Leadership and Change Management

Introduction:

Almost every individual organization opts for changes to meet the challenging demands of the consumer markets, volatile economies, political influence, external environment or internal factors. At present it is regarded as a routine strategy performed by all successful organizations. Economic, political, and global forces continually affect organizations and compel them to change how and where they produce goods and services (Jones & Mathew, 2009).

Certain measures are to be taken prior to implementing the changes. The same changes might affect the productivity or the desired results may not be achieved if the changes are not effectively implemented or managed throughout the process. The primary purpose of a well defined change management process is to ensure that requested changes that would be of benefit to the project are implemented, while proposed changes that would add little or no value are not incorporated (Stoehr, 2002).

change management plan is a technique associated with certain protocols like planning, implementing and the outcome, are to be followed throughout the process. Ignoring the same protocols may create barriers in the change process.  Organizations must attempt to change their traditional strategies, structures and procedures to succeed in today’s global business arena (Alkhafaji, 2001).

Effective change requires leadership skills of interpersonal communication, group management, and problem solving skills (Daly, Speedy & Jackson, 2004). Organizational leaders are the main players for implementing an effective change process. Change becomes vital for organizations in the current scenario of globalization, whereas in some cases the organizational leadership either hesitate or don’t feel like for any change, as it may disrupt the organization’s current operations. Typically, leaders avoid change because they are afraid of failure or an adverse public reaction (Jones, 2014).

In this case study we will be discussing the process of change implemented in ‘The International Institute for Education Excellence (IIEE)’, its issues and the key elements that were not considered in the change process.

 

 

Background:

Almost every individual organization opts for changes to meet the challenging demands of the consumer markets, volatile economies, political influence, external environment or internal factors. At present it is regarded as a routine strategy performed by all successful organizations. Economic, political, and global forces continually affect organizations and compel them to change how and where they produce goods and services (Jones & Mathew, 2009).

Similar is the case of IIEE, three leading educational organizations collaborated with a vision to provide executive education to the international markets and to make special arrangements for Organizational Developments on contract basis. Initially a contract for the joint venture was signed for the period of three years; later on the contract was to be renewed on yearly basis.  In the beginning IIEE was doing very well, there were board meetings every six months, quarterly reports were issued; workshops were held to minimize the cultural difference among the three education organizations. Also it was the strategy of IIEE making them the market leader that the course presenters will not be changed till the expiry of the contract, whereas no such strategy was established for the directors, executives and course coordinators.

 

Planning:

 

Successful implementation of changes within the organizations requires productive planning, efficient consultation and competent implementation. Anderson (2012) argues that leaders must communicate the vision and strategy, including the rationale for the change and how the leadership team arrived at major strategic decisions. It is advisable that the need for the change, its process and the outcomes should be well communicated to all the individuals associated with the same change. Or in other case if the individuals associated with the change are not taken onboard, the change might not produce the desired results.

In the case of IIEE though a contract for joint venture was duly signed by all the three partners, but it appears that there was no effective planning for how to implement the change, how to cope up with the internal or external challenges, and how to manage the change throughout the joint venture tenure. The senior management and board directors were highly qualified and competent but as no specific layout was planned for sharing their knowledge and skills that could benefit IIEE in the long run, many issues emerged affecting the performance of the Institute.  Board members deviated from other institutional matters and were only focused on the deliverance of quality courses. Organizational performance cannot be managed by focusing only on end results, one should understand how such results are generated, which factor affect them and how decision makers can be made accountable for them (Grosser & Zeier, 2012).

 

Preparedness Analysis:

As stated by Austin (2010) that assessment is an important phase of change and one that is often skipped or partially implemented. Prior to starting the change process, management has to evaluate all related elements and their competence to accept the change. Organizational culture, internal environment, employee’s response, stake holders concern and consumers are some of the basic elements that are to be deeply evaluated. Such evaluation will enable the management to attain the desired results from the change process. Once the assessment is completed and appropriate modifications are made to the change process, managers can begin to clearly articulate the change to those involved so that participants can see the task ahead and understand the direction (Austin, 2010).

IIEE was formed with a specific goal of providing quality executive education and training, also working on Organizational Development. No homework was done as what will be job responsibilities of each board member and other supporting staff. Also the newly elected board members were not prepared to deal with other relevant matters, required for the progress of the institute. Some of the board directors and other officials were inexperienced of working in a joint venture, they were simply appointed at IIEE considering their qualifications and work experience in a individual institute, without any formal training or analyzing their experience for a joint venture project. It portrays that the directors and other staff at IIEE were not prepared for the change.

 

Impact Analysis:

It is the procedure to identify the pros and cons of the change process, how the entire organization’s operation will be effected. Impact analysis is the activity of identifying what needs to be modified in order to make a change, or to determine the consequences on the system if the change is implemented (Aurum & Wohlin, 2005).

Through impact analysis procedure, ignored or neglected issues will be highlighted, thus enabling the change managers to make appropriate arrangements for the solutions of such issues. The results of the impact analysis are used to adjust the premises of the change management process (Pols, 2004).

When measures are not reflecting the desired performance, the appropriate action is to determine what is driving the poor performance and fix it so that performance improves (Spong & Collard, 2009).  While formation of IIEE no such analysis were conducted, to identify the negative aspects or the hidden issues that might arise during the contract tenure. This resulted in poor governance, declining of resources and overall business progress.

 

Communication:

IIEE adopted the strategy that the course presenter mentioned in a specific contract will not be changed till the expiry of the contract, unless approved by the client. Whereas, board directors and other executives were not bounded by this strategy and were replaced in many occasions. As such there was no procedure adopted for the transfer of information or knowledge among the outgoing director and the one taking new charge. There was no concept of unofficial meeting or workshops where the IIEE officials could meet and share their knowledge. Moreover, official board of directors meeting had not been held since eighteen months. It is suggested that to attain organizational goals there should be an effective communication link among the management and the staff members. The key to successful implementation is therefore effective internal communication, as all those involved must send a single positive message to stakeholder groups at all points of contact (Masterman & Wood, 2006).

Due to the same inefficient communication among the IIEE management, later on it was discovered that for many emails or requisites any necessary action were yet to be taken. As quoted by Willmore (2004) that development of a communication plan is always an important part of an intervention or series of solutions, and a change manager will often coordinate the development and implementation of such plan. An effective communication plan is the main component of a competent change management process. The Institute’s progress was in a state of deadlock, as there was no mutual sharing of views, expertise, knowledge and plans, among the board directors and other supporting staff.

Evaluation:

For organizations going through the process of change management, the performance and actions of all the participants must be evaluated on regular basis. Acquiring feedbacks and collecting data from all concerned departments will aid in diagnosing the issues and suggesting solutions for the same.

Initially at IIEE progress reports were issued on quarterly basis but since a significant period no such reports were issued. No arrangements were made to acquire feedbacks from the relevant departments. The Institute was losing business and was not in a position to win more contracts.

At the end we may conclude that the three education institutes, opting for a joint venture was a change that was implemented without effective change management. Any organization implementing changes may not be able to survive in the long run if proper change management with its complete protocols is not applied.