Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Proof Reading Services

Introduction:

Background:

The following report is based on a case study of a merger/acquisition of Company X, which is a medium sized organization which employs 3000 employees by a multinational corporation Company Z Inc. The process of merger however requires several important considerations regarding organizational behaviors which can promote or challenge the process of organizational change and organizational change management. The considerations can include the style of leadership which plays a key role in the motivation of employees and orienting them to organizational change; behavioral influencers, which affects the individual as well as group behavior in the organization and thus the readiness for change; relationship with the stakeholders which helps to determine the strategies to maintain focus on the responsibilities towards the stakeholders through the organizational change; usage of political power which can be used to leverage key strategic decisions; reward system which helps in better participation of employees; motivation and engagement which helps to overcome resistors to change; communication strategies which support better sharing and transmission of information; conflict resolution and company culture which helps in the maintenance of a productive work environment (Mishra 2018).

Aim/Objective

The aim of the study is to develop a repost on how the proposed merger can influence the organizational behavior and how the behavior can be managed to ensure effective merger. The study aims to develop an understanding of the factors that influence organization and how they can be used more effectively to support the merger (Prakash et al. 2015)

Scope:

In this study the leadership style, behavioral influencers strategies to engaging stakeholders and employees, developing effective communication are used to develop an effective KPI and working arrangements and outline the process by which the change can be implemented (Clark 2016).

Discussion:

Four leadership styles and how they can be effective in the new organization

The four main types of leadership are:

Situational Leadership: In which the key decisions and leadership roles would be determined from a situation to situation bases. This style can be appropriate in situations of conflict, which can be managed on a case to case basis (Holten and Brenner 2015).

Contingency Leadership in which the correct course of action for the leaders are determined by the internal and external environment and situation in the organization. The leadership decisions are based on the style of the leader and the behavior of the employees. This style can be applied to support the engagement of the stakeholders through the organizational change process (Alimuddin and Sukoco 2017).

Leader Member Exchange (LMX) in which a two way relation between the leader and the employees are the focus of the decision making process and the leaders engage in a two way communication with the employees in order to influence them or understand their concerns. This leadership style can be useful for both conflict management as well as to motivate the employees towards the change (Hansen 2018).

Transformational Leadership: In which the organizational leaders will help in the transformation of the organization through the ability of the leader to work with a team to identify the need for change, develop a vision for change to guide the transformation and inspire the employees to achieve the transformation. This strategy can be useful for developing a change management strategy (Appelbaum et al. 2015).

Four Behavioral Science influencers and how they affectthe organizationalbehaviorin the current workforce:

Thebehaviorof individuals in an organization can be explained through variousbehavioralscience theories. Some of the most significant ones include:

Need Theory by Abraham Maslow: This is a theory of motivation, that takes into consideration the individual human needs and is based upon three main assumptions: a) The human needs can never be fully satisfied b) Human behavior has intrinsic purpose and is influenced by a strive towards satisfaction c) Needs of individuals are arranged in a hierarchical manner starting from the lowest to the highest. Thus the theory implies that the behavior of individuals is driven by their individual needs (Healy 2016).

Social Exchange Theory: According to this theory, interpersonal relations between humans are influenced by a cost benefit analysis that is associated with the relation. The ratio between the cost and benefit that occurs due to the relation or a social exchange leads to either the continuance or discontinuance of the interpersonal relation within an organization (Barbalet 2017).

Hawthorne Effect by Elton Mayo: According to this theory, the productivity of employees can increase when they are given more flexibility and more autonomy to perform their job. The theory supports that by providing more freedom to the employees their sense of responsibility will increase in an organization (Sedgwick and Greenwood 2015).

Theory X and Theory Y by Douglas McGregor: This theory suggests that managers can either have a negative view of the employees and assumes that the employees are not capable to getting their work done (theory X) or they can have a positive view of the employees and assumes that they are fully capable of getting their work done (theory Y), and these two theories help to develop self fulfillment among managers (Alam 2015).

