Paradigms of Organizational Change and Development

Subject: Management Theories
Pages: 15
Words: 4596
Reading time:
16 min
Study level: PhD

Introduction

Organizations function within dynamic economic, social and political environments currently embracing historic heights of uncertainty. Also, globalization poses enormous pressure upon institutions, people and governments to venture into wider horizons initially less considered. Management practice has to respond to the urgent calls while also ensuring sustainability of such intricate networks and interrelations. Various paradigms of change and development in organization hence address sustainability, efficient implementation/ incidence, environmental factors and cost effectiveness.

Various contemporary approaches insist on democratic leadership particularly as a result of the triumph of democracy as a principle of governance over autocracy. Various studies of development point toward greater economic liberation, operated through a free market.

Historically, many models and theories have been advanced exploring organizational development in practice. They often reflect scientific and strong technological correlations due to the fact that industrial progress is often precipitated by the technical circumstances. The classical theoretical perspectives appropriately fit the Newtonian- Cartesian paradigm whereas post classical theorization reflects the Quantum-Complexity paradigm.

Paradigms of organizational change and development

Implications of the scientific worldview of physics for a comprehensive paradigm of organizational change, underpin the objective aspect of classical physics and the object-subject relationship in the measuring processes of quantum physics, it’s noteworthy that such conceptualization does not include the aspect of the observer, the subject. This condition is reflected in great detail in the situation found in organizational change. As for this course the physical world, every association has aspects, which are definite by visible, objective principles, more delicate and not unswervingly visible prejudiced aspects, and which are concerned with the relationship between both. Moreover, the subjective aspect, which is incompletely understood and which, when fully understood and mastered, will provide a unifying basis for successful transformation and management of the organization is largely loose (Pettigrew, 1992 p 10).

The image of an organization built around the idea of operating at.the edge of chaos. Institutions as a set of plain rudiments are tied together by complex interaction involving non-linear feedback (Tichy, 1983 p 47). A noteworthy property of nonlinear systems is bounded instability or what is referred to as the edge of chaos. Here a system has developed equally negative and positive feedback loops and is hence concurrently capable of stability and instability. Performance at the border of confusion is contradictory because the organization moves separately back and forth amid steadiness and shakiness. Eventually, exceptional successful alliance referred to as Sematech emerged from a set of small, isolated events that occurred at a point of irreversible disequilibrium when the US semiconductor industry was at the verge of collapse (Allen, 2001 p 34).

The classical theoretical perspectives; change and development connotations

Bureaucracy as put forth by M. Weber, it is influenced management by rules and official personnel with vocational office holding prescriptions. The system laid foundations for modern administrative practice hence is organizational change and development. Change within the bureaucratic system is perceived as unnecessarily following rigid dogmas. The classical legacy continues to influence contemporary practice in fundamental ways.

The theories of oligarchy, scientific management, human relations, cooperation, and social systems

The top-down approach to organizational change can be summarized by the following characteristics, mounting a vision, communicating the vision, top-management determination, forecast and programming; and initiating the best practice (Lorsch,1986, p. 13): This loom comprises of close up similarity to the mechanistic conceptualization of classical physics.

Post classical theoretical perspectives as functional theory, decision making theory, compliance theory, exchange theory and open system theory all convey the rigors of Newtonian-Cartesian worldview. Reengineering furthermore does not deal with the subject of how to put into practice preferred transformation. In fact, workers who have been used to predictable structures and schedules of operation often feel derailed by the demand for doing things in new ways. After all, the organization’s main requirement before had been compliance with established procedures and explicit instructions. The skills and obligation to believe the requirements for, and employment within, a varying environment have not been essential or even advantageous before. This applies to procession personnel and clerks as well as to administration and amalgamation leaders at all sections of the institute (Beer et al., 1990, p. 37).

The “bottom-up” approach and the systems/ quantum paradigm

With the Living-systems approach, the dominant characteristics of the living-systems approach include: assumptions that organizations are adaptive, self-regulating, interdependent, and dynamic; a consciousness that the leader’s challenge is not to force change but to release the potential for change; an acknowledgment of the need for both stability and change; a shift from future aspirations to an awareness of current reality; a respect for the uniqueness of each organization and its own specialized needs for change; a deep understanding of the influence of one part of the system on the hole, including the recognition that the organization’s performance depends vitally upon the interactions of its members ( McWilliams, 1995 p 310).

(Senge’s 1990 p 265) systems approach of the learning organization” is a forerunner of today’s more quantum, living systems models. In Senge’s framework, the concepts and basic mechanisms of the systems paradigm are fundamental to understanding and transforming the organization, and embrace the function of a fifth discipline” to be mastered for successful organizational change. An essential feature of a system is represented by multiple response mechanisms amid its various sub-components.

