Change Analysis, Essay Example

Part A

I am a senior accountant at an Information Technology firm, which specializes in systems software development. The firm is medium-sized, and it generates many software platforms for many players in the sectors in the economy. The software platforms are to be created for both individual and corporate clients. My work is to ensure that the cost is minimized while the profits maximized in the organization.

In 2010, the firm relocated to its own building, having been renting, situated two kilometers from the city centre. The firm had to relocate to its own building to cut costs and generate additional revenue by renting out office space. A transport with expertise on relocation was engaged by the firm and this made the whole process easy and well managed. I felt as many others that we should not have relocated away from the city centre where we had been based for a long time. The city centre was easily accessible unlike the outskirts of the city where we had visited. This relocation brought about extra costs on daily transport to work. The city centre also had several malls and restaurants all round unlike the current location where these amenities are limited and far apart.

The whole process of relocation was done well, and its implementation was excellent. This was mainly because of the involvement of a professional firm in the exercise. Their professional advice and expertise was invaluable to the organization.

Part B

James Cox is a friend of mine who is an operations manager at Development Bank limited. He deals with the general day to day operations of the bank. He undertakes supervises and guidance of all staff under his department. It is one of the largest banks in the country with a large customer base.

The bank recently installed a new banking system called “Finacle” to replace the old one which started to show signs of stress like “hanging” due to the high growth of the bank. The software had been used for a long time, and it could no longer cope with the increase of customers and this necessitated the change. Customer complaints had become frequent.

Before the introduction of the banking software, the employees of the bank were all trained how to use and operate the software system. This was done to allow for a seamless transition from one system to another. There a transition period of three months where both systems ran concurrently. My friend and his colleagues responded well because the new software, which was advanced, made work and quicker. Generally, it was more efficient, effective and saved time. The software also interconnected with other software platforms that the bank was using, and this reduced workloads of the employees.

The implementation of the software change was successful because of the training provided to staff and the transition period which provided the employees with time and opportunity to understand the system practically.

Part C

Change management is an approach to transit organizations from a current state to a desired future state. It is an organizational process aimed at helping change stakeholders to accept and embrace changes in their organizational environment. Change management’s objective and the goal are to maximize an organization’s benefits and minimize the impacts of the change on stakeholders and avoid distractions (Aladwani, 2001, p. 268).

The change must be realistic, achievable and measurable for it to be successful. The findings above indicate that the changes in both cases were realistic in that they were for the betterment of the organization and facilitate growth (Kettinger and Varun, 1995, p. 18). The relocation of the firm to a building it owns reduced recurrent expenditure of the company by a significant margin. The introduction of the advanced banking software had immediate results where the profit margin of the bank grew as the number of customers increased buoyed by the convenient banking experience that it provides (Kettinger and Varun, 1995, p. 19). The changes were also achievable by organizations, and they were also measurable in terms of timelines, costs and expected returns. The employees and stakeholders of the firms were involved from the beginning (Kettinger and Varun, 1995, p. 20). This is a key factor that contributes to reduce resistance to change and enhance its success. In the firm, we were aware that the building was being constructed from the beginning, and we were ready and prepared for the change. The training of the entire bank’s staff enabled them to be conversant with the system and help it succeed (Kettinger and Varun, 1995, p. 22).

Organizational change should be communicated to the people involved as early as applicable. This is to make them feel to be part of the whole process. This will lead to the minimization of resistance towards the change since people are aware of the changes.  The stakeholders should also be involved in all the steps or levels of the change process so that they can be able to own it and feel valuable to the organization. The people should be enabled and facilitated to make the change possible. This can be done by training the people, educating them about the change and organizing seminars and open forums for discussions and change of ideas concerning the expected changes. It is also prudent to estimate what impact a change will likely have on employee work processes, behavior patterns, motivation and technological requirements. The employees must be motivated to feel confident to not only accept change, but also drive it (Dean, 2010, p. 36).

The change process should be described to all people involved and the reasons why the changes are occurring should be explained. The information should be complete, reliable and timely. It is valuable for staff to see how change in the organization will enable it to achieve its vision and mission, and how the individual staff will be more successful (Todnem, 2005, p. .376). This creates ownership on the part of the individual to drive the identified change process. It is crucial to understand where you are currently and where you want to be and plan a development to take you there. You should know when you want to be there and why. Additionally, the measures to undertaken to have a successful future (Todnem, 2005, p. 377). The leadership of the organization should design a change program and a guiding team consisting of the right people with a commitment to change possessing the right mix of skills. They should be of different levels for representation purposes. This guiding team and the change program in place should empower action from each and every stakeholder of the change process (Todnem, 2005, p. 378).

After implementation, the change should be sustained by both the management and employees and changes should be taken as and when they are needed to make the change stick and become part and parcel of the organization. Feedback should be encouraged to know shortcomings, if any, that the change has brought. These should be rectified as soon as possible to ensure that the change process is successful (Paton and McCalman, 2008).

References List

Anderson, Dean, 2010, Beyond change management: Advanced strategies for today’s transformational leaders, vol. 36. Pfeiffer.

Aladwani, Adel M, 2001, “Change management strategies for successful ERP implementation.” Business Process management journal, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 266-275.

Kettinger, William J. and Varun Grover, 1995, “Special section: toward a theory of business process change management.” Journal of Management Information Systems, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 9-30.

Paton, Robert A. and James McCalman, 2008, Change management: A guide to effective implementation, New York: Sage Publications Limited.

Rune Todnem, 2005, “Organisational change management: A critical review.”Journal of Change Management, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 369-380.