Key Stakeholders and how will they be impacted by the sale:

Employees: The sale of the company can increase stress among the employees as they try to adapt to a new working procedures due to the change.

Organizational Leaders: They will be affected due to a development of collaboration with the new organization.

Business Partners: They would have to re-develop their partnership with the new organizational structure, thus being significantly affected.

Investors: They will be positively affected by the change, as the acquisition will result in the growth of the company.

Customers/Service Users: They also will not be impacted, since the overall organizational processes and products will be the same.

The power structure of the organization and how is that utilized

The organization follows a hierarchical power structure in which the CEO of the company holds the maximum power and authority. Under the CEO are the managers, who take care of the specific processed of the organizations such as human resources, administration, accounts, operations, customer relations, finances, information technology and logistics. The managers report directly to the CEO of the company. Under each managers are two assistant managers and actively interact with the employees and manage their performance. This structure can be used to implement a transformational strategy in which the CEO and Senior Managers can play a role to motivate the employees towards a change (Hoch and Kozlowski 2014).

Current motivational programs being utilized and their effectiveness and whether they includeintrinsicor extrinsic reward system

Reward and incentives: Reward and incentive programs can provide monetary benefits to employees with the best performance, and helps them to maintain their effort and hard work. The strategy is very effective in the motivation of the employees through the extrinsic reward system.

Recognition: This strategy is used to recognize the performance and contributions of each employee, with the best performers across various performance indices are given recognition. The recognition increases the exposure of the employees, and gives them a motivation through an intrinsic reward through boosting their confidence levels.

Job Promotions: This is also a very important strategy that allows employees showing performance with consistency to move up through the hierarchy, and given more job responsibilities to fully utilize their competency and capacity. The promotions provides the employees a scope towards professional development and growth as well as better salaries and thus serves as both an intrinsic (better job satisfaction) as well as extrinsic reward (better salary).

Positive Feedbacks: Positive feedbacks help the employees to understand their performance levels, and the management to orient the employees towards the organizational goals as well as strategies to increase the skills and competencies of the employees. Effective feedback can help to motivate the employees through better engagement in communication with the management that can serve as an intrinsic reward for the employees.

(Aguenza and Som 2018; Ristic et al. 2017)

Engagement percentage of the existing employees who are actively engaged, non-engaged and disengaged and recommendations for re-engagement.

Currently in the organization about 55% of the employees are actively engaged, while 35% of the employees are non-engaged while 10% of the employees are actively disengaged. This shows that almost half the employees are not adequately engaged in the organizational processes, which can be the reason for the fall in productivity of the organization. The lack of engagement can also be attributed to the challenges faced by the employees due to the organizational change caused by the acquisition. It is therefore important to develop re-engagement of the employees in the organizational process. The strategies that can b used to re-engage the employees include:

Providing flexibility in working hours for the employees, where they can start their work according to their convenience.

Highlighting the bigger advantage to the employees due to the change which can help the employees to appreciate the how the change can help them.

Being clear and unambiguous in the communication with employees, which can prevent any confusions and help the management and the employees to understand other’s concerns and point of view.

Implementing training programs to help employees adapt to the new system and thus overcome resistance to change and disengagement from work.

Using effective leadership to motivate the employees.

Using effective problem solving strategies to address and mitigate the causes of disengagement and un engagement

(Kaliannan and Adjovu 2015; McManus and Mosca 2015)

Communication Flow process used in the organization and its effectiveness. How can the communication be improved and used in conflict resolution and the most effective conflict resolutionstyle.

The flow of communication in the organization is mostly a down ward communication, in which the CEO and the senior managers transmit the information which then is cascaded across the subordinate hierarchies to reach the employees. The management thus acts an intermediary in the communication transfer between the CEO and the employees, helping to cascade and amplify the communication so that it reaches everybody. This is a very effective system that allows a quick transmission of crucial information directly to the employees (Kuhn 2017).

