Modern World of Globalization, Research Paper Example

Executive Summary

The modern world of globalization, international integration and technological advancement are forcing the institutional change. Formerly structured and conventionally organized companies do not fit the current business paradigm, thus making organizations decide on the kind of leadership styles they want to adopt for the organizational change management. As McNamara (2010) notes, “The concept of leadership is relevant to any aspect of ensuring effectiveness in organizations and in managing change”. Here comes the question of where organizational change starts, what concepts it includes and how a change agent can handle them.

It is obvious from the long-lasting business practice that thinking of the organizational change is impossible without the proper consideration of leadership – the leadership styles evident in the organization should be reviewed for consistency and for their compliance with the newly established objectives of the company. To implement an effective, constructive and over-grasping change model, the innovative leadership style will be needed. It should be directed at preventing and solving problems as well as ensuring the deep and active involvement of some staff members into the organizational change management process with the purpose of ensuring staff unity and coherence of change-related activities. The amount of literature available on leadership and change management offer a wide variety of leadership styles and provide a set of elements the process should include. Their thorough analysis will enable the researcher to achieve better understanding of all management-related implications of leadership, and knowing the leadership theory will facilitate the choice of a proper leadership model for a particular organization going through the process of change, as well as to design individually tailored models of leadership to include the necessary details of several styles known in management at the present period of time.

The present work is mainly focused on various perspectives of treating leadership in the modern management science. It includes such approaches to leadership as the visionary theory (concerning the leader’s ability to share his/her vision of change in the employees’ practice, thus ensuring their emotional involvement in the project of change and commitment to it); the transformational leadership theory (representing an extended model of visionary leadership with more attention to managing negative emotions of employees related to the change and incorporating an innovative system of communication of vision, mission, goals and the status of change as well as the employees’ place within it); adaptive leadership (arguing a harsher approach to change with the exposal of the conflict to employees, taking them out of the comfort zone and producing outer pressure on them); dispersed leadership (the style designed to create an intangible yet comprehensive network of specialized leaders with the staff to ensure joint, coherent change-related action) etc. All these approaches are analyzed in their purely theoretical form with the purpose of finding advantages and disadvantages of each of them. The second concept on which the present research paper is focused is the organizational change and steps that it undergoes together with managerial implications for management of each of them. Thus, through the joint analysis of both concepts in their theoretical and  practical perspective a coherent and thoughtful organizational change management model is designed with the proper consideration of both challenges and benefits of certain approaches to management and choice of a leadership style. Findings and remarks for the practical use of the designed model are represented in the concluding section of the research paper.

Literature Review

Leadership is a process in which an individual or a group of people are able to influence others in accomplishing a particular objective. Leadership styles applied in various organizations rest on the principles of ethics, values, character, skills or knowledge. In the process of managing organizational change the leadership style is the main determinant of the process efficiency. However, leadership has the power to affect the change process both negatively and positively, and it is the responsibility of the organization change management to ensure the minimal negative impact thereof (McNamara, 2010).

On analyzing the problem posed for the present research paper it is clear that the literature review should be dedicated to two major issues that become the central points for the present work. First of all, it is vital to get a clear vision of the notion of leadership and its role in an organizational change. In this respect such aspects as various theoretical theories and styles of leadership as well as major factors affecting one’s becoming a leader, as well as factors indispensible for effective leadership should be taken into account. Secondly, the theoretical perspective of managing change effectively from the leadership viewpoint should be considered to acquire the complete idea of the interaction of these two major concepts.

The first concept to be dealt with is leadership. There is extensive attention observed towards leadership nowadays – the main reason for this tendency is seen in the fact that leadership is attributed the key importance both in the company’s operation and change processes. To put it plainly, a leader is the person who is able to direct the employees (followers) to the path of goal achievement through various leadership tools such as inspiration, motivation or communication of a vision (Clark, 2008). It is essential to draw the margin between a leader and a boss – the latter only has the power for coercion and forcing people to do something due to the power that is entrusted to him or her, the positional authority. A leader is the one who can make people want do something, which is based on the inspiration and motivation on principles other than coercion (Clark, 2010).

