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CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Long-term success is based on the companys ability to create and

sustain practices and processes that enable employees to perpetually
generate new ideas and to create cultures of change and innovation.

CONTENT
1. Introduction (p.3)
2. The influence of quality management in the implementation
change (p. 4-5)
3. The importance of the Human resources in an successful
organization (p. 6-7)
4. Change, innovation and creativity (p.8-9)
5. Conclusion (p.10-11)

6. References (p.12)

INTRODUCTION
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Change is a primordial element in todays unstable and uncertain business world. If we

look back at the past years, we can see tremendous changes in the fluctuating growth and
demand occurred due to recession, war and unemployment rate.
For an organisation, change is a crucial step undertaken to implement and most importantly to
get the change correctly and sustain it. It is not as simple as it may sound, many leaders and
managers struggle everyday to get the right changes to the organisations, and it is a highly risky
process.
A sustainable change is the intervention and achievement of new ways of doing business that
makes profound change in the organisation and delivers the expected outcomes. It continues to
improve its process and always strive to deliver the best.
In the long run, success lies in the organisations capacity to create and sustain practices and
processes that allow employees to continuously come up with new ideas and to develop a culture
of change and innovation.
There are many ways to attain long term-success for a change management but here we focus on
three main points:
The influence of quality management in the implementation change, the importance of the
Human Resources in a successful organization and Change, Innovation and Creativity
We will see in the first part how quality management is related to change management and the
outcomes out of it. Secondly, we talk about the implication of employees in generating ideas can
lead to a more satisfied work experience which affects positively the change culture. And finally,
we mention how innovation and creativity have an impact on Change.

1) The influence of quality management in the implementation change

The process and implementation of change can occur on different levels such as the
organizational where it could be for example a strategic move in order to increase competitively.
It can also happen on a unit level through the creation of special task forces or teams with
specific goals that need to be fulfill. In an organization it will happen at a specific level but it will
always needs to be support by the top management. The commitment of the managers is an
essential part in order to create a successful politic or process in change management. Jeanne
Almaraz studied how quality management and process of change are related. She explained that
organizations tend to try to reach a Quality Management Paradigm, which she defined in three
ways: user-based definition where the quality is focused on the customer satisfaction degree,
product-based definition where the quality is focused on how well the product is developed in
term of attributes and finally as manufacturing-based where there is quality when the product
doesnt need lots of reworking and the process is simple and efficient. Companies have different
tools to implement change and quality managers use quality programs that are focused on
different aspects of the organization.
Those programs apply change on people, tasks, technologies or the organization
structure. By doing so managers will influence the company culture, which is defined by their
beliefs, values and expectations. They will also have to be aware of the resistance to change from
the employees. In every company change is going to meet problems because employees might
feel uncomfortable with the fact that someone is telling them that their way of doing thing is
wrong or need improvements. This is why company managers should try to estimate the
organization readiness to change.
In 2008 Areva, the French nuclear company changed its whole organization chart in order
to improve each department. They created business units based on the different activities of the
group. Before that they were using a regional chart where each sub-group worked as subsidiaries
but they faced lots of problems due to the lack of interconnections between co-workers who
basically did the same job but on different part of the world. The top management prepared this
change for more than a year in order to be completely ready to make it as easy as possible for the
employees. The modifications had effects on the structure of the company but not only. It had

also effects on the customers/users because the commercial management was completely
modified. Customers dealt with more people and had more opportunities.
Thanks to the new organization, the top management faced a bit of resistance because this
change also included a move in the location of the offices from the inside of Paris to La Defense.
The employees were also afraid of losing their jobs because reorganization often means the
suppression of a few jobs. As Paula and James Weber explained in their studies there are several
variables that will influence the implementation of change. Employee participation is essential
because it will first make them feel concerned, secondly also it will be more efficient and finally
it will build a feeling of trust between the management and the employees. They also found that
feedback had not that much of an effect on the feeling of support of the management. Those
factors had influence on the change in Arevas reorganization. The year that the management
used to prepared the change was to be able to ask the employees what are their problems and
expectations and also how they would do it.
After 6 years the employees now clearly see the effects and improvements of the
reorganization and the fact that none of the employees had been let go only repositioned to better
fit their competences and skills, was really appreciated and increase the trust of employees in the
management. Nowadays the company manages to create a long-term vision of change and its
culture. It used to be a traditional and a little bit archaic company but thanks to the will of change
of the top management followed by their employees, they are now a strong leader on the market
and have an organization that is more adaptable to changes in the market.

