Organization Driving Positive Social Change -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Organization Driving Positive Social Change? Answer: Introduction The term change management refers to the collective term for all the different approaches that leads to the preparation and support for the individuals, organizations and teams to make the change in the organization. This can be done by the use of different methods that helps to redefine and redirect the process through which the resources in an organization are used, the process of budget allocation, the other modes of operation that significantly change the company or the organization. The main objective of the change is to derive positive results from any such change that can help improve the performance of the organization. Change can either be positive or negative depending on the change management strategies of the organization. The following essay is based on the study of the change management process considering the case of Woolworths Supermarket in Australia. The investigator has tried to highlight the necessary elements that lead to the change management process. Woolworths Supermarket is an Australian Supermarket chain owned by Woolworths Limited. It was founded in the year 1924 and has its headquarters in Bella Vista town of Australia (www.woolworths.com.au). The company along with its rivals Coles Supermarket accounts for nearly 80% of the total market share. Apart from specializing in groceries it also sells different products ranging from books and DVDs to other beauty and Household products. The retail sector in Australia has employed a lot many people in the country than in any other sectors. The fall in the market share of the company due to lack of a proper vision has made it fall apart from the other competitors in the market. The inability of the mentioned company to satisfy the customers, loss of faith from the products of the organization and some other similar issues have forced the management of the mentioned company to formulate strategies in order to effect a necessary change. Identification and Discussion There are some major issues that make the employees of the organization resistant to changes. Some of them are as follows; Loss of Job- Fear of losing the job is one of the major reasons behind the resistance of the employees to initiate the change management process. The change management process in an organization will generally involve the technological advancement, product change involving smart work, reduction in the cost, fast turnaround times and many other different changes (Appelbaum, 2015). The following means the change will be severely opposed as because it may lead to the reduction or elimination of a certain post or role of an employee. Fear of the Unknown- Fear and panic from unknown changes is another key cause for the employees resistance to change in the organization. The employees may feel the need for holding to the past because they might consider it to be much better and secured than the present situation. This makes them more fearful and diminishes their self confidence. The fear increases when the organization is not sure about the possible impacts of the changes thus leading to strong resistance from the employees. Irrelevant Communication Strategy- The irrelevant communication strategy of the organization is one of the major reasons that lead to the resistance to the change. It is important for the management of the business organization to communicate the changes to be made in the organization to the people of the organization in a proper, efficient and transparent manner (Appelbaum, 2015)(Cameron, 2015). The proper communication helps the employees to be well aware of the changes but the absence of an effective communication leads to a confusion among the employees and they are most likely to resist the change to be undertaken by the organization. Lack of Competence- The employees of an organization might feel the upcoming development process can create problems for them as they might not be able to cope up with the new change. The following fear may come up in the mind as because they are hesitant to accept the new changes or shift into a new routine. Such fears leads to strong resistance. Resistance to change is one of the main problems considered by the managers that may stall the process of development. Woolworths being a large organization also faces similar changes that makes life difficult for the organization and stalls the change that may be undertaken. There are three most critical strategic problems that Woolworths faces. They are, Resistance to reality main - The management of Woolworths faces such problems when the strategy of the management ignores the external reality that they the least control. Some of the main external factors that experiences normal changes are technology, business models, strategies on a certain product, standards, customer choices and many more as such (Cameron, 2015). Woolworths faced a huge challenge at the time of the introduction of the CDs and DVDs as the market opposed the new development in the absence of proper infrastructure to run these products and had the choice for floppy disks and cassettes that had much lower space but ideal installations to run on. Systematic Resistance to Change-The following resistance occurs when a global economyy or the combination of different firms altogether fails to change the response to the threat of the system. It is one of the biggest problems to change as it involves a large space and has a large area to be covered in a single go. Resistance to organizational Change- The resistance to the strategies put forward by the executive management is opposed by the employees of the organization. The main problem that lies within such a resistance is the inability of the employees to accept the new cultural or organizational change. The managers of the organization must conduct meetings and make the employees understand about the projected changes. According to (Cameron, 2015) power is one of the most central aspects of both the social sciences in general and organizational and management theory in particular. Power acts as the most influential part of the social living that takes into consideration the different groups and individuals within the workplace. Power can be considered to be a mere subordinate to organization based social phenomenon. The secondary role of power has been relegated by organizational research leads to a serious shortcoming in the way in which it is conceptualized in organizational and management studies. On the other hand (Deneen, 2014) has stated that during the time of the implementation of change is to make sure to derive a power driven resistance to change as it will have a negative effect on the initiative to change. The managers of Woolworths who fears the loss of power are usually the ones who have a large influence and can interrupt the preparation of a proper management plan.