UNIT IV
DIFFERENTIATION OF GROUPS
A conflict is an expression of hostility, negative attitudes, aggression, rivalry and misunderstanding arising from difference of opinion among individuals. Organizational Conflict or workplace conflict is described as the state of disagreement or misunderstanding, resulting from the actual or perceived dissent of needs, beliefs, resources and relationship between the members of the organization. At the workplace, whenever, two or more persons interact, conflict occurs when opinions with respect to any task or decision are in contradiction.
According to David L. Austin, “It can be defined as a disagreement between two or more individuals or groups, with each individual or group trying to gain acceptance of its view or objectives over others.”
In simple terms, organizational conflict is the result of human interaction when one member of the organization discerns that his/her goals, values or attitude are incompatible with those of other members of the organization. The incompatibility in opinions can come into being, within a member, between two members, or between groups of the organization.
Key Takeaways-
The nature of conflict can be understood from the following characteristics:
1. Two or more parties– There must be two or more individuals or groups required for organization conflict. In modern times work performs by the not individuals but group of individual & they achieves organizational objectives and goals. While performing in groups there are the chances of difference of opinion, point of view, expectations etc.
2. Conflicting objectives and goals, opinions etc.– While performing in groups, interacting with each other, conflicting situations may arise due to different opinions, expectations, objectives or goals etc.
3. Sudden and unplanned events– Most of the conflicts arise suddenly and spontaneously. Basically, they are unplanned. Few of the conflicts can be planned for their occurrence when the organization becomes static and rigid and the top management want to put life in the organization and to make it dynamic.
4. Expressed by behaviour and experienced by others– The conflicts are expressed by the concerned parties in different ways and forms through their conduct or behaviour attitude and actions and is experienced by others or managers.
5. Conflict creates obstacles in the smooth flow of work– Generally conflicts hinder the smooth flow of work, it is of disruptive, interruptive and impairing in nature, therefore it becomes difficult to achieve the organizational goals.
6. Opposite viewpoints of the parties– Whenever there are opposite opinions, viewpoints, ideas, thinking, and attitudes on any subject matter, issues or event conflict situation may arise.
7. Inter organizational conflicts– When conflicts arise between two different organizations are called as inter organizational conflicts.
8. Intra organizational conflicts– When conflicts arise between two individuals or between two groups of individuals working in the organization are known as Intra organizational conflicts.
9. Conflicts differ from competition– Competition between individuals departments aims to win over the other without any interference in the interest of other. But in conflict there is a strong opposition and intervention to cause disruption of the interests and objects of others.
10. Adverse effects– The effect of the conflict is always adverse on the organization, resulted in to delays in decision making, wastage, misuse and destruction of various resources, inefficiency in work performance, and breakdown of flow of work. Organizations growth and development will be stopped.
Key Takeaways-
Attitude towards the conflict in organizations has changed considerably in the last few decades. Once upon a time conflict was considered fully harmful and must be avoided for the betterment of the organization. With the passage of the time, those views changed largely. Conflict is now an inevitable part of organizations. Its presence is positive in some aspects.
Below are the 3 different views on organizational conflicts.
The traditional view on organizational conflict is the earliest of the trio. It was first developed in the late 1930s and early 1940s, with the most linear and simple approach towards conflict. According to the traditional view, any conflict in an organization is outright bad, negative and harmful. Although conflicts are of different types, the traditional view only sees conflict as dysfunctional and destructive. It suggests that organizational conflict must be avoided by identifying the malfunctioning callus.
Moreover, the traditional view on organizational conflict identifies poor communication, disagreement, lack of openness and trust among individuals and the failure of managers to be responsive to their employees’ needs as the main causes and reasons of organizational conflict. The traditional view is the early approach to conflict which assumed that all conflict was bad and to be avoided. The conflict was treated negatively and discussed with such terms as violence, destruction, and irrationality to reinforce its negative implication. The conflict was a dysfunctional outcome; resulting from poor communication, lack of transparency and trust between people, and the failure of managers to be responsive to the necessities and aspirations of their employees. The view that all conflict is negative certainly offers a simple approach to looking at the behavior of people who create conflict. We simply need to direct our attention to the causes of conflict, analyzing them and take measures to correct those malfunctions for the benefit of the group and organizational performance.
The traditional view of conflict fell out of favor for a long time as scholars and academics came to realize that in some circumstances a conflict was inescapable.
