Management of Change in Multinational Firms-Samples for Students

Question: Prepare a report that Critically Evaluates the utility of Theoretical Models of change for executives who are looking to transform ways of working within their Multinational Firms. Answer: Introduction With the technological advancements and adoption in the global business arena, diversity management is a vital aspect that should be adopted by a company with the aim of remaining effective in the competitive global market. In a systematic review, Shah, Hasnu, and Butt (2016) point out that any local, regional, or international firm seeking to succeed in business should embrace diversity toward their business thinking, strategies, styles of leadership, as well as in their business activities and innovation strategies. The same study denotes that diversity is no longer on making numbers but is focused on how the organization authentically treats its stakeholders down the foundation of the business model adopted. As a result, diversity has become a time-sensitive imperative in the current business environment. This paper hence seeks to evaluate the theoretical models of change that can be adopted by business executives with the aim of transforming ways of working within their multinati onal firms to meet the desired business goals. Background information on diversity and the nature of the international business Recognizing the need for diversity in a workforce is a value that is expected of all company executives and leaders. In a systematic study, Akinyi (2011) points out that the ongoing process of globalization in the social, political, and economic facets have led to the significant increase in the cross-cultural interpersonal contract. In other words, intensified internationalization in the global economic arena has been achieved through joint ventures, alliance as well as acquisition and cross-border mergers as pointed out by Hamraz, Caldwell, Wynn, and Clarkson (2013, p. 676). The same study denotes that top most global organizations all across the world are made up of cultural and ethnic differences within the working environment. It is because business managers and executives have realized the importance of making a business environment broad and diverse to effectively reach the target customers. As a result, Masiero and Campomar (2016) point out that globalizing a diverse populati on requires a very intellectual dialogue all across the workforce to ensure effective change in productivity and performance in the business is realized. As a result, many studies recommend the adoption of proven and effective theoretical models that can effect change in both regional and multinational firms. However, the scope of this paper will focus on multinational firms only. Theoretical models of change for multinational firms Lewins Model Lewins Model is a change management model that is known for its popularity and efficiency when adopted both locally and internationally in the business management processes. The model was developed by Kurt Lewin, a physicist and social scientist who used the changing states of an ice block to explain the organizational and structural change (Lindberg 2013). In his study, Lewin observed that a block of ice cube has the ability to change its physical states from the solid form to the liquid form through a process known as unfreezing, also called melting in the modern science. At the liquid state, it is very easy to control it into the shape one desires, and this is the stage referred to like the change stage. The new form solidifies into the required shape through a process known as freezing. The model consists of three steps that are unfreezing, change and the freezing stage. In a systematic study, Lapatinas (2015) points out that the Lewins model has been adopted as a management strategy by many international executives with the aim of transforming the performance of the workforce as well as the overall organizational performance. In adopting the model, the study denotes that the management always starts by preparing people of the changes that are coming, a stage known as unfreezing. For instance, the international business arena is characterized by diversity in culture, language, race, taste and preferences, and lifestyle among other vital business aspects of diversity as pointed out by Luo and Jiang (2014, p. 134). The unfreezing stage is the initial stage that consists of the psychological preparation of the employees of the change in an organization. In other words, using the model as a tool of change requires the organization to ensure it practices regular and proper training and development on issues that can directly or indirectly impact change. It involves of breaking the current culture and building the new future culture that is projected to be effective in achieving the target goals and objectives of the company according to Lapatinas (2015, p. 427). Therefore, the training the workforce of essential aspects of diversity in business will enable them to evaluate and understand that the existing culture cannot continue propelling the company to its future success and must be changed in accordance with the nature of the international business arena. At this stage, the need for the change is determined by surveying the current status of the organization and understanding the main reasons why the change as to take place. In a systematic study, Akinyi (2011) points out that the change leader must also understand the doubts and concerns of the change and ensure that there is strong support from the senior leadership. The change stage is where the main action takes place after removing the uncertainties from their minds. It usua lly takes longer period since many people take much and different time to embrace and adapt to