Leadership in Change Management of OrgPharm - Case Study Example

Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Topic: Leadership in change management Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 LEADERSHIP IN CHANGE MANAGEMENT 3 Overview 3 RECENT CHANGE THAT OCCURRED WITHIN ORGPHARM 3 THE ROLE OF A LEADER IN CHANGE MANAGEMENT 4 Leadership 4 Change Management 5 EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP 5 Establishing direction 5 Staff alignment 6 Effective communication 6 Motivating and inspiring colleagues 7 Leader Management 8 Use of Change Champions 9 The Organisation 9 Organisation structure 10 The organisational culture 10 CONCLUSION 11 REFERENCE 12 LEADERSHIP IN CHANGE MANAGEMENT Overview According to Robbins et.al (1998), leadership is the ability to influence others towards the achievement of goals that contribute to a worthwhile purpose. Change on the other hand is the modification of status quo by doing things differently. It is movement from the current state of operation to the desired state of operation. The organisation under this study is OrgPharm a pharmaceutical organisation. Pharmaceutical organizations are one of the fastest growing organizations in the world; they are currently a source of employment to many people. During my last vacation, I worked with one of the biggest pharmaceutical organizations in town called OrgPharm where I was employed as a part time employee dealing with inventory control. RECENT CHANGE THAT OCCURRED WITHIN ORGPHARM OrgPharm is a large supplier of both human and veterinary drugs; the drugs are sold both to other suppliers and individual farmers. The daily activities at OrgPharm are so many that it required several workers working as a team to manage the stream of customers. My work at OrgPharm inventory control was exciting however; my experience was faced with various challenges occasioned by manual entry of supplies in to the inventory register and daily updating of the register to ensure there is authentic record of supplies levels. Manual processing is a rigorous exercise that I identified in this organisation for change. Change is the modification of status quo by doing things differently. It is movement from the current state of operation to the desired state of operation. From my perspective, an automated or computerised system is far much better than the manual system; hence the reason for this change. OrgPharm organisation deals with thousand of drugs both from suppliers and sales to customers. All the entries need updating to maintain accurate stock levels. Omission of any entry will compromised the stock level hence it cannot be relied upon. It was therefore my team’s duty to ensure that any drug that entered the organisation was recorded in the inventory register. Similarly all drugs that were sold were also entered in to the register. The stock levels will then be computed by subtracting drugs sold from drugs bought. This is a process that is not only tedious but also repetitive. The challenge was not much when the orders were few and customer levels low, however when the business expanded and customer levels increased, this problem increased. This is therefore the problem I noted with OrgPharm organisation and advised on the need for change in order to enable inventory control process to be easy and manageable. According to my recommendation, technology is one of the best ways to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of a process. Manual process is tedious and prone to errors; therefore this can be eradicated through adoption of new technology. The main objective of change and planning is to find better ways of doing things and achieving the organizational goals and return best results to the stakeholders. Adoption of a computerized inventory system would be appropriate for OrgPharm organization because it will speed up inventory receiving process and dispatch process. When the system has scanners, entry of drugs becomes very easy and fast. THE ROLE OF A LEADER IN CHANGE MANAGEMENT Leadership According to Robbins et.al (1998), leadership is the ability to influence others towards the achievement of goals that contribute to a worthwhile purpose. Leaders are not in their positions to be served, but rather to serve others by assisting them to grow. The leaders should create change and a culture of integrity. Just like the great man theory where leaders are believed to be born and not made, most organizations are influenced by a single individual who influence other base on inherited traits, qualities and abilities. Traits like Self acceptance, Self control self-confidence and assertiveness are believed to be traits born with a leader. This is according to the trait theory. There are therefore leaders who have traits that are more suited for leadership than others. (Deary, 1996). Change Management Change is the modification of status quo by doing things differently. It is movement from the current state of operation to the desired state of operation. Change affects the performance of the organization either positively or negatively. The change in technology can also change the process of production and the working environment. This therefore called for an overhaul of procedures and re-engineering to ensure the correct procedure is undertaken. There is also need to check the employees skills of performing various task, as this change in technology will also influence the nature of roles performed. There is consistent requirement for change in today’s organizations due to the fast-changing environment. The success of the change an organization implement depends on how that change is managed, irrespective of the size of the change. It is worth noting that change implementation faces a lot of resistance from people involved in the process. Organizations that ignore change do that at their own peril. Most of the organizations are going for change in order to be effective and efficient. OrgPharm organization just like any other successful organization needs to constantly change in order to catch up with the current market trends and technological advancements. Change is therefore the only strategic means to adapt to the current technological trends in the market. EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP Establishing direction The execution of the solution will follow a systematic process. Planning process is the most important part of change process management. This is because it gives the overall view of the process. The executive has a role in the planning process of giving a clear vision of where they want the organization to be in future. This clear vision paints a picture to change management hence knowing where to change in order to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. Through transformational leadership, leaders can lead change in the