Free Essay Example: Navigating Organizational Change

A. The Need for Change for the Company in the Scenario using the Organizational Life Cycle Model.

The identification of the need for change in the company is best with the help of the organizational life cycle model. Startup, growth, maturity, decline, and death/revival are the phases that comprise the organizational life cycle model. The company uses the hierarchal structure as the form of management centering leaders as the primary decision-makers (Abosede et al., 2016). Despite the profit and success recorded by the company, using the organizational life cycle model can help increase profitability. Since the company falls in the growth category, with the implementation of the correct form of change, it can mature without a decline in profit/productivity or its failure. For that reason, despite leaders being the decision-makers, including employees, while brainstorming, providing ideas, or choosing suitable decisions will increase the ability to make the most profound choice in a matter.

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Besides, there is a vast need to train employees to improve their skills and ensure they provide quality services to customers. By training employees, more opportunities will arise for the workers and the organization in general, fostering individuals' innovativeness and improvement through productivity plus quality provision (Abosede et al., 2016). The need for change is in the way the company treats its employees since they are the center of more growth, success, and maturity for the organization. Also, when the company deals with employees humanely instead of tools for working, motivation will grow, people will be more interested in working at the company, and there will be a consistent record of improvement.

B. Two Differences between a Learning Organization and a Traditional Organization.

A traditional organization similar to the one in the scenario involves a hierarchal structured company whereby employees follow a chain of command, and the leaders are the primary decision-makers (Halmaghi, 2018). In contrast, a learning organization has its structure through consistent efforts of acquiring, creating, and transferring knowledge plus skills, thus influence growth through the sharing of ideas from every individual in the organization.

Secondly, a traditional organization is fixed and firm, with its power flowing upward and vertically. Employees who are working through departmental specialization aid in the formulation and implementation of ideas within levels of the organization. On the other hand, a learning organization is more flexible, allowing individuals from all sectors to provide ideas and help in decision making while the leaders at the top management supervise to ensure making of suitable decisions as is their responsibility (Halmaghi, 2018). The leaders oversee activities while employees learn in teams to influence openness among workers.

The Stage of Woolner's 5-Stage Model the Company Falls in Currently.

An organization passes through five stages before falling into the category of a learning organization. The steps include the forming organization, the developing organization, the mature organization, the adapting organization, and the learning organization (Yao, Wang, & Ma, 2014). The company in the scenario falls in the second stage as a developing organization in Wolner's 5-stage model.

Why the Company is in the Developing Organization Stage of Woolner's 5-Stage Model.

The company in the scenario is in the developing stage for an organization due to the identified growth and profit through its success without training or improving the skills of employees. The absence of programs supporting the training and molding of the skills of workers identifies that learning is inactive; thus, the organization is immature and adapts to situations slowly due to low levels of innovativeness (Yao, Wang, & Ma, 2014). Once the company implements strategies involving employee training and skills development, the rate of process improvement and innovation drive within employees will increase.

2. How the Company from the Scenario would use Senge's Five Disciplines to become a Learning Organization.

Senge provides five disciplines that help the institute become a learning organization. Team learning, the mental models, a shared vision, system thinking, and a personal mystery are the five disciplines identified by Peter Senge that can help the company from the scenario transform into a learning organization. Firstly, team learning is applicable in the company to improve communication, openness, and break any boundaries among the workers (Liu, 2018). As such, unity among individuals increases, there is joint solving of any arising issues, workers and leaders can share ideas before the top management makes decisions, and the company can create new products suitable for the target market. Learning in the organization fosters the growth of the company and employees in general.

Secondly, mental models will help the company understand each employee's perception of the company, one's relationships, an individual's view of the world, together with people's intuition of their actions and the consequences. By identifying the mental models of individuals, the organization can help mold new mental models that align with the company's culture and values to foster growth plus productivity. Consequently, people can express their creativity and ideas more openly while solving any existing problems. A shared vision as the third discipline can help the company become a learning organization through the type of leadership provided by the top management of the company (Liu, 2018). The leaders sharing through communication with other individuals in the company of the visions, goals, and motivating others through ensuring that people know and believe in what they are working to achieve. Through sharing a similar concept, the focus of individuals within the company is achievable; thus, it provides direction and the correct ways of achieving realistic goals.

