Organisational change is the modification or transformation of organisation’s structure or process. Organisational change is an important part of an organisation and is inevitable in a current progressive culture. Organisation must always adapt to changes without going against the forces of change. Organisation can be changed in multiple ways such as technology, structure, people and other elements. The change in the individual behaviour of the employees is required when organisational change is introduced. When the changes disrupt the situation or environment and are detrimental to the interests of individuals or groups, they will resist the change.
Organizational change processes are influenced by the use of power and the behaviour of interest groups in and around organisations. In this context, power is a mean to control and determine the future of departments and organizations, the outcomes of interpersonal conflicts, and personal security and prosperity. Most of power issues are closely related to the heart of individuals in comparison to the concern of the organization’s business. Being dedicated to the organization is not enough to make a successful organization. More importantly, being dedicated to a set of managerial and ethical values can make an organisation successful. Without proper dedication to these values may result in poor organizational health and low productivity.
This essay explores the argument that national culture affects the use and acceptance of power in change programs. This will be explored by comparing the aspects of applying the power-related elements of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to Singapore and Australia. This essay will firstly explain perspective on power; secondly, bases and dimensions of power; thirdly, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, and finally, compare and contrast the power-related aspects of Hofstede’s dimensions between Australia and Singapore.
Power can be used in various ways in an organization. But due to the potential for its misuse, it is important that to fully understand the power and the consequences of its usage in an organisation. There are two ways to perceive the power: Sociological and Organisational.
In Sociological theory, power is perceived as a mean to control people, overpower resistance or even exploit people. Distribution of power is unjustly fixed on individual in this perspective. On the other hand, Organisation theory accept power as more complex and consider its usage as hidden ambiguous and unconscious.
The definitions of the five power bases are based on French and Raven’s model. These definitions are stated as follows:
The first base of power is coercive power. This influence is based on the fact that one person can punish another. Because the leader has the power to fire the subordinates, a subordinate may do what a leader request. Although the threat of punishment may give a leader considerable power over subordinates ,coercive power is not a very efficient base of power.
The second power base described by French and Raven is reward power. This is the polar opposite of coercive power. Due to the fact that the leader has the ability to reward them in some way, the subordinates do what the leader wants.
The Third power base is called legitimate power. This power originates from the position in an organization. In most organization, one employee being the supervisor of another employee means that the supervisor has a legitimate right to make request of the other person . This right is legitimately independent of the person in the position.
The Fourth power base is expert power. This is power based on the fact that an individual is perceived as a veteran in something and has enough knowledge to request subordinates to do in his stead. During this exchange, the leader offers subordinates something in return for complying with the request, or offers them a share of the benefits when a task is accomplished .
The Fifth power base is referent power. Referent power is defined as the ability of a leader being able to influence a follower due to the follower’s admiration, respect, or being in close tie with the leader.
Steven Lukes describes power as having three dimensions, each focusing on a specific aspect. These are described as: decision-making power, agenda-setting power and ideological power.
The first one is decision-making power which is the ‘open conflict’ of power, the ability to control or influence in an open and direct way. People are clearly understand and aware of how the decisions have come about or why it has been made. The process is open throughout and the power in this case can be seen as legitimised.
The next form of power is agenda-setting power; it is the secretive power and usually exercised without transparency. By exercising this power, people can decide or restrict what will be discussed so that effectively controlling the situation. This form of power is effectively used by the powerful to ignore the demands of the weak through methods such as avoidance or delay.
The third dimension of power Lukes described is ideological power or the power to control desires. It allows powerful groups, such as government or big business, to make people think that they agree to something or want something that may actually be harmful to their own interests . Those who hold power within the system will be accepted by the people, due to the people’s’ belief in the system.
The psychological model of the resistance refers to the fact that the employees believe that change will not have any kind of effect on them and so they try to resist it psychologically. Resistance takes place as the employees doubt appropriateness in relation to change owing to contradictory assessment.
Systematic change resistance refers to tendency of a system to reject the attempted change even when the promotion of change is carried out by a large part of the population. Change resistance is indicative of tendency of resisting change even after the application of a large amount of force.
