ASSIGNMENT

Course Code : MS-25

Course Title : Managing Change in Organisations

Assignment No. : MS-25/TMA/Sem-II/2020

Coverage : All Blocks

Note: Attempt all the questions and submit this assignment to the Coordinator of your Study
Centre on or before 31st October, 2020.

1. Describe and discuss turnaround and work redesign as methods in order to bring change
in the organisations. Cite Examples.

2. What are the reasons for change to occur in an organisation? Discuss and Describe
giving examples.

3. Describe and discuss the sources of resistance to change in an organisation. Discuss

with reference to an organisation and explain how the organisation overcame
resistance.

4. Describe and discuss two types of interventions to bring change in an organisation and
their merits and demerits.

5. Discuss the need for indigenous management in developing countries and the
complexity of management of change. Give examples.
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ASSIGNMENT REFERENCE MATERIAL (July20 to Dec20)

MS-25

MANAGING CHANGE IN ORGANISATIONS

Q1. Describe and discuss turnaround and work redesign as methods in order to bring
change in the organisations. Cite Examples.

Ans. By analyzing some of the important organisational case studies and understanding the

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approaches undertaken by people who were responsible for turnarounds, Khandwalla
observes that:

Ø Turnarounds can create rather volatile situation — they evoke images such as those
of war, endangered survival, junkyard pile.

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Ø During a crisis the turnaround leader acts on numerous fronts. He/she articulates a
credible vision and strategic intent. The CEO’s job is shaping concept and the structure by
which the concept would be implemented across the board, and often dramatically (boom;
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strike; crash). He/she becomes a bridge to various stakeholders to rope them into the
turnaround. The CEO tackles the immediate cash or other crises on the war footing. He/she
imposes a philosophy (Do it now!’), sometimes by crying a credible wolf (‘the leader’s job is

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to help everyone see that the platform is burning’). The CEO keeps up the energy of people
by personal example (work harder than anybody else, seven days a week, 24 hours a day). As
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Business Week put it, ‘Turnaround artists have uncommon stamina, a thirst for action, and
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some of the biggest egos in businesses.

Ø The turnaround leader often simplifies the immensely complicated turnaround task
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to get the organisation moving (fix it, sell it, or shoot it; improve corporate image and that’s,
it; VERC: volume earning, returns, casing; ‘business don’t fail, people do’). But at the same
he/she reserves flexibility (‘one pill cannot kill all ailments; strategies are simple, there
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execution is not).
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Ø The turnaround leader tasks some tough questions that can shatter preconceptions
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(what’s strategic, what’s diseases, what’s under performing). To get answers he/she needs to
circulate among the workers (how could we achieve 20-20-20). He/she needs to break up big
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problems into smaller manageable ones, and scrape away the encrustations to get to the core
of problems.

Ø The turnaround leader often has to take risky actions that can go either way.

Ø The turnaround leader has to discriminate between what is good for the
organisation and good for employees, especially the no performing ones. He/she cannot
afford to be soft and sentimental but he/she need not be callous either. Some turnaround
leaders may, however, use separations or punishments to send a message to the rest (if you
can’t get under the limbo rack, good-bye’; ‘public hangings’ of change resisters). Others may
move those that can deliver into strategic positions.

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Ø The turnaround leader acts authoritarian on the assumption that people like
dependency (‘A lot of people want to be led’; ‘People need to be told here’s where we are
going and why’).

Ø The turnaround leader has to manage the anxiety and insecurity of the staff, and
turn them into constructive action through straight talk, consultation, credible plan of action,
incentives, decisiveness, tolerance for honest mistakes, and new skills.

Ø The turnaround leader has to co-opt the doubters, the indifferent, even the
adversaries, into a team inspired by a common purpose (sing from the same song sheet).

Ø The turnaround leader has to empower people down the line to take decisions.

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Alternative Uses of Work Redesign

Our suggestion that work redesign can only occasionally be used to “turnaround” intact work
systems could be taken as an occasion for great pessimism. Indeed one conclusion could be
that we should give up on job redesign as a change strategy.