(Cummings, 2014) According to Management of power driven resistance to change requires a proper strategy and a proper understanding of the different stakeholders. Therefore it is better to learning about the influence of the stakeholders and the amount of impact upon the employees of the organization. Therefore (Cummings, 2014) has stated that the success of the change will be highlighted in the organization only when the management implements a proper strategy that identifies the possible amount of resistance that they might face in the context of the change management. Key Ethical Issues Change is inevitable in any organization and it generally arises from the need to improve the allocation of the different resources, bringing a change in the technology, changing the budget of the organization and bring some other notable changes in the organization to make it much more efficient and profitable. The change agent must challenge the present situation and totally bring a change in the status quo by bringing an altogether different perspective to the organizational environment (Doppelt, 2017). A number of different ethical issues arise when the change management takes place within the organization. There are cases when the information collected by the change agents is not aligned with the executive management agenda, the results can get manipulated. The manipulation of the data can point fingers towards the low level employees of the organization and will result in their expulsion. The executive management of the organization decides all the policies related to the chang e and thus they have all the discretionary powers that lead to the change. Therefore there is a chance that change is determined by the power perceptions. This may lead to intentional misstatement of information. There are also cases when the management of the company may highlight the change management process to be a form of more employee engagement within the organizational matters of the company whereas the actual intent behind the change process is to diminish the engagement of the employees within the organization or reducing the employee strength (Hayes, 2017). The management in such cases generally cites reasons like the absence of proper technological knowledge, inability to adapt to changing situations and many more as such. The management of Woolworths must make it a point to identify such different ethical issues and remove the barriers that may lead to resistance from the employees. The management of the mentioned super marketing chain has identified some of the most effective steps to implement and monitor the total process of change management. They are; Identification of the Actual Change- The main step to the beginning of the change management process lies in the clear identification of the particular change to be made within the organization. The management of Woolworths must make sure that they make each and every employee who will be affected by the change (Hon A. H., 2014). The management must define the need for the change and how it will benefit the employees. Presentation of a proper case- The presentation needs to be done in a proper way so that the employees can be made aware of the changes that have an impact upon them. The proper presentation also helps to avoid any form of resistance that would be otherwise harmful to the plan for the change. Creation of a roadmap- The formulation of a roadmap is utmost necessary for the organization to effect a positive change within the organization. The documented strategy for implementation of the change helps to identify the point from where the oorganizatio0n is starting and what are the steps to be taken for implementing the plan perfectly (Kuipers, 2014). Gathering proper information for efficient evaluation- The beginning of the implementation of the change management starts with the consideration of the benefits of gathering and analyzing the information to measure and monitor the progress of the organization. Some of the changes will be easier to measure than the others but it is utmost necessary for a clear report that facilitates better communication. Communication- Clear and effective communication is utmost important to the exercise of the change management process (Lozano, 2015). A proper change management plan depends on rock solid communication structure that not only does determine the plans for the change but also seeks to understand the needs for the particular change. Monitoring and managing risks- Monitoring and the management of the risks is one of the major areas that need to be highlighted by the organization (Botha, 2014). The management of the risks is utmost necessary for the organization as because it helps to identify and mitigate the risks that may occur during such a time. Resistance is a normal reaction to the change process but it can act as a serious threat to the success of the project. A proper anticipation and taking effective steps to curb the risks helps the organization to be successful in leading the change. Continuous Review and improvement of the processes- It is quite necessary for the organization to keep a constant watch on the change process from the beginning. The absence of a proper watch may lead to the failure of the change process and will lead to negative results. Proper Monitoring and review can help to identify the challenges, remove the barriers and meet the objectives of the change process roadmap (Stephan, 2016). Conclusion The following study has revealed the processes by which the organization undertakes the change management process and the different elements that are associated with the process of such a change in the organizational structure. Woolworths has made a huge change in the organizational structure in the last couple of years to cope up with the new challenges and the demands of the modern day customers. 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