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Discussion 4
Joe Morphis
Organizational Change
Organizational Change
The evolution of an organization is an inevitable process instigated by necessity and opportunity. The processes, structures, and core identity of organizations encounter environmental shifts that require changes to maintain viability (Scott & Davis, 2007). As changes occur, successful organizations implement change initiatives through careful planning that ensure a transitional advantage, where other firms experience rapid change and must adjust in real-time to sustain solvency (Costanza, 2016). Whether intentional or reactive, no organization is immune to the evolution of market demands and subsequent changes that accompany the demand curve shifts (Scott & Davis, 2007).
The two dominant forces that stimulate change are advances in technology and internal cultural reformations (Scott & Davis, 2007). Technological advancements are advantageous to the firm that has the disposition to rapidly adopt and implement the new technology in the marketplace. Organizations in the maturity phase of the business life-cycle can experience a lag time in technology adoption that is a critical disadvantage, allowing for more nimble firms a decrease in difficulty to market entry or adjustment (Jaksic et al., 2018; Scott & Davis, 2007). Cultural changes emanate from societal reforms that impact the organization’s social structures (Osman et al., 2020; Scott & Davis, 2007). Social boundaries are impacted by the external societal environment and may experience an accelerated transition to mirror the social norms of society (Schneider et al., 2017). Cultural changes impact the identity of the organizations and have a significant influence on participant engagement and commitment, which affect performance (Jutengren et al., 2020). Cultural and societal changes have affected organizations throughout history, as evidenced in scripture. The kingdom of Israel struggled with external influences on the kingdom, similar to the organizational changes experienced in modern times (Merida et al., 2015; Scott & Davis, 2007).
Technology
The term technology is proposed to define the work of an organization, with a narrowing definition of the traditional concepts of technology as tools, including software and hardware (Scott & Davis, 2007). Technology, defined as the tools, software, and devices utilized by individuals and organizations, is in a perpetual state of evolution (Betz et al., 2019). Consequently, technology affects all organizations directly or indirectly and has a significant impact on the ultimate success of firms in the modern era, and has produced transformations in organizations globally (Jaksic et al., 2018). The significance of technology in the modern firm creates a need for organizations to continuously evaluate processes and monitor new technology opportunities to ensure that the firm is up to date in a competitive market (Jaksic et al., 2018). Firms must be adaptive to new technology and position the firm’s processes to take full advantage of developments (Betz et al., 2019).
Historically, firms have evolved with technology. For example, in the past, organizations did not have email, computers, or access to digital assets. The speed and accuracy with which firms were able to perform operations were based on individual skills. The introduction of artificial intelligence allows organizations to transfer information in a fraction of the time compared to past operations (Wilkens, 2020). The availability of technology permeates most organizational processes from communication to production and is relatively cost-effective (Wilkens, 2020). The speed and availability of information transfers rendered many organizational processes obsolete. For example, the assembly line of the past used workers performing all tasks in chronological order to produce a product. In modern plants, computers have taken the place of human workers and can perform the tasks faster and with more accuracy than with humans.
Organizations have experienced changes in where the work is performed through the use of technology. More firms are deferring to outsourcing to minimize costs and clear overhead (Scott & Davis, 2007). The change from implicit, long-term contracts to outsourcing and contract labor is a tangible example of modern organizational change. Work insecurity has emerged from the recent efforts of firms to downsize, taking into consideration the results achieved through lean management (Scott & Davis, 2007; Uriona-Maldonado et al., 2020). Organizations pursuing lean processes look to outsourcing as an economic and logistical solution to the traditional issues of staffing, workspace overhead, and production/shipping problems with associated costs (Scott & Davis, 2007; Uriona-Maldonado et al., 2020).
With the Covid-19 pandemic, organizations experienced an increase in the number of workers who performed work virtually, with some data suggesting that efficiency rose with the use of technology, constituting a strategy change for some firms (Litwin & Tanious, 2020). In the past, many firms operated from a centralized location. Technology has allowed organizations to operate from virtually anywhere in the world, including working from home (Chadee et al., 2021). With more workers willing to work remotely and the advancement in technology that allows real-time interactions among organizational participants, many firms adopted the use of at-home labor without sacrificing task accountability (Chadee et al., 2021; Litwin & Tanious, 2020).
Organizations have changed business strategies as a result of technological advancements. A newly emerging field that firms are utilizing to target-market is data mining. In the past, collected data from the government was difficult to work with. Copious man-hours were required to analyze data and extract meaningful information (Hughes-Cromwick & Coronado, 2019). With technological advances, organizations have experienced an opportunity to quickly and efficiently mine the data for use in strategic business decisions (Janssen et al., 2017). For example, in the past, organizations that needed sales data from specific demographics were forced to meticulously analyze large data sets to mathematically verify the buying trend and preferences of the target audience. The same work can be performed in minutes with modern technology, allowing firms to make decisions based on the data with a high degree of confidence (Gottfried et al., 2021). Where once the task of sorting buyer preferences took vast time commitments and manpower, contemporary firms use computers and algorithmic programs to produce definitive, concise forecasts for product offerings (Hughes-Cromwick & Coronado, 2019; Gottfried et al., 2021).
Big government data, a term used to describe the massive amounts of gathered information made available to firms, has become more accessible and user-friendly than in past versions (Magalhães & Roseira, 2020). In the private sector, big government data offers organizations the unlimited access to mine buyer preferences and trends, product demands, and price point insights to increase the value proposition offered by a firms’ goods and services (Gottfried et al., 2021; Magalhães & Roseira, 2020). As more firms lean on big government data as an outsourced research tool, organizations evolve to match demand in a clear initiative driven by data results (Hughes-Cromwick & Coronado, 2019; Gottfried et al., 2021).