organizations vision, strategy and culture as well as promote innovation in products and technologies. Leaders need to show direction by creating vision and strategy and keeping eye on the horizon. OrgPharm organization will conduct business as may be caused by internal or external factors. When the technology in use is obsolete, change is inevitable. Workers need effective means of doing work in order to achieve the best in terms of production and sales. This is achieved through adoption of appropriate technology. Full implementation will be the last process in the change management, once the system has been put in place, there is need for continuous evaluation and assessment to check how far the system is assisting the organisation. Staff alignment There is need for a leader to aligning staff with the goals and strategic direction of the organisation. Leaders are responsible for alignment; they should create shared culture and vision, help others grow and reducing boundaries. Effective leadership needs to incorporate characteristics and behaviour of the leader, the culture and characteristics of the followers and the context. The greater the synergy between the leader, the followers, and the context, the greater the leadership effectiveness - and the greater the chance of the group achieving stated objectives. Executive commitment and support is very important in any change process, this is because the executive needs to create an enabling environment for the employees to practice. There is need to clearly and careful assess the best time when the organisational environment is good for change, the time for change could be favorable after a salary increase or promotion. According to behavioural leadership theories, what leaders do and how they behave toward followers influence leadership effectiveness. Organisational ethics need to be given high priority in policy formulation and major decision making processes. This means that followers need to be treated fairly. The organisational processes and procedures should meet the set ethical standards. Effective communication A leader need to successfully giving and receiving feedback. Communication will be effectively done to ensure all the stakeholders understand the change process. This will be done for them to understand the change process, reasons for change and the implications of change. Communication is a key process, hence critical questions designed to aid development of a strategic communication plan. The organizations survival will be determined by its capability to administer change and not necessarily its current financial status. Most of the times change is perceived as a straight forward pathway to some perfect future, but to the employees, change can seem a less structured and linear approach. This brings in a problem since it creates an intensity of pessimism and mistrust from the beginning. To help organizations communicate changes more effectively, storytelling will be based on the most tried and tested story framework. According to Denning (2006), a story will portray the pursuit for something and the journey towards something better. Creating an organization tailored objective will help people to comprehend the change. In addition it’s a powerful tool to guide communications itself (Kaye, 1995). The vision of the change must rotate around characters meaning the individual creates the vision arc. Motivating and inspiring colleagues The leaders should ensure through relationships; focus on followers – inspiring and motivating them and also acting as coach, facilitator, and be a good servant. Based on the influence leadership theories, leaders can influence their followers through their qualities and personality. The followers can be influenced by a charismatic leader or even influenced to change by an inspiring vision of the future. Employee involvement is very important in this process; this is because it is not an easy task to change an individual from his/her usual routine, information source or even social relationship to a totally new working procedure. There could be instance where employees resist the change to technology, resistance to change should not be view as a negative thing, however it should be considered as an avenue for the management to re-examine the change and come up with a solution that is all inclusive. Resistance can be management by proper communication, training, staff involvement and management support. The employees will therefore be involved by conducting a good research across the employee groups to ensure they support the change and trust in it. The behavioural pattern of employees needs to change in order to effectively implement the change process. Change preferences of employees can be obtained through groups. A group is a class of workers with common interest within a given period. These members constantly interact and agree upon their best interests and ways of doing things. The executive can approach the groups as a basic entity for change preferences. The group interests are easily identified as a cluster rather than individual interests. To change the organization successfully requires a great deal of hard work and patients. Implementation of change is a big task if inappropriate techniques are applied. Therefore, there is need for efficient ways for introducing and implementing change to relieve the pressure the staff feels towards the change being introduced. Employees should be availed with details of what the change entails including how it will have an effect on the company to avoid confusion. A technique that brings staff on board makes it easier for the transition, it gets employees personally involved in the change hence a sense of ownership. The employees should know exactly what is going on and understand the change right from the beginning. This technique will develop the sense of urgency to foster change. Staff will be able to adjust to the changes gradually. Everyone will get involved including the whole management and executive teams hence creating interest among the members of staff. Leader Management There is need for self management in leadership. Dalglish and Miller (2010) observed that effective leaders need to know their abilities in order to have confidence in themselves and be self aware. Leaders need to identify what they are good at and work hard to do it best. A good leader need to possess personal integrity which include intelligence, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, ambition and high energy, task relevant knowledge and the desire to lead. A leader should possess personal qualities like: Emotional connections (Heart) Open mind (Mindfulness) Listening (Communication) Nonconformity (Courage) Insight into self (Character) Marshak, R. and D. Grant (2008) pointed out that changing the mindsets and consciousness in order to facilitate