Technological Change in Organizations

Management of Organizational Change: Nature of the change

New technological changes in the technology industry are often identified as the major interventions towards ensuring success for an organization in the market. Technological organizations decided to adopt strategic change by introducing innovative practices, in order to be successful and have a competitive edge in the competitive global economy, and also to meet the global social demands of their customers (Fifty Lessons Limited, 2007).

A significant change realized in the technology industry is that technological organizations have introduced a unique practice, referred to as the “precedent design system.” This practice is engaged in the design management center of organizations, in line with the design-driven strategies. Developers in organizations purpose to develop various design samples, based on customer segmentation, as well as customer research in advance. Technological organizations then store these samples in databases and use them for future development. Examples of global organizations that have adopted this change are Apple Inc. and Samsung Co., Ltd. For instance, Samsung produced Galaxy S to the market, which was run by android 2.1, and as well had a Super AMOLED display of 800x480. This design entailed a single-core processor of 1GHz and a RAM of 0.5GB. In addition, it had a rear camera, which had 5 megapixels, whereas the front camera was 0.3 megapixel. Samsung conducted a major research in the consumer market and later came up with an updated version of this galaxy version and it was named Galaxy S2. Similar to Galaxy S, this mobile phone had a predecessor of 800x480. However, an upgrade was done in that the processors had a dual-core of 1.2 GHz, as well as an increased RAM of 0.75 GB (Tariq, 2018). Moreover, the rear camera was updated to 8 megapixels, having a 2-megapixel camera facing the front.

Similarly to Apple Inc., the company has adopted this change and it can be seen in the constant evolution of its products to better versions, after customer research has been conducted, in order to invent products, which best fit the needs of the customer. For instance, the original iPhone did not have the 3G data, and GPS, yet the two were introduced a year later, with the invention of iPhone 3G. The 3g iPhone also replaced the plastic and aluminium back and replaced it with a solid and curved plastic. Later, an introduction of iPhone 3GS came with better changes, as Apple unveiled the mobile phone, having “S” indicating “Speed.” This device also had minor hardware, as well as software refinements, over 3G. The release of this phone brought forth two theories regarding the update cycle. They involved customers purposing to upgrade immediately after Apple purposed to revamp its phone and the customers waiting for the “S” model to be worked out (Murphy, 2018).

Significant to note is the fact that organizations in the technology industry have their Information and Telecommunication Research and Development centers, and this provides them with an effective approach of meeting with various technological changes. The R &D activities are purposely maintained in all business specialities, which include electronic components, telecommunications, multimedia, as well as semiconductors. Moreover, human resource interventions have been noted to be of utmost significance in the industry, when there comes the need for effective strategic change implementation in the technological organizations (Murphy, 2018). These employees work on new processes, as well as product developments, and both their direct and indirect contributions are realized. Technological industries such as Samsung and Apple have identified the need for the development of human resource. The two companies provide their employees with significant opportunities of achieving further education broadly at their company’s expense.

Overall, it is also worth noting that the major reasons for this model change in the technology industry is that firstly, organizations are affected greatly by various technological changes, as well as new product developments from their competitors. This then creates the need for these companies to introduce changes, especially in their already existing products and also processes, this meeting with, or having a competitive edge over their competitors (Luecke, 2009). For instance, Apple’s iPhone 5S competed with Samsung’s Galaxy S4, owing to the fact that it had more colours. Secondly, customer needs, as well as expectations are constantly changing rapidly, and as such, technological organizations have to respond fast, towards meeting the changing customer needs. This requires changes in the organizations’ existing system. It is evident that the changes experienced in the entire global market purposes to drive these organizations into making changes in their internal systems. For instance, demand for various electronic products in companies such as Apple is highly affected by products from Samsung, which provide products at lower prices. As such, price-conscious buyers, particularly from developing countries, prefer buying Samsung products, which then lead to reduction of Apple products in the global market (Mayle, 2006).