The institutionalised resistance to that of change takes place because people resist the aspect of change on account of habit and fear of that of unknown. The employees lack the skills that they would need after change and they fear that they would lose power owing to the oeganisational changes.
Constant change in relation to technology brings about changes in the structure of an organisation. The cultural changes that take place in an organization makes the workers doubt the capabilities. The changing organisational culture threatens the state of well-being of the employees that makes them show resistance.
Power Distance helps in describing how the people who belong to a particular culture view the aspect of power relationships . The cultures that have high power distance respect those people who are in the authority whereas the individuals in the low power distance question the authority and they want to take part in the decisions that have an effect on them.
Individualism is indicative of a social framework that is loosely-knit and it is expected that the individuals would take care of themselves along with that of the immediate families. Collectivism on the other hand is indicative of tightly-knit framework where the individuals expect the people around them to look after them.
Masculinity pertaining to Hofstede Dimension prefers a socoety that lays stress on achievement, assertiveness and that of heroism. Femininity on the other hand refers to preference for that of co-operation and modesty.
The dimension of uncertainty avoidance is indicative of how much members living in the society are not comfortable with the aspect of uncertainty along with avoidance. The countries that have strong uncertainty avoidance index exhibit rigid code of the behaviour and the weak uncertainty avoidance index society have a relaxed attitude in which the practice accounts for more than that of principles.
Society have to maintain link with that of the past while dealing with challenges of present along with the future. The societies that are low in relation to orientation maintain that of the time-honoured traditions along with norms. On the other hand, the cultures that are high in terms of normative orientation has a pragmatic approach that makes them encourage thrift that can prepare them for future.
Indulgence refers to a society that allows gratification of that of the natural human drives that enables them in enjoying life. Restraint on the other hand is indicative of society which suppresses the aspect of gratification of that of the needs.
Australia scores low in relation to that of Power Distance. Hierarchy in the Australian organizations is set up for that of convenience where the superiors are easily accessible. Singapore on the other hand scores high in relation to dimension of that of power distance and the society in Singapore is on the basis of unequal relationships that exist between the people. Australia can be stated to be a culture that is highly individualist. The employees in Australia are self-reliant and they display initiative. Singapore on the other is collectivist society and the people belong to the in-groups where they can look after the other people in exchange of loyalty. Australia can be said to be a masculine society and the Australians are proud of the things that they achieve in life. Singapore belong to that of the “feminine” side and they lay stress on the aspects of sympathy along with modesty. Australia has an intermediate score in relation to the factor of uncertainty avoidance. Singapore scores very low in relation to the dimension of uncertainty avoidance. The people in Singapore abide by the rules as they lay stress on the aspect of structure. Australia has a normative culture and they have great respect in relation to the traditions. The people in Singapore lay emphasis on the elements of perseverance and they have element of that of shame.
The national culture has an influence on that of the French and Raven’s “Five Bases of Power”. The nation that lays stress on coercive power makes use of threats for gaining compliance from another person. A nation that has reward power can create a grave impression on the mind of the employees. The nation that has legitimate power can be said to be underpinned by that of the social norms and rewarding along with the punishing of the subordinates can be said to be legitimate part in relation to that of the role of appointed leadership. The culture that exists in a nation is rooted in that of affiliations that are made to an organization that an individual belongs to. The national culture that lays emphasis on sense of the community will make the people affiliate that will have an influence on the leadership style.
The using of power in that of change programs can be more efficient in the event of organisational change taking place in Singapore. Unequal relationship exist between the people in Singapore owing to the differences in power that exist in the society of Singapore. The people in Singapore have a deference for that of authority and it can hence be stated that change programs can be more efficient in the event of the organisational change taking place in Singapore. People have a tendency of obeying the authority in Singapore and hence power can successfully be used in relation to the change programs. The people living in Singapore want to go along with the rules existing in the society and in the event of organisational change taking place in Singapore the usage of the element of power can prove to be more effective. It can successfully help in accepting change and developing the organisation. The society of Singapore is a collectivist society and they want to live together. The using of the element of power would be able to bring together the employees in an organization and it will would help in successfully bringing about change in organization.
References
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