Technology Management

Question 1:

Discuss in detail “Managing change”. Address each of the following:

Source of change,

Nature of change,

Problem diagnosis.

Answer

Change management is the process of shifting of technology, organization, person, processes or political balance from current state to the next state. Change management can either be on the part of organization or an individual, it is about transforming and modifying in order to maintain or improve effectiveness. People resist and act conservative while undergoing a change. From organizational perspective changes include mission/vision changes, strategic changes, operational changes, technological changes and behavioral changes. Change affects entire organization both outside and inside the organization. Both the organization and the employees get under pressure while undergoing a change. Management requires some basic skills for managing changes that include:

Skills to identify the problem.

Skills to formulate techniques and strategies to solve those problems.

Skills of implementing the processes leading towards change (Argyris, 1970).

Sources of Change

Technological aspect of change exists both in internal sources of change and external sources of change. Employees need to be trained and keep updated to comply with the technological advancements to stay competitive. The source giving arousal to a change may either be:

Internal Sources of Change

Internal changes arouse from technological shift, organization's financial position, labor unions, downsizing, etc.

External Sources of Change

External change may arise from globalization, technological shift, Ethical/lifestyle change, law & order situation or environmental change (Heerwagen, J, et. al, 12-15-2010)

Nature of Change

Change management according to its nature may fall in category of systematic change, reduction in hierarchy, strategic change, operations change or evolutionary change. Changes may be classified as:

Planned Change

Organizational evolution and expansion is a classification of planner nature change. Organization may have developed long term or short term evolutionary plans to improve system, processes, workforce quality or current technology they might be both internal as well as external.

Unplanned Change

Unplanned changes are unexpected changes that arouse suddenly. These also might both be internal or external including arising from workforce unions, governmental policies,

Problem Diagnosis

Problem diagnosis is the investigation to find out the root cause of any problem. Proper resource allocation is required to help diagnose forces and factors and resolve the problem. Technology facilitates rapid detection, diagnosis and diffusion of problem by insuring systematic, detailed, clear and reliable methods and techniques like rapid detection of problem, continuous monitoring and correction from deviation ant it may include following steps:

Is the problem recoverable?

Does it need to be resolved?

Are adequate resources available?

How long will it take?

Is this the appropriate time? (Ishikawa, K, 1915-89)

Question2:

Discuss in detail “Mentoring”. Address each of the following:

Nature of mentorship.

Mentoring functions.

Characteristics of good mentors.

Answer

A mentor is generally defined as a person with experience in an organization that has gained a certain rank or achievement and can support the professional development of people with less experience in that organization (Baugh, 1999). Mentoring can have a deep positive or negative effect on career outcomes. Mentor holds a respectable position in society and mentoring has shown to have a positive effect on career progression in many researches (Social behavior and personality, ...