Introduction
The current trends in the healthcare industry call for the implementation of several changes to achieve the organization’s mission and goals while satisfying patients and workers in general. These changes are triggered by both external and internal factors, which affect the organizations, employees, and the patients (Buchbinder & Shank, 2007). Therefore, to survive in the face of the current technological and innovative advancements coupled with the paramount need to provide quality, safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable services, most healthcare institutions particularly in the United States should embrace organizational change (Borkowski, 2005).
Here, organizational change is defined as all the changes implemented by an organization in response to changing economic climates, labor markets, and marketplaces. These changes include task alignment, innovation of business models, technological changes, corporate renewal, and continuous improvement (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2007).
Relative to organizational change, this essay presents a discussion on the different phases of change and its management before, during, and after implementation. In addition, the essay describes the process of organizational change at the Concord Bookshop while paying attention to three major phases of change that were omitted and why the process of change failed to be effective.
Phases of Organizational Change
A successful and well planned change process undergoes four major phases. The four phases of change include entry or contracting, identification of priorities, development of action plans, and change management. To complete the process of organizational change, there is the need for joint participation from all stakeholders in all the phases of the change process (Warner, 2002).
Entry or Contracting
During this phase, the top management in any organization or the change leader clarifies the expected changes and their role in the change process. This approach is also known as strategic responsiveness (Spector, 2010). Considering that many organizations are undergoing a period of remarkable and rapid change than it has been witnessed in the last 30 years, responding strategically to external factors is imperative to maintain profitability, customer satisfaction, and continuous improvement. Additionally, the responsiveness to external factors calls for strategic renewal of the organization’s processes. Here, the organization seeks to re-examine its strategic plan to achieve a competitive advantage and customer satisfaction (Warner, 2002).
However, to achieve renewal, it is imperative to identify the clients affected by the change process, define the recommended projects, assess the capabilities and readiness of the workers to adopt the change process, and requesting for positive contributions and proposals from other stakeholders (Warner, 2002). Therefore, the change leaders are required to have excellent skills in listening, non-verbal communication, interviewing, building trust, and questioning.
Identification of Priorities
Successful renewal can be achieved through changing or creating a business model in an organization. However, changing an existing model can lead to the emergence of new business challenges (Spector, 2010). Therefore, creating a new business model or model innovation is imperative to gain a competitive advantage. During this phase, there is a paramount need for change agents to work in collaboration with other stakeholders in discovering priorities necessary for change. This entails collection and analysis of data to draw conclusions or make recommendations on the new plan for change (Warner, 2002).
However, since model innovation entails moving from the current status quo into another, there is the need for the organization’s workers to change their culture and behaviors (Spector, 2010). Behavioral change in an organization affects the actions and relationships of workers while re-orienting them towards achieving the new mission and strategic goals. Sometimes, the recommended changes can be met with positive employee participation or resistance. Therefore, strategic identification of the priorities for the change process is imperative to ensure successful organizational change (Warner, 2002). Overall, this phase should aim at encouraging behavioral change, mutual participation of all stakeholders, and addressing employee resistance to change.
Development of Action Plans
After identifying priorities and addressing possible obstacles to change, there is the need to clarify the recommendations made and incorporate them into strategic action plans. These plans provide the way forward in implementing and managing the new business models and activities. In addition, the action plans give the workers the opportunity to develop new systematic approaches in planning their daily activities in line with the new models. Thus employee participation is an important asset during this phase and in the success of organizational change (Spector, 2010). Moreover, during this phase, the change agent may discover other non-organizational behavior priorities for change such as implementation of turnaround, outsourcing services, and changing organizational techniques and tools. These priorities can aid in cost-saving and minimize resistance from internal workers (Spector, 2010).
Change management
This phase of organizational change entails evaluation and sustainability of the change process. In addition, the phase entails continuous communication of the progress and new action plans; implementation of new action plans; motivating and coaching participants; delegating responsibilities to workers; managing stress in workers; and managing any form of resistance that may arise (Warner, 2002).
The case of Concord Bookshop
The owners of the bookstore responded to external factors such as competition by implementing a turnaround and outsourcing approach as part of the organizational changes aimed at improving the financial status of their business. In this way, the owners failed to recognize the bookstore as a community made of owners, workers, and customers. Therefore, the change process failed because the owners omitted three important phases of organizational change. These include the entry or contracting phase, the mutual identification of priorities, and the joint development of action plans. Instead, the owners carried out the change management phase, which is the last step in the change process.
Conclusions
The essay presents a discussion on the four phases of organizational change, which includes the entry or contracting, identification of priorities, development of action plans, and the management of change. These phases are important in ensuring the success of the change process because they involve the joint participation of all stakeholders in the organization thereby averting resistance and process failure. On the other hand, omission of any one phase may lead to automatic failure of the change process as observed in the case of the Concord Bookshop
Reference List
Borkowski, N. (2005). Organizational behavior in health care. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Buchbinder, S. B. & Shanks, H. N. (2007). Introduction to health care management. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Spector, B. (2010). Implementing organizational change: Theory into practice (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Warner, B. W. (2002). Organization Change: Theory and practice. California: Sage Publishers, Inc.