This analysis will discuss about the change that Giordano International Limited Co. (Giordano for brevity). The author is tasked a report to the Senior Management about a change program. The report will consist of two parts namely the prescription part, which will discuss about the vision for the renewed organization, the direction and scope of change, and the speed of change. While the second part is the proposed actions part wherein the topics to be discussed are the following: leveraging change; renewing systems and structure; tailoring culture; overcoming resistance; leadership of change and communicating change.
INTRODUCTION
From the last presentation of report, it has been cited by the author that the main problem that the company will suffer in case of any plan of innovation is the fact that the employees or the people within the organization must openly accept the fact that the innovation is necessary for the growth of the company. Below is brief background information about the company.
Giordano International Limited (Giordano, for brevity) was established in 1981. It was one of the famous established apparel retailers in the Asia Pacific region. It has employees of over eleven thousand (11,000) friendly staff with over one thousand eight hundred (1,800) shops operating in thirty (30) territories worldwide. The company’s vision is to be the best and the biggest world brand in apparel retailing, with its mission to make people “feel good” and “look great”.
According to the Giordano Australia website, the company’s success is measured by the company’s relentless focus on its five corporate business values of quality, knowledge, innovation, simplicity, and service. The amount of success of the company is attributed to the fact that the company has been giving focus to the fact that it caters to the public the most sincere service and the most quality that the consumer will expect in exchange to the amount it offers. In addition, the company has been widely accepted by the consumers hence making it one of the topmost sought after clothing brand in the world.
Hence, it can be inferred that the company has no restraints as to any innovation that it may likely undergo; however, it is the concern of the author that the company must be able to see the impact of a change to the employees.
PRESCRIPTION FOR CHANGE
VISION FOR A RESTRUCTURED ORGANIZATION
The company motto is to make the people feel good and look great. This vision and mission sets the company apart from other retailing companies. In addition the fact that the company see their people or employees as an asset, it makes it a point that the selection of employees are thorough which will result to the best the company has ever had. This treatment of employees makes the company more appreciative of the work of the employees. However, the down side of this system is that the company is open to the mistakes, making the employees realize that mistakes are not treated as a failure but an accepted fact that they may commit it.
The values of the organization as mentioned are the following: quality, knowledge, innovation, simplicity, and service. The said values are instilled to the employees. The author cannot see any problem with that however the only factor that may be the cause in case the organization will change is the acceptance of the employees to the said change. The author highly suggest that the company must stricter to the conduct employees but still remain the fact that the employees still feel the established closeness of the company.
DIRECTION OF SCOPE AND CHANGE
As established in the abovementioned paragraphs, the change that the company must undergo is the system on how it treats its employees. The author knows that the employees are indeed important of the corporation however, what is necessary is the company must see to it that the employees will see the authority of those in the higher positions.
The scope of change that has been deliberately presented in this report is not a major change that the company must undergo because the company is already stable in term of its position in the business industry. The change that this author would want to make is one of the things that can make the company progress more effectively.
Heathfield (2008) stated that change is not difficult to structure or navigate. She said that an organization tries to bend the rules; expect the people to embrace the change because the organization likes it or pay for it. Hence, from this it can be inferred that a change in an organization is not something unusual to happen. The direction of the change that is proposes on this paper is to enable the employees to appreciate in a manner that they work for the company hence the necessity to support and abide to company rules is vital to the success of the company.
SPEED OF CHANGE
Heathfield (2008) stated that the clarity of mission, vision, and objective for the change effort creates urgency around the need for change. She further stated the change should be clearly related to an important, strategic business objective, otherwise management attention would wane.
From the abovementioned statement, it can be concluded that the change that must be established must present clarity over the matters that are necessary within the organization. The prescribed change presented in this report does not entail an abrupt end to the status of the company. Nor the prescribed requires an immediate result. The speed of change process must continuously be adept to the necessity of giving the perspective to the employees that the company must be able to establish a great sense of dominance over them.
There is no speed required because putting a time limitation would mean that the employees might still see that the change is temporarily. The author would like to instill in the minds of the employees that the change is an ongoing process, and any deviation from the change process means that they are not interested to make the company more successful.
PROPOSED ACTIONS
LEVERAGING CHANGE
On this part, the author will illustrate leveraging change through the use Force field Analysis. The force field analysis is used by change management in order to understand the forces that will drive or resist a propose change. The table will consist of two column forms, listing the driving force n the first column and the restraining forces in the second.
DRIVING FORCE
RESTRAINING FORCE
The vision of the company to make the consumers feel the friendly environment of the system
The fact that the company has been open to its employees from the time it was founded.
The need to see that the employees really contributed to the success of the company
The fact that the employees may feel that the showing of authority would mean that the company see them as inferior.
The necessity of the company to openly communicate to the employees with restriction, in order to create a more professional camaraderie within the company.
The fear of the employees that they voice would not be anymore heard by the company and rules that have been established shall be the controlling act of the company.
From this table, it can be interpreted that the company has all the necessary positive driving to continue with the proposed change. The retraining factors are not objective per se because it involves the effect of change to the emotions of the employees. It is the view of the author that in case, the company has efficiently educated the employees; their fear will not matter anymore.
