The Connections Between Organisational Vision and the Sil nstrutin f hnge - Example

hе Соnnесtiоns bеtwееn Оrgаnisаtiоnаl Vision and the Sосiаl Соnstruсtiоn оf Сhаngе An organisational vision is distinct and embodies the time, place, and the features of the environment in which the organisation is operating. It is a clear statement which articulates the aims of the organisation and in most cases shows where the organisation lies in its pursuit of attaining these aims. Since leaders have the capacity to create a compelling vision and translate it into reality, they need to define that vision through communication. The vision needs to be communicated to others in order for it to be understood and for the members of the organisation to pursue the change strategy set by the leader. The vision then forms the basis for the social construction of the organisation’s culture as a learning organisation and the ethical structure and the values that underlie it. Based on this background information, the purpose of this essay is to explore various viewpoints that relate to the link between an organisation’s vision and the social construction of change. This will then help to understand why it is important to “define organisational vision as a product of social construction”. The link between an organisation’s vision and the social construction of change An organisation’s vision indicates what goals need to be accomplished by a certain change (Ramanathan, 2008, p. 114). The vision not only offers the basis for empowering and urging leaders and their followers to implement the change but also links the organisation with its environment (Ramanathan, 2008, p. 114). Change continually presents leaders and their followers with new and stimulating opportunities (Jabri, 2012, p. 1). These opportunities, when used effectively, can enable the organisation to become more proficient and effective. For this to happen, the organisation must understand what triggers change. This means that the organisation must take note of both the internal change triggers, such as the need for coordination among the various departments and functions within the organisation, and the external change triggers, such as the industry, socio-political, and economic influences that surround the organisation (Jabri, 2012, p. 4). Change can be viewed as a result of managing the internal and external variables mentioned above. In order to understand these variables, there is need to show how changes in structures and other factors that affect an organisation influence the behaviour of individuals in the organisation and how the behaviour is likely to spur newer changes in the structures and respective factors at a later time (Jabri, 2012, p. 5). Along this line, leaders can change their organisations by coming up with a conceptual framework of forward thinking, conveyed in the form of an organisational vision (Drori & Landau, 2011, p. 29). The significance of a leader in developing and organisation’s vision has been established in research studies on organisational culture, where there has been general consensus in support of the notion that leaders create cultures in their organisations as a means of giving life to their visions (Drori & Landau, 2011, p. 29). Leaders have a role to realign processes and roles in an organisation to fit with the organisation’s reality and hence its culture. One of the definitions of organisational culture is that it “refers to the beliefs and values that have existed in an organisation for a long time, and to the beliefs of the staff and the foreseen value of their work that will influence their attitudes and behaviour” (Tsai, 2011, p. 1). It has been argued that organisational culture is socially constructed; that is, it is developed and changed through conversations (Haneberg, 2009, p. 3). Haneberg (2009) further argues that every conversation forms the meaning of actions that can be observed and strengthens, builds upon or confronts the existing cultural beliefs and norms. Therefore, all actions that are involved in aligning an organisation’s processes and roles with the organisation’s culture constitute a social construction. Social construction implies that change is developed through day-to-day interactions between people in an organisation by way of their verbal or nonverbal communication, conversations, and the conscious or subconscious ways in which people respond and react or negotiate meanings with others (Jabri, 2012, p. 25). According to Wexler (2011, p. 22), social constructionism encourages people to observe themselves in the perspective of their relationships with others and coordinate those interactions in the creation of shared futures. This is important for leaders in organisations in two ways in that it provides them an opportunity and also presents some challenges. The opportunity is that if leaders bring the right change through appropriate conversations in regard to the vision of the organisation, they can change the organisation’s culture in a positive way. On the contrary, the challenges are that if leaders do not bring conversations that introduce meaningful change, the culture of the organisation will not change; and secondly, conversations that do not inspire the required changes will make it difficult to make any progress (Haneberg, 2009, p. 3). Since organisational visions are about change, their link to the social construction of change is that the change process must be initiated in a way that is understood by all those affected by the change. To achieve this, the type of communications and actions used regarding the change must emphasise why people exist in the organisation, who they are serving, what their passion is, and what their dream and that of the organisation is. When answers to these questions are clear, for instance when employees know their purpose and dream in the organisation, there is a shared vision and the people are energised and connected to the purpose of the organisation (Lipton, 1996). For example, capitalising on the differences between individuals and using them to encourage conversations among members of teams in an organisation helps to construct reality through communication (Jabri, 2004, p. 141). This can help them to support initiatives such as the use of feedback in the workplace and help reduce resistance to change in the organisation since resistance is not found in individuals but in the constructed reality in which the individuals work (Jabri, 2004, p. 141; Ford & Ford 2002, p. 106). The idea behind this thought is that members of an organisation are more likely to identify with and be committed to the change process when they are involved. This is because social construction, which is achieved through dialogues and ongoing talk, offers better opportunities for members of the organisation