2. Human Relations View of Organizational Conflict-
From the late 1940s to the mid-70s, the human relations view dominated the topic of organizational conflict. In that period, the fields of management and organizational behavior were expanding. The traditional view was challenged by various studies and surveys, and therefore, the human relations view on organizational conflict presented a significantly different perspective on the topic. The human relations view on organizational conflict primarily teaches us to accept conflict. It identifies conflict as an important aspect of any organization, which simply cannot be more important, unlike the traditional view, the human relations view does not discard conflict as an outright negative and destructive thing. Instead, it says that an organizational conflict may be beneficial for the individuals, groups and the organization in general.
Moreover, this perspective even suggests that organizational conflicts within groups may even lead to better group performance and outcome. The human relations view of conflict treats conflict as a natural and inevitable phenomenon and, so can’t be eliminated from any organization. Here, the conflict was seen in a positive light as it was suggested that conflict may lead to an improvement in a group’s performance. But it is similar to the interactionist view of the conflict.
3. Interactionist View of Organizational Conflict-
With passing time and further studies in the field of organizational behavior, people started to accept conflict as an integral and somewhat positive aspect. The interactionist view on organizational conflict extends that concept. While the human relations view accepted organizational conflict as an important part, the interactionist view on- organizational conflict takes the same concept one step further. It suggests that an ongoing, minimum level of conflict is necessary and beneficial for a group. In the interactionist view, an organization or group with no conflict is more likely to become static, non-responsive, inflexible and inadaptable. It states that a minimum level of conflict is beneficial for the group because it maintains a certain level of creativity, self-evaluation, and competition among the individuals. All these things result in increased group performance, more creative solutions to problems and better outcomes. We should mind it that even the interactionist view does not claim that every type of conflict is beneficial and healthy. It clearly states that only the functional and constructive forms of conflict help the group, while the dysfunctional or destructive forms of conflict should be avoided.
The interactionist view indicates that conflict is not only an encouraging force in a group but also an absolute necessity for a group to perform effectively.
While the human relations view accepted conflict, the interactionist view encourages conflicts because a harmonious, peaceful, tranquil, and cooperative group is prone to becoming static apathetic and non-responsive to needs for change in innovation. So, the major contribution of the interactionist view is encouraging group leaders to sustain an on-going minimum level of conflict enough to keep the group viable, self-critical and inspired.
Key Takeaways-
The types of organizational conflict are discussed as below:
1. Task Conflict: Task conflict relates to the content and goal of the work. According to Graves, task conflict arises among members of team and affects the goals and tasks they are striving to achieve. It can be based on differences in vision, intention, and quality expectation. It is essential to focus and channel any task conflict so that these differences become collaborative and lead to improvements in the way and go about accomplishing current and future task. Converting conflict to friendly competition might be one way of taking the best from both sides.
2. Role Conflict: Conflict surrounding roles and responsibilities are especially common during or immediately following organisational change, particularly restructurings. People may be unclear on who is responsible for which decisions and outputs.
For example, after an international strategic business consulting firm restructured its managerial staff, an individual who formerly managed two key customer segments was unwilling to relinquish all the responsibility to the new manager. He continued to question staff and issue orders while his replacement was trying to set a new direction. With two managers giving input, employees were stuck in the middle, which created conflict among them as well as between the managers.
To identify the root cause of a role conflict, each party needs to examine his or her responsibilities as well as the other persons. One or both may need to change their perception, and then they will need to collaborate to clarify who will handle what.
3. Process Conflict: This is related to how the work gets done. This form of conflict centres around, the process, procedures, steps or methods used to reach goal. One person might like to plan many steps ahead while others might like to dive in headfirst. These differences in approaches or processes can lead to communication break downs and ultimately conflict. Healthy differences in approaches to process will often lead to improved way of doing job.
Process conflict commonly arises when two departments, teams, or groups interact on a process. They may view the process differently and disagree on how it should be accomplished or point fingers rather than communicating effectively when problems arise.
For example, at a global manufacturer of heavy lifting equipment, three shifts were involved in the production of a machine, which often suffered from poor quality or low production rates. No standard process existed to build the machine, and each shift believed its approach was best. If one shift ended before the product was completed, the next group would either send the machine through without completing it – which resulted in poor quality – or take it apart and rebuild it – which slowed production.