2) The importance of the Human resources in a successful organization

a) The employee satisfaction
The enterprise culture is something really important in any kinds of companies. It has to
be linked with the vision of the company because the human resources is a major key of success
in a firm. Indeed, the most successful companies are the one where employees enjoy going every
day. Therefore, a company has to highlight the importance of the employees to succeed. For
instance, Forbes establishes every year a ranking of the best companies to work for in. In 2014,
firms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter are in the top 10 and those three companies are also
among the most successful companies.
Nevertheless, making sure the employees will be satisfied in the workplace is not an easy
task. Indeed, the first step to achieve the employee satisfaction occurs during the orientation
stage. The first impression and experience a new employee will have in a company is crucial.
IBM really enhances the orientation of the new employees. For instance, the international
company really focuses on introducing all the aspects of the company to the new workers such as
the culture of the company, its values, processes, organization and history. IBM is giving a faceto-face experience to the newcomers. And the most important thing IBM is doing while setting
up the orientation for the new employees is asking them for feedbacks. Only after few hours in
the workplace, the company expects the new IBMer to give his point of view about how to make
the orientation stage better for the future employees. By doing this, the new comer already feels
as a part of the company and will be willing to work hard for his new firm. Examples such as
maintaining a safe, clean and positive workplace, consistent rewards and setting up flexible
hours for employees can be good examples of incentives for an employee to perform better.
However, every employee has different expectation in a company, so it is very important to make
sure to set up shared objectives within a firm in order make the company successful.

b) An employee-oriented organization

Though the employees can be satisfied if they have good incentives such as monetary
incentives, it might not be enough to achieve performances and to make the company successful.
Indeed, the structural organization of a company is really important. For instance, if the
employees manage to generate ideas but if the organization of the company doesnt allow the
employees to share their ideas, it will be useless. Therefore, a company should use all the human
resources it has in order to succeed and generate new ideas. The good ideas dont especially
emerge from the executives of a company. In theory, there are two mains organizational
structures: the horizontal one and the vertical one. However, the horizontal one is the most
reliable if the company wants to use the strengths of each employee. For instance, one important
advantage of a horizontal organizational structure is that it enhances team works and an
employee-centered approach to leadership. Indeed, in this kind of organizational structure, team
works are really important. The first advantage of team works is that the employee feels he
belongs to a group. Besides, by working in small teams, it allows the employees to broaden their
minds by sharing their thoughts, which will be really good in order to come up with innovative
solutions.
Besides, a company can be successful depending on the management. In a participative
management style, leaders emphasize on the employees involvement in the management
process.
The main goal of using this kind of management is that it is the best way to enhance
communication in the organization. Indeed, the employees can participate in the decision-making
process and so they can more easily communicate their ideas to the managers. The employees in
this kind of management style feel prouder. Therefore, the employees know that they are
important in the organization and so they are more willing to generate ideas because they know
their ideas will be taken into consideration. The participative management style is a good way to
enhance the employees motivation.
Nevertheless, a company often has to face changes, either inside or outside the firm. So it
has to make sure that the values of the company will not change by building some really strong
basis to make sure the employee will always have an important role in a company and so to
enhance the generation of new ideas.
3) Change, innovation and creativity

The market, the industry is constantly moving around us and change is integrated in our
culture. If many leaders are afraid about change and tend to keep their positions at the cost of
innovation, the reason is that the move they might want to go for, may not be the right one of the
best one to do and so have critical repercussions on their business. However the key to this issue
is to make decisions. No one is able to predict with perfect certainty which outcomes will result
of the change but we need to undertake this risk to go forward and build the future.
We experience change in our daily life, at the workplace, at home but also in the way we manage
social relationships. Organizational change is a movement over time from a specific ongoing
present to an uncertain future which is often planned in order to secure anticipate objectives and
to fit with our goals on a long-term basis. The difficult part in the process is to deal with
unforeseen risks or any event we didnt plan and that is where change management is crucial to
implement the right change at the right time.
The companys ability to create and sustain practices and processes that enable
employees to generate new ideas is based on how you much succeed to implement the change
and how aware people are of the innovation importance. Innovation refers to the solving problem
process, where ideas and opinions are crucial to improve the way people do things in creating
value.
The whole process of innovation, creativity and changes involves people to be responsible of the
movement from the way the currently do things to a new way of working and add values to the
product, services and organizations we are offering to the society. Long-held assumptions and
traditional belief can eventually inhibit new ways of seeing things, new ways of thinking and
soften the benefits of innovation. Change, innovation and creativity are possibly some of the key
ingredients to reach a profitable and commercial success within organizations nowadays.
Regarding the current economical context it is relevant to focus on the development of the new
ideas. If we stay fixed on old believes, we might have difficulties to deal with dynamic economic
pressures and so fail to find alternative ways of doing things. Being innovative and creative is
essential if you want to keep a competitive position on the market and adapt yourself to the
shifting demands of your consumers (Rickards, 1999).
It has been proved (De Brabandere, 2005) that companies which tend to use customers
and suppliers as a source of inspiration rather than trying to imitate what competitors are doing

