Leadership and Change

“Change is nothing new and a simple fact of life. Some people actively thrive on new challenges and constant change, while others prefer the comfort of the status quo and strongly resist any change. It is all down to the personality of the individual and there is little management can do about resistance to change” (Mullins 2010: 753).

Introduction

Change is unavoidable. In my previous blog I discussed different leadership styles and suggested approach, which should be adapted by mangers to produce efficient results. In continuation this blog refers to leadership and change, and how mangers manage and cope up with this change. And will be illustrating an example of J.W. Marriott. Leader and founder of Marriott hotels and what he did to overcome this resistance to change.

Drucker stated, ‘One cannot manage change. One can only be ahead of it’.But in today’s period, change is a norm. Change is painful, risky and above all it requires great deal hard work. But in organization it is seen as a task of leading change. In a period of rapid change, the only one who survives is the Change Leaders. (Mullins 2013: 724) In a simple manner it is the leader who makes sure that the organization will manage to face the change and maintain its regular performance.

The most important changes we see in the theory and history of management are the weakening of the hierarchal, bureaucratic, autocratic management and the growth of cooperative self-management and organizational democracy. (Mullins 2013: 566)

The managerial script is rewritten everyday. Management has many faces- and each of them must continue to evolve if the organization is to survive way into the twenty first century. (Mullins 2013: 443)

Organization has to manage the change effectively. Change becomes a driving force, which leads to the future success and growth. In Organizations, change is accepted as an opportunity leading to increased efficiency and building new organizational success. (Mullins 2013: 711)

Understanding the external environment of organization in depth can attain organization efficiency. There are several forces of change which leads to a volatile environment. These factors include:

• Uncertain economic conditions
• Shortage of natural resources
• Political interests
• Rapid development in new technology
• EU effects and world socializations
• Globalization
• Intense world competition
• (Mullins 2013: 711)

Resistance to Change

In spite of possible positive results, people still resist to change at both individual as well as organizational level. Toffler referred change as ‘future shock’. People usually wary of change. Resistance to change can lead to many different forms.There are several reasons leading to change resistance at organizational level, which include:

• Maintaining stability
• Organizational culture
• Investment in resources
• Past contracts or agreements
• Threats to power and influence

(Mullins 2013: 718)

How change can be managed?

Managing the change successfully is very essential to face competiveness and survival of the business. Manager plays an important role in facing the managing the change successfully.

• Identification of current state of the organization, which involves identifying the key, issues, prioritizing the problems and then evaluating the kind of changes used to solve these issues.
• Forming layout of the desired position of the organization, which involves designing an ideal position for the organization after implementing the change.
• Change should be implemented in an orderly manner.

(Inc.com, 2015)

Change in the Hospitality Industry

J.W. Marriott embraces change. Innovation has always been the key part of their story by embracing change they were able to shape the modern hospitality industry.The group has driven consistently challenging the organization’s status and anticipating their customer’s needs by introducing new brands, new global locations and new guest experiences. They keep on innovating and searching different ways to serve their customers by delivering opportunities for their partners will help un growth of business. (Timeline.marriott.com, 2015)

 

Conclusion

This blog discussed about organizational change and how managers cope up with this change. Change is unavoidable. Organizations has to accept and manage the change, to face the competitive environment and for the survival of the business.

Studies have shown that management face failure in functioning of management due to resistance to change. Resistance to change must be overcome to ensure successful management performance. J.W. Marriott embraces change; he believed in innovation and welcomed change as an opportunity for the growth of the organization.

References 

• Mullins, L. and Christy, G. (2013) Management Et Organizational Behavior. Harlow: Pearson
• com, (2015) Managing Organizational Change [Online] available from < http://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/managing-organizational-change.html > [12th June 2015]
• marriott.com, (2015) About Marriott Hotels: Marriott Corporate Business Information [Online] aviable from <http://timeline.marriott.com/#/?era=1 > [12th June 2015]