To identify the root cause of process conflict, examine the process controls in place and how employees interact with them. Get teams or individuals to collaborate to define the process more effectively and establish communication channels to address problems.
4. Directional Conflict: Directional conflict arises when organisations are forced to rethink their strategies and focus on shorter-term activities, as many did during the economic downturn. Employees may not know how to prioritise long-term versus short-term needs, or one department may work tactically while another remains strategic.
For example, a regional insurance brokerage, representing several prominent insurance providers, was developing a succession plan and selected several managers to be groomed as next- generation leaders. This action resulted in directional conflict because the managers were unclear whether to focus on meeting their short- term goals or on the longer-term succession efforts.
To identify the root cause of directional conflict, individual employees should ask themselves-What do I believe our direction is or should be? Is that aligned with what others are saying? What are senior managers saying? Answering these questions will enable individuals to change their own direction if necessary and help others change theirs.
5. External Conflict: External conflict arises when pressures from customers or other stake-holders impact internal decisions. Recent economic challenges compelled organisations to adjust and adapt, for example, by lowering prices while providing enhanced customer service. Sales or customer service personnel advocating for customers’ needs may have come into conflict with operations trying to meet internal goals.
For example, a health care software company was pushing to bring a new product to market. Sales and customer service employees continued to bring customer input to the programming group, which did its best to incorporate the ideas into the product. As the requests continued to come in, it extended the development process beyond the planned release date. When management finally decided to release the product without further enhancements, additional conflict arose because customers now complained that their inputs are not incorporated.
To identify the root cause of external conflict, ask if anyone internally has the control to resolve the problem. It may be possible to create a can- do list, which may answer questions such as-What can we do to address the external demand? The solution might involve collaboration among several departments to adjust to the external pressures more effectively.
6. Relationship Conflict: It focuses on interpersonal relationship. They are directly between people and may be over roles style, resources or even personalities. This conflict can penetrate and damage all aspect of an organisation. Relationship conflict can quickly demand all the attention and energy.
Although poor chemistry between individuals can exist, most interpersonal conflict tends to grow from the other five sources of conflict. For instance, when two managers attempt to direct the same department or when employees see external circumstances differently, interpersonal conflict builds.
However, at times, genuine interpersonal conflict may exist. For instance, a national business services firm hired a new vice-president whom the divisional personnel disliked because they felt he was not as open and direct as his predecessor. This created conflict between the leader and the team, which affected performance.
Organizational conflict can also be personal conflict (one that exist between two people because of mutual dislike), intragroup conflict (one arising out of lack of liberty, resource, etc. in a group) and intergroup conflict (one that exist between two groups).
Key Takeaways-
The causes of organizational conflict are to be known in order to resolve them as early as possible, because it hinders the efficiency, effectiveness and productivity of the employees and the organization as well, which ultimately hampers its success.
Conflicts may arise in an organization for many reasons:
i. Unclear Responsibility: If there is lack of clarity, regarding who is responsible for which section of a task or project, conflict takes place. And, to avoid this situation, the roles and responsibility of the team members should be stated clearly and also agreed upon by all.
ii. Interpersonal Relationship: Every member of an organization, possesses different personality, which plays a crucial role in resolving conflict in an organization. Conflicts at the workplace are often caused by interpersonal issues between the members of the organization.
ii. Scarcity of Resources: One of the main reasons for occurrence of conflict in an organization is the inadequacy of resources like time, money, materials etc. due to which members of the organization compete with each other, leading to conflict between them.
iii. Conflict of Interest: When there is a disorientation between the personal goals of the individual and the goals of the organization, conflict of interest arises, as the individual may fight for his personal goals, which hinders the overall success of the project.
iv. Managerial Expectations: Every employee is expected to meet the targets, imposed by his/her superior and when these expectations are misunderstood or not fulfilled within the stipulated time, conflicts arise.
v. Communication Disruption: One of the major causes of conflict at the workplace is disruption in the communication, i.e. if one employee requires certain information from another, who does not respond properly, conflict sparks in the organization.
vi. Misunderstanding: Misunderstanding of information, can also alleviate dispute in organization, in the sense that if one person mis-interpret some information, it can lead to series of conflicts.
vii. Lack of accountability: If in a project, responsibilities are not clear and some mistake has arisen, of which no member of the team wants to take responsibility can also become a cause of conflict in the organization.