on the market, are most likely the one that will get higher rewards on the market place by earning
more market share and increase their brand awareness. The business world is full of example and
a proof that linking creativity, innovation and change is a great way to remain competitive and
sustainable on the market industry. If we analyze the case of Apple Computers, they were almost
destined for bankruptcy but its managers manage to restructure their way of working and focus
mainly on innovation and high-quality products. What is the result today? Apple became a global
household name known for its innovative and well-designed products.
Nowadays, market economic forces are designed as a promotion to the need for new products
and services in markets are changing and evolving more rapidly than ever. However, cultural
barriers and social beliefs have been identified as important determinant to understand whether
the implementation of the change would be successful or not (Furglsang and Sundbo, 2002).
The process remain very complex and if understandable, difficult to apply in daily business life.
When you are managing change and trying to find news days of doing things, you need to
generate ideas and then select the good ones to translate it into innovations. Then, you have to
move the organization with its news ideas forward to meet the demand of customers settled on
dynamic business markets.
If they want to be successful, managers shouldnt neglect on the other side the
development of the right organizational conditions such as organizational structures, culture,
leadership style but also resources. It is crucial to be aware of its resources capabilities because
before implementing an effective change, you need to transform raw ideas into the right future
products and services in the marketplace you are targeted. If you fail to implement the change
with every components around it, and that employees do not understand the benefits of the
difficulties they have been through to implement the new decisions, it may not be worthwhile
and even make the situation worse that it was before.

CONCLUSION

A change can occur at any level of management whether in a unit or organizational level
when there is a requirement for it. In order to fulfill the change, there should be a tremendous
support from the management level and commitment from the managers. Jeanne Almaraz study
shows how interrelated is change management to quality management, the change in the process
of an organisation can affect the quality of the outputs. When the organizational structure
changes, the companys culture will be modified to meet the expected objective of the
organisation. But organisations can face resistance from the employees whose first reaction could
be rejection of the new implementation.
Therefore, when implementing the change, organisations should make sure that employees
participate in the change to make them feel concerned about the companys future, this will make
them to be more efficient and will build a trustworthy relationship between the management and
employees. A successful change in the long run can bring best managers and leaders and also
satisfied employees.
The company culture is very important in an organisation; the success to a better
functioning of a company is the human resources. When the employees satisfaction is high,
there are many chances of employees to succeed. Organisations such as IBM focus to give a best
impression and a good experience when an employee joins the company.
It is crucial for a company to provide a good working experience to an employee to get back in
return an effective work. An employees satisfaction factors do not limit to mere incentives,
health insurance, flexible working hours or promotion, they strive to generate ideas and expects
the ideas to be implemented. To sustain a successful company, the leaders emphasize
involvement of employees in the management level. The objective is to create a strong
communication in the organisation between employees and managers. This style of management
makes employees feel integrated, respected and make them feel proud and important to the
company, therefore, they will be highly motivated.
In the fast developing and fast changing world, organisations should change according to
the new technologies and innovation to be up to the level of the competition. Many leaders are
reluctant to change because of the high risk. But the best practice to sustain a successful
company is to generate ideas, solving problems, create value and ready to change according to

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the circumstances to avoid economic pressures and fail to satisfy customers expectations.
According to De Brabandere, organisation who takes inspiration from its suppliers and customers
instead of trying to imitate competitors, have more recognition and compensations on the
marketplace and increase their brand awareness.
Cultural barriers and social beliefs are the main elements to take in account to determine
if a change would be successful or not. But organisations should pick up the best way of doing
things and generate ideas to get a stable grip on the business market with its resources
capabilities.

REFERENCES

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Almaraz,J(1994)JournalofOrganizationalChangeManagement,QualityManagementand
theProcessofChange
Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (2012) - Managing
change and innovation : A challenge for Modern Organisations
PaulaS.WeberJamesE.Weber(2001)Leadership&OrganizationDevelopmentJournal,
Changesinemployeeperceptionsduringorganizationalchange
Hammel,G.(2006)TheWhy,What,andHowofManagementInnovation.
Mann,L.andChan,J.(eds)(2011)CreativityandInnovationinBusinessandBeyond:Social
SciencePerspectivesandPolicyImplications.
King,N.andAnderson,N.(2002)ManagingInnovationandChange:ACriticalGuidefor
Organizations.
Andriopoulos,C.andDawson,P.(2009)ManagingChange,CreativityandInnovation.
Keeley,B.(2012)ManagingInnovationisaboutManagingChange
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/efkk45ffdhl/no9orbitz/
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/orientation.shtml
http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/profit/archives/opinion/041111bmagusin359275.html
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantageshorizontalorganizationalstructure30904.html
http://www.andrewjensen.net/motivatingemployeeswithparticipativemanagement/

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