A clear cut classification of paradigms as pertains organizational development is often amorphous borrowing largely from scientific conceptualizations and theory, often unfolding with time varied theorization have often been based on philosophic sentimentalism as well as economic writings and derivations. Control based on organizational goals. Supervision based on well understood organizational goals often lessens conflict and hoarse social climate in the workplace. The shift from more predictable repose in tasks expectations by employees toward flexible multi-task within teams characterizes the quantum paradigm.

Transforming the organization through Vedic Science

The view of Vedic knowledge holds assurance for a complete consideration of the organization and for a winning approach to altering and mounting the organization. Being a discipline of subjectivity, and given that technology for civilizing the subjective character of personality awareness, such as originality and cleverness, Vedic discipline do deal with these subjective aspect as they present themselves in organizations. The query is whether and how Vedic discipline is proficient of dealing with the behavioral aspects of the organization. , Vedic Science is presenting the vision of an integrated organization, in which the diverse interests of its members, shareholders and customers, as well as the wellbeing of civilization and the environment, are spontaneously harmonized.

This impulsive integration is the result of the balancing character of the fully logical communal awareness of the institute, which constitutes the organizations most essential and theoretical, yet also most powerful, level. This is referred to us as organizational consciousness. This highly integrated state of operation is also predicted to be the state of maximal long-term and broad based efficiency. Thereby, the developed institute is gifted to combine inexpensive achievement with maximal support for its members and its environment. It can be outlined in a detailed pathway of stages of organizational development, which leads to this final stage of the consciousness based” organization. The pragmatic lack of incorporation in many organizations is seen as the consequence of a low level of coherence in organizational consciousness. The resources of increasing organizational awareness are situated in the growth of individual alertness through the experiential technique of Vedic knowledge.

Every aspects of the institute, makeup, social communication and personal awareness, are terms of the same fundamental field of awareness. This is reasonable, because organizations have been conceived of and costumed by persons, entrepreneurs and cream of the crop of society, based on their skewed values and visions. Furthermore, they continue to operate due to the actions and perceptions of their individual members, which are based on their individual awareness. While these organizations are serving a variety of purposes and are found in many different forms and modes of operation, they are seen to be governed, on their deepest level, by the same universal laws of intelligence functioning within the field of consciousness. This explains the reason for why the techniques of Vedic discipline, targets awareness as the most elementary level of the organization, are predictable to be relevant to all types of organizations and managerial issues in the same manner.

Vedic discipline forecasts that the field of awareness is prearranged in separate levels consequential to the levels of public organization. Thus, there is the level of individual consciousness or awareness, most specific to the individual and closely coordinated with his or her physiology. There is also a level of communal awareness for the institute, shared by and synchronized with its characteristics members, clients and owners, and there are levels of collective consciousness for the cities, nations and finally for the entire world. Vedic Science posits that the activities within the organization are organized on their deepest level, and with greatest effectiveness, in these levels of collective consciousness. Social interactions through the usual channels of communication do play an important role, of course. They provide direction to the deeper processes on the level of consciousness, and are the means for translating the results of these processes into steps of action. In this role, they are predicted to be most effective and beneficial when they are in line with and supportive of the coherent functioning of collective consciousness.

The sensible advancement of Vedic discipline to managerial alteration and growth is fundamentally to give to all members of the institute the knowledge of transcendental awareness through teaching in the Transcendental Meditation technique. This includes a transcribed program of logical understanding of person’s experiences and of the universal dynamics of the growth of awareness through the fluctuation of thought and activity.

The implementation of the program requires no extensive data collection and analysis beforehand and afterward, although such data collection and analysis can be done to verify the effectiveness. It also does not require that the participating individuals acquire and practice new values, skills and behaviors beforehand. Finally, the program does not require immediate changes in the existing structure of the organization. This astonishing straightforwardness of accomplishment is strongly related to the fact that the use of Vedic discipline to organization is not a partial involvement for exact purpose, but targets a thoughtful alteration of the association towards a novel style of performance. Its draw near is to liven up, throughout the organization’s personage members, the integrative and balancing character of the meadow of awareness. This field of awareness is seen to be the unifying and overriding basis of the institute. Thus, the simplicity of implementation is a direct consequence of the very general nature of the approach.

The payback of the Vedic advancement is predicted to be increasing, and to offer sustenance not only for managerial adjustment, but also for running the organization on a continuing basis. In their all-purpose and helpful nature, the Vedic technique do not substitute specific specialized techniques for organizing change or organization the course, but are planned to provide the foundation for increasing the effectiveness of such techniques.

Benefits are predicted to accrue to the organization in three different areas.

Primarily is the area of the person membership, and their enhanced mental, physical and public capacity. Second is the area of the integrated functioning of the organization as a whole, which is predicted to be profoundly transformed, as more of its members are included in the program. Third is the area of the overall environment of the organization, which is predicted to become increasingly supportive. This prediction of benefits in all of these three areas follows naturally from the premises of Maharishi Vedic Science. We will discuss them in more detail in the following sections.

Contemporary Research perspectives

Contemporary critical research in Human Resource Development focuses in the previously undisputable issues as power, politics, heterosexism and racism. Critical approaches beg greater attention such as the analysis of previously undisputable issues, which have adverse consequences for individuals and organizations. Action research is hailed for the incorporation of elitist perspectives, although with the inherent danger of being slightly divorced from real organizations.

Burrell and Morgan’s classic model of research paradigms laid a foundation for organizational research. The paradigms evaluate the four perspectives as subjective and objective as well as sociology of deep-seated change-sociology of system. They have the advantage of exposing deep seated conflicts within societies and organizations. Once the dominating chaos and contradictions are exposed, the emancipation of society is largely feasible. Morgan’s four paradigms therefore are: deep-seated humanistic, fundamental structure wise, interpretive and functionality.

Interpretive paradigm recognizes subjectivity while completely focusing on the perspective of the sociology of regulation (particularly in its emphasis on accommodating the status quo versus inventing changes to deep-seated problems). Interpretive researchers seek a profound understanding of local settings and are not usually apprehensive with making direct inferences to larger systems. Radical humanism is based on subjectivity, while looking for essential transformation. A main emphasis for radical humanism is in the seeking of potentiality, through transcending obtainable forms of domination. Most critical approaches plummet within this paradigm, which is a great deal influenced by the early writings of Marx and members of the Frankfurt school of critical theory.

Radical humanism emphasizes small-scale, local changes and disdains social engineering. In the majority of ways, this approach is antithetical to the functionalist approach seen in most HRD research. Like radical humanism, radical structuralism assesses critically society and organizations, but it focuses on large-scale structural relationships. Radical structuralism is the least common approach to HRD research, with its most influential theorists being Marx (particularly from his later work), Engels, and Lenin (Beer et al 1990, p 120).

Although critical issues have largely been unconsidered, HRD does sometimes include learner-centered aspirations for social parity, which is based on humanistic ideals. Though, these humanistic perspectives have incorporated little discussion of authority, government, or bigger social forces. Fascinatingly, softer forms of humanism contain been espoused as being an essential part of HRD by those who encourage both learning-oriented perspectives and performance-oriented perspectives run that an extra candid and ethical approach is needed. According to their viewpoint, HRD (particularly in for-profit organizations) is occasionally used ultimate for profit purposes.

Instead of acknowledging this fact, many people espouse a single perspective in which employees are encouraged to believe that their interests are wholly aligned with the interests of the corporation. Clearly, organizational management and worker wellbeing are not for all time aligned. In its place there is usually, a more multifaceted and imminent viewpoint desired where a variety of benefit are recognized. In many workplaces, it is politically incorrect to openly discuss issues of workplace politics or power. When agency political affairs are discussed, the expression “politics” is frequently used as a derogatory, in classification the events of one more section or person.

Self- automatic deliberations of authority and government can help us appreciate our own uses of power. Rejecting a unitary viewpoint and discussing control and politics does not signify that groups will or be supposed to terminate that managers are wickedness and employees are clean. Instead, an open acknowledgement that these issues are real can help to foster more open communication (i.e., communication that is not required to happen beneath illusions of social equality and amalgamated wellbeing). As an instance of the disinclination to talk about contentious issues, found that men were especially reluctant to admit that gender plays a role in power associations, while females were a great deal more forthcoming in discussing the role of gender in power relations at work.

They also established that men ideally chose to speak in unfriendly conditions when discussing how sexual category affects authority relationships in their own work life. On the other hand, women were straight in discussing concerning how these issues have impacted on them individually. We often keep away from discussing control and policy in organizations, since control is seen as being completely unenthusiastic and domineering. As Foucault (1978) argued, power is complex and multifaceted. It is not just wielded by persons in administrative position of authority, but is dynamic, changing, and exercised from multiple and changing school of thought. The exercise of power can be used for achieving positive societal changes. Discussing power enables us to reshape our notions about the everyday procedural practices we go through. The assessment of control does not essentially mean relating domination of others; it is in addition self-reflexive in serving us to look at the conduct in which we work out authority as researchers and practitioners.

