Leading in a altering WorlD



Leading in a Changing World

Leading in a Changing World

Introduction

The classic role of managers in an organisation is to establish and enforce the use of policies, procedures, and methods that reduce uncertainty in organisational outputs and outcomes (Wheatley, 2006, 48). Indeed, the bureaucratic usual actions taken up by organisations boost predictability, reduce doubt within organisations, and “get every person on the identical page.”

However, the need for organisational change is often rooted in threats or uncertainties. These threats may be due to poor firm performance or trends that suggest the organisation is vulnerable to loss of market share, competitive advantages, or critical resources. Some studies of change suggest that organisations may experience periods of equilibrium where patterns of behaviour are stable (Stogdill, 2006, 73). In periods of equilibrium, any changes made by the organisation may be incremental and aimed at better aligning and maintaining the current congruence among system components (Sergiovanni, 2002, 22). These have also been described as “first-level” changes, which do not alter organisational relationships, but are aimed at incremental improvement within the existing structure and task design.

Discussion

Strategic organisational changes raise questions about the organisation's purpose and identity and have been described as second-level changes (Hoyle, 2002, 71). These are often interventions that involve reorganisation and/or major alteration of one or more selected subsystems. Third-level changes are organisationwide efforts that involve altering the beliefs, values, and interrelationships of all subsystems of the organisation. Second-and third-level changes are most often undertaken as designed changes. In planned changes, managers seek involvement and commitment of organisational members in planning and specifying the nature of the changes (Hoy, Miskel, 2004, 66).

Appropriate Change for Organisation

The type of change appropriate for an organisation depends on both business complexity and sociotechnical uncertainty. Business complexity includes the extent of differentiation of the organisation, organisation size and geographical dispersion, interdependencies among functions, number of products and services offered, and diversity of technologies employed. Greater complexity increases the number of stakeholders who must be involved in a change and the range of penalties that should be anticipated. Sociotechnical uncertainty is defined as the extent to which there are clearly known ways to approach problems and established procedures and job roles. Higher levels of sociotechnical uncertainty imply that outcomes are less certain. When complexity and sociotechnical uncertainties are greater, firms may be more likely to engage in planned changes (House, 2006, 32).

Planned organisational changes have had the most consistent effects on organisational work settings, including coordination and control of work, reward system, social interactions, organisational culture, and technology. Planned interventions also significantly impacted individual employee behaviour (including job performance, effort, open communication, collaboration, and organisational citizenship behaviors,) and organisational outcomes (including profits, market share, market position, productivity, rates of turnover, absenteeism, and grievances).

Leadership as a personal quality is a remnant of the great man theories of the 1950s, when personality traits and other human capabilities that gave individuals advantage over others dominated the literature on leadership. In 1981, Ralph Stogdill classified these personal qualities or traits ...