However, each organization and each team of workers needs a specific approach to make them motivated; in connection with this commonly recognized fact it is essential to define various types and styles of leadership to be able to apply them in a situational or combined way. Generally, it is hard to give a precise definition to leadership and find a unified model that will suit every case and will guarantee the organizational success. Even Carter McNamara (2010) noted the modern ambiguities existing in dealing with change and underwater stones that may await the researcher on the way of analyzing it:

“Leading is a very human activity — we’re all human — so there are many people who consider themselves experts on leadership. Unfortunately, many people make strong assertions about leadership without ever really understanding a great deal about leadership. Understanding the concept of leadership requires more than reading a few articles or fantasizing about what great   leaders should be” (McNamara, 2010).

Despite the complex and affluent nature of leadership, it is still possible to define some common competences that are said to constitute the basis for leadership:

“Those competencies include emotional intelligence, integrity, drive, leadership motivation, self-confidence, intelligence and knowledge of the business. Leaders with this set of competencies and skills should be effective in their leadership ability regardless of the leadership style that they favor” (Jenkins, 2009).

This point of view is also supported by Lamb and McKee (2004) who state that the employee satisfaction is the key to success of the organizational change; it depends on the measure of trust and confidence that the leader can create in their team. Current research has shown the leader’s inability to achieve the level of open and honest communication with employees, which surely leads to distrust and resistance to change. To overcome this challenge, the leader has to ensure the creation of an efficient communication program including such elements as: helping employees understand the organization’s strategy and their role in the achievement of organizational goals, as well as updating the information available for them on a regular basis (Lamb and McKee, 2004).

Finally, the discussion of leadership should directly concern the leadership styles known to the theorists and practical users of management principles – at the present moment of time one has a huge number thereof at disposal. The main task is to understand the distinguishing peculiarities of each as well as the specificity of their application according to an organizational situation. Several styles have acquired extensive popularity, so they will be paid additional attention with the purpose of designing a truly efficient leadership model for empirical usage.

One of the most popular leadership models is the one of visionary leadership. It was initially proposed by Bennis and later extended by Kotter; the main focus of the theory is that the leader should be able to envision the change and communicate that vision to employees to achieve the unified actions in its implementation (Cameron and Green, 2004). Almaraz (n.d.) also voices the opinion that visionary leadership acquires exceptional popularity nowadays in contrast to the coercive leadership style that shows less efficiency under modern conditions of change. The author provides substantial theoretical support of visionary leadership theory, citing such researchers as Howell and Higgins, Kouzes and Posner, Sashkin and others, increasing the validity of her opinion (Almaraz, n.d.). Bass, relying on the findings of Bryman (1992), extended the idea of visionary leadership to the paradigm of transformational leadership including such vital elements as charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration (Cameron and Green, 2004).

However, there is no unified opinion on the importance of visionary leadership in organizational change management. There are proponents of other leadership styles, such as, for example, Heifetz and Laurie who argue for the adaptive leadership style being the best choice for the 21^st century change conditions. This approach confronts the conventional vision of inspiration and goal envisioning, favoring tough attitude to people, i.e. challenging them, taking them out of the comfort zones, exposing conflict etc. (Cameron and Green, 2004).

Among other leadership styles currently known in management one should seriously consider Lipman-Blumen’s style of connective leadership and Senge’s dispersed leadership theory. The basis of connective leadership constitutes activities related to connecting diverse people and has six important strengths: ethical political savvy, authenticity and accountability, a politics of commodities, thinking long-tem and acting short-term, enacting leadership through expectation and organizing a quest for meaning (Cameron and Green, 2004). Senge has another perspective that he takes in research of leadership – he argues that the organizational change should come from within the organization but not from the top, and insists that only a dispersed leadership scheme can be truly efficient in the process of organizational change management. To incorporate it into the organizational structure, it is necessary to create a group of interconnected leaders of three types: local line leaders (those responsible for product design, services and core processes), executive leaders (management board members), and network leaders (those who work at the interfaces between project groups, functions and teams). Despite a great set of challenges to the creation of such a dispersed leadership framework it still proves highly helpful and beneficial in case of success (Cameron and Green, 2004).

