MANAGING CHANGE

Special thanks to Asfandyar Khan for helping me out on this. This report has been made by carrying out secondary research methods which includes books, e-books and online articles. 

Gulfam Zebayee
University Of Chester

INTRODUCTION

Cambridge dictionary (2014) describes managers as “a person who is responsible for managing an organization”. Management is the key element in any organization or business. The success and collapse of an organization is greatly dependant on the management therefore it has to work very efficiently and strategically in order to accomplish the aims and motives that it has set and to establish a well reputed organization in the business community.




The work of every management is very complex and consists of several tasks. The skill of Forecasting is presumption of how the organization should be run in the future keeping in the view the managements experience and judgment based on the previous performance of the organization.

(Rugman & Hodgetts, 2000) Management maintains the check and control as synchronization and coordination in the entire organization is a key point for its success and an essential part of management. By distributing the work load and responsibilities equally in the members of the organization and managing the resources efficiently assures the formation of a strong management.

A management has several designations which run the entire organization. It is all about decision making in a major business or organization and to make decisions an authorized expert who has full knowledge of his designated field and the expertise to effectively implement this knowledge to make things run smoothly is required. This is where the Manager of an organization steps in.

The manager runs the show for every organization. He leads and supervises all the employees and delegates the responsibilities. The ability to do so lays a huge impact on the overall success of the organization.

A successful manager possesses the quality of exploring the background of an organization to the core, knowing the minutest details. No manager can haphazardly take decisions. Every manager should have a strategy to run things smoothly. (ibid)

Cooperation with the staff is necessary in all conditions as they are a major part of the organization. The manager should be foresighted and optimistic in setting his goals so a shared vision is developed within the entire working community of the organization.

Delegation of responsibilities is not an easy task therefore a manager should tactfully handle his staff while delegating them different tasks.

The manager of an organization plays a very vital role in all phases linked to an organization. This report will illustrate Four managing worries with a case study on Nokia to study real life situations.

MANAGING CHANGE

It a process or is defined as a set of tools which are necessary for a manager to adopt, so he can acquire a desired outcome.

Management change is a very persistent task for the manager as there are many technicalities involved while managing change. A manager has to be resolute through the whole process.(Change Management, 2014)

The whole process of managing change has a complexity factor as it involves many people which means involving several ideas and thoughts and any individuals idea could be contrary to that of the manager. For change management a manager should consider all dimensions of thought and should keep in mind the people affiliated to the change as there could be several reasons for them to oppose this change. Employees maybe comfortable with the current system or they could oppose it keeping in mind their lack of skill needed for the change. The fact that the change might increase the work load with the same pay for the employees could also be an obstacle. (Ben-Eli, 2014)

The opinion of every individual may vary but it is very important in this specific phase therefore whatever conditions the manager lays forward to the people must be very rational and justifiable to convince them and he should make sure that the people can cope up with this specific change.

The reason why change management is needed could differ for every organization.

(Boundless, 2014) Globalization is a major factor for change in management. As businesses flourish internationally everything increases or evolves to a larger scale. Interaction between several cultures is developed and multinational companies have to keep themselves updated with the changes taking places internationally to make progress. Globalization directly effects the entire management of an organization or business therefore it leads in Change of management.

Developments and enhancements in technology are very rapid and every organization and business is being revolutionized. All organizations have to keep their management system up to date in order to establish adaptability in the business community. Times to time changes are made therefore the manger has to come up with quick solutions for such changes and the employees are trained to cope up with the unprecedented changes being made, in order to flourish and to create competitive advantage.

Managers need to find the most effective and quick way for the best outcome and to determine what specific changes are to be made and to accomplish this a specific, feasible and effective process is followed.

No reckless techniques should be adopted in order to accelerate the change because it may seem manipulative to the ones being approached and the idea of the change may seem obnoxious.

(Lam, 2013) Nokia has experienced management change a lot of times due to changes in the business market. The ‘I- Phone’ revolutionized smart phones after its release in January 2007. It totally captured the entire smart phone market due to its distinguished features. Nokia’s managers initially designed a scheme to release touch screen smart phones such as ‘Nokia Xpress Music 5800’ but the phones had many drawbacks so the managers kept introducing phones with low prices in the market. (ibid) Simultaneously, Google launched the Android Platform which increased the competition. The managers analysed that their decision making was slow due to the employment of many vice presidents and senior vice presidents which were approximately 300. Nokia then introduced the ‘Maemo Team’ which started manufacturing Linux based Internet tablets and phones in 2007. (ibid)

MANAGING RESOURCES

Good Resource management is highly essential for any organization or business to meet their objectives and targets. Resource management is defined as the most effective or feasible methodology of utilizing resources of the organization. (Leadership academy, 2013)

The manager of any organization has to use the organizations resources in the most effective way possible in order to deliver effective services with minimum waste of the resources.

For resource management allocation of resources plays a vital role. Allocation of resources could include financial resources available instantaneously to the organization, equipment being used and the work force or number of employees hired by the organization. (ibid)

(National Audit Office, 2014) A manager has to be certain about the resources available and should have the skill of using them efficiently and effectively. The physical resources must be readily available and sufficient but the manager should make sure that the resources being provided are not abundant as it would result in wastage if the resources are not being utilized. The quality of identifying the appropriate type and level of resources needed should be present in the manager and if the resources are not being used the effectively the manager should streamline the use of resources by taking action so the outcome is productive. Forecasting of the resources needed is highly important as well.

