Factors of Change
Key Factors in Change:
Managing change: Change management is a process of organising and introducing new methods of working in the business. These changes can be driven from within the business or as a result of responding to the external environment. The management of change in business has become increasingly important. Under pressure from competitors, higher cost and difficult economic conditions, many firms in the UK who developed company-wide change programmes. Some firm have made only minor changes to their business operations and remain successful.
Organisational culture: Organisational culture in its simplest form can be described as the way things are done around here. This is simplistic view of extremely powerful phenomena that play a significant role in the success of the business. Resistance to change can often be found in the culture of an organisation. Customs and practices are embedded in systems that reflect the norms, values and beliefs of the organisation. This may give stability, however, can present problems of rigidity when a business needs to change. For example, an organisations culture maybe personified by a strong leader, such as the company’s founder, or by particular operational principle, such as the John Lewis partnership. Other a strong culture may give a company a competitive advantage, they can also be his downfall. For example, Kodak I need digital Technology. Other changes in the digital market moved quickly and some competitors add an organisational culture that was reported to respond a faster pace than Kodaks. Despite their previous dominance in the marketplace, the changes resulted in Kodak filing for bankruptcy in 2012. Some of the most significant drivers for organisational change is external growth as a result of a merger or acquisition. In such cases to organisational cultures what comes together, and their compatibility can often be the key factor of success or failure
Size of the organisation: growth is a key objective the most businesses and organisational change may come about as a result of mergers and acquisitions, changing organisational structure, strategic Direction or change of ownership. However, the size of a business may significantly affect its ability to manage change successfully full stop
It is a fair generalization that the large of the organisation the less adaptable and flexible it becomes. This might Simply Be because there is more change to manage and on a larger scale, but also because decision-making takes longer with a longer chain of command and subdivision. This might be due to the number of people it is necessary to be involved in the decision-making process, or the number of people necessary to communicate with or train during the changes. In contrast, small businesses are far more flexible because decisions can be taken quickly and implemented without the involvement of a large number of stakeholders.
As companies expand it is also necessary for them to change the way decisions are made. Multinational, even regional, businesses may be required to adapt their approach to suit the local context. For example, Starbucks is one company that adopted a glocalised approach with a number of its franchise stores. Stop having a standardized format, it has adapted so if it’s franchises to meet local context and capture the feel of a local coffee shop, which would otherwise be threatened by the existence of Starbucks in its vicinity. The decision in these areas are then decentralised to local store and regional managers. Where it is necessary for a business to move from a centralised decision-making approach to decentralised strategy, change management maybe more difficult implement.
Culture is a key factor in any type of change. However, is also true that a large organisation is easier for subcultures to develop. Multiple cultures are more difficult to manage through any change than simply one.
Speed of Change: Size is just one factor that can determine the pace of change in a business. Other factors also play that part. For example, in some context change can take its time to happen organically. This might be the case where business is successful and perhaps leading the market. The development of new products, technology and processes and then involve in the knowledge that the business is in a safe place. Over the past 10 years apple has been at the forefront of innovation in the personal computing market through continual change at a steady, but regular pace. By contrast other organisations have to go through change very rapidly. Fashion is one example of an industry that is forever involved in product development and Innovation. Similarly, crisis can also lead to very fast change. For example, the financial crisis of 2008 let’s many organisations have they changed very quickly to rationalise and improve efficiency. Finnish company Nokia is a classic example of this. 1980 Nokia was a television manufacturer, it because of a recession in Finland in the 1990s, it’s streamlined business to focus on its most profitable product mobile phones.