In Essay No.2, above, we saw the importance of teamwork and its implications.
In this Essay No.3 we will see the importance of developing a change strategy, in stages, and the importance that teamwork has for this. One of the elements in the implementation of change is human resources, people who are motivated and motivated to carry out this program. Another is technology that is at the service of the human being to facilitate work.
It is, then, about taking the initiative and developing trust and credibility through modest but significant steps.
Many companies are faced with the need for imminent changes in their business and process strategies due to the arrival of new competitors due to globalization. Foreign companies that invest in the country and imports of products, at much more competitive prices.
Globalization, productivity, efficiency in production processes (of all kinds), strong competition, finally the Market ends up requesting an organizational change in the way of approaching process units in their context. It is necessary to rethink business to face and alleviate current difficulties (Peter Senge).
Companies choose between several change initiatives; but most of them fail 2; One of these initiatives is Reengineering, which is certainly not the exception. Performance statistics calculate the Failure Rate at around 70%.
- Hypothesis
Given that we are facing a situation of change, a process of optimizing production processes, a restructuring of the support services of the latter, in short, questioning of the organization, concerns arise and uncertainty appears in the workers.
Against this the following hypothesis is posed:
"In order to carry out an organizational change and a rethink of business, in the structure of production processes and associated support services, you cannot be successful if you do not carry out the following analysis: What is the current situation? ? And where do you want to go? This means: trust, commitment, detailed knowledge of existing production processes, knowledge of best practices in the process, defining the parameter or goal to be achieved, participation, thoughtful conviction and the desire to grow in knowledge ”.
However, the aforementioned will have no effect if working groups are not established to work in coordination and in coordination with other groups as well. This style of group work will make them grow in truth and knowledge, will make them come out of the ignorance that can lead them to servitude, will take them out of the confinement of their mechanistic functions, will open new worlds of professional participation and fulfillment, finally It will make them more free in their desire to contribute to the organization.
- Development
The opening of world markets, globalization, has meant the arrival of new competitors to the internal markets of nations and this in turn has changed the business scenario.
Due to this, companies have had to reformulate their businesses to face the dynamics of the markets in a better way and aimed at a result of excellence.
The arrival of new, globalized competitors has meant a rethinking of the price structure (if they are cheaper) and of quality (if they are better in their attributes). A product that meets all three (3) Bs is no longer sufficient.
It is necessary that the local product or service has a greater added value in the support or in the supplier-client relationship.
Considering the aforementioned, the optimization of the productive processes, the improvement of the quality of the products and the improvement of the customer-supplier relationship are considerations that must be analyzed within the reformulation of the business and this in itself constitutes a change not contemplated, previously, in the organization.
The competitor's product does not differ much from that manufactured by the local company. But, the competition produces cheaper, equal or better than the local company. Therefore, the company has the obligation to verify its processes and try to exceed the standards of the incoming competition.
Those previously indicated, we could say, correspond to mental processes that arise from some member (s) of the Administration of the company; Administration that is supposed to know the market better and that, therefore, must be constantly alert to new threats and opportunities that it presents over time. Therefore, it is precisely from the Administration that the need for organizational change arises. As in Management for Excellence, the Administration is the driving force behind the new approach to the organization, it is necessary to have the “Leadership of the Directors, Managers, Bosses and Supervisors”.
However, the Administration will not be able to do anything if it does not find or does not have the conviction of the Headquarters (Supervisors), with the confidence that what is being sought is the best for everyone. And this is a chain, because the Headquarters has to convince, also, its subordinates of the same.
It is necessary that each one of the people, who are part of the organization, be "Valued as a Key Component of the Company or Organization", that their learning capacities be recognized and that they be used for the processes of change. Also, it is necessary that the Administration "believes in the dignity of each employee and takes into account their interests" and their contributions; be honest in communication, listen to your suggestions and ideas, etc.
The subordinate employee, in turn, needs and wants, among others, to feel treated as a person, that their work is recognized and that they can participate in the planning of future projects; And certainly, this required change is a very important one.
What is indicated in the previous paragraph, generally, sows and creates confidence in the employees regarding the information and communication that their Supervisors transmit, to themselves, regarding the implementation of the change; And with this, you have already earned one or more steps in your advancement.
Trust, in turn, is one of the pillars of Personal Change, which, in turn, is an integral part of the Emerging Organizational Change Strategy; Moods and Commitments, too.
The culture change will not happen without the involvement, commitment and active support of the members of the entire organization. The change of culture will not occur if it is not understood, if its complexity is not respected (with each of its 3 levels) and it is approached step by step, in due time.
In my opinion, the program of activities or the work strategy that is required to implement the change that is being sought should contemplate, at least, the following activities or steps, which require time, in the following order:
1.- Present the situation to the members of the organization, explain to them the need to make a change in the system and the importance of the participation of everyone, of each member of the organization.