Assignment of tasks is also included in managing resources. All the employees should be delegated tasks keeping in mind the level and type of work being designated. The manager should make sure that all employees are given workload in order to keep them working for a better outcome.

(Lam, 2013) Nokia follows SHRM ( Strategic Human Resource Management) programme for the most effective outcomes. Human resources are highlighted in this specific program and the main aim of this is to focus on the company’s future, keeping in mind the strengths and weaknesses of the company. The focus is laid upon the employees where they are motivated and given a boost for a productive environment. (ibid) The task of the HR manager or Head of SHRM, ‘Juha Akras’ is to make this programme work effectively.

MANAGING STRATEGICALLY

(lipman, 2013) Every organization has a vision or direction that it must follow and to achieve that vision things must be run in a very synchronized order where they can execute several operations simultaneously. To develop this an organization must have a good and effective strategy. The term Managing Strategically is very vast and it includes everything that an organization might need to establish itself.

Managing strategically can be defined as how an organization wants to run things keeping in mind the objectives of the organization and the way it wants the objectives to be executed. The strategy includes the major goals or aims of the organization, a detailed research on the financial and physical assets that the organization possesses, the type of employees it would need and most importantly the environment in which the organization must operate.

A manager should be well updated with the environment in which the company must operate. The number of competitors and the probability of the organization to flourish in the business community should be well planned. The manager should have a strategy planned out with all statistics of the organization’s resources and the internal setup for the organization should be properly strategized keeping the strengths and weakness highlighted.(ibid)

Once the organization has a strategy the manager should find the most effective way of executing it. With changes occurring due to globalization and other aspects the manager should further evolve and enhance his strategy to cope up in every aspect.

The CEO of Nokia, Stephen Elop, signed an agreement with Microsoft after the announcement made by him on 11th of February 2011 regarding ‘Meego’ which was a combined product of Nokia’s ‘Maemo’ and Intel’s ‘Moblin Project’.(lam, 2013) The managers initiated a change in the strategy in the overall vision of the company with respect to the future innovations, employees and Nokia’s business model. Nokia stopped focusing on Symbian models and out sourced the Symbian development sector in order to reduce the company’s expenditure and moved 2800 of its employees to Accenture. (Lam, 2013)

MANAGING ENTREPRENEURIALLY

A well established manager is highly skilled as he is experienced. To attain the position of a well established and well reputed manager a lot has to be achieved in the business community which can include extraordinary communication skills in marketing and public relations and highly developed administrative skills of handling the employees and the resources of an organization. (lipman, 20130)

Entrepreneurship can be defined as the establishing of a business or an organization, without any practical experience related to this particular field. The probability of risk is higher in entrepreneurship as compared to well establish organizations.

A person who takes the initiative of establishing an organization or business, knowing all the risks and benefits is known as an entrepreneur.

(Ben-Eli, 2013) Entrepreneurs’ as managers should keep a balance in order to keep things running smoothly and effectively. Interaction with the employees has to be tactful as a new manager is not foresighted and cannot handle the problems as good as a well-established manager. A new manager has to make sure that the decisions he is taking are not rampant and self-oriented as there maybe chances of resentment occurring.

New managers should not be resistant in seeking help when needed as they lack practical experience and without experience management can be a challenge. Engagement and interaction with the employees is very important to maintain balance as the employees relate and respond if given the right tasks and this could help new managers in enhancing their analytical skills.

(lam, 2013) Nokia was established back in the early 1990’s and captured the market for 14 years. Nokia was a successful company due to the fact that it quickly launched products in response to the need of the market which was the key to element for it becoming the largest manufacturer in the mobile business and in the world.

REFERENCES 

Cambridge Dictionaries Online. (2014). English definition of “manager”. URL accessed from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/manager?q=managers

Business Dictionary. (2014). Management. URL http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/management.html

Rugman, A. M. & Hodgetts, R. M. (2000). International Business: A strategic management approach. Pearson education limited: London, United Kingdom

Change Management. (2014). Scope of change management. Article accessed by the URL http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-change-process-detailed.htm

Ben-Eli, M. U. (2014). Why is managing change difficult ?. The Cybertech Consulting group, inc. New York

Boundless. (2014). Globalization is the international integration of intercultural ideas, perspectives, products/services, culture, and technology. Article retrieved from the URL https://www.boundless.com/management/introduction-to-management/current-challenges-in-management/globalization/

Lam, A. H. C. (2013). Change management at nokia. University of Warwick, U.K. Retrieved from the http://dadablog.net/publications/ChangeManagementAtNokia.pdf

Leadership academy. (2013). Managing resources. URL : http://www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/discover/leadership-framework/managing-services/managing-resources/

National Audit Office. (2014). Managing Resources to Deliver Better Public Services. URL http://www.nao.org.uk/report/managing-resources-to-deliver-better-public-services/

Lipman, V. (2013). 5 Basic But Important Things New Managers Need To Know. Article retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/10/22/5-basic-but-important-things-new-managers-need-to-know/