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Q2. What are the reasons for change to occur in an organisation? Discuss and Describe
giving examples.
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Ans. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) involves the total creative rethinking of one or
more of a company’s business processes. The process of reengineering itself has no fixed
rules. However, in his landmark book, identified common themes found in reengineered

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processes. Some of these include:
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Several jobs are combined into one

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Work normally performed by a number of specialists in different functional departments can
now be performed by one individual or team. Through shared databases and decision support
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systems this generalist has access to all the required information and expert systems make a
sound decision.
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Workers make real decisions

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They have full grasp of the entire process and can take responsibility if a customer is
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dissatisfied. Creativity, ability to work independently and a sense of responsibility are

required attributes of this “new worker.” Managers act more as coaches than “bean counters”.
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Work is performed where it makes the most sense

A product development team, for example, instead of being spread out over multiple
locations and departments is now under one roof or group. When a team member makes
design changes those changes are immediately propagated to other team members for review.

Checks and Controls are reduced, Reconciliation and the associated overhead is minimized.

For example, in the care of Ford Motor Company invoices are no longer reconciled with what
is shipped because a shipment is not received unless it agrees with the original invoice.

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Further, suppliers are not paid until their parts are actually used in production, thus forcing
the supplier to deliver quality and to be in tune with Ford’s production schedules.

A case manager provides a single point of contact.

When a customer calls with a compliant, one person is responsible and takes ownership for
the resolution of that complaint. BRP involves significant organisational change and that
managing the change process must therefore be critical to the success of such undertakings
with all its major implications.

Changing Role of Employees: Reengineering also needs change in the beheaviour of

employees, their mindset, attitudes etc. Hammer & Champy’s “New World of Work” is very
much addressed to those that survive BPR, change their behavior and are self managed. They

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shall be rewarded with more fulfilling work. They also advocate for ‘empowering staff’,
encouraging ‘team working’, and developing a ‘communications programme’. Hammer is
quite clear where he stands:

“Teamwork and Empowerment are abstractions and generalities around which it’s impossible
to get one’s arms. They describe characteristics or attributes that one might want an

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organisation to exhibit, but there is no direct way to achieve them. They are consequences of
process designs and they can only be achieved in that context”.
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Total Quality Management is a management approach that originated in the 1950s and has
steadily become more popular since the early 1980s. Total Quality is a description of the
culture, attitude and organisation of a company that strives to provide customers with

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products and services that satisfy their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects of the
company’s operations, with processes being done right the first time and defects and waste
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eradicated from operations.

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TQM Defined
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TQM is a management philosophy that seeks to integrate all organisational functions

(marketing, finance, design, engineering, and production, customer service, etc.) to focus on
meeting customer needs and organisational objectives.
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TQM views an organisation as a collection of processes. It maintains that organisations must

strive to continuously improve these processes by incorporating the knowledge and
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experiences of workers. The simple objective of TQM is “Do the right things, right the first
time, every time”. TQM is infinitely variable and adaptable. Although originally applied to
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manufacturing operations, and for a number of years only used in that area, TQM is now
becoming recognised as a generic management tool, just as applicable in service and public
sector organisations. There are a number of evolutionary strands, with different sectors
creating their own versions from the common ancestor. TQM is the foundation for activities,
which include:

(i) Commitment by senior management and all employees

(ii) Meeting customer requirements

(iii) Reducing development cycle times

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(iv) Just In Time/Demand Flow Manufacturing

(v) Improvement teams

(vi) Reducing product and service costs

(vii) Systems to facilitate improvement

(viii) Line Management ownership

Q3. Describe and discuss the sources of resistance to change in an organisation. Discuss
with reference to an organisation and explain how the organisation overcame resistance.

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Ans. A change is part of life. All growth and development related activities are part of change
process. An individual has to pass thorough these stages. First stage is maturation means he
acquires certain capability or capacities to do certain things, which he was not capable to do
earlier. Second stage is acquisition of particular behaviour mode, knowledge and skill. Thus
change can be experienced in attitude, skills, ideas and abilities etc. But change is not a
smooth process people do resist change. There are individuals and groups, who are hostile to

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idea of innovation or change in management or the introduction of new technology for
production.
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After in depth study for resistance to change, several explanations are given some of them
are:

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1. The change itself produces disequilibrium.
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2. Deeply rooted habits are strong resistance to change.