any change. For the success of the change, real leadership is very paramount to steer forward the successful adoption of the model as it involves numerous communications steps on the beneficial factors of the intended change. This is through dispelling any rumors of biases through honesty and being open and giving everyone in the company opportunity to participate hence creating empowerment among the staffs. Refreezing is the last stage, where by the organization internalize and institutionalize the aspects of the change. At this juncture, the company ensures that the aspects of the changes are used all the time with all the confident and stable employees. Therefore, the leaders should make sure that they create a feedback system to enable them to collect any concerns and reactions of the employees. These feedbacks will assist them to act appropriately to any resistance or any challenge to the implementation. They should also realize the short-term wins and reward them to motivate more employees to adopt and embrace the change. ADKAR Model ADKAR model is an abbreviation that stands for various aspects of change in organizational management. These include 1) Awareness of the need for change, 2) Desire for the change, 3) Knowledge about the change, 4) Ability to adapt and incorporate the change and 5) Reinforcement of the change into action (Van Sun 2011, p.64). ADKAR is a goal oriented model which focuses on the steps taken to acquire a particular purpose concerning an individual to achieve the organizational goal. The model aims at making everyone to understand that change happens at the individual level within an organization since most of the employees tend to be rigid to change and are easily associated with the negative side of change as pointed out by Luo and Jiang (2014, p. 138). In other words, it is necessary that every organizational manager with the focus on international business success should create awareness of the change to the employees. Van and Sun (2011) point out that this can effectively be achieved by proper communication to the employees while taking time to positively respond to their concerns with honesty and openness based on the reality of the international business. The leaders make sure that the information passed is connected to the individual and company benefits, an aspect that will help the employees to focus on working towards change for the benefit of the organization as well as their profession. For example, Google Inc, conducted a one-week departmental training to ensure that the employees were convinced on the need of change to a more effective and updated software that could globally be adopted to change the global business arena. With the help of its motivated and able engineers, the company was able to develop different accou nting systems that have since been adopted in almost every large business globally according to Lindberg (2013, p. 3). In other words, it was easy to achieve since the management created the desire for participation from each employee in the change process by explaining the roles of each employees roles and duties. The process should be through one-on-one communication with the employee, a strategy that can enable the management to read the reactions and concerns of each employee which can then be addressed in the process of change to ensure everyone is motivated towards achieving the set goals. The change management leader disseminates all information that is required to make the change through a knowledge-building program. The change program should only be after achieving awareness and desire for change from the employees otherwise the staffs will be less concerned with the knowledge-building process. The knowledge-building process is achieved through training, experience, and mentoring as pointed out by Enderwick (2011, p. 89). Adopting the model hence help the change management leader to determine and identify the ability of every individual in their performance on respective tasks and allocate a duty that each employee can do best to achieve the desired change. After the achieving the ability reinforcement, the leaders reinforce the change into action by averting the employees from the old habits into the new ones. However, adopting the model requires the management to ensure that there is enough time for the process since people are always slow and tend to be very rigid when it comes to change. ADKAR model can thus be adopted in a multinational organization with the aim of effectively planning for any change through diagnosing the failure of the current situation and creating the need for that particular change. Kotter Model Kotter Model is an-eight step process framework adopted with the aim of ensuring effective organizational change as pointed out by Shiliro (2012). The same study denotes that model was created by John Kotter, who believed that continuous innovativeness, technological and social-economic changes are the driving forces to help in ensuring an organization effectively adopts change strategies that can ensure it remains relevant in the competitive business market. The eight steps are; Creation of the sense of urgency that will result in the motivation of all staffs to do their work. At this stage, the change leader identifies the future situation of the company by examining the available opportunities that are exploitable. For instance, stiff competition, change in customer preferences, changing lifestyles, and technological innovations are some of the vital aspects that can help a manager strategize effectively on the need of change. The second step is forming a powerful coalition of the related persons and departments such as job status and experts who are emotionally committed to the change. In other words, Kotter Model suggest that driving