BUSINESS CULTURE

Business Culture and Change

Executive summary

Organizational change is a concept that regularly occurs due to the nature of today's business environment. (McNamara, 2007) It is common in business communications, strategy, management and leadership. (McNamara, 2007) Change occurs when an organization revolutionizes parts or its entire strategy and/or wants to change the way it operates. (McNamara, 2007) Thus, it involves the realigning of organizational processes and operations. In order to remain competitive and successful in today's business environment, organizations must continually undergo changes by being innovative. (McNamara, 2007) Therefore, change plays a major role in the longevity, maturity, and success of any organization.

In today's business environment, there are many factors that compel organizations to change such as globalization of markets and rapidly evolving technology. "Organizations must change because their environments change,” according to Andrew Sturdy in his article Management Beneath and Beyond Organizational Change Management: exploring Alternatives. (Sturdy, 2003, p. 652) Today, businesses are bombarded by incredibly high rates of change from a large number of internal and external sources. (Nadler, 1981) Internal pressures tend to come from top managers and lower-level employees who push for change. (Goff, 2000) On the other hand, external pressures tend to arise from changes in the legal, competitive, technological, and economic environments. (Goff, 2000)People have deep attachments to their organization's normal work groups, duties, processes, and operations. (McNamara, 2007) Therefore, every change in an organization experiences some level or sort of resistance. Change resistance involves the pessimistic feelings and thoughts about a change(s) in an organization. (McNamara, 2007) It can result in jeopardizing or experiencing losses in productivity and profitability in an organization. (Oreg, 2006) Thus, managing and overcoming the resistance to change in an organization is essential to its survival.

Managing organizational change is the process of planning and implementing change in organizations in order to minimize employee resistance while maximizing the effectiveness of the change effort. (Nadler, 1981) It involves promoting the concept of change in organizations and having the skill to manage and lead change effectively. (Nadler, 1981) Furthermore, the purpose of this research is to explore the driving forces and resistance of organizational change and strategies for overcoming the resistance to change in today's business environment.

Table of Contents

Introduction5

Discussion6

Internal Driving Forces To Change9

External Driving Forces To Change11

Resistance To Change12

Managing and Overcoming Resistance To Change14

Recommendation16

Conclusion17

References19

Business Culture

Introduction

Organizations are dynamic settings in that they are continually changing. To change something means either altering, varying or modifying it in some way. Changes have occurred gradually in organizations since the days of F.W. Taylor, from the methods he used, to the mechanization and automatic production lines of modern industry. (Handy c. 1993)

The organization is typically viewed as an open system in constant interaction with its context, transforming inputs into outputs as a means of creating the conditions necessary for survival. Traditional theories have been dominated by the idea that change originates in the environment both internal and external. Changes in the environment are viewed as presenting challenges to which the organization must ...