Key Takeaways-
Organizational culture is a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, which governs how people behave in organizations. Organizational culture includes an organization’s expectations, experiences, philosophy, and values that hold it together, and is expressed in its self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside world, and future expectations. It is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, and written and unwritten rules that have been developed over time and are considered valid. These shared values have a strong influence on the people in the organization and dictate how they dress, act, and perform their jobs.
Every organization develops and maintains a unique culture, which provides guidelines and boundaries for the behavior of the members of the organization.
Organizational culture/corporate culture includes-
Many Scholars had given the definition of organizational culture. Some of the popular definitions are given below:
According to Robbie Katanga, “Organizational Culture is how organizations do things.”
According to Richard Perrin, “Organizational culture is the sum of values and rituals which serve as a glue to integrate the members of the organization.”
According to Alan Adler, “Organizational culture is civilization in the workplace.”
Organizational, culture affects the organization’s productivity and performance and provides guidelines on customer care and service, product quality and safety, attendance and punctuality, and concern for the environment.
It also extends to production methods, marketing, and advertising practices, and to new product creation.
Organizational culture is unique for every organization and one of the hardest things to change. Corporate culture reflects the values, beliefs, and attitudes that permeate a business.
Corporate culture is often referred to as “the character of an organization” representing the collective behavior of people using common corporate vision, goals, shared values, attitudes, habits, working language, systems, and symbols.
Corporate culture is interwoven with processes, technologies, learning, and significant events. It is a total sum of the values, customs, traditions, and meanings that make a company unique.
Characteristics of Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is composed of seven characteristics that range in priority from high to low. Every organization has a distinct value for each of these characteristics.
Members of organizations make judgments on the value their organization places on these characteristics, and then adjust their behavior to match this perceived set of values.
Characteristics of organizational culture are;
1. Innovation (Risk Orientation)- Companies with cultures that place a high value on innovation encourage their employees to take risks and innovate in the performance of their jobs. Companies with cultures that place a low value on innovation expect their employees to do their jobs the same way that they have been trained to do them, without looking for ways to improve their performance.
2. Attention to Detail (Precision Orientation)- This characteristic of organizational culture dictates the degree to which employees are expected to be accurate in their work. A culture that places a high value on attention to detail expects its employees to perform their work with precision. A culture that places a low value on this characteristic does not.
3. Emphasis on Outcome (Achievement Orientation)- Companies that focus on results, but not on how the results are achieved, place a high emphasis on this value of organizational culture. A company that instructs its sales force to do whatever it takes to get sales orders has a culture that places a high value on the emphasis on outcome characteristics.
4. Emphasis on People (Fairness Orientation)- Companies that place a high value on this characteristic of organizational culture place a great deal of importance on how their decisions will affect the people in their organizations. For these companies, it is important to treat their employees with respect and dignity.’
5. Teamwork (Collaboration Orientation)- Companies that organize work activities around teams instead of individuals place a high value on this characteristic of the organizational culture. People who work for these types of companies tend to have a positive relationship with their co-workers and managers.
6. Aggressiveness (Competitive Orientation)- This characteristic of organizational culture dictates whether group members are expected to be assertive or easy-going when dealing with companies they compete within the marketplace. Companies with an aggressive culture place a high value on competitiveness and outperforming the competition at all costs.
7. Stability (Rule Orientation)- A company whose culture places a high value on stability is rule-oriented, predictable, and bureaucratic in nature. These types of companies typically provide consistent and predictable levels of output and operate best in non-changing market conditions. These are the seven characteristics that are common in the context of organizational culture.
Of course, it is true that the characteristics are not the same in all times and spheres.
Key Takeaways-
Organizational change is the movement of an organization from one state of affairs to another. Organizational change can take many forms. It may involve a change in a company’s structure, strategy, policies, procedures, technology or culture.
Changes are necessary if organisations want to:
(i) Be adaptive to environmental conditions,
(ii) Compete in the domestic and international markets,
(iii) Improve their performance, and
(iv) Enter into mergers and acquisitions.
A major challenge is reducing the potential for friction and resistance to change by ensuring all employees understand why change is important to the company’s future. Yet, ignoring the need for change can be far more threatening to your business than the change itself.
