A report on the best practice of organisational change

According to Carnall (1992) “We live in a period of accelerating change”. Fundamental changes in society restructure our lives. Advances in new technology means that the impossible becomes commonplace (computer generated animation, robotics, space exploration). It is true to say that change has always been an integral part of the manager’s job. This has never been truer than it is in today’s environment. The recent bombings in Istanbul in

Turkey has only underlined what has occurred in the business environment since the events of September 11th 2001 in New York i.e. that no matter how well you plan or indeed plan for change it is impossible to predict the impact that the events in the external environment will have on your organisation. There is no way that the airline industry, stock markets or governments could have planned or prepared for the effects caused by the World Trade Centre disaster, nor indeed the impact on HSBC banks across the globe after the terrible events in Istanbul recently.

These events, as well as the corporate scandals of Enron and WorldCom, have battered the global economy and have made it clear that we need to look at the changed world of management and explore how they impact on the manager’s job. Change is all around us and the capacity to manage change effectively is a crucial attribute of the successful manager in today’s organisation. (Clarke, 1994The purpose of this report is to depict what the theorists have claimed as “best practice” in the management of organisational change.

To report this effectively it is essential that we use actual examples of how organisations manage change. Using these examples we will then analyse this process in the context of today’s literature on the subject, which will enable us to compare if the theoretical best practice, as purported by the many authorities on the subject, matches with what actually happens in the “real world. ” For this report we will use our collective knowledge of the management of change and apply it to Gypsum Industries.

We will begin by defining change and introducing the history behind the management of change, providing some background on the development of the theories. We will then introduce Gypsum Industries and the type of change or changes they have introduced. We will continue the report by providing the analysis between the theoretical best practices, introducing concepts such as Kurt Lewins’ “three step process and “Force Field Analysis”, Johnson and Scholes’ “Cultural Web”, Paton and McCalmans’ “TROPICS” test, and the actual process used and the consequent results.

The conclusion of the report will highlight whether the management of change is a practical concept that is applicable in today’s rapidly changing, global and extremely turbulent business environment. Zaltman and Duncan (1977) have defined change as “an alteration in the status quo,” however it is argued that “real” change occurs when individuals define a situation as different and feel that they must alter their behaviour to cope with the new situation. Change therefore implies some sort of “relearning on the part of the individual.

“(Zaltman and Duncan, 1977) Change can be studied in terms of its effects at the individual, group, organisational, society, national or international level. (Doyle, 2002) However because of its pervasive nature, change at any one level is interrelated with changes at other levels and it is difficult to study change in isolation. (Mullins, 2002 :818) For this report however we are concentrating on organisational change and therefore it is necessary to first provide some information on the historical context of change followed by an introduction on the nature of organisations.

For the past 300 years change has been taking place in the industrial world and there have been key phases of economic development during this time. In the mid 1700’s the industrial revolution transformed Britain from what Senior (2002) claimed was an “agricultural economy” to “the workshop of the world” by 1880. It was an era of mass production where demand outstripped supply and bureaucracy was the dominant organisational structure. This production prosperity lasted until the end of the Second World War.

The post-war era 1945 -1965 was according to Goodman (1995) an extension of the suppliers market. However there was more of an effort to become efficient on production in order to reduce costs based of F. W. Taylor’s scientific management ideas. Soon however customers became more discerning and advances in technology increased production. Supply now outstripped demand and organisations were forced to look to overseas markets and to focus more on service, not only service in its own right, but also value added service.

(Goodman, 1995) As the world has moved from the agricultural to the post-industrial eras organisations and the people in them have been forced to make major changes as old skills and managerial mindsets have been replaced with new methods of production and people management. (Nadler et al, 1997) These major changes have provided those managers who understand the forces for change and can successfully exploit them, huge opportunities in a competitive world. This is where the management of change has become a key factor.

One of the reasons that managing change can be uncomfortable and difficult is that, according to Alvin Toffler in his book “Future Shock,” there is now “so much of it. ” (Toffler, 1990) Indeed Peters et al (1982) have written “every change does not have time to change as there is always another change taking place before the first change has been confronted. ” (Peters et al 1982) Perhaps this is why Handy has called this turbulent time an “age of unreason. “(Handy, 1989) Having explored the historical context of change we will now investigate the nature of organisations.