Next, it is important to define organizational change process and its reflection in theoretical sources. Change management is a complex process that is likely to lead to various outcomes that will depend on the strategy adopted by the leader. There is a large set of tips and pieces of advice that may help a leader take his or her company through the change process. It is useful to utilize the organizational change model worked out by Cummings and Worley (1995) – it consists of five stages that make a change better managed, controlled and guided. The first stage involves motivating change – it deals with creating readiness for change within an organization together with reducing the impact of resistance to change that may become more or less evident in the process. An important element of this stage is ensuring a proper system of informing employees about the need for change, all steps that will be taken with the purpose of implementing change and the role of employees in perspective, after the change will have been accomplished (Authenticity Consulting, 2006).

The discussed stage has the highest risk of resistance to change that may become evident among employees. To reduce its negative impact on the process of change, the leader has to listen to employees and recognize their fears and other underlying reasons affecting their moods and attitudes. Chapman (2009) offers a wide range of tools for reducing resistance to change such as: probing the reasons for the justification of the change in order to make them adaptable to real opportunities of employees; involving employees in the process of managing change to ensure their participation and growing commitment; applying managerial skills in the sphere of personality styles to find a necessary approach to employees possessing different temperament types; generating workshops for extremely complex organizational changes that require additional training and education (Chapman, 2009).

The second step in the organizational change process is called “creating vision” – here one can see the heavy impact of the visionary leadership paradigm. This step involves the distinct articulation of the goal of the change to employees. The authors of the strategy emphasize the need to show respect towards participants at this stage, arguing that they will be more likely to adopt the organizational change in case they feel pursuing a realistic goal, knowing how its accomplishment will improve the organization and empower their position in it. Sharing a common vision is a powerful tool in facilitating the employee commitment to change which, in its turn, will increase its efficiency (Authenticity Consulting, 2006).

Following the process further, the leader will proceed to the stage of “developing political support”. The authors point out the high measure of neglect evident towards it, though its importance is now obvious. Power relations within a company are very closely connected with organizational change management since it is the main decisive factor in the issues of resources allocation, hire-and-fire responsibilities etc. Since power is usually negatively treated by employees for simple reasons of fear of losing a job or turning out unable to fit the altered vision of the company, getting political support represents key strategic importance for the organizational management process:

“Matters of power and politics are critically important to recognize and manage   during organizational change activities. Change often means shifts in power across management levels, functions and groups. To be successful, the change effort must recruit the support of all key power players, for example, senior management, subject matter experts and others who are recognized as having strong expertise and integrity” (Authenticity Consulting, 2006).

The fourth step includes managing transition – it involves the very process of change. It is also called “implementation of action plans”. This phase is exclusively essential for the success of the overall organizational change plan, so supportive communication of the leader with employees about the need of change, its status and encouragement for their continuous contribution needed for its accomplishment acquires profound significance. Finally, the fifth stage involves “sustaining momentum” – it means the implementation of the employee performance management system including setting goals, providing feedback and rewards (Authenticity Consulting, 2006). As one can see, these guiding principles of the organizational change find their direct reflection in the statement of Chapman (2009) about the change needing to involve people rather than being imposed on them – he offers to achieve this aim with the help of staff surveys, management training, empathy and facilitative capability.

Change Management Model

The personal change management model I consider to employ in managing organizational changes will be a complex one, including elements from different approaches to leadership discussed above. The model includes a sensitive and thoughtful implementation of organizational changes with the proper consideration of individual needs, concerns and fears. In addition, the model will also leave room for consulting and informing about the plans connected with achieving the change. The model used in the organizational change management will provide answers to questions such as why that particular format of change has been chosen, what is intended to be achieved by implementing that change, how employees will be affected by the change and which strategies are used to make them comprehend the change. It should also include motivation tools to engage the employees into active participation and involvement in the change.

