Change and Leadership

Change and Leadership

Introduction

Initiating and sustaining any significant change in well-established organizations is a challenge to those who undertake and lead such change (Kotter, 1995). Organizations present unique challenges to change agents. This article begins by providing a theoretical framework, which has been found useful by leaders who are seeking to understand the dynamics and processes of complex organizations (Bolman & Deal, 1997).

This paper discusses to use a multi-frame view for leadership for the US car industry and also discusses the effective leadership process which could help to turn around the corporation.

Discussion

Bolman, an organizational theory scholar, and Deal, an educational leadership scholar, while team teaching a graduate course when both were on the faculty at Harvard, discovered that they came at their work from very different perspectives. As they explored these differences over time and attempted to locate them within the larger field of the organizational and leadership literature, they discovered that their work and the work of others as well fit within four comprehensive “frames”. (Bass 2005)

The Multi-Frame Approach

The four frames they constructed are the structural frame, the human resource frame, the political frame, and the symbolic frame (Bolman & Deal, 1997). Each of these frames begins with very different assumptions about organizations and leads to different strategies and solutions. While each frame provides for particular insights into organizational dynamics, each, by itself, fails to provide for a comprehensive understanding. Subsequent research has led to the conclusion that leaders who use "multi-frame" perspectives are likely to be more successful than those who use a single-frame approach.

To give the reader a better understanding of the multi-frame approach, it will be helpful to know about each frame:

* The structural frame focuses on the formal organization, including the official goals of the organization; the formal way in which the organization is structured, typically illustrated by an organizational chart; and descriptions of the formal roles of organizational participants. An assumption of the structural frame is that naturally designed organization works best.

* The human resource frame, on the other hand, focuses on the relationship between the organization and its members, with special attention to motivation and morale. An assumption behind this frame is that organizations need people and people need organizations.

* The political frame provides yet another perspective, as it focuses on the power relationships within organizations and the ways in which scarce resources (broadly defined to include human time and energy) influence organizational dynamics. Organizational members form coalitions and interest groups, often across formal organizational divisions and with external allies, to negotiate for resources. An assumption of this flame is that conflict is inevitable, even necessary, as coalitions vie for influence among groups with competing goals and interests.

* The symbolic frame offers yet another perspective, as it focuses on the meanings and values that undergird organizational life. The organizational culture carries norms that tell members how to act and behave and are taken for granted by those inside the organization. Meaning and values are communicated in "symbolic" ...