a shift from the traditional believe to the current appropriate way of doing business. According to them, change is a process that needs to begin from the management and freely flow through the entire organization. There must be a psychological shift in the employee consciousness. F. Graetz and Smith (2010) concurred with the resource philosophy of organizational change management that key competence are assets that will improve organizational performance. The change process, success story, and other story that catches his attention are expected from the manager. During hiring or training of new staff, change ideas and values should be included. Use of Change Champions There is need to recruiting great change leaders. Donald Chrusciel (2008) proposed the use of change champion, this has described as one with organizational political astuteness. This is a person who is also recognized as part of the culture, a person who is accepted within the organization this person will therefore be an effective agent of change. Change will only happen if the whole organisation really wants it to happen. In this framework a sense of urgency will be developed around the need for change. This will greatly assist in igniting the preliminary impetus to get things moving. An honest and convincing dialogue will be opened on what is going on within the organisation, workplace and market at large. When all the employees are talking about the proposed change, the urgency is built and propels itself. The Organisation Leaders need to understand the organisation. According to Robbins and Barnwell (1994) an organisation is a consciously co-ordinated group of people interacting with each other, with a relatively identifiable boundary that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common mission and objectives of the organisation. Change should form part of the organisational foundation in order for it to stick. It is actually the corporate culture that will ensure the change vision is shown in day to day activities. Continuous efforts should be made to guarantee change in all the organisational processes and procedures, hence inculcating the change in the organizational values and culture. Support of the management and the employees should be maintained at all costs. This involves the current staff and the upcoming leaders hired or brought in. The leader should talk about improvement at every opportunity (Cross, 2011). Organisation structure There is need for any leader to understanding organisation structure. According to contingency leadership theory, leaders can adapt their style to the context and environment they are leading within. They can analyse their situation and tailor their behaviour to improve effectiveness. Contingency theories stress that leadership cannot be understood in avacuum separate from the situation. There is need to understand the characteristics of the followers, the work environment, follower tasks, and the external environment). Leaders therefore need to understand the organisational structure in terms of:- Where positions interact The organisational hierarchy The roles as broken into specialisation groups The points and levels of decision making. The organisational culture Understanding organisational culture is also very important for effective leadership. According to Leanne White, a culture is a way of life of a group of people – the behaviours, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication. Deal and Kennedy (1982) argue that culture is the single most important factor accounting for success or failure in organizations. They identified four key dimensions of culture which include values, heroes, cultural networks and rites and rituals. For effective change to occur in organizations, it has to happen at the cultural level. Corporate culture is key to any meaningful change. Every effective leader must know what it takes to change an existing culture. Leaders and top management must therefore be responsible in developing a strong organisational culture. It is the responsibility of every leader to construct the social reality of the organization, shape values and attend to the vision of the organization. Culture influence and resolves the dilemma of bureaucracy. This is because culture has social standards and expectations. The values and beliefs that followers hold central bind organizational groups. CONCLUSION Proper change management needs prudent planning, evaluation and effective implementing of the selected operational strategies that are deemed worthwhile for the economic performance of the organization. These processes need to be well coordinated by effective leadership. The change process need to be flexible and efficient. If change is not flexible, then the organization is unlikely to survive. Change of manual to automated technical system is a non-routine change is a bit complex and is likely to cause resistance since the change is unpredictable, radical and could be viewed as threatening job security. The leaders therefore need to look in to the change process keenly and evaluate it effectiveness before rolling out. The leaders have a responsibility to provide a clear communication plan that ensures consistent communication received constantly by the followers. It is good also to note that in as much as we want change, change is a risky venture, it therefore call for effective and constant evaluation by the leader to ensure the process is in line with the organizational mission and vision. The followers should be ready to lose their favourite ways of doing thing and adopt new changes. REFERENCE Cross, N (2011) Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work, Berg, Oxford and New York. Denning, S. (2006). Effective storytelling: strategic business narrative techniques. Strategy & Leadership, 34 (1), 42–48. Donald Chrusciel, 2008. What motivates the significant/ strategic change champion: Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 21 No. 2. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Iowa, USA. Dumaine, B. (1993) The New Non-Manager Managers. Fortune 1993(Feb) 80-84 Fiona Graetz & Aaron C.T. Smith, 2010. Managing Organizational Change: A Philosophies of Change Approach, Journal of Change Management, 135-154, Routledge: Melbourne, Australia. Kaye, M. (1995). Organisational myths and storytelling as communication management: a conceptual framework for learning an organisation’s culture. Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, 1 (2), 1-13. Kotter, J. P. (1996) Leading Change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press R. J. Marshak and D. Grant, 2008. Organizational Discourse and New Organization Development Practices, British Journal of Management, Vol. 19, Blackwell Publishing Ltd: Malden, USA. Rost, J.C. (1993) Leadership for the Twenty-first Century. Westport, CT: Praeger Read More