Two principle impediments to effective and lasting organizational change are str
ID: 392102 • Letter: T
Question
Two principle impediments to effective and lasting organizational change are structures and systems within the organization. In other words, for change to become a part of an organization, managers often have to change the formal and informal structures of an organization to better support the change initiative. In this Discussion Question, find an organization in KSA that completed a change in their organization within the last three years. Discuss how they changed, or modified, their formal and informal structures and systems to ensure the intended change became a part of the organization’s culture. Then discuss how changing these formal and informal structures fostered, impaired, or facilitated change within the organization.
Explanation / Answer
The structure of how the company is organized and processes within the organization are extremely important. They shape, guide and direct almost everything the company does, from business intelligence to strategic planning to hiring employees and taking care of customers. The structure and processes of organizations are not easy to fix. In fact they cut across every aspect of the company and amending them, even for great gain, requires monumental effort and usually a search for consensus. Thus, it is leaders' responsibility to understand, engage, and do the right things.
MICROSOFT
After the phenomenal and long-lived success of its Windows operating system and suite of Office products, Microsoft was struggling to have its second big thing. The gigantic company was stagnant and rife with turf wars between major business units that often viewed each other more as competitors than partners in the same company and innovation was being thwarted by a toxic environment.
After becoming CEO in February of 2014, Satya Nadella undertook a major restructuring of the massive company to do away with the destructive internal competition. Products and platforms no longer existed as separate groups, but rather all Microsoft employees began focusing on a limited set of common goals including:-
In September 2016, Nadella again shook things up with the merging of the Microsoft Research Group with the Bing, Cortana, and Information Platform Group teams to create a new AI and Research Group. With about 5,000 engineers and computer scientists, its goal was to innovate in artificial intelligence across the Microsoft product line.
Nadella shared with employees a new sense of mission: “To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” Prior to the restructuring, employees had been lacking a positive sense of purpose, with the result being low morale and low employee engagement. This reorganisation has offered the company’s employees a new sense that their work has real meaning.