Problems Identified

Discuss about the Organizational Change for Linking Research.

Change is the transition from a know state to an unknown state and is influenced by uncertainty and insecurity. The case ‘The Philippine Daily Inquirer’ depicts a situation wherein the leading newspaper experiences a need for organisational change to cope up with rapidly changing technology and business processes to meet the demands of the modern marketplace. The globalisation of markets, advancement in technology and generational differences among employees are the three main pressures for change experienced by Inquirer (Hellriegel and John W. Slocum, 2011).  To retain its market position Inquirer needs to adapt to changing technology, change its complacent organisational culture and manage resistance to change shown by employees. Different organisational behaviour theories and concepts are used to identify the problems, analyse them and provide recommendations.

As the company moved from one growth phase to another it faced a number of organisational behavioural problems. When the company moved to their brand-new building in Makati and new employees were hired pioneers could sense the changes wherein old employee felt that new employee lack enough experience and are not aware of sacrifices made by old employees. This symptom points out to the generational difference that was building up within the company and was soon to become a source to unhealthy competition and rivalry among employees (Robbins and Judge., 2013). Generational difference if not managed effectively on time has adverse affects on company’s organisational culture. Later in the case it is seen how the new employees hired for forming an independent web-focused group was seen as rivals by the old editors. These two groups would not work in cooperation with each other even though this cooperation was essential for the successful future of the Inquirer. The company thus was facing a need for change in organisational culture owing to pressure caused by generational difference between old and new employees.

Advancement in technology with the introduction of internet and feature rich mobile devices lead to a decline in newspaper readership as more and more people preferred reading news online anytime, anywhere. Inquirer was facing a need to adapt to changing ways of working and invest more on developing their website along with remaining competitive in newspaper publishing. Old employees at Inquirer were showing resistance to change as they were adapted to old ways of working and were facing a threat of competition from new employees.

Analysis and Evaluation

Letty’s micro-management style was also hampering the culture of the company and was actually serving as a barrier to future goals.

As analysis of the problems faced by Inquirer shows that the company is suffering from a culture of complacency wherein its pioneers and old employees are satisfied with how things are working currently and is unaware of the fact that to survive in changing times it is important to make them better (Tucker, 2010). Pioneers and old employees at Inquirer are ignoring the urgency of change that is caused by advancement in technology and generational difference. Inquirer is also facing. The company had developed a culture of dictatorship and faced issues owing to Letty’s micro-management leadership style. As depicted in the case study pioneers and old employees are showing resistance to change as they have become slaves to traditional newspaper process. Owing to the culture of complacency existing within the company, employees experience a feeling of self-satisfaction and contentment which is coupled with an unawareness of upcoming dangers and troubles (Allen and Skelton, 2005). Inquirer’s pioneers and old employees have entered a comfort zone wherein their roles, position and power to control people and things are clearly defined. These employees are experiencing a threat to lose their position and power if the changes are implemented. Pioneers and old employees are trying to prove that the new employees are not experienced enough as they were not associated with the company in tough times. They are not ready to adapt with the generational differences instead are treating new employees hired to form an independent web-focused group as their rivals resulting in an unhealthy competitive work culture.

The case depicts high level of centralisation at the top management within the editorial group. Almost all planning and decision making is done by pioneers and lower level or new employees are not involved in the process of decision making (McShane et al., 2015). There is a culture of autocracy which stems from Letty’s micro-management leadership style. She comes late to the office because of which the complete newspaper process gets delay and has a direct impact on news website. Junior editors followed all her decisions and instructions as she had gained high respect and control being one of the pioneer editors. Nothing went on the first page of the newspaper without her guidance and scrutiny. This high level of centralisation within the editorial group was a threat to Inquirer’s competitive advantage and market position as the complete newspaper production was affected by it. Current level of departmentalisation is also adding to cultural problems at Inquirer and is giving rise to unhealthy competition among different departments which must work in coordination with each other to achieved desired organisational goals and create a unified Inquirer brand (King and Lawley, 2013). The employees in the newspaper department and web-focused department saw each other as rivals making cooperation between the two departments very difficult.

Recommendations

The editorial group at Inquirer is currently facing the storming stage of team development wherein they are working with new members and teams and are unaware of each other competencies and needs. At this stage of team development team members compete with each other instead of working in cooperation (Wheelan, 2014). They compete for acceptance of their ideas and status within the team. Letty who is one of the most respected editors and leaders at Inquirer is described as a slave to traditional newspaper process; she comes late to office because of which the complete newspaper process is delayed. She has a micro-management leadership style wherein she controls and directs her subordinates and ensures that nothing is moved to front page of newspaper without her approval (White, 2010). She acts as if all other editors lack the competence required to perform the tasks in desired ways. Her leadership style is affecting Inquirer change process in an adverse way and is giving rise to resistance to change. She knows that the changes required are important but her actions are not in favour of change. To retain Inquirer market position and competitive advantage it is important to change its organisational culture and make it more adaptive to the environment. Lewin’s change management model can be used to bring about desired changes in Inquirer organisational culture (Bateh, Castaneda and Farah, 2013). The three steps of unfreeze, move and refreeze needs to be followed in a sequential manner. Sandy must clearly communicate inquirer’s mission to all old and new employees and create urgency for change. He must communicate to them the significance of effective diversity management and how important it is for all departments to work in cooperation to create and maintain a unified Inquirer brand. He has to encourage two way communication and involve all employee in the decision making process either directly or indirectly (Erwin and Garman, 2010). He should implement a reward and recognition system to recognise strong performance and show that all employees are equally competent to handle responsibilities assigned to them. It is important to motivate and engage all employees in the change process to minimise resistance to change and achieve desired goals.

Organisational change is a process that is difficult to manage and understand and presents complex challenges. Effective communication, employee engagement and empathy are the three drivers to successful change management. Resistance to change can be management by creating a vision for the change and ensuring this vision is effectively communicated to employee with an aim to create urgency for change. Advancement in technology and generational difference are the two main pressures that are forcing Inquirer to change its organisational culture. Inquirer complacent organisational culture is serving as the primary source of resistance to change and it has become essential to break this culture and enter the norming stage of team development. Pioneers and old employees at Inquirer needs to change their leadership style and respect diversity at work place to retain the company’s market position and competitive advantage in today’s dynamic business environment.

References

Allen, T. and Skelton, T. (2005) Culture and Global Change, New Jersey: Routledge.

Bateh, J., Castaneda, M.E. and Farah, J.E. (2013) ‘Employee Resistance To Organizational Change’, International Journal of Management & Information Systems (IJMIS), vol. 17, no. 2.

Erwin, D.G. and Garman, A.N. (2010) ‘Resistance to organizational change: linking research and practice’, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 39-56.

Hellriegel, D. and John W. Slocum, J. (2011) Organizational Behaviour, 13^th edition, New York: Cengage Learning.

King, D. and Lawley, S. (2013) Organizational Behaviour, Oxford: OUP Oxford.

McShane, S., Olekalns, M., Newman, A. and Travaglione, T. (2015) Organisational Behaviour 5e; Emerging Knowledge. Global Insights, Sydney: McGraw-Hill Education Australia.

Robbins, S.P. and Judge., T.A. (2013) Organizational Behaviour, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Tucker, J. (2010) ‘Financial crises: a culture of complacency’, Journal of Organisational Transformation & Social Change, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 7-23.

Wheelan, S.A. (2014) Creating Effective Teams: A Guide for Members and Leaders, London: SAGE Publications.

White, R.D. (2010) ‘The Micromanagement Disease: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Cure’, Public Personnel Management, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 71-76.