Methods of implementing strategic change

Methods of implementing strategic change Introduction All companies, organizations or any other business entities always measureand assess their value, in terms of their assets, and the certainty of continued returns. While some organizations are satisfied with their current operational strategies, others explore new ideas and to try out different methods of operation. Thus, the need for implementation of new strategies arises. In the implementation of strategic changes, different companies will apply different strategies depending on the organizational structure and the choice of the management. The common strategies applied include: Educative/Empirical-Rational strategies, normative/persuasive strategies and, power-coercive strategies (Pugh, 2007). Most of these strategies will be applicable in many businesses while some, for instance the power-coercive strategies, are only applicable in small business entities. The financial stability of an organization will also affect the strategies that are used. This is because; some methods such as the educative strategies are costly and expensive to the organization. Other scholars have also developed more methods of implementing change such as; establishing a new set of goals and objectives, applying or moving away from tradition, using the reward system to foster and support change, and building on systems that are ready for or easily adaptable to strategic change (Rowley & Sherman, 2001). Educative/Empirical-Rational Strategies These strategies mainly focus on training and educating individuals in the organization. The employees and other workers in the business are imparted with information and the proposed ideas of change. The strategy thus, assumes that the skills, values, attitudes and relations of the people throughout the organization will change and thereby causing change in the whole organization. Other methods of implementing change contained in this strategy include participation and working within the human resource management system. One point to note under this strategy is that; every individual should participate in implementing the change (Pugh, 2007). Therefore, communication and teamwork are very significant tools when applying the educative strategy. This method differs from the rest of the methods in the sense that; while it will require the whole organization being impacted with knowledge and information, other methods will not require the same. The educative strategy is a risky method to use for achieving change since; some of the employers and staffs might leave the organization and go to apply the knowledge received elsewhere. Normative/Persuasive Strategies Under this strategy, no imparting of knowledge is involved since; it is believed that the change will originate from within the individuals themselves and their knowledge. The extent, to which people implement change in the organization will therefore, be determined by their attitude towards change and their values too. The relationship among them will also be a factor since it is only when united will they be able to implement change in the organization. This is a method that some scholars have referred to as application of tradition (Rowley & Sherman, 2001). The organization mainly disintegrates its current operational methods to come up with better ideas. This method is thought to be very beneficial to the organization since no time is consumed trying to adapt to new ways of operation. Moreover, no expenses are incurred in training the employees of the organization since they will be dealing with methods that they are already familiar with. Thus, comparing this strategy with the educative strategy, most organizations whose goal is cost minimization will prefer this strategy while those whose main goal is invention and innovation, will prefer the educative strategy. Power-Coercive Strategies This is a strategy that most scholars refer to as using force. The management in this case pushes change through the organization by use of methods such as using the reward system or building systems that are ready for change. The change can also be brought about by power from the political environment, the legal or the administrative environment (Pugh, 2007). In spite of the fact that this method may cause some amount of surety of change, at times if the organization uses intentional force to cause change, there might be no positive results obtained. Comparing with the rest, this method is completely uninvolving and is mainly instant. Research has shown this method in most cases has had negative effects on the organization since the employees and staffs are likely to revolt against the forced changes (Lewis, 2011). Conclusion With all these methods available for use by many organizations, it is then the duty of the management to choose which strategy suits it best. Each of the methods has its own advantages and disadvantages, but all the methods lead to strategic changes in the organization if well applied. Clearly though, one critical factor that plays a significant role in all the three methods is communication (Lewis, 2011). Communication is very vital if a positive change is to be obtained. Power-coercive method, which tends to overlook communication, is also the method which is more likely to fail as compared to the rest. Personally, if I were to direct change in an organization, I would apply the educative method and the persuasive method. This is mainly to ensure that the organization benefits from new ideas while still applying its current methods of operation. In addition, the risks included in both methods are few as compared to the power-coercive method. References Lewis, L. K. (2011). Organizational Change: Creating Change through Strategic Communication. United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. Pugh, L. (2007). Change Management in Information Services. (2nd ed.). England: Ashgate Publishing. Rowley, D. J., & Sherman, H. (2001). From Strategy to Change: Implementing the Plan in Higher Education. California: John Wiley & Sons.