2- Convince the staff, engage them and make them part of the challenge.
3.- Description of the production and support processes.
4.- Survey of existing technologies (IT and others) in the company.
5.- Analysis of personnel, staffing in the process line. Description of positions, functions, 6 responsibilities, scope.
7.- Characterization of the product produced by the company's process line.
5.- Definition of the pattern or goal that you want to reach. Investigate the competition and new existing technologies to carry out the business process. If possible, develop a Benchmarking.
8.- Comparison between the pattern and what exists. Quantification of the magnitude of the change.
9.- Define the necessary requirements (equipment, technology, IT's, training, controls) for the change, financing, managers and its viability.
10.- Concentrate the company's activities in strategic business units. Outsourcing of some processes.
11.- Implementation of Online Process Control. Tracing.
12.- Gradual materialization of changes in processes, equipment and people.
13.- White march, monitoring and continuous improvement.
The presented work program is consistent with the “Six (6) Steps to Design a Process of Organizational Culture Change”.
It may also be necessary to make some changes or modifications associated with the culture of the organization to facilitate the implementation and permanence of the new system; the seven (7) S ”model must be considered.
Each of the stages, in conjunction with others, must be analyzed and reflected on. The information must be clear and reliable; a good decision depends on it. The forces and challenges, that arise on the fly and that impede the progress and development of strategies, must be faced and analyzed to find a solution and overcome them.
Teamwork is essential. The people who participate must believe the story, they must get involved in order to contribute to the development and advancement of the objective sought.
In manufacturing companies, accustomed to mechanistic control systems, the need for Online Process Control arises where people are interrelated and each member, associated with a stage in the production chain, knows the consequences of the previous stage in its process and the consequences of its stage in the later stage. Information and communication, in real time, must be continuous and reliable. Each member of the team or group contributes to generate a collective dynamic, any group organized around a purpose is a system that provides coherence to the interactions of its members; Here, the collective dynamics is around the process line and the coherence among its members is to be able to obtain a product that adjusts to what is expected.
Support services play an important role in supporting the process line; Administration, Acquisitions, Warehouse Materials, Supplies, Computing, Maintenance, Raw Materials, etc. Each of them contributes with their grain of sand to what the process line requires; without them, the thing does not work.
The pattern to be reached or the pre-established goal must be achievable, they must be realistic, they must be available in the market (if it is a facilitating element, for example: IT or some type of technology).
Outsourcing is leaving out those stages or process units for which the company is not efficient or the alternative cost of carrying them out is very high or puts the continuity of operations in other areas at risk. This outsourcing would make it possible to free up resources, channel them to other more necessary points and decrease the number of personnel (for example: cleaning, maintenance, security or guards, etc.). However, the analysis of these points must be profound, the conclusions must be formulated based on empirical evidence
Having analyzed the foregoing background, it is time to decide, agree and coordinate efforts to determine the strategy to choose: What are we going to do? How are we doing today? How do we want to be tomorrow? What follow-ups are we going to do ?, How often are we going to meet ?, How are we going to evaluate ?, What are we going to evaluate ?, etc.
All of the above is part of a value chain that is preparing to face the new challenges that the new times indicate as coming. This Value Chain MUST be made up of, at least, one of the Directors (for example, the CEO).
Finally, it is not enough to arrive at the pattern mentioned at the beginning of the essay, which we can also call the stated goal, but it is necessary to continue, from above and projecting downwards, working in a line of continuous improvement, always keeping in mind a “Global Vision, Local Action and Future Perspective ”.
- conclusion
According to the analysis made, the available background and the development presented, regarding the hypothesis, it can be deduced that:
1.- You need to know the business you are in well.
2.- It is necessary to know and value each of the employees involved, supervisors and subordinates.
3.- The goal to be achieved definitely allows quantifying the magnitude of the change.
4.- Management and Supervisors must be 100% committed to the change project
5.- The personnel involved in the change, supervisors and subordinates, must be involved in the changes. Everyone must participate and get involved.
6.- Changes in the line of processes and services must be gradual.
7.- Access to knowledge is essential to implement change.
8.- The strategies must be appropriate to the local reality of the business, process and service.
9.- Threats and opportunities are instances that the company must take advantage of to initiate, maintain and permanently project continuous improvement within them.