The individually designed organizational change management model will employ the use of situational leadership style in managing the changes. Using this leadership style the change management model will enable me to know how to handle various challenges that may arise during the implementation of the change (Chapman, 2009). The model will mainly use innovative communicative skills in letting the staff know who may be affected by the change.

The model I am likely to choose will include various aspects used as a guide for personal change management. Mutual expectations will be clarified to improve understanding of all model’s details. This will be done by developing estimated costs incurred during the organizational change and determining any other expenses that may arise when managing the change. In addition, the model will identify personality characteristics, strategic drivers and even political aspects that may arise during organizational change. It will rely heavily on communication, reciprocal relationships with the staff and high level of attention to their needs, queries and suggestions.

The communication will be established to ensure that agreement is reached before a change is fully implemented. The model will also show all alternatives through which the change can be achieved. The leadership model chosen will try to capture essential change-related activities; it will also provide space for new activities to be absorbed, updated or even superseded in the process of management in order to ensure the change brings positive outcomes.

A new overview analysis will become a part of the individual organizational management change model to make it possible for the new project to be analyzed from the point of view of possible further actions and alternatives for development. It will be done using a flip chart or a consultation method. If the organizational change requires elimination of a group of employees or a department, the model will need to provide the new method of work arrangement and will presuppose working out the alternative scheme of authority distribution. The model will also break down the change job into sub-tasks and elements to use these inputs in the analysis template in determining the model’s efficiency.

Since not all individuals are likely to accept the change, the model will consider reducing the negative impact of change resistance. This aspect will include good communication and use of inspirational methods in showing the people how the change will affect their future. The model will also take into consideration the fears of those ignorant of positive outcomes of the change for them personally and will be directed at eliminating their doubts and ensuring their understanding of the change and its direct positive relation to their destiny and career in the organization. This humanistic approach will include counseling and other forms of supportive resources as a way of maintaining good communication channels.

The model will utilize diagrams showing how various inputs and subtasks are connected within the unified scheme of the organizational change program. It will include some aspects of the Kotter’s model such as ensuring the identification of the right people for team-building, which is truly essential in the process of organizational change management. This component provide for the right people’s inclusion in the active work on the change and their identification at different levels of managing the change. The model will focus on creative and emotional aspects when establishing a changed vision or strategy.

Some of the components included in the model are meant to ensure proper understanding of the change and managing it. They are meant to promote positive humanistic approach and response to change. A transition curve, which is one of the model’s components, will be used in evaluating how other components of the model are performing in the organizational management process, being a predictor of how successful the change will be.  The level of anxiety, happiness, threat and fear will be measured with its help.

The anxiety component was included in the model to highlight stages when the changing events lie beyond one’s range of control or understanding. This component is very important in a model since it helps people learn how to focus on what to anticipate in the future, hence easily accepting the personal change within the organization. Happiness is another component analyzed by the transitional curves; it is used to highlight the relief after the initial stages that the change is going to bring as well as to help overcome fears and uncertainties associated with the leader’s inappropriate psychological position towards all participants of the change. Thus, this aspect helps reveal the realistic and unrealistic expectations of employees in case it is included in the leadership model tailored for the organizational change management cases.

Comparing and contrasting the leadership style model with those found in literature? it is possible to conclude that the model constructed here includes many elements of Kotter’s theory of visionary leadership; however, it goes far beyond that model in such aspects as promoting team building, remaining focused and promoting good, efficient communication. These elements have been included because simple envisioning, inspiration and motivation are surely essential, but they will fail the practical implementation stage if additional challenges and practical needs are not taken into account. The issues taken from Kotter’s model ensure increased commitment of employees as well as guide the establishment of an efficient communication system instigating the generation of trust and confidence. The model also establishes a sufficient basis for handling resistance to change and managing conflicts.

Among aspects that have not been included in the literature review one should note the Fisher’s model of managing such emotions as anxiety, happiness, threat or guilt. These aspects turned out essential because of their assistance in managing change at different stages of change implementation. This leadership style model of change management will be enable its follower to handle emotional issues that normally occur when people undergo the change in the organization.

