Formative assignment.

Introduction.
As rightly stated by Kotter (Pg. 59,1995) a lot of companies have gone through tremendous
transformation. The environment in which we prevail is changing with passing time, be it in
terms of customer perception or people within the organization as well.
According to a 2013 strategy report the success rate of major change initiatives is barely
around 54 percent. The sole reason why most the companies fail to adapt to change is because
they lack the expertise required to drive the company on the path to success(Aquire &
Alpern), if the sales department of a particular company cant meet its targets the manager /
leader is to be blamed not anyone else.
But is change easy in todays time? Change altogether is a long term process, its not just
about the external environment in which the firm operate but also the internal environment
which drives the organisation (Morgan & Brightman Pg. 66, 2000). It takes time, effort and
money to bring about the change and its also a long term process which yield collective
results over a period of time. (Kotter, Pg. 59)
Ultimately the workforce is the base on which everything works and they are the drivers of
the organization whereas the other aspects are intangible in nature i.e. the external
environment and the consumer with their changing needs and preferences. As we go through
an era where technology is advancing at an alarming rate it becomes even more difficult to
predict, what the expectations of the end consumer is? (Aquire & Alpern). Therefore those
organizations which adapt themselves to ever changing needs survive whereas rest perish.
(Morgan & Brightman Pg. 67, 2000)
One of the greatest example which can be sited would be of BRITISH AIRWAYS back in
1981, when the company bought on board a new chairman and his method of effective
change management resistance communication resulted in the profitability of the company.
(Faucheux & Scheid 2015)

Main context
So ultimately what factors drive the organization towards successful change? Let us look at
the internal factors,
The most fundamental aspect of change is leadership and at the same time the willingness of
individuals of the organization to accept change. (Kotter pg60, April 1995).Human being
resist change, its not in their nature to change, and they cling to thing which they are
comfortable with and easy to function. Some dont even want more, the greed factor just does
not even exist, and they are just contented with whatever they have.
Therefore, it all draws down to the leaders ability to push people, to make them understand
the necessity as well the future perceptive of change for the betterment of the organization
and themselves. (http://work911.com/articles/leadchange.htm)

But sometimes executives underestimate how hard it can be to drive people out of their
comfort zone, they lack the patience, all they expect is change to take place overnight.(kotter
pg. 60 1995). Organizational change is a slow process, it takes time, money, efforts and
ultimately if not given enough amount of time then the whole process comes tumbling down
which will not be very cost efficient for the organization.
Motivation also acts as a key factor to success, most of the time organizations fail to change
because they lack pure essence of motivation. (Kotter pg60 1991) People require motivation
at every step not just during organizational change but at the same day to day functioning,
(Ready, pg. 1, July 24 2013)
The most common example would be the company APPCO, the company runs on motivation,
and a purely sales oriented company which mainly believes that motivation is the key through
which one can change the mentality of people.
But are motivation and leadership the only fundamental components? Not really, as rightly
stated by kotter (pg. 60, 1995) a sense of urgency has to be created in the forefront. People
need to realise the importance of change, the reason why a transformation is required, most of
the time leaders understands this and undermine whether the people have understood the
same or not. (Kotter pg. 60, 1995, workey & vick 2005, volume 8 issue2)
Implementing change poorly is often worse than not implementing change at all. (workey &
vick, 2005 volume 8 issue2)
Another most important aspect of successful change would be the involvement of the
manager with the company leaders. Involvement breeds commitment (workey & vick
2005, volume 8 issue2). Involving the mangers in the decision making process will give them
an insight as to what is expected out of them and why the company is looking to bring a
change. The leaders need to step into their shoes and understand the situation and not get
carried away with the fact that they are the key decision makers. ( Ann Gilley, Jerry W.
Gilley and Heather S. McMillan, pg. 80, volume 21, 2009).
The above point can easily explained in this example, at American Heathway one of the 1st
things CEO ben leedle did was commission a task force of people across the organization to
study the organizations existing structure and recommend change and alternatives. By
involving key people in the analysis Heedle extended his own personnel commitment into the
organization. The task force members became convinced of the need for change and put in
efforts to bring about the message. The message was pretty much clear to them. (workey &
vick 2005, volume 8 issue2)
But would it worthwhile to have the changes in the organization just in the present context
i.e. on temporary basis? Not really, organizations having a more futuristic approach last
longer. It is the long term vision of the organization which drives them further and keeps
them thriving for success (greed factor). (workey & vick 2005, volume 8 issue2). As rightly
stated by Kotter (Pg.66, 1995) organizations often declare their victor pretty soon, leaders
dont let the essence of change seep into people. There are times when organizations actually
move slowly and dont let the change process take its due course of time.
This can be rightly seen in terms of the mobile company NOKIA. The company was a leader
in the smartphone segment, but at the same time it moved too slowly and wasnt futuristic. It

could adapt to the changing environment and by the time the company realised its flaws it
lost its market share and customer loyalty. (Chang, 2012, 5 Reasons Why Nokia Lost Its
Handset Sales Lead and Got Downgraded to, Junkhttp://www.wired.com/2012/04/5reasons-why-nokia-lost-its-handset-sales-lead-and-got-downgraded-to-junk/)
After the company has achieved a signifiant amount of change its essential that the change
becomes a part of the organisation.( Kotter, Pg 67,1995). The organisation must show how
exactly has the change affectted the company and in what way has driven the company to
success. (Kotter, Pg 67, 1995)
Apart from the internal factors there are external factors as well which lead to the success of
organizations. Technological advancement and innovation play a major role in the building
up the company. Successful Innovation Enables Creativity. (stelter, 2014)
For Example, the company GOPRO breaking SONYs market share in terms of action
camera. The company has taken innovation to the next level and ultimately ranked first
among the action camera. The company offers a variety of products in the same price
segment with innovation in technology with every new product introduced into the market.
(Stelter , 2014 , https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140423115910-2094702-successfulinnovation-enables-creativity)
Innovation being an important factor there are other aspects which lead to successful
organizational change such economic factors, competition in the market and legal issues.
(Boundless, concept version 9) Competition and legal issues which are always going to
exist. Competition is a factor which can be dealt with but legal issues the organization will
have to adhere too. The best example a company coping up with competition would be that of
the company FACEBOOK. The company realises a fact that even a slightest technological
advancement by a rival company would break its market, thats precisely why it acquired
companies like Instagram, whats app, oculus, etc. (Dredge,20thFebruary 2014)
Organizations with a complete blend of all these factors are likely to survive in the market
since it gives the firm the cutting edge over others.

Conclusion.
So ultimately we can conclude that for successful change management the organization must
take into account the internal and external factors. Change management must first begin with
internal change rather than external, if the organization accepts change from the base level
and follows a bottom-up theory then the external factors become easy to adapt to.
The organization must have a long term holistic approach and must be clear on as to how it
assumes to be in the long run because change is something mandatory for an organization, it
is going to take place time and again.

Bibliography.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/piq.20039/pdf
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinready/2013/07/24/a-hidden-risk-of-big-organizational-change/
http://www.refresher.com/Archives/!gsljopposites.html
http://www.refresher.com/Archives/!holder7.html
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/20/facebook-whatsapp-acquisition-appsmessaging
http://www.wired.com/2012/04/5-reasons-why-nokia-lost-its-handset-sales-lead-and-gotdowngraded-to-junk/
https://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2010/08/leading-and-managing-change/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140423115910-2094702-successful-innovation-enablescreativity