- BibliographyStrategic Termites; Imaginization, Sage Publication, 1993, Chap.3; Morgan Gareth. Skillful Incompetence, How to Teach Smart People to Learn; Chris Argyris.Metamanagment, The New Con-Science of Business; Granica, Buenos Aires 2001, Volume 1, Principles Chapter 1 Learning, Knowing and Power; Kofman Fredy.The Corporate Cultural Survival Guide; Sense and Nonsense About Cultural Change; Jossey Bass, 1999; Schein, E. The Dance of Change, The Challenges of Sustaining Momentum in Open Organizations l Learning; Editorial Norma, Colombia, 2000, Chapters I and II; Peter Senge.Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture; Addison Wesley, USA, 1999, Chap.5 and 6; Quinn R. Cameron P. BIT Magazine, March 2003. Management for Excellence: Competitiveness in Sight. Osvaldo Ferreiro.Ethics of the Company.Desclée - University Centers of the Society of Jesus, 2002. Ildefonso Camacho et al. Notes Summary Slide Organizational Change; Course "Update in Design and Organizational Development", Universidad Alberto Hurtado, October 2003. Kenneth Massey PhD. Rights and Obligations of Employers and Employees. Tom Beauchamp and Norman Bowie.
WHAT HAS MOTIVATED ORGANIZATIONS TO MAKE CHANGES IN THEIR PRODUCTIVE PROCESSES AND CHANGES IN THEIR BUSINESS STRATEGIES?
Contributed by: Erik Opitz Araya - [email protected]
- : Why have Organizations been faced with Teamwork? (Discovering a new style of work); Essay No.2, Update on Organizational Design and Development, October 2003; Erik Opitz.: In the world of business and organizations, changes can be external (in technology, customers, competitors, market structure or the social or political environment) or internal (how organizations adapt to changes in the environment, reorganization, reengineering, etc.); The Dance of Change; Peter Senge.: Morgan Gareth; Strategic Termites; Imaginization, Sage Publications, 1993, Chap. 3.: Peter Senge, The Dance of Change, The Challenges of Sustaining Momentum in Organizations Open to Learning; Editorial Norma, Colombia, Year 2000; Chapters I and II.: What does this mean? Who does it affect? How is it going to be done?Who is going to do it ?, when ?, etc.: What about my future or my job stability? Can you project me? Etc.: Kofman Fredy; Metamanagment, The new Con-Science of Business, 2001, Volume 1, page 109.: Best Practices. Term or expression, in English, associated with the best management systems (in teams and operations) associated with the development of a product or service.: Nothing is more necessary than the truth and, in relation to it, everything else has only a second order value; Federico Nietzsche.: Through ignorance s one descends into servitude, through education one ascends to freedom; Diego Luis Córdoba.: Good pretty and cheap.: For example, After Sales Services, Customer Service, Technical Support; among others.: If we do not rethink our companies we will not have relief from our current difficulties;The Dance of Change; Peter Senge.: Management for Excellence (in our case “for Change”) must necessarily be headed by the respective heads. Your leadership presence, as an example in the commitment to joint effort, is essential. Management for Excellence, Competitiveness in Sight; BIT Magazine, March 2003, page 22; Osvaldo Ferreiro.: In a world with such rapid changes, the main capital of a company is the people who make it up and their motivation and commitment to their objectives. BIT Magazine March 2003, page 23. Osvaldo Ferreiro.: Company Ethics. Appendix, The "Caux Round Table": Principles for Business. Page 296. Ildefonso Camacho et All.: Rights and Obligations of Employers and Employees; Tom Beauchamp and Norman E. Bowie.: Organizational Change Summary Slide, UAH, October 2003.Kenneth Massey.: Diagnosis and Changing….; Quinn R. Cameron P.: Artifacts, Espoused Values and Basic Underlying Assumptions; The Corporate Cultural Survival, 1993; Schein E.: Deep change requires investments of time, energy, and resources; The Dance of Change; Peter Senge.: Technique to compare the situation or status between companies; equipment, technologies, equipment, etc.: Also called Outsourcing. Assignment of jobs to third parties, contractors, expendable, but necessary business units.: Diagnosis and Changing Organizational Culture; 1999. Quinn R. Cameron P. 1-Diagnosis and Consensus on the Present (=> Identify current status), 2-Diagnosis and Consensus on the Future (=> Focus), 3-What it Means (=> Identify changes), 4 -Illustrative Stories (=> Exemplify),5-Strategic Action Steps (=> Determine actions) and 6-Implementation Plan (=> Create plan).: Success in culture change may require a change in: 1-Structure (structure), 2- Symbols (symbols), 3-Systems (systems), 4-Selection (personal), 5-Strategy (strategy), 6-Style of Lider (leadership style) and 7-Skill (skills). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. Quinn R. Cameron P.: Challenges are opportunities to improve, to exercise our attention, understanding and creativity; The Dance of Change; Peter Senge.: Kofman Fredy; Metamanagment…..; Volume 1, Chapter 1; pp. 110 & 111.: Without the support of superiors, no one can be able to confront the defensive routines of the organization; Skilled Incompetence; Chris Argyris.: The companies (and people) of the 21st century need to look at the opportunities,problems and challenges of the present and future with a global vision, open to the world…; Vista Competitiveness; Osvaldo Ferreiro.: We understand that the only competitive advantage that the company of the future will have is the ability of its managers to learn more quickly than its competitors; Royal Dutch / Shell; Arie de Geus.