Conceptual framework for the design of Organizational Development mechanisms

Organizations serve numerous internal and external functions which create binding obligations upon their leadership for compliance, sustainability and efficiency сhange management initiatives fall short for three reasons: change is not linear, change can not be formal, and change is not discrete. First, change is not linear in an open and complex system as this denotes deterministic behavior. According to Falconer, First, change is iterative and acquisitive: It oscillates around and, in so doing, augments itself similarly, change tends to be recursive: the here we go again aspect of change. Secondly, change is not embraced because change is an open system, not a closed system and change is emergent and adaptive. The reality is that change always responds, to predictability. Lastly, change is not discrete. In one of the author’s disciplines, agreement acquisitions are regularly segmented into convenient milestones or phases; however, the acquisition projects rarely resemble the original plan of execution, and large, complex projects hardly ever halt out of want. Linear discrete development may function well with easy projects such as building of houses, but linear planning hardly ever works as intended for additional multifaceted projects linking numerous stakeholders.

In the background of the formation and preservation of teams, a CAS would permit sovereign agents or team members to materialize as a self-managing and self-sufficient execution team. However, in a less open, more prearranged and hierarchical organization, the manager or leader directs the configuration and upholding of teams. In the viewpoint of difficulty theory, the notion of supervision and directing modification of team growth and maintenance is meaningless since the understanding that change cannot be managed, and organizational studies show that bureaucratic structures impede team members’ freedom. As change cannot be managed, and today’s organizations are familiar with the invariable transformations and confusion in their environments, managers will unavoidably still want to run and lead their companies and groups

A temporarily answer is to find the stability at the edge of pandemonium; maintain some canonization and idleness for toughness while allowing change, assortment, and thoughts to come out in a bottom-up approaches and their paradigm of the learning organization are concerned mainly with the relationship between the objective, structural aspect of the organization and the subjective aspect of its individual members. While individual growth is considered significant and is in receipt of attention, it is for all time seen in the framework of the organization’s structure.

Cognitive development as a strategy for organizational development

Cognition is fundamental to leadership particularly among currently volatile work-places. New work structures as independent teams are recognized and people simply are expected to become empowered by these new habits in which they are functioning. Yet, mainly due to a lack of consideration of the power of the collective human system to barricade the growth of initiatives, a lot of just structural transformation programs have been founded. A depressing result of these failures has been to underpin fear, defensiveness, and pessimism among group at work toward institute transformation efforts.

Inner Mastery: The inmost circle denotes that set of practices and aptitudes by which individuals are able to keep a grounded, alert, and authentic presence in the midst of escalating chaos and stress. People with advanced skill in Inner Mastery tend to emerge to others as leaders commendable of trust. Influential people with Inner Mastery skills can logically maintain an association with others since they are more totally in touch with their selves.

Skillful communication: The second inner-most layer that of leadership through effective communication includes skills for improved query, clearer deed and. Leaders with these skill are likely to exhibit clearer requests, become more accountable for their promises, and become more likely to influence their mates to follow their committed undertakings.

Cluster or group dealing Skills for Management: The third layer from the center entails the basic skills in meeting presentation and the use of tools for group dynamics and processes which can lead to decision and accomplishment of effective and mutual association. These skills have become increasingly a part of organizational training and discourse, and most managers apply them.

Structural and Organizational Design: ids the 4th and it entails the group of reinvention apparatus, capability, and practice that are most recognizable to alter the agents. It includes practices which is associated with the organizational management, process diagnosis, design, and implementation. Among these are conventional Total quality management, Process reinvention, Matrix Organization, and so on. Human capital is increasingly becoming a major gearing contributor to organizational strategic performance. The change process is steered by the personnel.

Leadership behavior and cognition in effective governments

Governments form a major/ dominant business organization and absolutely influence the welfare of a people within their geographical regions of influence. Governance is seen as a contract between the variously interdependent segments of the populace / nationhood. Interactive interface between the people and their governance are the institutions, government agencies and officials (Rumelt, 1982, p 350).

Effective leadership and performance; recommendations for third world countries

Performance of organizations and governments depend on popular acceptance and participation by both leadership as well as the citizenry. The high levels of fragility and instability characterizing third world countries call for concerted efforts and commitment both by the developed nations and their developing counterparts

Leadership of the private business sector as well as multinationals ought to embrace social concerns in the critical perspective, through occasionally complementing government efforts on delivery of essential services. Moreover, interventions incorporating the donor agencies, the NGO sector, government and the citizenry assured greater sustainable growth.

