Managing change and creativity in organisations (Coursework Sample)

Managing Change and Creativity in Organizations Name Institution Managing Change and Creativity in Organizations The Physical Toil of Manufacturing is being Replaced by Ideas on Management Starting from mid-1990s, various players in the fields of business, consultancy, academia, and public policy have been demonstrating a tremendous degree of fascination in the issue of knowledge management. Such interest is evident in a number of ways. For instance, policy makers in the business and educational arenas are hugely inspired by the ideas contained in knowledge management literature as reported by Fleming and Sorenson (2004). Present times are also witnessing an explosion in the number of books and academic articles touching on the issue of knowledge management, thereby, indicating that, many players in the business arena are treating this issue quite seriously. Although it is not easy to determine the actual number of business organizations that have taken this initiative of drawing inspiration from documented knowledge on management, studies indicate that many of them in England, Scotland, the EU and Australia have followed this route (Hislop, 2013; Dawson, 2003). According to Scarbrough and Swan (2001), before the year 1996, businesses were not much reliant on management knowledge. As such, there were very few publications in this area, meaning that, businesses relied on the physical toil of manufacturing to compete with others in their line of production. Although there were several skeptics who dismissed the trend as a hype that was ended for the oblivion, the period between 2000 and 2008 witnessed an increase in the number of publications in this field. Scarbrough and Swan (2001) suggest in their article that, the trend of businesses turning to management knowledge at the expense of the usual manufacturing toil was a bandwagon without wheals. The fact that present times are seeing several conferences organized to discuss this subject of knowledge management also attests to the shift from the usual manufacturing toil witnessed before 1996 to the utilization of management knowledge. Further, today, there are numerous papers in academic journals touching on learning and knowledge in organizations, thereby, acting as more proof to the shift (Hislop, 2013; Adams, 2001). Scholars have advanced a number of reasons to justify the shift from the manufacturing toil era to a knowledge management one. Firstly, the end of the twentieth century saw a tremendous transformation in the economic and social arenas, thereby, making knowledge the fundamental asset for firms to manage. Moreover, modern times are characterized by a form of work whose management requires engaging the mind as opposed to the rigid machine like methods applied long ago. As such, any firm that desires to achieve a competitive advantage in its line of production must value the significance of intellectual work hence the need to take the initiative of knowledge management (Hislop, 2013). According to DeFillippi et al. (2007), the shift of the society and the economy at large from the era of a manufacturing toil to a knowledge-intensive one can be traced to the mid-1970s and the transformation has made them the key generators of wealth. How the knowledge turn has also led to changes in working arrangements and expectations from workers The evolution of organizations from the era of manufacturing toil to a knowledge management one has occasioned a number of changes in working arrangements and employee expectations. The landscape of work has indeed been redefined through advanced technologies, changing demographics, new social values, and faster globalization. To begin with, advanced technologies have resulted to the automation of roles once played manually. Moreover, various duties, which were once simple, have evolved into quite complex undertakings. Additionally, roles which would be played locally by employees have now grown global in scope. Owing to these changes, traditional methods once seen as highly effective are now getting overwhelmed and obsolete. Further, workers are presently experiencing overwhelming pressures, forcing them to seek mechanisms of creating a work-life balance (Cooke, 2012; Chen and Huang, 2009). Through the tremendous advances made in the technological arena, new forms of productivity are being witnessed. Some of these means are to the effect that employees do not now need to perform their duties in the confines of their offices. Moreover, modern technology is generating opportunities for increased collaboration among employees. The new forms of collaboration witnessed today are changing various work arrangements such as who to work with, where to work from, and how to work. Since employees are now required to collaborate with others in different time zones, there is more need for flexibility and agility. Technology is now enabling a high degree of choreography for physically disconnected, complex and interdependent tasks. Additionally, through modern technology, advanced knowledge-sharing capabilities are now in existence. These capabilities are known to transcend territories and specializations. As such, through flexibility, virtual peer-based working arrangements have been created as advanced technology has been leveraged (Cooke, 2012; Liebowitz, 1999). The knowledge turn has also disrupted the traditional command-control hierarchies characterizing the 20th century as new technology platforms come into play. Modern work arrangements tend to be characterized by a "connect-and-collaborate structure" as information grows more fluid and highly decentralized. These changes are indeed impacting the physical structure of work occasioning new systems demanding no dynamic and complex teams’ re-location. As such, organizations are now using a network-based approach to work which could not be feasible for traditional firms owing to a lack of the requisite technologies then (Cooke, 2012; Zhang and Zhao, 2006). The perceptions of workers have also been transformed by the turn. For instance, in the UK, many workers are now pushing for jobs which have more meaning and purpose. To enable the satisfaction of these needs, organizations are presently giving employees more power over the conditions of their work and making the work itself increasingly more agile. Moreover, modern companies are characterized by an internal push for democracy as workers strive to find higher purpose and significance in their roles. Such democratic push is also assisting employees in assuming higher responsibility over their individual work styles and development. For organizations to succeed in offering these requirements to their workers, they are forced to foster an environment laden with flexibility and trust (Cooke, 2012; Zhang and Zhao, 2006). The turn is also occasioning an increasing societal demand for independence, agility, and mobility, especially in the UK. Workers are presently seeking the freedom of constructing their own working environments in terms of ambience and working hours. As such, unlike traditional setups which were characterized by "parent-child" relationships between managers and employees, modern organizations have shifted to an "adult-adult" arrangement. In the former, managers would impose a predefined pathway which all workers would be expected to follow religiously. Therefore, the activities to be undertaken by workers as well as their own personal and professional development would be matters beyond their control. However, in the "adult-adult" setup, workers are allowed to make choices proactively, thereby, getting the opportunity of redefining their career paths (Cooke, 2012; Zhang and Zhao, 2006). Presently, many organizations are tending to have an ageing workforce. As such, this increased employment longevity is forcing firms to change their policies so as to accommodate the ageing. Obviously, older workers have more experience and skills which companies must tap into to stay competitive in their lines of production. Professional newbies also require these attributes possessed by the older generation so as to learn what is required of them more easily and swiftly. The younger generation is therefore changing its perception about the old and treats them with the respect they deserve. Moreover, modern companies are characterized by multiple generations of workers, therefore, forcing the management to create tactics of accommodating their diverse needs and aspirations. For instance, members of generation Y are infusing organizations with a new set of values and expectations as regards their working life. This twist of norms is necessitating increased levels of flexibility in the roles assigned to workers as well as a more social approach to work (Cooke, 2012; Zhang and Zhao, 2006). Owing to the growing rate of globalization, companies are now presented with a new set of opportunities, which can only be tapped into through embracing a culture of working for 24 hours, seven days a week. Moreover, the expectations of customers are now different and can only be met through adopting this culture of 24/7. Additionally, for companies to adapt successfully to the new increasingly more agile methods of working, the modern era is requiring them to embrace the issue of sustainable growth which calls for a balance between resource utilization and expansion (Cooke, 2012; Zhang and Zhao, 2006). The role of management practices in supporting organizational creativity and innovation The management of any organization can engage in a number of practices that can foster organizational creativity and innovation. Firstly, there is need to practice a bottom-up style of management as opposed to a top-down one. When this is done, the leaders avoid resulting to monopolizing the generation ideas as all em...