Organizational Change Essay -- Business, Interventions

Organizational change is an important part of organizational management and leaders cannot ignore the inevitability of having to manage change within their organizations. In addition, a global study that was conducted with over 2,000 organizations showed that 82 percent had implemented major information system change, which entailed other changes in structure, technology, and people as well (as cited in Robbins & Coulter, 2007). Therefore, it is imperative that managers and organizations understand how to increase their chances of having successful change programs. Diagnosis The first step in designing a change program is to understand what the problem or issue is that needs to be changed. This is referred to as diagnosis and is very important in making sure that the situation is fully understood so that an appropriate plan can be developed that will achieve the desired outcomes. In addition, diagnosis helps the organization determine what the scope of the issue is and how to make a change that will result in the desired outcome. There are several ways to receive the needed data to conduct a diagnosis. The organization can conduct attitude surveys, they can use direct observations, interview key individuals within the organization, develop workshops and review documents and records (Gibson et al., 2009). Unfortunately, many organizations do not take their time with this step which can result in flawed conclusions on the true nature of the problem, not understanding what their desired outcome from the change is, or not identifying the right intervention for the change. Therefore, it is very important to collect the needed information from various sources to determine the nature and scope of the issue or p... ...nforcement (Gibson et al., 2009). Conclusion The concept of change is relatively easy to understand, but making a change within an organization is complicated and involves numerous variables. First mangers need to use a systematic approach to determine the issues. They have to develop a course of action that resolves the issue, makes sure that everyone understands the issue, and the need for change. Mangers have to then move everyone to the new behavior using learning principles of training, demonstration, motivation, and empowerment. Finally, there must be feedback on how the change worked, make any needed adjustments, and reinforce the new behavior so old habits are eliminated. Change is an important part of all organizations and mangers that are able to develop and implement effective change programs will be valuable members of their organization.