an organization to change will require aspects like hiring motivational speakers and experts in specific areas that the organization would desire to focus their change. The third stage is the creation of the vision for change through linking all the ideas to make a clear one. The creation of a clear vision enables every participant to understand the reason behind the modification. Step four is a frequent and powerful communication of the change to all the people that will be impacted, by addressing honestly all the concerns raised. The fifth stage is the removal of any obstacle that might be on the way of the implementation such as identifying the resistance individuals and engaging them more suitable while rewarding those that embrace the change. The sixth stage is the crea tion of short-term wins that will help to motivate all persons to the main aim of the modification. The little achievements assist in reducing critics the seventh step is building for the change by increasing the number of the short-term wins. Through this, the success of the change can be determined as all the employees will have a focus on the best system to be adopted by the firm as well as the expected benefits as pointed out by Lindberg (2013, p. 3). The last step is the anchoring of the change in the companys culture by ensuring that every day and every personnel adhere to the new changes. In a systematic study, Grosse (2014) denotes that culture is a diversity aspect that directly affects the internal and external performance of an organization. For instance, the international business arena often involves different global businesses expanding into new markets with the aim of expanding their customer base. In the process, the employees should be well aware that there is a possibility of interacting with diverse individuals with different cultures towards the goods and services offered by the organization. As a result, adopting Kotter Model enables the organization to be prepared on cultural aspects that affect the performance of the business locally as well as in the international market. McKinsey 7s Model McKinsey 7s Model developed by Tom Peters, Robert Waterman and Julien Philips who were the McKinsey consultants in 1980s (Ravanfa 2015).The model has attracted academic practitioners in strategic planning since it addresses more on coordination than the structure in an organization. The model consists of 7 elements grouped into two categories that are hard and soft. The main aim of this model was to show how these seven elements can be brought into alignment with one another to achieve effectiveness in an organization. The hard elements are the core of the company that can be identified and influenced by the relevant stakeholders of an organization (Hanafizadeh Ravasan 2011, p. 30). The Hard elements are strategy, structure, and system, while, the soft elements, on the other hand, are difficult to describe and are always influenced by the culture rather than the management. The soft elements include style, staff, and skills and shared values. The strategy defines companys approaches that are well developed and articulated to enable it to achieve a competitive market share. All strategies, therefore, should align with the companys values, vision, and mission. The structure is the way a company subdivides into departments and represented by particular leaders from the most senior to the casual employee. Systems are the set procedures that control the daily activities and decision making in a company. Skills are the know-how and abilities of different employees in the firm. Staffs are the core of business; they are both the management and non-management personnel. Style refers on how the resources in a company are controlled to achieve the objective while Shared values represent the norms, values, and standard in the business that controls the actions of each employee. Both Waterman and Peters observed that for the success of the change, the leader must be able to identify all the elements that are not aligning. Then the com pany determines the best alignment of the elements and weather the modifications should be made and then doing the best action. The model is a procedural process that ensures success only when the all seven elements of the company are aligned correctly. Conclusion In conclusion, multinational firms tend to have business activities on two or more countries. In other words, the simple baseline is that such firms have production and sales operations in multiple countries. At the same time, the diversity in location of the business often comes with diversity in different aspects. They include the geographical conditions such as terrain, languages spoken by the people, culture of the target customers as well as their taste and preferences and lifestyles, and nature of the business suitable for such locations among other factors. However, not all international firms often succeed in their industry of operation, an aspect that forces other to operate under struggles that may lead to their closure when not timely monitored. Therefore, the management and executives of the international firms are required to equip their employees with the desire and need for change towards efficiency and sustainability of the organization when need arises. McKinsey 7s M odel, Kotter Model, ADKAR model, and Lewins Model can be adopted by multinational firms to ensure their business not only survive but become efficient and sustainable in their specific industry of operation. List of References Akinyi, B,W. (2011). Organizational Change In Multinational Corporations: A Case Study Of Ecolab- Nalco Merger In Kenya. International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems, 7(4), pp.23-63. 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