Discuss about the Human Group and Organization Management.
The report will discuss in detail about a case where the new VC and President of Super Star University (SSU) decides to make some major changes in the faculty processes and also include some important expansion plans. For this the university held its Strategic Executive Retreat to discuss the plan and implementation plan further.
It is important to understand here change is the only constant thing in every organization however; employees are the one who resist the change at the first place and the main reason is behind the resistance is bad management of change in the workplace (Anderson and Anderson, 2010). Therefore, when managers are the ones who have to implement change and they don’t possess the training and development whenever it is important.
Contrast and critically analyze the change process used in the two different Faculties.
When Professor Max Blocks held strategic Executive Retreat and invited various university executives and directors, he asked to make appropriate changes in every department. Therefore Professor Sandy Lots, Executive Dean of Arts called for around three hundred staff to brief the new vision related to the implementation plan (Anderson and Anderson, 2010). The first step of the Professor is to inform everyone in the department to inform about the major changes that will take place in the coming time. These changes will be related to different faculty processes and new set of expectations will be set for performance for the new strategic direction in the university (Hayes, 2014).
The main focus of the company is actively involving every member of the department and at the same time she focuses getting constant feedback. For the same reason she also established four working parties and four distinguished faculty professors (Anderson and Anderson, 2010). The team appointed for making changes suggested changes in the faculty research training processes which are further accompanied by the constant focus on quality and quantity of research.
The report also focused on new recruitment strategies for postgraduate students as part of future leaders in academics. It was also decided that the focus on learning and research will help in fundraising activities at domestic as well as global level.
It was important here the faculties are engaged at every step of changes process and implementation plan and at the same time, the faculty also decided to engage with future students so brightest and best students can become the part of the university. Various processes for streamlining the procedures followed by faculty were discussed and the focus was made on strengthen the level of accountability and transparency in the overall decision making processes. Not just this lot of changes in different parts of department was suggested and well taken by every member of the department and the main reason behind of level of engagement and involvement of every member in the change process (Hayes, 2014).
After finalizing all the changes the Dean, Professor Lots called for a meeting in order to consider different feedback and recommendation on the plan. After proper discussion and an approval from every member the changes were decided.
After returning from the summit, Professor Anthony Court, Executive Dean of the department called all the executive members of the faculty (Hayes, 2014). The dean informed everyone in the department about the new vision of VC. He emphasized that major changes are crucial and for which he also established three working categories head by eminent professor and also invited other professional faculty staff to join different working parties while determining new directions for new faculty members. Among all the recommendations, new faculty processes were suggested that lead to greatest level of transparency in decision making and high level of accountability and there were many other changes suggested by the party.
When the reports were received, Professor Court called for a meeting to inform the staff about the new directions and plans. The reaction of every member of the department was shocking and they were insecure about their jobs and the future of their career (Cameron, and Green., 2015). There was major level of dissatisfaction among everyone. There were number of trade unions and other member protested the changes and claimed that the changes are in favour of Australian Workforce Agreement (AWA). In fact, the matter further worsened with the union members deciding to escalate the issues and conflicts to the Fair Work Australian Tribunal.
What are the major sources of resistance to change in the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Environmental Sciences? If you were an Executive Faculty Dean, how would you overcome staff resistance to change?
Insecurity: it is important for people while working in the organisation to feel comfortable for a certain period of time, a change in the overall environment often bring a level of uncertainty and people at the same time will no longer aware of the fact that what to expect from the changes (Hayes, 2014). When there is a feeling of insecurity, employees faces different kind changes from one kind of culture to another.
Social loss: changes have the power to bring some major loss in the society. The informal work group can be extremely strong by nature and when a change cause a faculty to be shifted and the overall power of the group will be decreased (Cameron, and Green., 2015).
Discontent of control: when people in organisation are constantly told to alter the place and they are constantly made to realise that the employees have no other option but to adapt with the changes. This may also create some level of resentment among the employees and they may not have control over the destiny of people (Pohl, 2010).
Unanticipated repercussions: it is important for the organisation to have a system and make changes in one division will have some unwanted repercussions (Bordia et al., 2011).
Threats to influence: when there is any change it decreases the base for power of a group, or any kind of division, even if it is better for the company and it is more likely to meet certain level of resistance among people which can be related with the changes (McMurray et al., 2010).
How to overcome staff resistance to change?
Effectively engage employees: it is important to engage employees at every stage and the company must receive and respond to every kind of feedback especially those who are opposing the change (Kotter, 2011). It is important to make sure that every employee is happy and every work gets done, therefore they should be constantly kept in the loop.
Overcome opposition: despite the fact how well university manage the change, there is also going some level of resistance (Cooperrider and Whitney, 2011). Companies must engage those who can oppose to the change and this way, they can actively foresee the change and the concerns of the employees. This will also alleviate the issues in timelier manner (Raineri, 2011). By doing this, employees will also get time to contribute their ideas and also assure them that are part of an important team that actually understand and care about the staff (Hargreaves et al., 2014).
Communicate change in an effective manner: – the best solution for this problem is to communicate the changes to the employees in an effective manner. This will require a blend of formal and at the same time informal communication channel that will permit the university and the department to ensure all employees have received the news about the change anyhow (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2010).
Conclusion
Companies of every kind constantly go through changes since when the industry grow, businesses and in this case universities will have to evolve. Change can be anything from switching to new processes or new recruitment plan that can impact the business in all possible manners (Gattermeyer and Al-Ani, 2013). However, it does not mean that it has to change for wrong reasons. It is important that change is dealt in an effective and at the same time in a responsible manner and when it is done correctly; it can benefit the company and also make the transition in a smooth manner (Gattermeyer and Al-Ani, 2013).
Reference
Anderson, D. and Anderson, L.A., 2010. Beyond change management: How to achieve breakthrough results through conscious change leadership. John Wiley & Sons.
Hayes, J., 2014. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2015. Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Pohl, K., 2010. Requirements engineering: fundamentals, principles, and techniques. Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated.
Bordia, P., Restubog, S.L.D., Jimmieson, N.L. and Irmer, B.E., 2011. Haunted by the past: Effects of poor change management history on employee attitudes and turnover. Group & Organization Management, p.1059601110392990.
McMurray, A., Chaboyer, W., Wallis, M. and Fetherston, C., 2010. Implementing bedside handover: strategies for change management. Journal of clinical nursing, 19(17â€Â18), pp.2580-2589.
Kotter, J., 2011. Change Management vs. Change Leadership–What’s the Difference?. Forbes online. Retrieved, 12(21), p.11.
Cooperrider, D.L. and Whitney, D., 2011. What is appreciative inquiry.
Raineri, A.B., 2011. Change management practices: Impact on perceived change results. Journal of Business Research, 64(3), pp.266-272.
Hargreaves, A., Lieberman, A., Fullan, M. and Hopkins, D.W. eds., 2014.International Handbook of Educational Change: Part Two (Vol. 5). Springer.
Huczynski, A. and Buchanan, D.A., 2010. Organizational behaviour. Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Gattermeyer, W. and Al-Ani, A. eds., 2013. Change Management und Unternehmenserfolg: Grundlagen—Methoden—Praxisbeispiele. Springer-Verlag.
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