Leadership strategy in organization change management (Essay Sample)

LEADERSHIP STRATEGY IN ORGANIZATION CHANGE MANAGEMENT By (Name) Name of the Class Professor/Tutor Name of School The City and State The Date Leadership Strategy in Organization Change Management The existing business environment offers numerous opportunities that can be exploited by companies that continuously develop their expertise, business models and learning methods. Change and the will to succeed are continuous processes, and the greatest management challenge of the 21st century is structuring organizations to accommodate change. Throughout history, scholars and managers have devised and employed various models and theories to manage change in their organization. The main research is done through abstract and citations from database EBSCOhost, Scopus, Academic search Primer, Proquest and project management journals. These databases contain journal citations and abstracts in the project management, human resource management, psychology, and business management that are critical to the study. The databases were selected due to the presence of peer-reviewed journals, their specificity, and broad coverage of the topic. Keywords used to search the databases include change management models, change leadership, organizational change, change management strategies, and organization change management.The aim of the empirical literature search is to describe scholarly work published on change management approaches, change management theories, and the various empirical theories of leadership organization. A systematic review of the literature indicates six models devised to manage change. They include: 1 The EFQM Excellence Model (EFQM, 1999) The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) formulated the model to encourage continuous development that is founded on learning and innovativeness. It constitutes nine success criteria divided into "enablers" and "results" (Langleyet al. 2013). 2 ISO 9001 Standards (ISO 9001 2000) ISO 9001 Standard is an international standard that determines quality management systems, based on a process-focused model and continuous improvement. 3 20 keys to workplace improvement (Kobayashi 1995) The Kobayashi model advocates for a comprehensive system for implementing continuous improvement. It is based on twenty interdependently linked elements or keys that focus on the progress of the production process. 4 Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan and Norton 1996) The balanced scorecard is a comprehensive organization management model based on a balanced collection of goals, derived from a vision, with the aim of assessing and managing a business strategy. 5 Six Sigma (Harry and Schroeder 2000) Six sigma models is a system of continuous improvement that presents a series of applicable independent tools that focuses on reducing the number of errors in the production process. 6 Business process reengineering (Hammer 2001) Hammer’s model is a process-oriented and radically transformative approach that focuses on establishing new values for the customers and ensuring their satisfaction (Kuiperset al. 2014). The most dominant change models among the above models include Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model, Kurt Lewin’s Change and MicKinsey’s 7-S Model. Literature indicates that these models share some similarities and differences. The subsequent section describes the main characteristics of these models and their applications in change management. Lewin’s model viewsonorganizational change as a common thread that exists within all business processes. According to Lewin, the ideal strategy to manage change in an organization is first to unfreeze or prepare the organization to accept thechange (Pierce 2010). In the preparation phase, organizational processes are broken down before the organization devises new ways ofconducting business. The change process occurs after the unfreezing phase and it involves developing new strategies and ways of doing things. It is fundamental for the management to communicate the major drivers of change to employees and their expected contributions to the change process. After devising the new strategies and employing them in the current organization process, Lewin proposes that the organization should focus on stabilizing the new processes. The final phase involves managing resistance and promoting acceptance among employees and cultivating the new processes as part of the organizational culture (Jean & Gully, 2012). It also involves consolidating the changes by establishing the necessary supporting mechanisms, policies, structures and culture. Kotter’s 8-step change model Kotter’s model entails 8 steps that include creating urgency, forming a power coalition, creating a shared vision for change, and communicating it, facilitating action, creating quick successes, building on the change and cultivating a culture to support the changes (Pierce2010). According to Kotter, creating urgency is the most important process in the change journey because management buy-in is critical to the successful completion of the change process. Some of the proposed strategies to create urgency include examining the market and competitive trends and realities, identifying current crisis and opportunities and obtainingevidences from external sources that change is imminent (Pierce 2010). The second step involves establishing a team consisting of right peoplethat can lead the organization through the change process and communicate the urgency for change. Thirdly, a clear vision establishing shared values should be the foundation of the change process.The effective communication of the reasonsand the vision is critical to the success of the change. Those in the leadership or management position should establish strategies and channels to communicate change and motivate others to support the change by acting as role models. Fifth, the executive should empower subordinates to accommodate change by removing barriers to it and establishing systems that support the process (Karp &Helgø2008). The importance of creating optimism and managing employee resistance is emphasized in this phase. To facilitate the change process, the organization should create short-term wins and achieve visible performance improvements, and recognize employees for the contribution. The sixth step involves designing achievable short-term goals, measuring their achievementand rewarding employees. The seventh step underscores the importance of building and sustaining the change momentum. The new business models should be enshrined in the organization culture (Karp &Helgø 2008). McKinsey 7-S model The McKinsey 7-S model differs from the Kotter’s and Lewin’s model because it addresses the fundamental role of coordination instead of the structures in organizational effectiveness (Shirey2013; Watkins &deMarrais2011).This model focuses on the alignment of organization elements to achieve effectiveness. The core areas advocated by the model include structure, skills, strategy, staff, system, style, shared values. The strategy includes the main approaches and organization uses to achieve its strategic goals. The structure containsall the organizational resources that facilitate the achievement of the goals while style entails the organizational culture (leadership, cooperation and employees interaction). Employees constitute an irreplaceable element of the change process, and their capabilities and experience to maintain the change process is critical. Business processes and technical platforms are essential in advocating the vision and mission of the business. According to the model, the hard elements include the organization strategy, structure and systems and the management often have a difficult time managing these elements. The soft elements include the staff, shared values, style, and skills are largely influenced by the organization culture (Borkowski 2010). These models can be categorized by the teleological theory (strategy change), life cycle process theory (controlled change), dialectic process theory (conflict), and the evolutionary process approach (competitive change). The teleological or planned change approach views development as a repetitive sequence of formulating goals, evaluation, and modifications of an envisioned goal. Teleological models considerorganizations as purposeful and adaptive entities, and change is driven by leader and change agents. An organization using teleological models implements change as a rational and linear, but individual managers play a more fundamental role in the change process (Sadri & Sadri 2014). According to the teleological theory, internal organizational features such decision-making processes, rather than external environment, motivate change. The models place the leader at the center of the process as the main person who devise the vision, establish expectations, communicates the vision and expectations, and reward the employees. Life cycle models centeron organization development, maturity, and decline. With life cycle models, change is viewed as part of a phase and is progressive and cogent (Lawler &Sillitoe 2010). Organizations emerge, grow and go through various stages of revitalization and ultimately decline. Change is viewed as a natural process of the organization, and it occurs as individuals within the business adapt to the changing phases of the life cycle. Lawler and Sillitoe (2010) noted that the role of the management is to provide the necessary opportunities for training and motivational to equip employees to embrace the change. Although life cycle approaches are associated to learning models, they assume an adaptive, natural and habitual learning. These models focus on previous element of change because o...