Introduction
Current essay deals with analysis of the process of organizational change in the context of its individual experience. The basic problems and issues which are posed in this context are what actions were realized by organizational management, whether their scope and effectiveness were sufficient and what alternative steps could have been undertaken by organization to avoid substantive difficulties.
Before analyzing concrete examples of organizational change, it is necessary to define what it is exactly.
Organizational Change and Personal Change
It is evident that the concept of organizational change mainly refers to total and wide-ranging changes in organizational structure, managing practices and procedures (Dalton & Lawrence, 1970). It does not refer to smaller changes and adaptations which affect separate individuals, workers, departments or processes.
However, it should be noticed that the abovementioned actors are influenced, but only in the wider context of organizational change. In this context we may speak about personal change within the frames of organizational change, which is the main focus of the current essay (Kezar, 2001).
To summarize the notion of organizational change, it should be also mentioned that it is premised on deep changes in the outside environment such as new market and production conditions, technological changes and other important challenges.
Organizational Change and Personal Experience in IT company
The IT Company where I was working met up with significant problems in the market of multimedia products. With the emergence of new booming players, it lost more than 15% of its share and sunk in deep recession. The company’s management decided that the main problem is connected with inability to follow design and technology trends and particularly low level of Internet multimedia innovations. Poor marketing efforts to promote new models and products were also mentioned. Company’s management decided that the only exit strategy in this situation is significant organizational change, which should reconfigure R &D, Marketing and Design departments.
It was decided to reorganize them to foster cooperation and mutual responsibility for the success of new products. As a member of Marketing Department I also passed personal change in my functions and responsibilities. I had now to coordinate my marketing strategies and innovations with the members of Design and R&D departments to improve cost-effectiveness of the IT products. The majority of facilitating measures were developed by organizational management including permanent round-tables, meetings, joint groups and ad hoc commissions.
It allowed significantly increasing the effectiveness of each department’s activities.
I personally become responsible for some new clusters in joint Design-Marketing-R&D Committee and had to accommodate my functions to new conditions.
Notwithstanding these important organizational changes, some problems were not regulated, including one of the most important – accountability. Changing hierarchy principles in organization was not accompanied by effective mobilization of new principles and forms of accountability.
This resulted in some negative consequences for relations between different departments and managers, which in its turn contributed to worsening working climate in the company. Without urgent resolution of this problem any positive effects of organizational changes are difficult to predict. To sum it up, current analysis shows a great significance of adaptation of personal and group change within the context of organizational change.
References
Dalton, G. W. & Lawrence, P. R. (Eds.). (1970). Organizational Change and Development. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.
Kezar, A. J. (2001). Understanding and Facilitating Organizational Change in the 21st Century: Recent Research and Conceptualizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Mills, J. H. (2003). Making Sense of Organizational Change. New York: Routledge.