Organization Development Process Learning and Changing

Question: Discuss about the Organization Development Process for Learning and Changing. Answer: Introduction: Organizational change implies the method of reviewing and assessing the structure, workplace culture or the business process of an organization, and proposing the necessary change accordingly. An organization that does not change in accordance with the changing market situation or consumer preferences will be doomed very soon. Stagnation is not desirable for any organization, and thus, the effective formulation and implementation of the change management strategies is highly important (Alvesson, 2012). Though the introduction of an organizational change often induces employee resistance, it should be noted that the organizational change is important and its scope should be appreciated by every single entity of a company. With the advent of scientific progress and technological advancement, there has been an increasing rate of technological awareness among the consumers, who no longer wish to visit the physical stores for availing services. Hence, retail supermarkets, like Woolworths or Tesco has introduced the option of virtual marketing, and this meant a radical change in the business process of the companies. Though the employees were initially skeptical about the benefits of the training sessions, meant for grooming their technical skills, the change ultimately yielded great financial benefits for the companies as well as the employees. This way, an organization not only succeeds in bringing innovation to its production process, but is also capable of satisfying the changing nee ds and expectations of the consumers. The very reason, why change should be appreciated by the management authority as well as the employees of an organization, is that it widens the horizon of knowledge and professional expertise of the employees (Ostroff Schulte, 2014). It helps the employees in the process of learning new things, exploring new opportunities, as well as helping them nurture their creative skills. Besides, the change in structure or workplace culture, allows the free flow of fresh ideas that serves to motivate the employees, once they realize the benefits of the same (Benn et al., 2014). The organizational change is highly important, for an organization, as it helps in increasing employee efficiency and productivity of the organization. Usually organizational change is being appreciated because of its ability to offer financial benefits to an organization. However, it should be noted that often the organizational structure undergoes a radical change, and the change itself encourages the employees, to work with greater flexibility and autonomy. For example, if a company does not have a friendly workplace culture, the employees will fail to co-ordinate and collaborate with each other for achieving the goals (Alvesson Sveningsson, 2015). In such situations, what companies usually do, is provide training sessions to the employees, which improve the soft and communication skills of the employees. Thus, the change apparently benefitting the organization, also results in improving the career growth opportunities of the employees. Although the organizational changes are lik ely to represent challenges, the change offer new learning opportunities to the staffs, helps the organization expand, and gain a competitive advantage over the rival firms. An organization that fails to adapt itself to the changes and innovation, will fail to sustain and thrive (Cummings Worley, 2014). The implementation of the organizational change is undoubtedly important, as it brings about a positive significant change on the performance of the organization as well as the individual employees. However, very few organizations have witnessed successful change management, as the introduction of substantive change does not guarantee organizational success. Every recognized organization, at some point of time, has tried to introduce fundamental change in the process of business operation, and yet very few corporate change efforts have enjoyed success. The lack of organized approach and systematic planning, lack of effective communication, absence of employee involvement and enthusiasm are some of the common reasons, behind the failure of the organizational change. One of the significant barriers to the organizational change is the lack of employee engagement. The employees are supposed to get involved in the change process actively. Though the management authority initiates the change, the duty of the successful implementation of the change rests with the employees. Hence, each organization, before initiating the change is expected to organize meetings and interactive sessions with the employees, for communicating the purpose and benefits of the change, and asking for their opinions over the matter (Burke Noumair, 2015). This was in fact the problem with Nokia. Though the organization had an impressive portfolio of innovation as well as patents, the company failed to communicate the purpose of the change effectively to its employees. As a result, the company has failed to sustain itself, and was left with no option, other than to merge with Microsoft (Aspara et al., 2013). The problem with Nokia was never lack of innovation, or adaptability t o technological change, since the company launched a touch screen, three years back before Apple. The lack of employee engagement and involvement, made a huge difference. Any kind of change, the purpose and benefits of which, is not well-communicated, and is bound to collapse. A sudden change creates fear and apathy, among the employees towards a new culture. The lack of critical analysis of the present potentiality of an organization, in term of the resources, both financial and human, leads to the failure of the organizational change. If the current state and situation of the business organization is unknown to its employees, they will fail to implement the change in an effective way. An organization should not implement a change, only because it is willing to gain competitive advantage over the rival giants, as it should always access and analyze the present blueprint of the company, while implementing the change. Each new change, a company seeks to introduce, will always carry a financial price tag. If a change fails to be implemented in an effective way, it is bound to exercise a negative impact on the organizational reputation of the company. A small organization in Australia, for instance, if intends to imitate the footsteps of Tesco, and decides to offer a new payment system, it must analyze the financial expenditure involved in t he process, as well as the potential of the existent employees. Usually a small and emerging firm like this, will need to incur the additional expenditure of training the employees, in the necessary technical skills, failing which the employees will not be able to implement the change successfully (Gioia et al., 2013). 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