Managing The Change Process

Environment of the organisation is becoming increasingly unstable because change is a significant element of organisational life so attempts have been made to develop models and theories.

Lewin(1951) who is a social psychology change have three major steps;

1)Unfreezing:Support existing behaviour in the organisation are reduced,

2)Moving:New responses are developed based on new information such as new behaviours,approaches,values etc.

3)Refreezing:Provide new behaviours as accepted and established practice,processes or values within the organisation.

Different ways of managing change Johnson et al.(2008) have developed typology

of ways of managing change;Education and communication:Management

spend time explaining the problems being facedCollaboration/participation:Employees or

special groups of them are involved in setting the strategy

Intervention:Different agents co-ordinate the process

Direction:Using authority,Coercion/edict:Using power.

Organisational Development(OD)ModelIt has six keys stages which are set out by

Cole(2000);1)Preliminary stage:Impose top

management with change agent that change is needed,

2)Analysis and diagnosis:The managers and change agent will determine the diagnosis from the information gathered,

3)Agreement about aims of the programme:The aims and objectives of the change programme will be decided upon,

4)Action planning:The plan of actions timing and order,

5)Evaluation and review:It is necessary to monitor and frequently review the strategy for change,

6)Revised aims and plans:The degree of revision needed will be dependent on the findings of the reviews,and if any aims of the programme altered then it will also be necessary to adapt the plans. Otherwise;change agent will no longer be involved.

Total Quality Management(TQM) is the concept of Japanese-inspired which improve organisational performance and effectivenes.

General definition of TQM is; a way of life for an organisation as a whole,committed to total customer satisfaction through a continuous process of improvement, and the contribution and involvement of people.

Introduction to TQMTotal: quality involves everyone and all

activities in the companyQuality: conformance to requirements

(meeting customer requirements)Management: quality can and must be

managedTQM: a process for managing quality; it

must be a continuous way of life; a philosophy of perpetual improvement in everything we do

Deming; Who has a major effect on the

establishment and development of TQM.

According to him;importance of pride in work and process control,and made constant reference to the importance of ‘good management’ including the human side of quality improvement and how employees should be treated.

However ,Heller raises doubts as to how far TQM is ‘total’ and how far it is truly affecting management and the quality of management.

Thomas suggests;’’Total Quality cannot be ‘managed’ in the traditional sense of word because it involves factors such as commitment,purpose,vision and trust that are not amenable to mechanistic prescription. Quality can,and must be,managed. Total Quality must be encouraged to evolve.

Key elements of TQMThese are identified by Pentecost;Total ProcessCustomer as kingRational information collection and

analysisCosts of poor qualityInvolvement of people TeamworkCreative thinking

The importance of peopleTQM requires the creation of a corporate

identity and a supportive environment. It involves setting the highest standards for quality at lowest costs;effective training including teambuilding throughout the organisation;integrating systems and technology with people; and the motivation,participation and commitment of staff at all levels of the organisation.

Proper attention to Human Resource(HR) issues is an essential requirement for the succesful implementation of TQM.

James supports Quality of Working Life(QWL) culture.

The aim of QWL culture is to create a fear-free organisation in which employee involvement is pursued vigorously. It generates a high degree of recipropal commitment between the needs and development of the individual, and the goals and developments of the organisation.

The success of TQM Heller says ‘The successes ,and many other European

cases,however,are emphatic evidence that Total Quality Management delivers-you can’t argue with the results.’

Kreitner et al. believe that ‘TQM principles have profound practical implications for managing people today.’

Drummond suggests that :’ Clearly,’total quality management’ offers some new ideas. Whether these ideas have proved succesful is unclear… Moreover, much depends upon how success is measured.Different measures can suggest different conclusions. Another difficulty in assessing the effectiveness of ‘total quality management programmes’ is that organisations have implemented Deming’s ideas selectively.’ 

Hammer and Champy define BPR as : The fundamental rethinking and radical

redesign of business process to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance,such as cost,quality,service and speed.

Their approach has two principal features: i)a completely fresh start ,ii)a process-orientation approach to organisational analysis centred around a horizontal review of all activies involved in the process.

BPR starts from how one would like the organisation to be and works backward in an effort to achieve real gains in organisational performance,and delivery of products or services.

Stewart suggests that BPR is a powerful tool and recommended only for those organisations that need a real shake up.

Relationship with TQMBoth are concerned with organisational processes

that lead to customer satisfaction.TQM tends to seek continuous incremental

improvement within a specific framework,BPR seeks major advances in performance from a horizontal,cross-functional anatomy of performance perspective. It involves a challenge to traditional structure ,relationships,boundaries or barriers.

TQM requires a supportive environment and relies on teamwork,participation and commitment.BPR takes a more strategic approach and needs to be driven by top management.

According to Hill and Collins; the need for radical change seems to be well understood and TQM appears to have more of a competitive necessity. The findings also found more widespread reported use and understanding of BPR than anticipated. Their survey revealed that factors such as cultural change and performance measurement are important elements of both TQM and BPR.

For further information about Total Quality Management and Business Process Re-engineering use that link;

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