The Significance Of Communication Strategies In Managing Employees During Mergers And Acquisitions

Use of Power to Facilitate Change

Question:

Discuss about the Organisational Change Approaches.

The paradigm shift in the production process is defined by high technology era demanding organizations to change their modes of operations so that they may remain relevant within the market segment (Vaara & Tienari, 2011).  As a way of appreciating technological innovations, most organizations are on the verge of facing out the old ways of production. Having worked as a sales person, I have gained diverse skills of marketing. Such experience helps me remain innovative, creative, team player, focused, and determined to achieve. This paper structurally based on three basic approaches to change. They include; use of power to facilitate change, organizational learning approach to managing employees’ stress and emotions, and finally, the concept of organizational communication strategies in managing a workforce in mergers and acquisitions (Jiali Zhang et al., 2015). The aim of choosing these three themes is to enable me study more and understand the importance of communication in managing employees for mergers and acquisitions. The significance of these approaches is that leadership influences emotions and practices within the workplace. Therefore, it is paramount to learn how to approach changes to ensure the change program is acceptable to all.

Review

The use of power to influence and persuade employees in organizations is a fascinating discovery I ever meet as far as organizational change approach is concerned.  Manager’s use power to influence production practices and employee participation (Jiali Zhang et al., 2015).Therefore this topic is significant in creating a mutual understanding between the management and the staff. Power is defined as the ability to take action and influence others.  To promote continued thinking, I focused on legitimate power and expert power. Legitimate power is based on the title one holds such as manager, supervisor, and others.  This kind of power comes with ability and responsibility to reward and punish. For example, staff raises and restricted asses to resources.  On the other hand, expert power comes from expert skills that are highly valued and personal associations with people (Riad, Vaara & Zhang, 2012).  

Expert power

The management invoked a change program that encouraged customer relation through improving service delivery (Jiali Zhang et al. ,2015).Different parties were brought together to share experiences that would lead to successful customer relationships across the business. The staff became part of decision making hence a greater achievement was witnessed (Vanston, 2007). This is expert power.  After observation of O2 case scenario, I established that expert power is most effective when it comes to maintaining an organizational image as well as boosting customer relationships. The comments indicate strengths and weaknesses in this approach as follows.

Expert Power

Strengths.  Expert power has the potential to influence behaviours of others within the system. In our case scenario, participative leadership was heightened through sharing experiences that would lead to successful customer relationships across the business (Graebner, 2009).  Additionally, this helped me to realize that expert power builds trust and self-confidence which forms the basis of decision and opinion acceptability within organizational setup. The evidence of this collaboration between the management and the staff was systematic thinking (Weber & Fried, 2011).  This approach acknowledges dynamic systems that impact both the external and internal populations (Xing, Liu, Tarba, & Cooper, 2014). Groups easily influence people into buying the idea, product or service as stated by the collaborative theory (Vanston, 2007). Common language choice and approach is achieved collaboratively within organizations multiplying change efforts.

Weaknesses.  I realized that expert power needs high-level experience in terms of knowledge and skills hence daily improvement is needed. Additionally, it is easier to close one gap as others grow wider (Graebner, 2009).   For instance, O2 runs the risk of delayed implementation since it has to get the response from other staff members who are as well represented.  I have a greater awareness that expert power is subject to diminish as expert skills are shared across the members thus lack of influence. For instance, shared experiences that would lead to successful customer relationships across O2 would soon be common to all members linked to the organization losing their unique value before their inception into the system. (Jiali Zhang et al., 2015).

Participative leadership. Competitively, use of power to influence change programs has opened my scope in participative leadership (Shook, & Roth, 2011). I perceive power as a management tool that sets organizational values and leadership behaviours. This approach is systematic and allows collaboration between leaders and staff members in the implementation of business processes (Weber & Tarba, 2011). Participative leadership leads to more staff commitments towards meeting organizational goals. Second, it bridges the distance between senior management and staff thus creating labour-management relationships leading to resourcefulness and resilient behaviours during changing period. Weber & Tarba (2013) argues managers use empowerment approach to shift beliefs, values, and attitudes at every level of the organization. The study establishes that the management encouraged employees’ input by breaking some rules to improve customer experiences. Additionally, different parties were incorporated into decision-making exercise and shared experiences (Vanston, 2007).

In a nutshell, use of power to invoke change program is about collaborating with staff members in terms of beliefs, values, and approaches (Shook, & Roth, 2011). This can be enhanced through participative leadership through partnering, shared values and beliefs, and systematic thinking. The outlined approaches enhance labour-management relations leading to resourceful and resilient behaviours during change period (Jiali Zhang et al., 2015).

Other Theories

Participative Leadership

Other theories that have facilitated to my improved experience as a salesperson in the marketing plans of an organization towards its change include:

Stage theory of organizational change: Organizations pass through a well detailed series of changes, and it is here where employees learn continuously. Through this fact, I have been learning the right means to innovations as well as the best ways to resolving the underlying marketing challenges.

