. By establishing a strong buffer between changes in operational processes and the role of each person in the firm, a company stands a better chance of instigating successful change. Employees and managers should all feel comfortable with the changes, and those changes should have a productive effect on the overall work process (Muscalu, 2014).

Organizational transformations have a profound impact on a company's cultural fabric. Regardless of the level at which transformation occurs, having a strong cultural change plan is always the key to ensuring that changes permeate the organization deeply. Any preservation of past cultures will undermine the success of the change, no matter how elaborate or well planned it might be (Muscalu, 2014).

The most thoroughly covered aspect of organizational change impact concerns its effect on firm growth. This is likely because much of the research focuses on the impact of organizational change on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are primarily interested in horizontal growth in order to survive competition. It is worth noting that most of this research focuses on companies operating in developed economies, which assumes a fairly stable market environment in which top-level managers are oriented toward continuous improvement. According to more recent studies, these results are somewhat biased. It is difficult to apply conclusions drawn from stable, developed economies to firms operating in emerging markets, meaning that many findings on organizational development do not translate well to most firms in emerging economies (Shirokova, Berezinets, & Shatalov, 2014).

Conclusion

Managing and supporting change is integral to any organizational change process. An organization can never be ready for change without the active support of its managers. Managers must invest considerable time in ensuring that everyone in the institution understands why the change is important and how it will positively affect the business. In this way, they provide employees with the motivation needed to bring that change to life (Chiloane, 2013).

Considering possible rewards can help boost employee morale and encourage adoption of the overall change initiative. Each employee ought to be respected and genuinely persuaded to embrace the change rather than being coerced into it. Understanding human behavior plays an integral role in any organizational development process and will help an organization develop sound plans and approach the entire effort in the most effective way possible (Chiloane, 2013).

References

Brazier, A. (2014). Organizational change. Loss Prevention Bulletin, 239, pp. 3–6.

Buchanan, D., & Huczynski, A. (2013). Organizational Behavior (8th ed.). Pearson.

Burnard, K., & Bhamra, R. (2011). Organizational resilience: Development of a conceptual framework for organizational responses. International Journal of Production Research, 49(18), pp. 5581–5599.

Cabrey, T., & Haughey, A. (2014). Enabling organizational change through strategic initiatives. PMI's Pulse of the Profession In-Depth Report, pp. 2–12.

Chiloane, E. (2013). The influence of corporate culture on organizational change of First National Bank of Namibia. A Journal of the Academy of Business and Retail Management, 1(3), pp. 15–22.

Muscalu, E. (2014). Organizational culture change in the organization. Management and Economics, 4(76), pp. 392–396.

Shirokova, G., Berezinets, I., & Shatalov, A. (2014). Organizational change and firm growth in emerging economies. JEEMS, 19(2), pp. 185–212.

SJBIT. (2014). Organization development and change (pp. 3–69).