Organizational Behavior Management Concepts free essay sample

He explains different ways in which the sense of urgency and perception can be changed. One of those ways is to â€Å"Create a crisis by allowing a financial loss, exposing managers to major weaknesses vis-a-vis competitors, or allowing errors to blow up instead of being corrected at the last minute† (P. 44). By analyzing this example we can easily see how urgency will be raised and perceptions change between employees. Employees start worrying about their job security when a financial crisis is present. They will then want to learn about what is necessary to bring the financial stability back into the organization.If the issue addressed and applied, it will bring job security in return. By allowing managers to be exposed to the major organizational weaknesses their state of urgency will increase and the perception of the organization will change. This illustration alters employee’s perception of security and industry leadership, and the sense of urgency is raised. In general, most people are reluctant to change or conform to their environment whether it be a work environment or otherwise. There is always some degree of uncertainty when presented with change. A sense of urgency allows employees to see the need and the importance of change. Urgency has to be created and perceptions have to be altered within every department of an organization in order for a successful start to organizational change. â€Å"Stage 2, Creating a Guiding Coalition† Kotter’s second step in creating change in an organization is to create a guiding coalition. The criteria for creating a strong guiding coalition would entail finding people who possess the experience, integrity and leadership skills within their positions.The job of the guiding coalition is a critical piece where implementation is necessary in order for organizational change efforts to begin. The people that are leading the efforts are in charge of making changes that should result in a more effective organization in terms of organizational strength. This step can be compared to Ivancevich et al. ’s concepts of teams and changing attitudes. The guiding coalition should act as a synergetic team as described by Ivancevich et al. This team should be formed by individuals who are one hundred percent committed and dedicated towards the goal of organizational change.He describes an effective vision to include characteristics such as being â€Å"ambitious enough to force people out of comfortable routines†, â€Å"taking advantage of fundamental trends† and â€Å"having a certain moral power† (P. 79). This concept relates closely to the goal setting process approach as stated by Ivancevich et al. Goals correlate directly to the vision concept. A goal is â€Å"a specific target that an individual [organization] is trying to achieve; a goal is the target [vision] of an action† (Ivancevich et al. , 2007, P. 26). Setting an effective goal (vision) that is clear will motivate employees to take action in the organizations desired direction (Kotter, 1996, P. 68). Setting a challenging but attainable goal (vision) will motivate employees to work harder towards the objective. Setting goals or visions can be a very influential method for motivating employees to work towards the organizational change (Ivancevich et al. , 2007, P. 128). Organizations that are working towards change have capitalized on this vision setting approach.A change without an effective vision â€Å"or a logical plan can rarely inspire [motivate] the kind of action needed to produce a major change† (Kotter, 1996, P. 71). â€Å"Stage 4, Communicating the Change Vision† Kotter’s fourth step towards the organizational change is communicating the change vision. In this step Kotter’s main focus is to communicate the vision through actions as much as possible in every way possible. Throughout this step Kotter is focused on emotions and how constant communication (verbal and non-verbal) can affect the employees’ emotions towards embracing the guiding coalitions’ vision.Many concepts found in Ivancevich et al. text book on emotions and communication can be compared to this step. This section will focus on the comparison between the 4th stage and Ivancevich et al. ’s communication process. â€Å"Communication is one of the vital processes that breathes life into an organizational structure. † (Ivancevich et al. , 2007, P. 372). This statement clearly emphasizes the importance of communication. The manner in which the guiding coalition communicates the vision can either break barriers or form more barriers towards change.The vision should be communicated using simple language, â€Å"all jargon and technobabble must be eliminated. †(Kotter, 1996, P. 90). In eliminating complicated language from the vision, clarity is present and the employees’ understanding will increase. People are more apt to take action when the message is completely understood. If there is any hint of confusion, some will ask for clarifications but other will not bother to understand. Those who don’t understand may already be against change if the vision is made too complicated and appears to be too hard to grasp.The information richness and the nonverbal communication concepts, strongly supports Kotter’s 4th stage. Vision can be the most effective when it is transmitted in different forms (Kotter, 1996, P. 93). These concepts directly relate to Ivancevich et al. ’s informational richness, which â€Å"refers to the amount of information that can be transmitted or communicated in an effective manner† (P. 357). It can take the form of formal meetings, informal face-to-face communication, memos and e-mails.Communicating the vision through different mediums will make employees aware of the message and how important the change is to the organization. The nonverbal communication of the vision can be crucial towards creating or developing emotional barriers (P. 354). Kotter refers to the nonverbal communication as leading by example. If the coalition starts to act and live by the new vision, employees will obtain a better understanding of the change and create more credibility in the coalition’s actions and beliefs. â€Å"Stage 5, Empowering a Broad Base Action† Kotter’s fifth step is on empowering a broad base action.