What Drives Organizational Change Essay Example
What Drives Organizational Change?
Gregory Fenwick
MGT380
July 25, 2011
Garren Hamby
What Drives Organizational Change?
Organizations change for many different reasons and situations. Some organizations need change to better themselves, others need change organizational change just to survive and stay in business. Some organizations need to change because of growth, and some change because of downsizing. This paper will look at many different reasons for change and how that change is brought about, including if the change is good or bad for an organization.
In business management is faced with competitive environments that sometimes dictate change to keep up with or to surpass competition. The organizations that are able to make effective organizational changes are the ones that survive and prosper while the organizations that do not make the changes necessary to compete often are put out of business by the organizations that can. Even if an organization is able to change their organization, 84% of those organizations will not be successful after the change.
This staggering fact raises questions of why management would participate in a major organizational change with such a high failure rate. One idea based upon the economic perspective of organizational change is based upon the “Management as Control” assumption. This assumption is that “In competitive economies, firm survival depends on satisfying shareholders. Failure to do this will lead them to either move their capital to other companies or to use their influence to replace senior management with those better aligned with their interests. Therefore, managers conduct change in order to produce better organizational performance in the form of better quarterly results with correspondingly better company share prices.” (Managing Organizational Change, Palmer, Dunford, Akin; 2009)
Another perspective which is aligned with change management images is the “Management as Shaping” assumption, which is
Gregory Fenwick
MGT380
July 25, 2011
Garren Hamby
What Drives Organizational Change?
Organizations change for many different reasons and situations. Some organizations need change to better themselves, others need change organizational change just to survive and stay in business. Some organizations need to change because of growth, and some change because of downsizing. This paper will look at many different reasons for change and how that change is brought about, including if the change is good or bad for an organization.
In business management is faced with competitive environments that sometimes dictate change to keep up with or to surpass competition. The organizations that are able to make effective organizational changes are the ones that survive and prosper while the organizations that do not make the changes necessary to compete often are put out of business by the organizations that can. Even if an organization is able to change their organization, 84% of those organizations will not be successful after the change.
This staggering fact raises questions of why management would participate in a major organizational change with such a high failure rate. One idea based upon the economic perspective of organizational change is based upon the “Management as Control” assumption. This assumption is that “In competitive economies, firm survival depends on satisfying shareholders. Failure to do this will lead them to either move their capital to other companies or to use their influence to replace senior management with those better aligned with their interests. Therefore, managers conduct change in order to produce better organizational performance in the form of better quarterly results with correspondingly better company share prices.” (Managing Organizational Change, Palmer, Dunford, Akin; 2009)
Another perspective which is aligned with change management images is the “Management as Shaping” assumption, which is