NHRD Journal - National HRD Network

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CORE TASKS FOR SUCCESSFUL CHANGE MANAGEMENT S. RAMNARAYAN Ramnarayan is a professor of OB at theIndian School ofBusiness. He has a PhDfrom WeatherheadSchool of Management,Case Western ReserveUniversity, and aPGDIM from JamnalalBajaj Institute ofManagement Studies.He has a number ofpublications to his crediton change managementHe was formerlyteaching at the IndianInstitute of Management, Ahmedabad, Otto- Friedrich University ofBamberg, Germany, andCase Western ReserveUniversity. He is activelyguiding large scalechange initiatives.He is on the boards of anumber of companies inIndia. Organizational change can occur in many forms. It can, for instance, include accelerating growth, leading transformation or arresting decline. All these three forms of change need to be managed. In the growing literature on change management, transformational change has attracted a lot of attention. Referred to also as radical change, frame-breaking change or reinvention, this type of change often involves simultaneous alterations in strategy, structure, and culture of an organization. Transformational changes face a high risk of failure with estimates of successful transformations ranging between 20 and 40 per cent. Over several years, we have closely observed these changes unfold in a large number and wide variety of organizations. We have noticed that effective change leaders get people to assume ownership and engage with difficult problems facing the group or the organization. For doing this, they tackle major challenges required to bring about changes in people's values, beliefs, habits, ways of working and ways of life. In short, they recognize that successful organizational change is primarily about changing the way in which people think and act. Our inquiry of the change management journey in different organizations has shown that there are four main challenges that are crucial to the change leader's success as a navigator through the rocky process of altering mindsets. We list these challenges below and also briefly refer to different roles that change leaders would be expected to perform: (a) Appreciating Change: This requires tuning to people's mindsets inside the organization and outside forces of change impacting the organization. This task addresses the challenge of clear articulation of the destination and an appreciation of what is required to reach that destination. To perform this core task effectively, the change leader has to be a cognitive tuner. (b) Mobilizing Support: This involves more than mere exhortation of people to do the right things. It refers to strengthening influence and communication efforts to muster, assemble, and rally people together to bring about meaningful change. This task requires change leader to be a people catalyzer. (c) Executing Change: This entails designing, building and sustaining a social architecture that can establish new routines to replace old routines. Just as the mould determines the shape that jelly takes, right structures and processes create the architecture for desired cross-functional linkages and innovation efforts to emerge. 60 November 2007 NHRD Journal
To address the challenge of executing change, the change leader should function as a systems architect. (d) Building Change Capability: This involves creating positive context that enables people to have faith in their own capabilities, take risks and learn. By engendering a feeling of optimism and hope, change leader fosters a positive belief in people that they can face challenges of change. This positive belief lies at the heart of capability building. Thus change leader should be an efficacy builder. Change management failures occur because one or more of the above challenges are not addressed effectively. In rest of the paper, we'll briefly review what each one of the above four roles entails. Leadership Appreciating Change A traditional organization had sought to make certain important structural interventions to be able to face greater competition. Accordingly, teams were constituted and resources were allocated. The objective was to strengthen interface management among the key functions for developing new products. For the success of the change effort, employees were required to behave in ways that would be qualitatively different from the manner in which they had been used to operating. For example, the organizational members were required to work across functional boundaries and operate with minimal guidance and specific role prescriptions to pursue larger organizational goals and priorities. This was a sharp departure from the existing methods that were characterized by hierarchical approaches, strong functional loyalties and turf concerns. For the change to succeed, people had to communicate requirements and demands, if required to individuals, groups and functions even if they were powerful. Juniors were expected to talk openly about difficulties and voice opinions freely at meetings. They had to assume responsibility. The seniors, on the other hand, were expected to actively seek opinions, encourage dissent and support efforts to modify dysfunctional procedures. They had to feel comfortable with initiative being taken at lower levels and feedback and expectations being expressed frankly by their direct reports. No thought was given to how such changes in mindsets were expected to be brought about. Not surprisingly, these mindset changes did not occur and so the structural changes did not take root. There was also no clarity on how the inherent contradictions among different sub-goals were expected to be resolved. For instance, the sub-goal of new product development was at odds with the sub-goal of maximizing production of existing products. Incentive systems, goal setting and measurement procedures were not geared to accept possible higher rejections, extra costs and the dip in the top-line and bottom-line flowing from investments for the future. A key change management challenge is to ensure that all such factors are visualized and considered before the direction is frozen in terms of specific sub-goals and tasks. When people are able to visualize both the larger picture and their assigned tasks, they become hopeful, optimistic and committed to the transformation process. November 2007 NHRD Journal 61
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NHRD Journal Organizational Change
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S.no Title of the Article Author Pa
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ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE INDIRA J PARI
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give subtle shape to the organizati
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Page 33 and 34: HOW HR CAN IGNITE 'HOT SPOTS' YOGI
Page 35 and 36: pointed the prerequisites of change
Page 37 and 38: BRINGING CHANGE TO THE CHANGE AGENT
Page 39 and 40: were low, people lived simply and s
Page 41 and 42: 'People Academy' that seeks to fost
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Page 45 and 46: human resource process like leaders
Page 47 and 48: References Chris Argyris, Initiatin
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Page 51 and 52: esponse to changes in the external
Page 53 and 54: THE ENDURING SKILLS OF CHANGE LEADE
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Page 63 and 64: very capable people; but the organi
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Page 69 and 70: However the good news is that the a
Page 71 and 72: Organizational Culture and Sub-Cult
Page 73 and 74: References Ashkanasy, N. M., Broadf
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Page 81 and 82: COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS, JUSTIC
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Page 95 and 96: ONE REASON FOR FAILURE OF CHANGE IN
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Conclusion There is a broad agreeme
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change is indeed the engine which f
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and regional development programs.
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ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE-MARUTI SUZUKI
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in the HR thinking, approach and th
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• Cross Functional Teams (CFTs) o
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i. Technology • Plant location
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consolidates in a short period of f
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PBIT (Rs in crores.) The Company ha
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concepts in an organizational conte
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APPEAL TO CONTRIBUTORS The National
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