Importance of change for an organization-
In today’s dynamic world, change is not just a fact of life, but essential for survival. Organization and its employees have to keep themselves updated to new developments. Trends and technology evolve, which means that customers’ needs will constantly be changing. Information is transmitted faster and companies that cannot deliver on speed will lose out to those that can.
Whether it is installing a new software platform, reorganizing your business to make it more streamlined and efficient, or adapting to customer needs, it is essential as a business to ask yourself why as a leader change is imperative to your organization.
While it can be disruptive at first, organizational change will ultimately improve productivity among employees and therefore boost sales success. The goal of any business is to delight its customers. If customers are changing, a company must learn to adapt.
With every change comes the opportunity to learn. To prepare your staff adequately for new developments, employers must assess the skills and tools their employees already have and look for gaps. Down the line it will be easier to identify which areas should be a top priority for training.
Features of Organisational Change-
Change is characterised by the following features:
1. Movement from one state of balance to another: Change involves moving from the existing state of balance to a new level of equilibrium. It disturbs the old equilibrium and develops a new equilibrium where new ways of working become part of the system.
2. In whole or parts: It may involve change in some parts of the organisation (technology, structure or people) or the organisation as a whole. Even if change is introduced in part of the organisation, it affects the entire organisation. Change in one part, for example, technology requires change in learning of people and may be structure to adopt that technology.
3. Pervasive: The process of change is not restricted to one organisation or one country. It is a worldwide phenomenon. The whole world, all countries, every organisation, its members and all individuals change their pattern of working. However, the nature and magnitude of change is different for different organisations.
4. Responsive to environmental factors: Change is affected by factors external and internal to the organisations.
5. Continuous process: Change is not a one-time process. Organisations keep changing their policies to survive and grow in the competitive markets. While some changes are minor and get absorbed in the system through internal adjustments, major changes are introduced through change agents.
6. Essential activity: Change is not a force that organisations may or may not respond to. If organisations want to survive, change has to be accepted by them. They can, however, plan the change or react to change. The former approach to change is conducive to organisational development and growth.
7. Change agents: Change is initiated by change agents. Change agents can be internal or external to the organisation. Internal change agents can be top executives of the organisation. External agents are outside experts or advisors appointed by executives to initiate the change process.
Types of organizational change
Types of organizational change companies undergo are:
1. Organization-Wide Change
Organization-wide change is a large-scale transformation that affects the whole company. This could include restructuring leadership, adding a new policy, or introducing a new enterprise technology. Such large-scale change will be felt by every single employee. Organizational change can be a sharp indicator in understanding how long-held policies have become outdated or reflect a company’s transforming identity. Achieving a successful organization-wide change demands comprehensive planning and communication throughout the organization.
2. Transformational Change
Transformational change specifically targets a company’s organizational strategy. Companies that are best suited to withstand rapid change in their industry are nimble, adaptable, and prepared to transform their game plans when the need arises. Strategies to guide transformational change must account for the current situation and the direction a company plans on taking. Cultural trends, social climate, and technological progress are some of the many factors leaders must consider. However, given the rapid pace at which digital technology evolves, companies will be better positioned to succeed if they incorporate digital adoption platforms into their transformation strategies.
3. Personnel Change
Personnel change happens when a company experiences hyper-growth or layoffs. Each of these types of organizational change can cause a significant shift in employee engagement and retention.
The threat of layoffs evokes fear and anxiety among staff members, and leaders should expect that employee morale will suffer. Nevertheless, the company must move forward. It is important to display genuine compassion and motivate employees to continue to work hard through difficult times.
4. Unplanned Change
Unplanned change is typically defined as necessary action following unexpected events. While unplanned change cannot be predicted — it can be dealt with in an organized manner. Companies also experience unplanned changes. When a CEO suddenly leaves the company or a security breach occurs, chaos and disruption ensue. By setting basic organizational change strategies in place for these situations, organizations can minimize these unplanned risks and emerge as more adaptable and resilient.
5. Remedial Change
Leaders implement remedial changes when they identify a need to address deficiencies or poor company performance. For example, financial distress is usually due to lack luster performance and requires remedial change. Other common examples include introducing an employee training program, rolling out new software, or creating a position to fix a pain point.
Other types of corrective action could include reviewing strategies that may have been in place for years but are no longer profitable. Issues stemming from leadership, such as a newly appointed CEO who turns out to be a poor fit for the company, might also call for remedial change. Although remedial change efforts must be tailored to the specific problem on hand, they still require effective organizational change strategies to be effective.