Culture
Organizations have changed through time with the developments in organizational culture. The accepted business cultures of the past have transformed into the contemporary version of social awareness and equal opportunity (Schneider et al., 2017; Scott & Davis, 2007). Organizational culture may be defined as the actions, behaviors, and responses of groups or individuals in a shared value and belief system within an organization (Pietersen, 2017; Schneider et al., 2017; Scott & Davis, 2007). The social networks within organizations form cultural “norms” and expectations for the behaviors of participants. The strength of the social boundary is positively correlated with the expected cultural behaviors, often referred to as organizational citizenship behaviors (Khalili, 2017). Changes, introduced through societal cultural shifts, permeate the organizations through participants within social groups, perpetuating the evolution of culturally accepted behaviors (Pietersen, 2017; Schneider et al., 2017; Scott & Davis, 2007).
Social boundaries or the networks of people with common tasks, interrelated tasks, or proximal work environments are the cultural libraries for organizations (Scott & Davis, 2007). Modern research submits three types of organizations as social systems with definitions of boundaries; rational systems, natural systems, and open systems (Scott & Davis, 2007). Rational systems are formally structured organizations with clear social boundaries and shared goals towards organizational success (Scott & Davis, 2007). The natural system concatenates the individual goals into alignment with the organizational goals, with social boundaries more flexible than the rational system boundaries (Scott & Davis, 2007). The social boundary constructed in an open system allows for the ease of external influence on internal culture, with loosely defined boundaries intentionally permeable to external cultural flows (Osman et al., 2020; Scott & Davis, 2007). The open system is a notable change in organizational construct. As societal preferences and accepted behaviors change, the organization also changes by default in the social fields. Work efficacy, task efficiency, and internal (Osman et al., 2020; Schneider et al., 2017). Social boundaries are collectively borders to contain social and cultural substance and barriers against external influences, with other social groups within an organization representing externalities (Scott & Davis, 2007).
The interactions of different social groups and cultures within an organization have been hypothesized to produce social capital that can be utilized for the benefit of the organization (Jutengren et al., 2020; Scott & Davis, 2007). The theory of social capital is a significant change in organizational structures from past organizations that viewed human resources as commodities that are easily exchanged. Modern organizations pursue the assessment of social capital to measure the internal strength of the organization and the cultural preparedness for change initiative adoption (Costanza et al., 2016; Davis & Cates, 2018). The importance of social capital has shifted from past organizational beliefs into a high-value position that may produce a competitive advantage internally without the cost of new human resources (Ashraf & Bandiera, 2018; Jutengren et al., 2020). With the potential competitive advantage gained through social capital, many organizations have allocated resources to incentivize positive organizational citizenship behaviors aimed at strengthening internal networks, which constitutes a dramatic change from previous generations (Ashraf & Bandiera, 2018; Scott & Davis, 2007).
Cultural changes in the organization manufacture issues on the individual and social group level. As social boundaries are tested by participants and externalities, individuals experience specific problems relating to the social networks. Alienation, insecurity, and inequity are included in the list of problems arising from changing cultures and social boundaries (Scott & Davis, 2007). Alienation occurs when a participant feels disconnected or disengaged from a social group (Scott & Davis, 2007). Insecurity emerges from the empirical observations by participants as outsourcing and temporary contracts replace long-term permanent work arrangements (Scott & Davis, 2007). The decrease in value assignment for long-term workers represents a dramatic change in organizational strategy (Scott & Davis, 2007). Inequity has been the focus of modern research as it remains an outstanding issue in contemporary organizations. Inequity is generalized into racial inequality and gender inequality with chronic episodes in modern organizations and society, testing the limits of ethics and organizational boundaries (Merida et al., 2015; Scott & Davis, 2007).
Gender inequality arises from the belief that men are superior to women in the workplace, and therefore deserve higher wages and positions of authority within the firm (Miner et al., 2018). The practice of gender inequality changes with the societal views on women in the workplace, shifting from not acceptable to acceptable along the chronological history of organizations. The inequity emanates from ignorance. Excluding the anatomical differences in men and women, there is no scientific or theoretical evidence that men have a superior disposition to business than women (Miner et al., 2018).
Biblical Integration
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (King James Bible,1769/1998, Ecclesiastes 3:1). Organizational change can be viewed as the maturation process within the business life cycle. As the scripture in Ecclesiastes points out, changes are inevitable. The one constant that does not change is God. Hebrews 13:8 states, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (King James Bible,1769/1998, Hebrews 13:8). The biblical principles that modern ethics are rooted in help guide organizations through difficult change transitions. Changes, although challenging, are inevitable. Organizations that foster a culture of innovation and cohesiveness often have positive change adoption as a by-product (Costanza et al., 2016).
Changes, whether on the organizational level or individual environment, may instigate anxiety. Change anxiety is addressed in scripture, and readers are admonished to have faith that God is in control. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (King James Bible,1769/1998, Philippians 4:6-7). Believers that trust in God through changes can still have peace, and since human life is in a perpetual state of change, the promise from God to keep believers in peace is paramount (Merida et al., 2015). Organizational changes create similar anxieties, and the participants look to figures of authority in the firm to express confidence in the firms’ direction, just as scriptures relieve the believer (van den Oord et al., 2017; Vrdoljak Raguž & Borovac Zekan, 2017). Leaders within the organization are the catalysts for change adoption and share biblical values in leading the organization through change by relieving the participants of change aversion (Vrdoljak Raguž & Borovac Zekan, 2017).
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