The communication flow process can be further enhanced through the implementation of upward communication or upward flow of information, where the information flows from the employees to the upper management. Strategies such as employee feedback, complaint and grievance addressing systems can help the management to understand the employee’s perspectives and the challenges faced by them, thus helping to resolve conflicts within the organization (Suh et al. 2018).

Crosswise communication can also be incorporated to enhance communication between the management team, sharing of significant information and helping to implement coordinated decision making process and support better conflict management. This communication can also help in better problem solving skills and development of professional skills and knowledge among the employees, as they are able to learn from each other’s experiences (Agbai 2015).

Four approachesofjob design and the most appropriate one for this company to provide the best result.

In order to achieve the best results in employee performance, four job design approaches that can be used to effectively design the jobs for the employees are:

Job Rotation: In this strategy, the employees can be rotated between various work processes which can help to overcome boredom caused due to repetitions of the same work every day and also help in the development of flexibility in the workforce.

Job Enlargement: This helps to develop specific workload that can be given to each employee based on their capacity and skills, and allows skilled employees to take up more tasks and thus achieve professional growth.

Job Enrichment: This can be done by giving the employees additional responsibilities such as coordinating, scheduling and planning of work, which helps them, understand the management perspectives of work management.

Alternative Working Schedules: Strategies such as flexibility in working schedule, reducing the number of working hours per week and the option of performing their jobs without having to travel to the workplace (telecommuting) can help in better job engagement and increased productivity.

(Bertolino 2015)

The Key Performance Indicators that can be used to measure the organization’s overall performance, including the leading and lagging indicators.

In order to measure the performance of the organization, different Key Performance Indicators (KPI) can be used, such as:

Employee Turnover rates: This is a lagging KPI that helps to understand the turnover of employees. The data can help to understand whether the organization is able to retain its employees and thus understand the performance of the human resources.

Customer Churn rate: This is a leading KPI that helps to understand the loss of customers. The data can be useful to understand if the products or services provided meets the customer expectations and thus understand the productivity of the organization.

Percentage of satisfied Customers: This is a leading KPI that helps to understand improvement in customer satisfaction.

Cash Flow: This is a leading KPI that helps to analyze the flow of cash into the business and thus help to understand the growth of the operational management and organizational processes as well as productivity.

(Gössling 2015)

Types of flexible work arrangements that can be used in this organization to improve efficiency reduce costs and attract top talents.

Different types of flexibility can be implemented on the work arrangements that can support improvement in employee efficiency, reduce operational costs and also attract talented employees to the organization. Some of the most effective strategies include:

Flexible working hours: This can allow the employees to work for the required amount of time but start their shift according to their choice.

Rotational job roles: This can allow the employees to switch between different job roles in the organization, thus preventing boredom from repetitive tasks.

Telecommuting: This can allow the employees to work from home at time, and avoid travelling to workplace unless it is very necessary.

Compressed workweeks: This can allow a reduction in the total number of working hours in a week.

(Johansson et al. 2016)

Four types ofteamcurrently used in the organization, whether the teams are homogenous or heterogeneous and the advantage/disadvantage of each type of team. The current formal groups in the organization and if the organization supports informal group structures.

The four types of teams currently utilized in the organization include:

Problem Solving Team: This is a cross functional and heterogeneous team that is comprised of employees from different department, and are involved in finding solutions to different organizational challenges and problems. The advantage of this team is it allows a dedicated team for the problem solving process. The disadvantage is that in situations when the organization is running smoothly, the team remains underutilized (Gu et al. 2018).

Quality team: This is a cross functional and homogenous team made of quality assurance experts and engages in a methodical and structured approach towards the analysis of workflow and the quality of the work and operations to ensure it meets the quality parameters. The advantage of this team is it ensures the process maintains its quality, while the disadvantage is that they increase the expense of the organization (Mishra 2018.