Several phases of leadership implementation in the process of organizational change management have been included to show the necessity to adapt the leadership style to each separate stage of change with its own needs and priorities. Thus, it is absolutely essential for a practicing manager to distinguish the visionary leadership style needed at the first two stages and the adaptive style chosen at the following stages, with the dispersed leadership paradigm preferable at the final stages, to fix the change and ensure its success on the organizational level. In practice, however, it is very hard to distinguish the end of one stage of change and the beginning of another one, which constitutes the main challenge for practicing managers in managing thereof. However, as soon as a clear necessity for leadership model change arises, one should feel that the situation already requires another approach, and should design the leadership model accordingly.

Discussion and Conclusion

What is also important to note at the end of the discussion is that the coercive model has not been included in any stage of the organizational change management because of its proven inefficiency on the cultural, ethical and organizational level. There is much literature on the topic of coercion still being an essential element of management as a tool for ensuring the task accomplishment in case the staff lacks motivation and needs increased discipline impositions. However, managing change is highly different from management on a regular basis; for this reason it is vital to understand that motivation is a key to change on any level – by means of coercion one will achieve short-term results, but will fail to implement a change strategy in the long run. Practicing managers will certainly disagree with this point because they realize that it is impossible to manage people without the introduction of some coercion elements; in practice some authoritarian inclusions will always be indispensable; but in the theoretical design the discussed model will not have any coercion elements.

Concluding the discussion of the leadership topic in the organizational change management process, it is important to understand all concealed negative and positive implications it brings to the company in the process of implementation. Leadership has an outer reflection in the skills a manager applies for governing the change and dealing with the staff during the whole process, so the leadership model chosen will be clearly seen in the process of change in the relations of the leader with employees, in their interactions and attitudes towards each other etc. The wrong leadership model will surely lead to the spoilage in relations, growth of tension and misunderstanding in the organization. Employees who do not clearly see the purpose of the change, do not understand and support its reasons and are not sure in their position in the renewed company in the aftermath of the change will never be motivated to take part in it. Thus, the key to choosing the leadership model for the change is feeling the moods of the staff, knowing its individual peculiarities to design a communication and training program that will suit the needs of the staff ideally.

To choose the leadership model for the change properly, clear understanding of all its peculiarities it possesses is necessary for the completion of the task. Some leadership styles, such as the authoritarian one, should not be used in managing the organizational change since they will ignite heated debates and conflicts, reducing the employee commitment and involvement. Choosing a leadership style is an indicator that shows the manager’s ability to plan, organize and coordinate activities of the staff during the change management process. A practicing manager can use skills related to leadership in bringing new changes in an organization. Application of situational approaches to leadership will enable a practicing manager to shift the leadership styles according to the needs of the staff, the company and the strategy pursued – only flexibility and variability of approaches will ensure the leader’s success and accomplishment of his/her goals in the organizational change.

References

Almaraz, J. (n.d.).Effective Change Leadership in Small and Medium-Sized Organizations. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona College of Business Administration. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from http://usasbe.org/know ledge/proceedings/proceedingsDocs/USASBE2003proceedings-32.pdf

Authenticity Consulting, LLC. (2006). Requirements for Successful Organizational Change. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from http://managementhelp.org/misc/reqs-for-successful-change.pdf

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2004). Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools & techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.

Chapman, A. (2009). Change management. Businessballs design publishers. Retrieved April 3, 2010, from http://www.businessballs.com/change management.htm

Clark, D. (2008). Concepts of Leadership. Training magazine. Retrieved April 3, 2010, from http://www.skagit.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html

Jenkins, L. (2009). Effective leadership and organizational change; successful changes depend on leadership style. Suite101.com online press. Retrieved April 3, 2010, from http://businessmanagement.suite101.com/article.cfm/ effective_leadership_through_organizational_chan

Lamb, L. & McKee, K. B. (2004) Applied public relations: cases in stakeholder management. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum associates.

McNamara, C. (2010). Overview of leadership in organizations. Free management library press. Retrieved April 3, 2010, from http://managementhelp.org/ldrship/ ldrship.htm