Creating Change in Organizations

by Dr. Denise Trudeau Poskas

Organizations frequently find themselves debating the depth and breadth of change that is needed to make and how those decisions must be made.  Change can be discussed in decision making terms.  All this change requires decision making processes and a strategy to resolve issues, plan ahead and implement proactive ways to embrace change.  All too often this change is threatening to organizations and thus meets with resistance, fear or denial.  Change and change strategies requires opinions and participation of many people at different levels of hierarchy.  The decision-making process in an organization should be structured and resolved in a formal, detailed, consistent, and transparent manner.
 

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There are always external factors that stimulate the need for strategy.  World financial crises provoked by financial speculators have made it clear that the practical and theoretical knowledge in economy or finance are only the starting background to confront the market of financial speculation (Shimizu, 2006).  Some barriers to change come from problems such as the globalization of the world economy, the need to manage the environment, combat poverty, etc., affect an organization's choice of strategy.

Change tools can include strategic decision making models.  Simon (1997) stresses that the solution to any decision problems in the business, scientific, or artistic areas can be visualized in four stages:

1. The perception of the need for a decision or an opportunity.
2. The formulation of action alternatives.
3. The evaluation of the alternatives in terms of their respective contributions.
4. The choice of one or more activities to be carried out.

The authors also discuss that one can look at change through analysis.  Thus, in addition to making the best decision about the strategy at the time, the company might also like to know the other possible decision alternatives.  The company could be content with a good decision within its possibilities or, the second-best decision might be more appropriate.

In addition, a decision about any one type of problem requiring change can be differentiated by the level of decision:  

• Strategic (usually, a decision for two to five years)
• Tactical (decision for a few months up to two years)
• Operational (a few days or a few months)
• Dispatching (an "in loco" decision just for some hours)

Developing strategies in organizations requires the use of wide and deep participation of organizational intelligence.  Research on strategic organizational decision-making seeks techniques for improving the intelligence of actions by organizational decision-makers.

  

Changing a culture is a large-scale undertaking, and eventually all of the organizational tools for changing minds will need to be put in play.  In general, the most successful change strategy is to begin with leadership tools, including a vision or story of the future, cement the change in place with management tools, such as role definitions, measurement and control systems, and use the pure power tools of coercion and punishments as a last resort, when all else fails.  For example, leaders can use tools such as negotiating, decision making, and strategy for change.  Managers have tools that can promote change through incentives, control systems, policies and communication factors (Shimizu, 2006).

As change is a whole systems approach, it is important that organizations look carefully at creating a harmonic, effective and strategic change.

References

Denning, S. (2011). How do you change an organizational culture? Forbes Magazine. Retrieved online at forbes.com.
 
Shimizu, T., Monteiro de Carvalho, M., & Laurindo, F. (2006). Strategic Alignment Process and Decision Support Systems: Theory and Case Studies. IGI Global. Retrieved from Books 24x7