Behavioral theory: The proper understanding of behavioral theory by the virtue of appreciating the employees input to organizational success.

The Concept of Organizational Communication Strategies in Managing Workforce in Mergers and Acquisitions

Note that I acknowledge organizational communication strategies as a significant course to my studies as well as my professionalism as a young entrepreneur eying to establish huge market base globally (Shook, & Roth, 2011). Information is an important element describing the world today. With different communication strategies, individuals can stand out and shine in the business world. Communication is therefore paramount in mergers and acquisition (Graebner, 2009).  The type of communications matters in various ways. Some mergers and acquisitions embrace open communication whereas others prefer restricted communication strategies (Shook, & Roth, 2011). Practically, interactive communication reduces employee uncertainty due to information inadequacy, rumors, and dysfunctional outcomes. Communication plays a major role in reducing uncertainty, guides business transactions enhance high commitment levels and increase mergers success (Gomes, Cohen, & Mellahi, 2011). 

In the study, it is established that Pfizer, a UK based company changed its mode of communication from regional leaders to two senior directors one to deal with sales and the other with customer marketing (Shook, & Roth, 2011, p. 149). The directors invested informal consultations from employees through telephone broadcasts, video diaries, and face-face meetings. The video diaries made the staff more accountable and innovative (Graebner, 2009).  This communication process called for a new structure with new leadership position of ten people. These ten updated other employees on the progress of the change program using video summaries (Myers, Hulks & Wiggins, 2012). Other expensive measures were as well initiated into the system. These include publication of video summaries on intranet along with key messages, supporting documents and feedback tools after monthly meetings. In a way, this communication strategy increased the visibility of the ten leaders and encouraged a non-corporate style of communication (Myers, Hulks & Wiggins, 2012).

Enterprise resource planning software. The software is a management tool that suits integrated applications that will allow organizations to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from other links related to the businesses (Vanston, 2007). It will be used to plan on product costs, deliver services to clients, market organization’s products and services, check payments, and enhance sales within the operational business zone as well as another outlet.  It will handle cash transactions, business commitments, orders, and payrolls (Myers, Hulks & Wiggins, 2012).The application will then share data across all legal systems such as institutional computers and staff mobile phones by a single click from the IT technician (Vanston, 2007). The software will allow an aggregate view of core business processes carried on a daily basis using a common database maintained by a database management system (Shook, & Roth, 2011).

Organizational Communication Strategies

Customer relationship management software. This software will include mergers to rate performance against selected milestones over time. The signs will include; email reminders, customer contacts, email correspondence and develop tasks and event reports (Shook, & Roth, 2011).The software will be used to build customer feedback schedules, respond to inquiries, upload brands, and services offered by the company, testimonials, reports, and critical information on the website of the enterprise (Myers, Hulks & Wiggins, 2012).

This study prompted me to think of customer management and enterprise resource planning software as effective methods for business communication by studying strengths associated with programmatic communication strategies such as planning process and positioning in terms of resource mobilization, staffing, department, cost adjustment, and other issues linked to merging and acquisition (Delbridge & Fiss, 2013). 

Identification of common patterns and behaviors. Organizational communication enhances cultural interactions through identifying common patterns and behaviors (Angwin, 2007, p. 99). This strategy helps in striking commonness in businesses located in different regions and parts of the world (Vanston, 2007). Publication of video summaries on intranet along with key messages, supporting documents and feedback tools after monthly meetings increased the visibility of the ten leaders and encouraged a non-corporate style of communication (Allatta & Singh, 2011).  Strategies such as spreading common culture through slogans, brands, objectives, modes of operations, structural designs, and mottos create alliances between people and cultures within the same company. In the long run, businesses familiarize with common elements such as customers’ preferences and tests giving production and marketing unit an easy time to select production processes and advertisement modes respectively (Aguilera & Dencker, 2004).

This study has taught me on the importance of strategic commitment to positively impact employees. It is clear from the discussions above that the selective approach of communication strategy is more effective in reassuring the target audiences and building trust (Clark, Gioia, Ketchen & Thomas, 2010).  Additionally, the medium selection is fundamental in the enrichment of communication. This is the means by which the message reaches the recipient, for example, face-to-face, meetings, email, and conferences (Vanston, 2007).

Concisely, organization communication deals with message transmission approach from the management to the junior staff and vice versa. It is essential therefore to select targets wisely and establish common patterns that apply to the specific targets (Myers, Hulks & Wiggins, 2012).

Organisational Learning Approach to Managing Employees’ Stress and Emotions

Many companies are facing out the old ways of operation due to globalization, the industrial revolution, and increased technological innovation in attempts to remain relevant with the global standards (Vanston, 2007). These changes are categorically placed into structural, downsizing, mergers, subcontracting, job designs, and training (Aida Hajro, 2014). These changes have implications for workers regarding workload and quality resulting in stress and emotional challenges (Shook, & Roth, 2011).To manage this, it is paramount to learn how to manage employees’ stress and emotions for organizational change (Myers, Hulks & Wiggins, 2012).

