Essay On Organisational Change

There are numerous academic textbooks, articles and journals on managing organisational change but there is no one hard-and-fast or specific textbook answer. This report attempts to interpret, analyse and provide a critical review of some of the various organisational change approaches that were published from as early as the 1940s. A total of 10 theories from a combination of academic articles and textbooks were read.

Six theories were themed under leadership “Task” and “Person” approaches whilst the remaining four theories were themed under “Planned”, “Emergent”, “Contingent” and “Choice” approaches. These 2 themes were picked because the success of an organisation change is very much dependant on the competency of the leaders’ skills and there are many way to which changes come about.

It is important to select the right approach to apply organisation change. The approach should suit the type of change, leader’s strength, organisation structure and organisation culture. Being able to adapt to constant changes makes the organisation less vulnerable to unpredictable or sudden changes.

This report concludes with some additional factors that have been overlooked out from the theories namely, time/urgency and cultural differences.

1. INTRODUCTION (100-200 words) 162

Renowned management consultant, Peter Drucker famously quoted “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence – it is to act with yesterday’s logic”. This means that organisations should be prepared for changes lest they will be danger otherwise. According to Jones (2013), organisational change is the process by which the organisation design and transform their present state to a desired future.

An organisation is a platform for people to come ...

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...5) pointed out that leaders from family run organizations in Asia generally pick their managers from their line of family or own network. This may impede the success for a change to be implemented. Case in point: Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. left his organisation to leaders picked by the Board versus the late-Ng Teng Fong (richest man in Singapore) of Far East Organisation who bequeathed his entire real estate organisation to his family members to manage.

Change is ever constant so the approaches to change should also have the ability to be modified or adapted over time to be applicable to the volatile and ever changing business environment. Theories to change provide a good foundation for a leader but ultimately, the success of the change depends very much on the leader’s competencies to use a combination of “Task and Person” approach to lead the way to change.