Management of Organizational Change: Resistance to change and the role of leadership in managing change

Resistance to change refers to opposing or struggling with transformation or even modification, which purpose to alter a status quo. The growth of a business is technological industry is competitive and also demanding, owing to the fact that many organizations face challenges, as well as resistance when they intend to introduce an innovative product to the global market (Rosenbaum et al., 2018). Employees are inter-functional towards the implementation of innovation in the service industry. Significant to note, it is complex, owing to the fact that service innovation often affects the roles of employees greatly, thereby requiring them to adapt to changes in behavior, which purposes to suit the preferences of customers. In this regard, employees are tasked towards facilitating what the customers want and not what they would prefer to innovate. In accordance with the process theory, innovation development is a concrete reality that lies within the organizational dynamics. In this regard, it can be deduced that the innovation of thoughts, as well as minds, do evolve within innovation itself, in which case, the acceptance or resistance of innovation can then be examined. As such, leaders should come in when there is need to manage change within an organization (Newton, 2007).

A leader guides the organization through the entire change, and their roles should aid in shaping the employees’ intention of resisting the innovation. In other words, the behaviors of leaders purpose to determine the organizational success in adapting to a change or an innovation. Such a conclusion is relevant to organizational leaders whose actions, as well as characteristics are reflected in the organizational processes, as well as outcomes. A leaders’ personal attributes, often influence the decision, and also the choices they make, which in turn influence their followers' attitudes, as well as beliefs. Notably, employees will not resist to change and innovation in an instance where their leader directs them towards the right path (Reynolds & Holwell, 2010).

Anytime leaders fail to fulfil their expectations, employees become disillusioned, and unmotivated, which consequently leads the organization to suffer. In this regard, leaders are obligated to manage change effectively. On the other hand, when they fulfil their roles effectively, the expectations of the employees, partners, customers, as well as stakeholders are met. As such, leaders need to clarify the vision of the change and communicate it to the employees effectively. Leaders’ role in managing change requires them to help the employees buy into the organizational vision and this needs significant and effective communication (Rosenbaum et al., 2018). The communication needs to be consistent, in order for the message that needs to be passed across to the employees to be clear and also consistent. In this regard, the leader needs to leverage the employees’ preferred methods of communication, in order to enhance receptiveness. Leaders must grant employees the opportunities to express their ideas, suggestions, as well as comments regarding the change. This increases their motivation, which would then make it easy to direct them on accepting the proposed changes. Provision of sufficient training is as well significant to avoid disappointments, especially if the employees lack the sufficient skills and knowledge that can aid them in working with new changes (Walmsley, 2009).

Overall, Samsung and Apple companies are involved with technological changes, and as such, the contributions of their employees are highly expected. In this regard, Kotter’s eight-step change model could be applied, in order to implement the required changes in the system through minimizing the negative impact of employee resistance. Effective communication, motivation of employees, and an establishment of an attainable vision aid in the development of Kotter’s change model. Firstly, the model focuses on the development of employee motivation, which is significant in guiding employees in Apple and Samsung, thus aiding to achieve the set objectives of the entire change process. Moreover, it is significant to provide both training and development to the employees, in order to equip them with the significant knowledge and skills for working with the change (Small et al., 2016). Kotter’s model purposes to create short-term win and not introducing a complex vision that is unattainable and which lowers the employees’ morale. Of significance in the model is team building, as both Apple and Samsung require sharing of skills between people having varied skills such as engineers, normal operators, as well as technicians.

References

Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), 234-262.

Newton, R. (2007). Managing change Step-by-Step; All you need to build a plan & make it happen, Prentice Hall.

Reynolds, M. & Holwell, S. (2010). Systems Approaches to Managing Change: A Practical Guide, Publisher: Springer; 1st Edition.

Rosenbaum, D., More, E., & Steane, P. (2018). Planned organisational change management: Forward to the past? An exploratory literature review. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 31(2), 286-303.

Small, A., Gist, D., Souza, D., Dalton, J., Magny-Normilus, C., & David, D. (2016). Using Kotter's Change Model for Implementing Bedside Handoff: A Quality Improvement Project. Journal of nursing care quality, 31(4), 304-309.

Management of Organizational Change: Critically evaluation of the change initiatives that were introduced

Technological organizations brought forth various change initiatives, which could aid in implementing the technological change successfully. On the other hand, the employees’ reactions towards them should be acknowledged in this section, as well as their impact on customers.

