Stimulating Forces for Organizational Change

What makes an organization to think about change? There are a number  of specific, even obvious factors which will necessitate movement from the  status quo. The most obvious of these relate to changes in the external  environment which trigger reaction. An example of this in the last couple of  years is the move by car manufacturers and petroleum organizations towards the  provision of more environmentally friendly forms of ‘produce’. However, to  attribute change entirely to the environment would be a denial of extreme  magnitude. This would imply that organizations were merely ‘bobbing about’ on  a turbulent sea of change, unable to influence or exercise direction. The changes  within an organization take place in response both to business and economic  events and to processes of management perception, choice and action.

Managers in this sense see events taking place that, to them, signal the  need for organizational change. They also perceive the internal context of change as it relates to  structure, culture, systems of power and control, which gives them further clues  about whether it is worth trying to introduce change. But what causes change?  What factors need to be considered when we look for the causal effects which  run from A to B in an organization? The change may occur in response to the:

  • Changes in technology used
  • Changes in customer expectations or tastes
  • Changes as a result of competition
  • Changes as a result of government legislation
  • Changes as a result of alterations in the economy at home or  abroad
  • Changes in communication media
  • Changes in society’s value systems
  • Changes in the supply chain
  • Changes in the distribution chain

Internal changes can be seen as responses or reactions to the outside  world which are regarded as external triggers. There are also a large number of  factors which lead to what are termed internal triggers for organizational change. Organization  redesigns to fit a new product line or new marketing strategy are typical  examples, as are changes in job responsibilities to fit new organizational  structures. The final cause of change in organizations is where the organization  tries to be ahead of change by being proactive. For example, where the  organization tries to anticipate problems in the marketplace or negate the impact  of worldwide recession on its own business, proactive change is taking place.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *