Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Leadership Processes

Reaction to Organizational Change/ Uncertainty

-Final: important stage reaction to organizational change efforts is uncertainty on the part of organizational members. -Uncertainty about organizational processes can result in stress on the part of employees, and this is particular true during times of change. -Organizational change might be counterproductive, it is clear that uncertainty about what is happening in the change process causes heightened anxiety on the part of workers. -most straightforward ways to deal with this uncertainty and the anxiety it provokes is through communication and the provision of information. **Example: employees preferred having negative information about organizational change to rather then no information about organizational change.

Reaction to Organizational change/ Management support

-First indicate the "problems" identified management support for the change process is critical. **Example: conventional wisdom suggest that it is a senior management who has the most impact on change. When senior management do not back up the change effort or when there vision is not effectively shared w/ others in the organizations, it is unlikely that a change effort will be successful. -Sometimes is true when there is an external change agent involved in the change process.

Tell and Sell

-Management selects a limited set of message regarding core organizational issues -Management "tells" employees about these issues and then "sells" employees on the wisdom of the chosen approach. More persuasive

Spray and Pray

-Management shower employees with all kinds of information in the hope that employees will be able to sort out significant and insignificant information. (Less effective)

Communication in the change process

-Many choices must be made about communication during change process. -Lewis, Richardson, and Hamel: found that change agents communicate first and most frequently with individuals inside or close to the organization. -"top-down" communication strategies believe that the (underscore and explore strategy) is most effective and that (Spray and Pray) and (withhold and uphold) strategies are least effective. - the two remaining (identify and reply and tell and sell) strategies were seen a moderately effective. -quality of information can be enhanced most effectively by involving employees in as many aspects of the change process as possible. -great deal of research investigating how change influence communication among lower-level employees in an organization.

Organizational change processes

-No organization that remains static will survive long -Many organization naturally evolve and adapt to environmental needs -There are models of organizational life cycles and the evolution of organizational populations that consider the "natural" ways organizations and groups of organizations change with the ebb and flow of institutional life and industry history.

Organizational Leadership

-Organizational change involves a complex process of communication among a wide range of constituencies in and around the organization. ***Example: we found that is critical that a wide array of organizational participants be informed about the change and feel that they are a part of the decision-making process). -Important: that management in an organization is seen as clearly understanding the organization's problems, supporting appropriate change efforts, and being prepared for dealing with organizational crisis. -effective leadership is critical in the organizational change process

Change tactics

-Organizational members use and array of tactics to deal with change including: *information search *discussion of what the innovation would be like *exploring alternatives to change *Persuading others to support or not support the change *formally requesting reconsideration of the change.

Reaction to Organizational change/ ownership tension

-Ownership tension inherent in the change process, in which the successful implementation of change efforts is contingent on ownership of the problem and ownership of the change process by those in critical positions in the organization. ***Example: Our school district changing to a new system of teaching reading. The new systems may be mandated by a state or local board of education. If so successful change may we depend the extent to which local administrators and school principles feel ownership of both the problem(ineffective methods for teaching reading) and the solution (the new method being proposed).

Communication and leadership continue

-Seeger and Ulmer found that effective leadership discourse was characterized by a strong commitment to stakeholders, an immediate commitment to rebuild, the opportunity for renewal through crisis. -experimental studies have indicated that strong delivery styles (eye contact, appropriate use of facial expressions and gestures, increased vocal variety) let to higher ratings of leadership of effectiveness. -individuals can be trained to be more effective (or at least to be seen as more effective) through careful attention to nonverbal behaviors,

Communication and leadership view

-communication as a "tool" that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of leaders in a variety of ways, including the use of nonverbal behavior, word choice timing, or framing devices -communications scholars have shifted their view of communication and leadership by moving to a model in which communication is not a told in service of effective leadership but is actually the medium through which leadership relationship are constructed. -Fairhurst sees leadership as "exercise when ideas expressed in talk and action are recognized by others as capable of progressing tasks or problems which are important to them -leadership is accomplished through interaction with others, is a process of meaning management and is grounded in the accomplishment of task. -new view of leadership, then, replaces simplified concepts of leaders using the toolf of communication to influence followers with consideration of the ways in which leading is constructed through the discourse of a dispersed group of actors in an organizational context

Coping with change

-employees are faced with numerous concerns about change -concern about performance: will I be able to do my work they way I want under the new system. -concern about organizational norms: "what do other employees think about this new system" -concern about uncertainty: "I know so little about this new system"

Communication in the change process... continue page186

-employees are faced with numerous concerns about change, including concerns about performance. ***example: will I be able to teach the way I want to under the new systems? organizational norms(what do others teachers think about these new teaching methods?), and uncertainty ( I know so little about these teaching methods".) -Cope: with theses concerns organizational members used a wide array of tactics that included information search, discussion of what the innovation would be like exploring alternatives to the change, persuading others to support or not support the change, and formally requesting reconsideration of the change.

Organizational Leadership

-importance of leadership is not limited to times of change and upheaval. -example: recent years of how ineffective leadership during normal organizational operations has led to disastrous results for a company. -example: in the trail regarding the collapse of WorldCom, a major defense of Bernard Ebbers, the ex-CEO of the company, was that he really wasn't aware of issues of technology or finances within the organization. -many stockholders and many scholars too see this not as a failure of "his people" but as a failure of his leadership. -the way we come to understand leadership in organizational contexts -some models of leadership and then look at role that communication plays within current relationship

Organizational Crisis

-is an event that is an unpredictable, major threat that can have a negative effect on the organization industry, or stakeholders if handled improperly. -Crisis is unplanned change that can rock and organization and al the people associated with it. -(3)three stages: 1.Precise stage 2.Crisis stage 3.Post crisis stage *in all (3) three stages, communication processes play a key role in coping with a wide range of these "unplanned" change process.

Transformational Leadership model

-makes distinction between transactional leaders and transformational leaders.

Organizations advocating a trait approach to leadership

-might use personality test to select people with the "right" combination of characteristics or might use these traits to help organization members in self-assessment. -trait approaches to leadership are models that suggest that leaders have particular behavioral "styles' that make them more or less effective leaders.

Relational approach

-models that look more closely at leadership as a process of communication and as a process of establishing relationships have been proposed. -example: of relational approach is the concept of transformational leadership that highlight the ways that leaders secure "extraordinary levels of follower trust and inspire followers to emulate their behavior"

Pre-crisis stage (before crisis)

-organizational members can work to prevent or prepare for possible problems. ***Example: in "hurricane season" of 2005, many commentators noted that planners in Texas should have better prepare for the traffic mess that occurred during Hurricane Rita after all, they had seen what had happened during Hurricane Katrina only a few weeks before.

Reactions of Organizational Change

-organizations are cultural and political systems inhabited by thinking and feeling human beings. -it is critical to look at how employees might react to and influence the organizational change process -Organizational members have "schemata" about how organizations work and how change happens *example: Kuhn and Corman argue that organizational members have schemata or knowledge structures that define individual and collective beliefs about how organizations work and how change happens. -this schemata may either be confirmed or disrupted and leading to tension in the change process that must be effectively managed by change agents, often through developing a sense of connection between organizational members and the change process.

Leaders

-some leaders might be good at running structures meetings and others might be more comfortable in freewheeling brainstorming sessions or presenting large-scale public speeches. -many scholars rejected a trait approach to leadership, they turned to ideas that emphasizes the "match" of the style of the leader to the characteristics of the situation.

Models of leadership "early thinking"

-that leaders are "born" not made" was reflected in trait theories of leadership -these theories propose that qualities that will tend to be associated with leaders and that will result in success in leadership activities **example: most common trait associated with leadership are intelligence (verbal ability, perceptual ability, and reasoning), self-confidences (belief that one can make a difference), determination (the persistent desire to get the job done), integrity (honesty and trustworthiness) and sociability (being friendly and outgoing).

Transformational leaders

-through communication process create a relationship between leaders and followers that helps followers reach their full potential and has the potential for transforming both the leader and the follower ***Example: Northouse explains with regard to mahatma Gandhi, "Gandhi raised the hopes and demands of millions of his people and in the process was changed himself" -Gardner argues that central to transformational leadership is the concept of exemplification. -leaders who want to instill the ideals of hard work and ethical behavior would do so by exemplifying those ideals in their own behaviors. Both words and deeds are critical to the transformational leader it is a model of "do as I say and as I do". -communication process are central to these new theories of leadership.

Unplanned change: Organizational crisis

-when change is thrust through an organization in the wake of events such as natural disasters, ethical violations ,terrorism, product failure or tampering, financial loss, or serious human error. ***example: of "change" that confronted organizations coping with Hurricane Katrina and it's aftermath, the earthquake in Haiti, the space shuttle disasters, the BP oil disaster in the Golf of Mexico, the alleged dangers presented by medications such as Vioxx, and the discovery of tainted food on grocery store shelves. -Organizational crisis is unplanned three (3) stages -Communication in organization crisis must deal with both external constituencies such as the customers, regulators, and the general public and internal constituencies such as employees.

Discourse doing change

-Howard and Geist explored the discourse of workers during a planned merger. ***Adopted stances of: -Active acceptance: invincibility -Passive acceptance : diplomacy -Active rejection: defection -Passive rejection: betrayal

Identify and Reply

-Management listens to and identifies key concerns of employees and then responds to those issues as they are brought up

Spin

-function: it puts a subject in a positive or negative light -use it because: it can reveal your subjects strengths or weakness -avoid it when: the ratio of spin to reality is excessive -example: which ray will show up? the one who's cooperative and generous or the egoist who constantly reminds others of his successes.

Organization change

-Change is inevitable -Change is a central concern in organizational life -The degree and impact of change varies

Continue Communication and leadership

-Fairhurst argue that effective leaders begin the framing process by having a clear understanding of their own view of reality and their own goals for the organization and for communication. -effective leaders know where they are and know where they want to go. -effective leaders are also those who pay attention to the context, recognizing times and situations in which there are opportunities for shaping meaning or when there are constraints that will hamper the framing process. -finally effective leaders use language in way that managing meaning in powerful and appropriate ways.

Underscore and Explore

-Management focuses on fundamental issues related to change success and allows employees to creative freedom to explore various possibilities (most effective)

New Leadership

-Models of new leadership emphasizes communication and relationship through the consideration of the ways that leaders secure "extraordinary levels of follower trust and inspire followers to emulate their behavior"

Approaches to change in leadership

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Critique

-trait and styles approaches has come with regard to the idea of leadership behaviors across situation. -critique argues that different individuals might be differently suited for various leadership situations.

Trait and styles approaches to leadership

-we like to think of leaders as "special" kinds of people who can do extraordinary things and we can probably think of some people who appear to be "born leaders" -trait and style approaches have fallen into disfavor, as many scholars and practitioner are uncomfortable with the notion of a set of list of specific characteristics that defines all leaders.

Exemplify cation

Is key to transformational leadership; leaders exemplify ideals wanted instilled in followers we " do as I say and as I do"

Problem with change process

* Lack of management support * Top managers forcing change * Inconsistent action by key managers * Unrealistic expectations * Lack of meaningful participation * Poor communication * Purpose of program not clear * Responsibility for change not properly identify

Models of Change

*Organizational members are very concerned with ways of managing change rather than simply letting the organizational life cycle take its course. *Successful organization are those that initiate change, respond to change, plan change, and implement changes as an ONGOING way of life.

Withhold and uphold

-Management withholds information as much as possible. When management is confronted with questions or rumors, they uphold the party line. (Less effective)

Transactional leadership

-refers to relationship in which there is an exchange of some sort between leaders and followers. ***example: a political transactional leader exchanges a promise of social security reform fro the promise of a vote. -Managerial transactional leader: exchanges a pay raise, a promotion, or verbal praise for hard work on a project.

Reaction to Organizational change/ Resistance

-Second:change process has been typically labeled as resistance to change process. -Resistance as "behaviors intended to prevent the implementation of use of a system or to prevent system designer from achieving their objectives. - Resistance must also include problems such as ignorance of a change initiative, inadequate training, or fear. -Resistance to change is political behavior in organizations because there are often many who have a great deal to "win" or "lose" in a change initiative.

Post crisis (after crisis)

-communication focuses on determining responsibilities, perhaps apologizing and establishing systems for coping with similar crises in the future **Example: in the fall of 2007, firefighters in the San Diego area credited their effective handling of evacuations and other crisis-related events to the lessons learned from fighting large-scale fires several years before

Models of change:"Natural" life cycle model

- "Natural" life cycle model * Start- up develops market and create systems and procedures * Growth- client relationships are developed and size of company grows * Harvest- company serves existing clients * Decay- services become less relevant to the marketplace and organization eventually folds or is brought by another company.

Reactions to Organizational Change

-Change can be thwarted by a variety of obstacles at numerous levels of the organization -Responding to change at each stage of change process: 1.during change development 2.program planning 3.chnage implementation is critical to organizational and individuals outcomes.

Contingency Theory

-"matching" the styles of the leader to the characteristic of the situation. -predict for example that a leaders who likes to focus on tasks would be more effective in structured situations than a leader who likes to focus on relationships. -scholars argue that there are many situations in which a single person is not adequate for the needs of the situation and leadership functions must be shared by several individuals in a group or organization. -still emphasizes the characteristics and the styles of the leader and the needs of particular situations

Models of Change: "planned change model"

-The "planned change model" *Organizations are confronted with problem in environment or internal situations that suggest that current " ways of doing things" are not effective *Purposeful process of change over time *May have identifiable phases: explores need for change and possible solutions; plans for the institution of change; implantation of change; dissemination of information about change; integration of change into operations.

Important consideration "Gail Fairhurst and Robert Starr"

-regarding the way we look at leaders "frame" their language in interaction with a variety of constituencies. -leadership as a "language game" and they argie that most essential skill for this game is the ability to frame. -Framing: is a way of managing meaning in which one or more aspects of the subject at hand are selected or highlighted over other aspects" ***example: the leader at one of the organizations Malde mills had to finds a way to "frame" a fire that destroyed a textile plant, resulted in serious injury, and placed many jobs in jeopardy. -leader framed the event as a chance to demonstrate his commitment to his workers and to rebuild and renew the company. -emphasizes the notion that leadership is not about events or situations but is instead a process of managing meaning -framing might be especially important for leaders in "failure" situations.

Communication and Leadership

-role of communication on the leadership process can be looked at in several different ways. ***important example: to look at what is said: the content of communication. -Visionary content: is more effective then pragmatic content -appropriate content of communication will vary from situation to situation but research does give us some ideas about what effective leaders say.

Crisis stage (during crisis)

-there is a trigger (product failure, natural disaster) that threatens an organization's survival or reputation. -during this periods there is much uncertainty -people inside and outside the organization try to make sense of what happening.

Discursive leadership

The idea of discursive leadership moves from the views of leadership outlined earlier in this chapter to one that consider the ways in which leadership is socially constructed through interactions among organizational actors. ***Example: leadership exercised when ideas expressed in talk and action are recognized by others as capable of progressing task or problems which are important to them.