Organizational Change and Development Assignment

Organizational Change and Development - Assignment Example This discussion identifies three perspectives, people, approach and method of change implementation at the broader level that impact change management process.  Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, is known to be the first person who touched upon the ‘changing’ nature of the world, in his words, â€Å"you never step into the same river twice,† (Cameron & Green, p.10) and â€Å"all is in flux† (Stetson & Conti, p.29). This concept is equally apt to the world of business with increasing competition, meeting customers’ expectations, and finding new opportunities for growth in business, career and sustaining the competitive edge in the changing markets (McGrath & MacMillan, 2005). Organizations will have to embrace these challenges in order to sustain in the competitive world. In order to achieve their goals, while catering to the changing demands of the industry, organizations adopt strategic changes, appropriate for achieving every single objective. These strategic changes are meant to bring about radical or transformational change to the established ways of working from both organizational and employee perspectives. Nevertheless, bringing about change at the workplace, whether structural, procedural, technological or financial, in order to improve the situation or for better business results entails more efforts than planning the change and its implementation.   The forces that cause organizations to opt for radical transformations could be external such as technological advancements, government regulations, increasing competitiveness, and/or changing demands; and internal such as organizational bureaucracy and complacency.   Usually, implementing change is impacted by factors such as time and investment required; the impact of change on the financial performance of the business; return on investment; an intensity of improvement; and importantly, its impact on the end customers.   At an organizational level, planning for the c hange and change management as a responsibility rests with, or is the function of, specific project management team or division, but its implementation at an organizational level requires the involvement of various, or all, other functions/departments failing which the proposed change itself may fail.   This failure can be disastrous for the organization or business and/or to the people associated with the change and the organization, which includes all stakeholders, i.e. employees, customers, and all shareholders. Therefore, bringing about a change should equally be balanced by the way change is being managed in order to succeed.   Michael Dell believes that companies that learn to manage change are in the best position to continue to take the risks needed to stay out in front (cited Matejka & Murphy, 2005; p.19).