Workgroup: This is the main working team of the organization, whose activities allows the generation of revenue. They are the most important team in the work process and can be a heterogeneous as well as homogenous group. The advantage of this team is it is easy to manage, the disadvantage being in the collaboration of their work (Gu et al. 2018).

Virtual team: This team can be spread across various geographic location and provide virtual support to the organization. They are a heterogeneous group consisting of consultants, advisors, data analyzers and technical support group. The advantage of this team is the ease to reach them, while a major disadvantage is in the management of the team (Mishra 2018.

The formal groups in the organization include the task group, team group and technology group. The organization also supports the development of informal groups such as interest groups, reference groups, friendship groups and cliques (Gu et al. 2018).

Horizontal specialization of the organization and whether the organization is centralized or decentralized.

The type of horizontal specialization that is used in the organization is a functional one, in which responsibilities for specific activities such as recruitment and operations are shared between the assistant managers who reports to the senior managers. This structure provides more autonomy to the assistant managers to conduct their work with minimal interference from the senior managers (Prakash et al. 2015).

The organization is moreover centralized where the power and authority is more concentrated towards the upper levels of the management and the decisions are mostly taken by the relevant managers and assistant managers, following the strict hierarchy (Gu et al. 2018).

Thefive stepchange process that will be necessary to affect a cultural change initiative.

To ensure an effective cultural change in the organization the process of organizational change can be done in 5 subsequent steps. These steps are:

Identifying the necessity for a change by understanding the current situation and problems: This can help the management to understand why the change is necessary and how the change can help them and the organization in the long run.

Communicating the need for change to others and involving the employees to design the change process. Informing the employees about the necessity for a change can orient them to the organizational perspectives and prevent any misunderstandings or resistance for change. Also their participation can improve the readiness for change.

Developing a plan for organizational change through the involvement of the employees, management and stakeholders. This can ensure that the planning takes into consideration the inputs from the employees and management, and thus develop a system that is more acceptable by everyone.

Implementing the plan for organizational change in the organization.

Evaluating the outcomes of the change and identifying scope for further improvement. This can help to assess whether the change plan was successful or not, and identify any scopes for further improvement to the plan which can then be implemented to make the plan better and more effective.

(Doppelt 2017)

Conclusion and Recommendation:

Aim and context

The study is based on a case scenario of an organizational acquisition of Company X by Company Z. Company X is a medium sized organization that employs about 3000 employees, and hence it is vital to carefully analyze the factors that affects the organizational behavior, in order to develop strategies for effective change management. The aim of the study was to understand the factors that affect the organizational behavior within a particular organization and develop strategies that can facilitate the organizational change and readiness for change in the organization

Brief Summary

Four different types of leadership strategies can be used in the process (situational, contingency, LMX, and transformational) that can facilitate the change. Behavioral science theories that can be used to improve readiness for change includes need theory, social exchange theory, Hawthorne effect theory and Theory X/Theory Y. Different stakeholders would also be impacted by the change, which needs to be carefully analyzed. The hierarchical power structure can also be used effectively to manage the change. Different motivational programs can be used to motivate the employee performance. Also, employee engagement can be facilitated and re engagement of employees promoted. Effective communication also needs to be determined keeping in mind the communication flow model used in the organization. Different approaches can also be used to design the job to promote better engagement of employees, and important KPI can be used to measure the organizational performances. Moreover, flexibility in work arrangements can further increase productivity of the employees. Additionally, the five steps that can be used to implement the change have also been discussed.

Final comments

The process of change management is a complicated one, and involves multi level actions and collaboration between the management and the employees. By developing an understanding of organizational behavior, the process of change management can be made more effective.

Recommendations:

To ensure effective implementation of the change management process, the following recommendations can be made:

1. Using effective leadership strategy
2. Engaging stakeholders more effectively
3. Using organizational power structure to facilitate change
4. Implementing motivational programs for employees
5. Improving engagement of the employees
6. Using effective communication strategies
7. Using effective job design approach
8. Using KPI to measure performance
9. Using flexible work arrangement

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