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3. The anxiety arises due to new working conditions.
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4. Insecurity created by the ambiguity, related to change.

The resistance has a protective function for the individual. Opposition to change may be
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logical and grouped on well-supported reasons.

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There are six conditions, which are conducive or contributing to resistance to change:
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i) When change is unclear or not explained to individuals.

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ii) Different feelings of individuals to resist.

iii) Strong feeling of individuals to result

iv) Biased decision of management.

v) Change is imposed against established norms, trades etc.

vi) Negative consequences of change.

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Examples:

• People trained in problem solving and/or statistical tools who do not use them.

• People saying yes when asked to complete a task and then not doing it or avoiding it.

Sources Of Organisation Resistance:

Factors built in the organisational system also lead to resistance to change.

It has observed that organisations are conservative and are therefore slow to change.

1) Inertia of a structure

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2) Threat to power Dynamics

3) Group pressures

4) Blinkered view of change.

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For change to be effective management of resistance to change at individual and group level
is extremely important. By anticipating, identifying and welcoming resistance the managers
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will get an opportunity to change the objection into the energy for change.

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Q4. Describe and discuss two types of interventions to bring change in an organisation

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and their merits and demerits.
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Ans:- 1) Structural interventions:- Strategic change almost always requires changes in

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functions, role, responsibilities, decision-making procedures and co-ordination mechanisms.
As business environments become more dynamic through deregulation, increased
competition and technological changes, organisations face increasing pressures to become
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more organic. There are two aspects of structures: a) at the organisational level, structure can
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be functional, divisional or a matrix form, and b) at the intra-organisational level, structure

includes teamwork, Decentralisation of decision making and empowerment
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Structural Way
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ð Sbu / Or Project Manager Structure or Functional Structure

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ð Manufacturing Companies or Project Management Company

ð Business Sectors-Relationships

ð Hierarchical Differentiations And Interaction

ð Work Design

Structural Interventions

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This refers to intervention or change efforts aimed at improving organisation effectiveness

through changes in the task and structural and technological sub-system. This class of
interventions includes changes in the division of overall work the organisation into units,
reporting relationships, work flow and procures, and role definitions, methods of control, and
spatial arrangements of equipment and people, etc.

Job Design

Job design refers to the way that a set of tasks, or an entire job, is organised. Job design helps
to determine: What are the tasks done, how they are done and what is the order in which they
are done, etc.

It takes into account all factors, which affect the work, and organises the content and tasks so

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that the whole job is less likely to be risk to the employee. Job design involves administrative
areas such as:

ð Job rotation,

ð Job enlargement,

ð Task/machine pacing,

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ð Working hours.

A well designed job takes into account the basic principles of ergonomics that will encourage

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a variety of ‘good’ body positions, have reasonable strength requirements and reasonable
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amount of mental activity. A well designed job also contributes to feelings of achievement
and self-esteem.
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Job design principles can address problems such as:
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ð Work overload,

ð Work under load,

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ð Repetitiveness,
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ð Isolation
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ð Shift work,

ð Delays in filling vacant positions,

ð Excessive working hours, and

ð Limited understanding of the whole job process.

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Q5. Discuss the need for indigenous management in developing countries and the
complexity of management of change. Give examples.

Ans. Organisations are socio-technical systems with specific objectives of producing goods
and services for their clientele. In order to manage such organisations effectively, it is
necessary to understand how these systems work. Social scientists working in the field of
organisational behaviour have proposed many theories and techniques that have helped
management practitioners not only to understand the complexities of production and service
objectives.

The need for indigenous management

Every organisation must deal with the management of its internal and external environments,

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i.e. the management of the people and technology within the organisation as well as the
management of relations with the environment external to or outsider the organisation.

Every organisation has the basic purpose of achieving two sets of objectives with respect to
the management of its human resources. The first has to do with improving the performance
of organisational members to deliver goods and services for which the organisation is formed

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in the first place. Productivity of a given organisation- whether it is measured in terms of
units produced, volume of sales accomplished, quality of services rendered, amount of profit
margin, or cost effectiveness of the operation – is largely dependent on the performance of
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organisational members, be they managers or rank and file workers.

Complexity of management

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