Since the beginning of this new millennium, organizations have been facing rapid and continuous changes. Currently, the accelerated development of science and technology and the globalization of the economy mainly have created new challenges for companies, such as new competitors, new demands for quality and services, among others, that force companies to be more efficient.
Organizations, then, must know how to adapt and be prepared for change.
According to Idalberto Chiavenato "Organizational change is a set of structural and behavioral changes within an organization", related to change in organizations, two concepts have been spreading widely in recent decades in academic and business environments, which they are Organizational Development and Total Quality.
Richard Beckard defines Organizational Development as "a process planned and administered by senior management aimed at producing a change in the culture of the organization that will lead to excellence.", Regarding the concept of Total Quality we can understand it as a supported philosophy in a series of practices, tools and methods aimed at leading an organization to excellence, having as pillars the focus on customers and the satisfaction of their needs, seeking the full participation of staff and, fundamentally, the continuous improvement of processes to raise the quality of products and services.
As we can see, both concepts refer to a situation of change, of desire for innovation within organizations. When this change begins to take place, the effects are evident either in customer relationships, the market or in interpersonal relationships and the psychosocial climate that exists within these companies.
Both point to a planned change of organizations that guides them towards excellence. If organizations are capable of growth and development, of reorienting their paths and adapting to new situations, it is because they must survive in the difficult and hostile environment of competition. The market and its demands influence management decisions in favor of change.
The change in the organizations, the search for Total Quality and the path towards business excellence are tasks, in the first place, of responsibility of the managers, but because they are delicate, they need the assistance and support of all the workers.
Hence, there is a need for the capacity, skills, forces or energy that exist throughout the organization to be better and more exploited, which means breaking many traditional schemes, flattening pyramid structures, changing authoritarian styles, establishing mechanisms to Through which the participation and commitment of all staff can be channeled, as well as establishing schemes that encourage responsibility, performance and achievement.