Firstly, in order to enhance and effective process of change management, change initiatives that involve human resource, financial resources, technological resources, as well as physical resources need to be taken into account. It is significant to note that human resource is of utmost value in a company (Burnes, 2015). Apple and Samsung companies often spend a lot on training, as well as developing their employees. On the other hand, these two organizations have Human resource development centers, which support employees, in order to develop creativity, as well as global minds, thus aiding them to meet and achieve the future organizational business needs. The organizations provide the employees with sufficient training for working process of the organization, which are technically updated. In accordance with the company details of Apple and Samsung, they spend a lot on various training programs, which include the costs of the training, as well as the costs that relate to identifying the training needs that the employees should acquire. Samsung has its main R&D institute in South Korea, whereas Apple has its main R&D institute in China. These develop the company’s ability to develop significant technologies, which purposely lead the company towards developing new products that support in meeting with the market changes (Hornstein, 2015).

The reaction of the employees towards this change initiative should be checked before and after engaging the employees in the training program. Of importance is the fact that employees often value learning a variety of new things, especially when they target towards improving their career opportunities. Moreover, opting for training by the organization assures the employees that the organization has its belief in them, and thus invests in them. As such, this aids in preventing employee resistance to change, which has been seen as the major problem that a company may face when it purposes to engage in change (Interim Management, 2018). Evidently, when the employees lack the necessary skills and knowledge required for a change, their production output would certainly fail to meet the expectation of the organization and the customers. However, having had sufficient training implies that employees will be skilled and knowledgeable. In this regard, they will be able to provide highly innovative and quality products, which will consequently benefit the customers.

The second change initiative used the technology industry by organizations is having a financial success by allocating the budget for the change process separately, and providing different job responsibilities for various key players, in order for them to have ample time, and to focus on the change process (Webb, 2017). It is worth noting that technological changes require sufficient financial resource, as well as proper allocation of budget and responsibilities to individuals, based on their speciality. Notably, nothing can purposely derail the process of a change initiative quickly than the when employees are frustrated, owing to the fact that although they want the change to succeed, they may not be provided with sufficient time, budget or even the support that they need (Prosci, 2018). Employees react positively towards proper allocation of financial resources to their departments for ease in implementing the change process. As such, they feel motivated and this may prevent issues of resistance to change. On the other hand, when the operational processes are run smoothly, production becomes sufficient and the end product that reaches the global market becomes desirable for consumers. Otherwise, if there is a poor allocation of the budget, consequently, it would lead to poorly designed products and this consequently fails to meet the needs of the customers.

The third change initiative used in Apple and Samsung companies is stakeholder engagement. The stakeholders involved are employees, the government, investors, customers, suppliers, and the community. Evidently, the project participants are not capable of making the change happen by themselves, and as such, they need supporters (Prosci, 2018). The stakeholders are aligned with the design vision and are actively engaged throughout the process. For this reason, Apple and Samsung companies conduct an extensive market research and their developers purpose to develop various design samples. They use the feedback from their stakeholders, and this promotes teamwork, as well as commitment development, and these are some of the reasons for the success of the change implementation. Employees do react positively towards the engagement of the stakeholders as they also purpose to work of technologically innovative products, which would be accepted by their customers. On the other hand, when an innovative product is produced to in the global market, customers often show their concern and as such, they provide their feedback for better updates (Webb, 2017).

References

Burnes, B. (2015). Understanding resistance to change–building on Coch and French. Journal of Change Management, 15(2), 92-116.

Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), 291-298.

