Concrete Experience and Reflective Observation
I have been working for more than thirteen years as a successful leader managing people and organizing their functioning in the most effective ways. At the moment, I am a section leader for the Mixing Department at the Bridgestone Aiken plant. There are 191 employees who belong to the team. There are also five supervisors responsible for personnel, operations, and customers’ satisfaction. In such a way, it becomes critical to enhancing quality standards through multiple improvements affecting working standards, control plans, and approaches to management. Moreover, there is a high need for effective problem-solving activities focused on the improvement of production, workers’ motivation levels, and project results.
In such a way, the promotion of organizational change becomes one of the critical elements of my working activities as it is one of the guarantees of continuous improvement. Any organization that stops in its development faces a high risk of stagnation and decline. For this reason, I am focused on the constant monitoring of the current situation with the primary goal to determine the most problematic areas that demand change and should be altered with the primary aim to increase the preserve the high effectiveness level and ensure that the emerging problems are solved fast, and no serious complications emerge. That is why I have certain experiences that can be used to cogitate about the importance and main aspects of organizational change.
As I have already stated, my first important task as the leader regarding organizational change is the determination of the areas that need change. In the majority of cases, these domains differ from other ones because of the decreased effectiveness of other problems that emerge due to the utilization of outdated or ineffective approaches. The existence of such problematic issues might undermine the work of the whole organization and precondition the collapse of various departments. For this reason, observing many situations that demand the introduction of appropriate interventions, I can say that in-time organizational change becomes one of the most important ways to solve some difficult problems.
At the same time, my second task is to monitor the way the collective functions in terms of new conditions introduced by the strategic change. The fact is that in many situations, people are not ready for alterations, especially if they are radical ones, and affect all spheres of their functioning. The resistance to change becomes one of the most important factors that should be taken into account while managing people and offering new frameworks for their work. The change process might have multiple adverse effects on individuals, including a high level of stress, dissatisfaction, and decreased motivation. For this reason, to achieve positive results, it is critical to ensure that all factors are considered, and only positive effects will emerge.
Theories and Principles/Abstract Conceptualization
It is extremely important to ensure that all employees of the organization have an improved understanding of the nature of change and the main goals that should be achieved due to the planned intervention. Only under these conditions is it possible to achieve positive results. At the same time, it is critical to assess the effects of organizational change on people working in the organization to avoid resistance and ensure that only positive impacts are accumulated.
Theory 1
Evolutionary change theory can be considered an appropriate theory that can help to achieve positive outcomes. It states that gradual and focused improvements of particular areas are fundamental for all organizations as they should evolve and for their employees as they should acquire new opportunities for their development (Burke, 2017). Adhering to this very paradigm, it is possible to avoid critical deteriorations in the moods of workers and achieve the emergence of positive effects that will help to succeed and generate a competitive advantage needed to overcome rivalry and hold leading positions.
Theory 2
Another theory that can be applied here is Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs stating that only satisfaction of high-level demands might stimulate workers to move further and engage in the change process (Maslow, 2013). From the real experience, it becomes apparent that an organization becomes positive only when employees are provided with better opportunities for improvement, personal and professional development. Only under these conditions, the change will promote higher performance levels.
Theory 3
Finally, the theory of regulated change can also be applied to the case because of its positive impact on employees’ moods. It emphasizes the necessity of the consideration of organizational contexts as the primary determinants of change (Burke, 2017). Correctly realizing them, workers will be able to engage in the process of reconstruction.
Summary
Accepting the fact that organizational change should promote positive effects on workers, consideration of the theories mentioned above is critical for the achievement of positive results and transformation of firms with the primary aim to generate competitive advantages and continue the evolution.
Testing and Application/Active Experimentation
Speaking about all the theories mentioned above, it is critical to state that their effectiveness can be proven by my own personal experiences. The first one becomes topical while speaking about the necessity to support continuous change and motivate workers to engage in all transformation process to have positive effects and contribute to the development of a firm. The second theory should also be considered the fundamental one to explain all employees’ actions and their motivation. Finally, the third paradigm becomes critical for the evaluation of positive impacts on workers and fostering of motivational change to achieve the desired outcomes.
References
Burke, W. (2017). Organizational change: Theory and practice. Boca Raton, FL: SAGE Publications.
Maslow, A. (2013). A theory of human motivation. New York, NY: Martino Fine Books.