RENEWING SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURE
As stated, the change that is imputed in this paper should not be holistic in approach, which means that the company will be transformed as a whole. The change elaborated in this paper involves one the major part of the company. The author does not see any reason to make the company undergo a renewed structure. What is necessary is that the company must change the way and the system it treats its employees.
According to the case study of faculty.insead.com, the company treated employees as an asset. Giordano has the willingness to accept employees’ mistakes, which is another factor that contributed to its success. Although the aforementioned case study sees this as the reason for the success of the company, the author perceived that such might likely be one of the factors that could be a downside for any innovation plan of the company. The system that needs to be restructured is the guidelines of the company as to its dealings with the employees. Again, the author would like to reiterate that there is no wrong in accepting the mistakes of the employees, what is necessary is that the employees must perform their duties on which they have in their mind that mistakes is acceptable.
TAILORING CULTURE
According to Marcos (2001), by building a clear, collaborative, shared image of the future, change agents and managers can engage the natural energy which change generates toward achieving shared goals and results. From this statement, the author perceived that the change necessary is that the whole of the company must appreciate the fact that two minds are better than one.
The concept of tailoring culture in this kind of change is not a heavy burden for the company and for the employees. The old culture of the company is that it openly accepts ideas, mistakes, opinions, and other comments of the employees. The culture that is sought to be implemented in the proposed change will not totally deviate to the previous culture. The culture of change that is sought to be established is the fact that the employees must not forget the fact that they are under a company, which will assert authority over them.
MANAGING PARTICIPATION
Greenburg (2003,) said that norms for individual behavior are largely defined by an individual's role within a context of a network. As individuals interact with others, a network of roles and their attending behavioral expectations known as role-sets are established. From this statement, it can be inferred that the employees must directly participate to the planned not only that they are the main actors of the change but they established their role within the work.
It is fact that the employees has established their role within the company, however, it is the view of the author that such roles must have a limitations in order for the company to work comprehensive to the objectives of the company. To further illustrate Markos (2001) stated that in successful change efforts, it is critical that the human side of changed is acknowledged and addressed, and that the people affected by change are involved.
LEADERSHIP OF CHANGE
According to Lorenzi and Riley (2000), studies of system dynamics frequently reveal that major problems that everyone thought were external are actually the unintended consequences of internal policies. The basic dynamic behind this phenomenon is that the organization is made up of a network of circular causal processes: A influences B, which then influences C, which in turn influences A, i.e., the snake bites its own tail. Understanding these internal organizational dynamics is a prerequisite for leading effectively.
In order to make the change happen effectively, it is necessary that the leaders of the subject of change must exert effort to gain the approval of the employees in order to exhibit explicitly the attitude that the whole company is presently active in the change that is sought to be established. The leaders of the company are expected to create a plan that not only a minority group of the employees will be able to understand the change. Influence within the company will be present if the leaders of change will likewise show that change is necessary to the company. With this kind of leadership, the employees will not in any way resist the planned change. The employees will not be apprehensive because they know that they are indeed taken seriously by the company.
COMMUNICATING CHANGE
Kreitner and Kinicki (2001, p.421) report research which showed that co-operation is superior to competition in promoting achievement and productivity in teams. Hence, it is necessary that the employees are given the time to cooperate with the planned change. However, in order to establish the authority within the company, the cooperation that is needed must be present is the cooperation that all of them have well understood the objective of change. According to Randall (2004), in managing change, focus groups must be established across the organization, breaking down functional boundaries and working progressively on core ideas, business problems, and value change analysis. This statement is indeed necessary to the establishment of change that is presented here in this report because the employees will see that their functions inside the company is not disregarded and it is given much more credit as before.
According to Lorenzi and Riley (2000), many organizational changes typically involve many different types and levels of personal loss for the people in an organization. This means a serious loss of personal and organizational significance involve changing the way people actually work. On a last note, the change that is sought to be established in the company does not entail loss but of a source of success. Communicating efficiently the desired change is necessary in order not to make the employees that the change will require an amount of great loss on their part. Furthermore, it is necessary that the company must be able to see that change is really part of the growth of the company.
REFERENCE
BOOKS
Greenburg, J., 2003, Organizational Behavior: the State of the Science, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.
Lorenzi, N. and Riley, R., 2000, Managing Change: An Overview, J. Am Medical Information Association. USA.
Randall, J., 2004, Managing Change, Changing Managers, Routledge, New York.
ELECTRONIC SOURCES
Giordano WEBSITE, 2008, viewed 23 July, 2008, <http://www.giordano.com.hk/web/HK/investors/finHighlights.html>.
Giordano case study, n.d, viewed 23 July, 2008, <http://faculty.insead.edu/schutte/MBA/Giordano%20Case.pdf>.
Heathfield, S. 2008, Change Management Wisdom, viewed 25 July 2008, < http://humanresources.about.com/od/changemanagement/a/change_wisdom.htm>.
Markos, L. (2001), Imaging: The Vision of Change, vieved 25 July 2008, < http://www.irmi.com/Expert/Articles/2001/Markos03.aspx>.
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