Identifying and understanding every level of the organization, plus its functioning depends on system thinking as another discipline. Since the company is fixed and rigid in its operations while using the top-down approach, the top management cannot identify all issues at every level. As such, it is vital to include all employees in every activity to foster teamwork through learning and goals attainment. Leaders can listen to and work with all employees before making critical decisions (Liu, 2018). As such, the management will solve every issue affecting the company through the help of its employees. Lastly, the use of personal mastery helps attain an interest in self-improvement to become better individuals than they were initially. Self-improvement motivates competition in teamwork, allowing employees to help one another become more professional at work and the company to center on the quality production instead of quantity.

C. The Result and Nature of the Change to take the Company from a Traditional Organization to a Learning Organization using Balogun and Hope-Hailey's Model.

Applying the Balogun and Hope-Hailey's model center on the recognition of the need for change and the complications in a company. In the company's case, using Balogun and Hope-Hailey's model to implement change helps turn the organization into a learning organization (Veal et al., 2013). The result is transformation, while the nature of change is incremental when changing the traditional structure of the company into a learning organization. Why the Result and Nature of Change would be Appropriate for the Company in the Scenario using Balogun and Hope-Hailey's Model.

Transformation and incremental are appropriate for the company's scenario using Balogun and Hope-Hailey's model to turn the company into a learning organization. There is a vast need to transform the company's ways of attaining goals and production. The severe dependence on leaders for decision making and running the institution without the inclusion of employees requires transformation to allow more involvement of all personnel (Veal et al., 2013). Therefore, using the incremental approach helps in the transformation of the company. Making small alterations within the company will help employees identify and align their goals plus objectives with the update in the processes and systems helping run the organization.

D. Applying Four Steps of the Action Research Model to the Change Process for the Company in the Scenario.

The action research model focuses on being problem-centered, satisfying the needs of clients, and taking actions that foster change depending on the needs of an organization. Identifying the problem, consulting a change management agent, collecting data, and conducting preliminary diagnoses are four ways to change a traditional organization into a learning organization (Stouten et al., 2018). Identifying the problem as the first step helps identify elements requiring change to transform the organization into one that values learning. In our case, the rigidity in the company and excluding employees from participating at length are the primary problems of the company. Training employees involving them in pitching ideas, and making the most suitable decisions can help solve the issues to influence flexibility plus learning. The step taken by the company to use the expertise of a change management consultant helps the leaders have the best plan before implementing change.

The use of a change management consultant helps ensure that the organization identifies the best way to implement the required change for the company’s success. Without the consultant, the company is more likely to fail in its attempt to influence change. Once the change consultant is present, it is vital to collect massive information from individuals within the organization to understand the functioning of the company and the areas that require change (Stouten et al., 2018). Data collection is successful through observing meetings, providing questionnaires, interviewing individuals, assessing financial information, use of surveys, and discerning the events in the company. As such, the assembled information helps prioritize change depending on the areas that require immense change drastically.

The diagnosis for the company in the scenario involves underutilization of employees, the lack of a voice among workers, lack of training and innovativeness among employees, and the use of outdated software systems together with the company's processes (Stouten et al., 2018). The diagnosis helps the company center its efforts towards implementing the required forms of change. As a result, the skills of employees improve, their training helps foster the employees' development, innovativeness increases, and replacing the antiquated systems ushers in the use of modern processes and systems centralized at improving productivity, teamwork, plus growth within the organization.

E. Two Innovation Strategies used by Management to Transition the Company in the Scenario from a Traditional Organization to a Learning Organization.

Exploration and cooperation are the best innovation strategies that management can use to transition the company from a traditional organization to a learning organization (Rademakers, 2014).

Management using one Recommended Innovation Strategy in the Company's Change Process.

Cooperation is an appropriate innovation strategy by the management to influence change in the company. For the success of the implemented forms of change, every individual in the company needs to work together, follow the set guidelines, and influence change gradually. It is impossible to influence the change process when people are not cooperating (Rademakers, 2014).