The institution of the presidency ought to steer clear paradigms about the kind of contentions precipitating conflict. Such repose engineers the leadership perceptions and promote nationhood particularly requisite in uprooting negatively impinging attitudes and conceptions about the leadership.

Private and public sector leadership; elements for excellence

Traditionally public sector leadership has faced rigorous criticism from disenfranchised constituencies particularly in the political realms. The inter-war period as well as the post war international economic climate fueled the competition that exhibited ideological partisanship. In developing countries, the private sector comprised predominantly former government officials and their affiliates.

The main goal of the bottom-up approach is to promote the development and involvement of the organization’s individual members, thereby drawing on their expertise and at the same time providing deeper meaning and opportunities for growth in their work situation. The Vedic approach is accomplishing this goal by developing the individual’s consciousness. It entails a profound dimension of personal growth which has been shown to benefit all aspects of their lives, inside and outside of the organization. In addition, it is increasing their capacity for participation and identification in the organization, and at the same time beefing up the capability of its leaders for liking their contributions. Lastly, the Vedic example shows that the

An organization can undergo development as it improves the quality of collective awareness beyond the restrictions of the institute itself.

Leadership models for Haiti and Burundi; paraxial intervention

Haiti and Burundi share an experience of forceful government take-over, isolated economies within regional blocks experiencing a wave of economic progress particularly through foreign direct investments. Moreover the regions have immense mineral resources, a probable trigger of unrest. While U.S.-led reconstruction efforts achieved some goals, such as restoring President Aristide to power, the mission was not very successful. U.S. and international military departed before a competent administration could be created, self-sustaining democratic structures could be put in place, or lasting economic reforms could be instituted

Being fourth Caribbean intervention the United States had conducted since 1965 but the first for which it was able to secure a UN Security Council authorization. Because NGOs are more effective than the government in reaching the needy especially the rural poor—donors should channel funds through NGOs rather than through the government.

However, prevalent lawlessness, graft, and the inability of the government to provide essential legal and other government services will continue to hinder economic recovery.

The Haitian state-owned enterprises should be either used to provide jobs for all citizens regardless of their ethnic or political orientation other than as sources of cash for unscrupulous politicians. The Haitian government ought to privatize these companies to redistribute the resources and promote maintenance of investment confidence. If the international donors could have successfully pressured the Haitian government to privatize these enterprises, economic growth would have been stronger and poverty could be reduced.

Burundi’s entry into the WTO have not achieved a significant impact on the population, since the country had already embarked on a structural adjustment program since 1986 under the tutelage of the Bretton Woods institutions (IMF and World Bank). The structural adjustment program featured trade liberalization provisions, as a result of which the conditions set by the WTO were already being implemented under the program.

In order to gain access to regional markets, Burundi has to sustain a commitment with the continental organization ; African Union and regional organizations in its geographic area, such as COMESA, CEPGL, ECCAS, the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries and just recently the East African Community. Such effort should be under a support schedule bearing in mind the underprivileged circumstances.

Traditionally institutional leadership within government agencies drew heavily from the dominant political class primarily due to their close proximity to power and tendency to cling to power among many leaders. Moreover, developing countries need to promote manufacturing sectors and attain competitive product quality benchmarks acceptable in foreign markets (Zacharia, 1995).

Conclusion

Organizational development and change climate is rapidly gaining prominence in strategic management due to the realization that certain latent factors that are non-financial have considerable effect on the balance sheet items of many organizations. Governments as well as organizations currently grapple with the implementation of mechanisms of measuring and evaluating performance under the total quality tenets.

In addition, technological commitment in all fields should be embraced in order to reshape tasks and practice in all sectors. Management theory research and practice ought to be more scientific as well as philosophic since the relative flexibility, potential of worker training and resources, by identifying a unifying basis for the diverse aspects of the organization, and for their development. Vedic Science also offers attainment to the goals of both the top-down and the bottom-up approaches. The main goal of the top-down approach is to ensure a structured process of development which maintains the integrity of the existing structures of leadership, and strengthens the leader’s ability to envision the desired transformation, communicate this vision and direct the organization towards meeting its goals.

The quantum strategy conforms to this objective by realizing that the leader’s capability to visionary, arrangements and take action productively is determined by the level of managerial awareness, and by giving the means to develop organizational consciousness through the development of individual consciousness. This process is entirely compatible with the existing structure of leadership. Individuals in leadership often arise as a result of individual self determination and others it usually as a result of quality training, in cherishing the varied paradigms, it is noteworthy that diverse experiential exposure should be promoted in institutions and governments to promote an appreciation of diversity and conformity.

References

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