7.3.2 Change and the organisation's development stage
An important consideration when managing a change process as a manager is the organisation's stage of development, or its progress on a competitiveness life cycle.
Figure 9 - Organisational Development Life Cycle
© Working Futures 1997 (see McDonnell, 1993: 47-48)
What the above figure illustrates is that a change strategy formulated for an organisation has to consider the evolution of the company in terms of its competitive position. A change strategy formulated for a company at the distinctive competitiveness level is unlikely to be communicated in the same manner, or target similar outcomes if implemented for a base-level unsophisticated company. Worse still, is to develop a change strategy more appropriate for an advanced company when the company is really only at a base level of development.
In effect managers seeking to plan and implement world-class best practice in an organisation at the unsophisticated stage may stimulate change, but the ability to sustain and promote such change may be difficult, or impossible.
Another consideration in the level of change and approach is the nature of the market position. The adopted strategy may be modified if, for instance, the market position of the company is growing or shrinking, or if it is in a new and growing market or in an older market in decline. As markets emerge it is often more desirable to be a novice in a market that is growing (with a small market share that grows as the market develops) than to be holding a large market share in a market that will disappear. Change strategies that move the whole organisation through pain and develop new commitment are redundant if the company is in the wrong market or producing the wrong product to survive.
Table 1 Strategic market positioning of a business
|
Growth |
Maturity |
Decline |
Leader |
Keep ahead of the field |
Cost leadership Raise barriers Deter competitors |
Redefine scope Divest peripherals Encourage departures |
Follower |
Imitate at lower cost |
Differentiation Focus |
Differentiation New Opportunities |
(Porter, 1985; & McDonnell, 1993:58)
The stage of organisational development and the commitment to secure competitive advantage should influence the level of change and the approach. Ignoring this macro-level issue has caused many organisations to undertake large scale restructuring when all they were really doing was process innovation. Instead, some would argue, they should have been completely reengineering the organisation towards a new market reality that would justify both competitive needs, and the cost and pain associated with the radical change process.
Once you have identified who the key players in the change process are, the next challenge is to communicate the changes to all individuals and teams who will be affected.
Activity 7
Examine the following four measures used for communicating change within a group or individual session. Which basis would you prefer to have used when communicating change to a team?
Comparative standards |
focusing on employee-to-employee or company to company reasons for change
|
Task standards |
focusing on employee-to-task performance requirements (lack of competitive performance)
|
Knowledge standards |
focusing on the lack of competitive knowledge within the organisation comparative to others - need to up skill and improve knowledge of staff, both technical and behavioural (e.g. trust, commitment, motivation, etc.).
|
Process standards |
focusing on objective measures of process outcomes and lack of competitiveness or need to improve product and service deliverables |
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