to air their views more openly and make some input in regard to the organisation’s identity and hence vision (Jabri, 2012, p. 27). Why it is important to “define organisational vision as a product of social construction” Essentially, organisations and their visions can be viewed as products of social construction. This is because visions define organisations, and this takes into consideration what the people in the organisation say, what they listen to and whether they actually listen, and what they are. These characteristics (what the people in the organisation talk, what they listen to and whether they actually listen and what they are) are developed through the identities created in the organisation and the relationships that are formed through day-to-day utterances (through various forms of communication) (Jabri, 2012, p. 27). According to Jankowska and Marshall (2012, p. 133), an organisation is a social construct that is characterised by a set of assumptions and beliefs that define its culture and are shared by the members of the organisation. That is, members of an organisation have values that they are hold in high regard and which thus define the organisation. They also have their own way of doing things, and this is what makes their organisation unique from others. The same applies to the organisation’s vision, whose alignment with the culture of the organisation enables networking among the various entities and members of the organisation. Such a vision can be regarded as a high-performance framework that constructs the links between relationships. How can a leader ensure that an organisation’s members are empowered to shape the vision of an organisation as is expected of them? This question can be answered by looking at the climate that is promoted within the organisation. When members of an organisation have some form of identity with the organisation, their sense of identity keeps moving in tune with various social constructions in the organisation (Jabri, 2012, p. 27). Hence, this means that a well articulated organisational vision is likely to have a bigger impact in attracting members of the organisation to participate in attaining the organisation’s goals. For example, when it comes to implementing change within an organisation in regard to the vision of the organisation, story making and storytelling can be used to make an experience noticeable and applicable to an organisation’s context (Johansson, 2004, p. 341; Jabri & Pounder, 2001, p. 683). This is because through such stories, individuals (both leaders and their followers) are able to share their experiences and hence explore ways to solving various types of problems as a way of fulfilling their organisation’s vision or even changing it. Through stories, the people in an organisation are made to comprehend their personal association with the values of the organisation, and this also helps them to relate to each other in a better way. In particular, it is argued that story making and storytelling are some of the approaches that represent a common ground strategy involving a direct and involving process that overtly connects the interests of individuals and their organisation with each other (Wexler, 2011, p. 21). Hence, the organisation’s vision can be defined in terms of the various experiences shared by members of the organisation. An organisational vision that involves change can also be effective if an organisation allows conversations to take place among its members. This is because conversations are not only means through which people construct reality, but also constitute part of that construction process (Ford & Ford 2002, p. 107). Ideally, the talking and listening or other form of expression within an organisation impacts the way people in that organisation perceive its culture and vision. Some conversations may produce resistance to a change in an organisation while others support the organisation’s vision of change (Ford & Ford 2002, p. 109). Whatever the impact of the conversations, the leaders in the affected organisation need to come up with channels through which the social constructions implied in the conversations can be addressed. For instance, if there are members who are disgruntled in regard to the vision of the organisation or some change in that respect, the leadership needs to come up with ways to ensure that the affected members’ views are considered and acted upon. It is important to consider the point that a new organisational reality gets to become ‘the reality’ if a substantial number of people in the immediate environment are of the view that the image depicts ‘their reality’ (Van Nistelrooij & Sminia, 2010, p. 414). This suggests that an organisation’s vision can only be pursued successful by the people in an organisation if these people feel that the vision reflects their reality. If that is not the case, dissatisfied members might work in a way that contradicts the vision of the organisation. This again emphasises the point that an organisation should define its vision as a product of the constructions developed by its members. Conclusion In summary, an organisation’s vision, which indicates what goals need to be attained by a certain change, is linked to the social construction of change because it relates to the organisation’s culture, which in turn is socially constructed. Organisational culture is developed and changed through conversations, which entail social constructions among members of the organisation. Since visions are about change, the link between them and the social construction of change is that the change must be implemented in a way that is understand by members of an organisation, which reflects their reality. There is also a link between organisational vision and the social constructions that formed in an organisation, in that the vision must reflect the reality of the social constructions developed in an organisation. These realities are formed when people interact in different ways, for instance through conversations, storytelling and story making. These interactions help remove challenges such as resistance to change in an organisation’s vision. Therefore, it has been argued that an organisational vision must be defined as a product of social construction to reflect the reality among the members of the organisation. References Drori, I., & Landau, D. (2011). Vision and change in institutional entrepreneurship: The Transformation from science to commercialization. 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Organization development: What’s actually happening? Journal of Change Management, 10(4), 407-420. Wexler, E.R. (2011). Creating and maintaining a shared organizational vision through effective communication (Master’s thesis). University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Read More