Enterprise Resource Planning Software

Application of organizational learning approach in managing employees’ stress and emotions

Conflict management. Most organizations tend to ignore workplace emotions leading to misunderstanding and conflicts (Aida Hajro, 2014). Apparently, organizational conflicts can be well managed through learning emotions. Emotion is an important ingredient in theory and practice of organizational learning since emotions speak our minds and thoughts. This important element increases the organizational level of analysis for a positive organizational change. If wrongly managed, emotions cause psychological risk and physical damage (Guth & MacMillan, 1986).  I believe organizational change is a vital tool for growth and development of firms and an effective topic for my course. Most companies reap huge profit margins due to organizational change (Shook, & Roth, 2011). However, most tend to ignore the negative effects that come with an organizational change such as psychological instability and physical harm attached to their staff members. (Aida Hajro, 2014).

Initiating Programs. Significantly, organizational learning can be applied in initiating programs within organizations by provoking staff emotions (Myers, Hulks & Wiggins, 2012). Emotional responses reflect the true state of our minds and how we feel without hiding anything (Aida Hajro, 2014, p.397) Learning emotions would enable the management and employees to know what clients, shareholders, staff, and other parties of interest expect of them. (Jiali Zhang et al., 2015).

There is an assumption that organizational conflicts are as a result of intolerable human resources, lack of collective bargaining to reach a consensus for example through meetings and workers opinions, defensive reactions among individuals and groups, and underdeveloped processes of communication (Gomes, Angwin Weber, & Tarba, 2013).  These elements arise due to lack of engagement with emotional dynamics and further graduate into hatred, envy, jealousy, and dissatisfaction (sources of conflicts within organizations).  As a scholar, I agree with the psychodynamic theory which assumes that “organizations move beyond collective efforts but rather on individual behaviours.” 

To influence workplace behaviours, most organizations are defined by selected norms. (Shook, & Roth, 2011).These norms act as guidelines to set relationships between workers, clients, employees, and statutory bodies. For example, arrival time, dressing codes, language choice, and observing chain of command among others get organizations going. Such rules also embrace diversified emotions and challenge collective behaviour among staff members (Aida Hajro, 2014). Additionally, organizational rules affect how individuals within the organization carry themselves within and beyond the organization (Graebner, 2009). 

A fascinating fact is that despite the pervasiveness of organizational changes, its success has been shifted to motivation and commitment of employees themselves.  Most employers have backed off in supporting their employees. (Aida Hajro, 2014). According to this study, companies have gone viral in training their employees to master new processes neglecting their emotions and stress factors (Shook, & Roth, 2011). This is a dangerous move in the development of organizations since it decreases performance and ultimately leads to reduced customer satisfaction as far as services and products are concerned. (Jiali Zhang et al., 2015).

Customer Relationship Management Software

In my opinion, there is a great need to re-check the practices and changes in environments to solve the stressing factors between employees and employers. Environmental demands become stressful when perceived as threatening the physical, mental, and psychological well-being of individuals (Myers, Hulks & Wiggins, 2012).would include issues such as change of supervisors and task allocation. On the other hand, flexible practices may include issues such as labour contract and working hours. Such proponents are milestones for high productivity levels, staff and customers’ satisfaction. Ideally, stress is manifested when demands from the environment combined with fewer resources or input to work on those demands (Shook, & Roth, 2011)

Flexible structures. Organisational learning creates a platform for staff to share out their minds openly without victimisation. Different scholars argue that most organizations have failed in acknowledging the importance of supporting their staff. Managers and employees have gone viral on training individuals to master skills (Myers, Hulks & Wiggins, 2012). These skills get to waste if not well natured for self-improvement and growth. Personally, I believe routine is a deadly disease that is killing management.  For example, in an event where the organizational routine is tight and strict, employees lack a chance to express their views openly and blindly follow what they are used to even if the system or production method has defaulted. This in a way sabotages organizational development (Graebner, 2009).  Openness is shielded despite the existence of differences causing failure due to fear of victimisation, weaknesses of speaking out individual’s thoughts and mind, and fears of difference and competition between organizational sub-systems (Self-limiting processes inhibiting learning and change), (Graebner, 2009).   Organisational learning on managing employees’ stress and emotions would mean creating a free environment for sharing different ideas and thoughts. This would also bring a mutual understanding between individuals and groups with diverse belief patterns by appealing to their emotions and embracing diversity (Graebner, 2009). 

It is clear that employees are stressing factors range from structures, downsizing, mergers, subcontracting, job designs, and training. These can be managed through flexible organizational structures and support systems that suits workers level.  Workers feel presented when they are capable of managing stress and emotions through a free environment that allows them to their ideas and thoughts (Graebner, 2009).

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