Measures to ensure successful organizational change
Organizational change has many clear benefits but can lead to misalignment and company-wide confusion without proper implementation. In order to execute organizational change with glowing results, the following measures can be adopted:
1. Set clear goals and develop a strategy: Organizational change often transcends multiple departments and job functions. A variety of stakeholders are involved to guarantee their interests are heard and met. A strategy helps determine the vision for what the company should look like after the change. It is the role of management to develop that vision by listening to the feelings and opinions of those who will be affected. This will encourage buy-in across the company and make sure the strategy is carried out as intended.
2. Overcoming resistance and staff engagement: Organizational change can often be difficult, especially if your employees don’t see anything wrong with the status quo. To them, the change may appear disruptive at best. There will be new technologies to learn and platforms to navigate. Worse still, if the initiated change automates many of their existing tasks, some employees may feel threatened. Explaining to employees why these changes are necessary may also allay fears and reduce resistance.
3. Offering management support: For organizational change to be successful, it needs to be adopted across the business, from C-level down to managers. The CEO may have a vision for the change, but it will be up to the rest of the business to execute it. That is why it’s important to share that vision so that others know what their role will be in bringing it to fruition, and what will be required of them after the changes have taken place. If management wants its employees to invest in change, they need to demonstrate commitment from an ecosystem of leaders throughout the business. Having a consistent message of why change is needed will help garner support across the board.
4. Contextual learning for new technologies: It is inevitable that with any organizational change, there will be new tools to learn and understand. Learning is an ongoing journey and requires employers to provide contextual learning techniques. Using outdated training methods such as classroom lectures is a single-use solution that does not scale. Employees may watch or attend a lecture one time, and if the information is not clear or continuously refreshed, it would not be retained. Contextual learning like a digital adoption platform helps employees by personalizing their training experience. Using sophisticated algorithms and correlating data on factors such as their level of seniority, job function, and previous actions, these programs tailor training to the individuals’ needs. This comes in the form of pop-ups prompting the user with actions leading them to complete each step in the process while also providing deep insights.
5. Invest in agility training: Organizational agility refers to being able to react quickly to changes in business operations, strategy, and even culture. However, agility is not innate within an organization; it must be learned. Proper agility training enable business to pivot when the need arises. Organizational change will become just another task as opposed to an insurmountable challenge. This is also important for organizational health.
6. Strategize and prepare for change: Various types of organizational change necessitate different actions. Companies that fare best amid transitional periods are adaptable and embrace change, even when circumstances are not ideal. Having basic strategies in place also helps guide transformation efforts, including those that are prompted by unplanned events. When it comes to organizational change, preparation is a key.
Internal factors affecting organization change
Internal factors are those which are originated from an organization itself. These are predictable factors because these lies within organization. Leadership and management have clear understanding and quickly analyse that what are internal factors and how can organization respond to these and embark on journey of making change. Following are some of the key internal factors which affect organizational change.
Some organizations are vision focused. Such organizations continuously make changes to achieve its vision. These organizations also have tendency to revisit and redefine vision. And this is key force behind accepting and executing changes.
2. Values:
Organizations core values are also driver of change. For instance, values like gender balance, cultural and ethical diversity etc. are some powerful principles that often lead to big changes in organizational strategies and processes.
3. Organizational Culture:
Organizational culture has a powerful impact on the future of the organization. If work place culture is vibrant, dynamic and leadership encourages creativity, then it is likely that organization accepts and implements change.
4. Core Expertise:
Core expertise of an organization also dictates change. If organization is strong in one technical area, it will create innovate solutions and disrupt the existing methods and culture of the entire industry.
5. Leadership:
Sometimes change in leadership is the reason behind organizational change. Every new leadership brings new vision, new strategies and new working culture to his/her organization. So, new leadership is a strong internal factor which affects change.
6. Performance:
This is perhaps the most important factor which drives change. Good Leaders makes strategic shift in their approach to business when performance of an organization is not satisfactory. Then, drastic changes are made in role and responsibilities of different players within organization to perform better in industry.
7. Employees:
Confidence of an organization to make change depends on attitude and skills of its employees. If employees approve and accept change and their skills are also in line with intended change then there are more chances that organization will be successful in managing change.