Management of Organizational Change: How management theories can help managers learn from this case about managing change

Managing change in an organization and implementing the change strategies requires organization leaders to avoid implementing irrelevant and even random methods. Instead, they should strive to focus on an appropriate plan for a suitable course of action (Blake & Bush, 2008). Evidently, change management requires time, expertise, effort, as well as dedication, in order to be run. Technological leaders must involve employees, and as such, they need to adopt significant change management theories, as well as models. The following are the best strategies that Technological organizations such as Apple and Samsung can use in implementing the change management of the production of innovative product updates (Burnes, 2009). Through these approaches, the organizational leaders can learn the most appropriate ways of managing change:

AKDAR Model

This model of change provides a goal-oriented tool, which enables team management teams to put more emphasis on significant activities or steps that are related to the goals that the team desires to achieve (Burnes et al., 2006). The ADKAR stands for the following:

Awareness- This is the awareness of the requirements, as well as need for change

Desire- To bring forth change and thus, to participate in it

Knowledge- of the manner to bring forth change

Ability- Incorporating change regularly

Reinforcement- Keeping the change implemented and also reinforced later

This model then defines the goals, as well as results that are derived, which are cumulative and also in a sequence. This then implies that whilst using this model, leaders need to get the outcomes in an orderly fashion, in order for the change to be sustained and also implemented. Moreover, it is worth noting that leaders can use this model, in determining various gaps in the change management process, for them to offer effective training to the employees for better results (Burnes et al., 2006). The model aids in providing support for employees to undergo the change process whilst change management is going on. It also prevents any resistance that can come from employees towards change and can provide a successful plan for the professional and personal improvement of the employees whilst change is taking place. The following figure shows the AKDAR change model:

Overall, based on this case, it is worth noting that AKDAR model is useful in preventing issues relating to employees resistance to change. As such, the employees need to be made aware of the change while leaders should as well support them in understanding the change requirements within their system. Moreover, because Apple and Samsung organizational leaders are concerned with organizational change, they should ensure that employees have achieved individual motivation, by supporting them towards maintaining the required necessary changes, which should be evolved with reinforcement (Cameron & Green, 2009).

McKinsey’s 7S model

McKinsey’s theory involves seven elements, which leaders should adopt in managing change in an organization. The first element is the strategy, where a strategic plan is established in order to acquire a competitive edge (Cameron & Green, 2009). This first element requires a step-by-step development procedure and it involved an organization’s future plan. The second element is structure, which provides the structure that an organization follows or how its divided. The third is systems, where in order to have a task done. The fourth element is shared values, which are the organization’s main values to which it works. The fifth is style, and this is the manner in which leadership changes are adopted and implemented. The sixth is staff, which is the workforce and their capabilities of working. Finally, the last element is skills, and this are the competencies and skills that the employees have (Carnall, 2007). The figure below shows an illustration of this model:

Overall, based on the technological change, organization leaders need to adopt this model as it provides them with significant was of communicating to the employees, in a bid to providing ways, as well as methods of understanding the organization deeper, and getting a deep insight regarding the manner in which change works (Carnall, 2007). Moreover, this model it prevents issues to do with employee resistance, as it purposes to integrate the emotional and practical change components, and that poses as an important factor in creating ways that enable employees to deal with transition in an easier way. It also emphasises on all the aspects of leadership and this regards all of them as important. In this regard, this model purposes to address all aspects equally, without failing to leave others that may otherwise be of significance to an organization when implementing change. Finally, this model purposes to provide directional factors that assist both leaders and employees to implement organizational change (Senior & Fleming, 2016).

References

Blake, I. & C. Bush. (2008). Project Managing Change: Practical Tools & Techniques to Make Change Happen: Make Change Happen Where & When You Want It. Prentice Hall.

Burnes, B. (2009). Managing Change. Prentice Hall.

Burnes, B., Senior, B. & J. Fleming. (2006). Managing Change: & Organizational Change. Prentice Hall.

Cameron, E. & M. Green. (2009). Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models, Tools & Techniques of Organizational Change. Kogan Page Publishers.

Carnall, C. (2007). Managing Changing in Organizations. Prentice Hall.

Senior. B. & Fleming, J. (2016). Organizational Change, (5th edition). Prentice Hall

Fifty Lessons Limited. (2007). Managing Change: Lessons Learnt- Straight talk from the world’s Top Leaders. Harvard Business School Press.

Luecke, R. (2009). Surviving Change: A Manager's Guide: Essential Strategies for Managing in a Downturn. Harvard Business School Press.

Mayle, D. (2006). Managing Innovation & Change. Sage Publications Ltd