Change Management and Resistance, Strategic Options to Manage Change - Coursework Example

 Introduction International Human Resource Management (IHRM) is not too different than the domestic human resource practices, however, the scope is much wider and the role of managers is more challenging too. IHR managers need to not just deal with expatriates, but also manage the all important human resource activities globally; the extent of globalization decides the extent of scope for the HRD. Formulating and implementing a global HR strategy is one of the most challenging aspects for organizations operating globally due to several factors relating to the human aspect. Change Management & Resistance Chew & Choo (2008) describe that the business industries are facing a dilemma of managing the strategic changes in an efficient manner. The management of the future changes with accomplishment of the current business requirements simultaneously put a great challenge for industries like MedPharm to attain the success in relation to the proposed organizational changes. The change management and implementation is a great challenge for global companies, as was for MedPharm; it is a difficult task to deal with complicated human resource problems. In the hastily growing business the changes are inevitable and omnipresent. The human resources do not have favorable tendency to adopt the changing practices of the business very easily and efficiently (Chew & Choo 2008). In the future run, there would be several driving forces which would force global companies to change their corporate strategies for the better and more effective management of human resources to make them adopt changes in a flexible way. The initiatives of changes in the business process always encounter strong resistance by the existing employees of any firm, like the MedPharm management experienced. This is even seen in organizations that have already done agreements for collaborations and innovations in order to expand the operations. This shows that the any proposed changes in the commercial sector would face the HRM challenge in the form of the change resistant by employees. In order to stand up to and resolve this challenge in a favorable way, the management would need to develop some change strategies to nullify the effect of the HR challenges on the productivity of the global workforce. The Human Resource Management team would require being flexible and observant to different kinds of resistance for the future development. In this way, the management would be able to have a comprehensive understanding of the organizational culture as well as the operational issues. This would enable them better handle the workforce and prepare them to adopt the in the organizational structure. Changes in the organizations sometimes are not carried out in a sequential pattern, which is why managements would have to face vagueness in the exploration of the major areas that require change. Strategic Options to Manage Change Various strategies are employed to execute the change procedure in a smooth manner by taking employees into complete confidence. The best way that could be employed to bring about the change in the current system is the incorporation of views from employees at all locations. The strategy that could be selected to bring about a change in the current situation should be in accordance to certain facts i.e. the strategy should be aimed in a way that it banks upon the strengths of the organization and curbs the weaknesses. In case of MedPharm, the strength of the organization is its employees at various locations. The strategy adopted should be focused on to minimize the weaknesses of the organization. The weakness of the strategy as mentioned above is the negligent attitude towards the employees of the old headquarters, who ended up feeling cheated. The strategy for bringing about a change in the organization should incorporate the pros and cons that are resulting due to the existing threats and opportunities. The organization has been trying hard to make most of the available opportunities. After the acquisition of the firm, the organization was quite capable of attaining a growth rate of 20 %. To avail this opportunity to the maximum, it is required to communicate to each and every employee to adjust and cooperate in bringing about the change. This will increase the degree of acceptance to a larger extent (Kainen, 2010). Threats-Opportunities-Weaknesses-Strengths-(TOWS) Matrix Strengths Weaknesses 1. Strengthen the growth objective of the company. 2. Better picture to the top management and the project manger. 3. Better control and tracking of the projects. 1. Negligence to the opinion of the directorate. 2. Negligence of the project control analysts. Opportunities S-O Strategies W-O Strategies 1. Stand the external competition. 2. Appropriate utilization of the funds provided by the external sources. Strong market position will help in increasing customer base and organization’s business in the untapped market areas. The engineers that constitute the talent pool should be provided with higher degree of authority. There should be integration between operational efficiency and employee caliber. The strategy is inclusive of all the ideas. This synergistic effect will help the organization to stand the cut throat competition. The lack of congruence will be eliminated with the help of this strategy and this will help in elimination of wastage of various resources such as time and money. Threats S-T Strategies W-T Strategies 1. Resistance from the other project control analysts. 2. Lack of cooperation among the selected leaders. 3. Downturn of the economy. The participation from the employee side should be welcomed and accepted whole heartedly. The economic downturn can be counteracted with the help of engineering skills of the organization. The strategy which is a collaborative effort of all the employees will remove the resistances and will foster the implementation of the new staffing system. Recommendations Through researching and critically evaluating the implication of flexibility in international management of human resource, it is concluded that maintaining flexibility in the international human resource management is a complex task, but of prime importance for the management to successfully operate in global markets. There are several favorable points discussed in the above text, which shows the implication of flexibility in International Business Management (IBM) and its importance for the management. With the help of critical research, it is evaluated that without maintaining flexibility, HR managers cannot gain full commitment and loyalty of the diversified workforce. In addition to the favorable points, some issues are also discussed, which are quite critical for the HR managers working at international level. These issues can be resolved through implication of flexibility in IBM. In the same context, some theories have also been described to support the requirement of flexibility in IBM. These theories focus that flexibility is an essential measure for the management to make their practices favorable for employees in international business environment. As identified, the task of diversity management needs to be taken with great care as it helps in the achievement of competitive advantage over others. There are various challenges that need to be faced in proper management of a group that consist of members from different backgrounds. In order to overcome the challenges in the most effective way, there are certain recommendations being made. These include effective training of all the employees from different backgrounds. The training would be helpful for employees to understand their counterparts, which ultimately results in better performance of the entire work group. In addition to the training, employees must be given requisite authority to take important decisions. This will motivate them to perform better as they are held responsible for decisions taken by them. References Chew, Y. T. & Choo, S. M. 2008. A Study of the Change Management and Challenges in a Bank. Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 16 (2), pp. 100-118. Kainen, T.L. (2010). Gemini Systems: Managing From The Middle In A High-Tech Company. Journal of Business Case Studies, 6(3), pp: 85-94. Read More