External factors affecting organization change
Organizations function in a large environment. This environment around organizations includes customers, government, policy and laws, social norms, economy, technology, competitors etc. All of these exist mainly outside of an organization which has no control over these. Besides control, Leadership and managers even has less understanding and knowledge about external changes. So these external factors also drive organizational change. The external factors of organizational change are difficult to manage because these are unpredictable than the internal factors. Following are some of the key external factors affect organizational change.
Economic growth brings new business opportunities. And organizations expand when they seize new opportunities in the market. For this to happen organization make changes in their strategies, acquire new expertise and take new staff on board.
2. Fashion:
Latest trends dictate changes. For instance, people are becoming more sensitive about health and hygiene. So organizations are offering healthy products and communicating to their customers that how much they take care of health and hygiene of the customers.
3. Competition:
Competition is getting tougher every day. Organizations innovate new marketing tool and strategies and disrupt the entire trend of market. It is such a compelling factor that every player of the industry has to respond and develop it own strategy to survive and thrive in market.
4. New Technology:
Technology is also a powerful factor which shapes changes. In this digital world, organizations need to upgrade technologies in order to remain competitive in the market. For instance, it is absolutely necessary nowadays for every organization to have its presence on online marketing platforms which was not the case ten years ago.
5. Government Regulation:
Government laws and regulation such as trade policies, taxation, industry specific regulation, labour laws greatly affect the way of doing business. Organizations need to stay vigilant in connection to government policies and adapt to changes.
6. Politics and Economy:
Internal and external politics and economy also affect business. One single event can damage country’s economy. Organizations need to closely follow and analyse political events and economy and make changes as situations demand.
7. Social Change:
The social changes refer to change in norms, change in level of education, urbanization, migration etc. These social changes are also powerful external factors which affect the environment which push organizational change to make change.
Resistance to Change
Change is basically a variation in pre-existing methods, customs, and conventions. Since all organizations function in dynamic environments, they constantly have to change themselves to succeed. Change management contains several strategies that help in facilitating the smooth adoption of such changes. One of the most important facets of change management is resistance to change. It is simply human nature to counteract any changes and maintain the status quo. But since change is inevitable, instead of resisting changes the organization must try to implement them with minimum hassle. Resistance to change may be either overt or implicit. For example, employees may react to a change in policies with outright rejection and protests.
They may even refrain from showing disapproval expressly, but they may do so implicitly by not accepting changes. Managers must understand these problems and help the employees adopt these changes smoothly.
Reasons for Resistance to Change
In order to facilitate transitions and changes, managers must first be able to identify the exact reason for resistance. Such resistance to change is common in all organizations. The following are some common reasons for this:
Types of Resistance to Change
Resistance to change may be of the following three types:
a) Logical resistance: This kind of resistance basically arises from the time people genuinely take to adapt and adjust to changes. For example, when computers became common, accountants had to shift from accounting on paper to digital accounting. This naturally takes time to adapt to.
b) Psychological resistance: Under this category, the resistance occurs purely due to mental and psychological factors. Individuals often resist changes for reasons like fear of the unknown, less tolerance to change, dislike towards the management, etc.
c) Sociological resistance: This resistance relates not to individuals but rather to the common values and customs of groups. Individuals may be willing to change but will not due to peer pressure from the group they are members of. For example, if a worker’s union protests against new management policies, all workers face pressure to protest together.
Overcoming Resistance
While change will almost always face resistance, it is certainly possible to overcome it. Managers must strive to help their employees adjust to changes and facilitate new variations in functioning.
1. Managers must be able to convince workers that the changes they are proposing are necessary. They should show how the workers and the organization itself will benefit from these changes.
2. The management can keep the following considerations in mind to implement changes smoothly:
a. Changes should not happen in one go because it is easier to implement them in stages.
b. Changes should never cause security problems for the workers.
c. Managers must consider the opinions of all employees on whom the proposed change will have an effect.
d. If managers portray leadership by first adapting to the changes themselves, employees are less likely to resist.
e. Sufficient prior training of employees can help them accept changes with confidence.
3. It is always a good idea to encourage the participation of employees when managers plan for changes. Since changes are meant for the employees, they must have a say in the planning process. Such participation will make them less likely to resist the implementation of changes.
4. The management can organize small informal meetings or conferences with the employees for this. Managers should explain all the relevant details of the proposed changes. Employees must be encouraged to offer their opinions as well.
Key Takeaways-
References-
