Preparing Organizations For A Rapidly Changing Digital Environment - Critical Success Factors

Technology is reshaping how today's society thinks, works, learns and develops. How are we able to prepare organisations to keep peace in a rapidly changing digital environment?

Critical Success Factors of LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING, speak about them which will help the question and bring the BIG IDEA into it by using the theories for them

Big Idea will show which theory you can use for someone such as a manager to use in order to improve .

Please Check All Specification about written paper and also check Description. Question needs to asnwer this written paper also needs to included Critical Success Factor. 

Relevance of Literature

The focus of the report is towards understanding the various challenges that are being posed to various organizations due to the rapidly changing corporate environments. The focus is also towards the essential understanding of the various factors that can control the effective management of businesses in the changing environments. The context are the technological factors that crucially affect organizational operations and progress in the present corporate scenarios are greatly affected by change. Moreover, factors such as leadership, organizational management, innovation, corporate ethics and social responsibilities are also essential to the context of the study. In order to tackle all the basic elements related to organizational operations effectively, it is important that a big idea is created. This has to be done considering the operational standards and the productive effectiveness of the organization. Hence, organizations in today’s corporate environments need to continuously strive towards enhancing their business prospects considering the changes that take place within the environment simultaneously. Technology has been selected as a contemporary issue as it is important towards almost all the factors that contribute to the growth and development of an organization in the present times. If organizations are unable to live up to the standards of rapidly improving technology they can greatly fall behind in achieving their productive goals. The scope of the study is huge as it can point towards the best practices that can be implemented by organizations in order to increase their productive functions. The relevant theories and their actual significant towards effective organizational management can also be found.

The question being considered is that the present society is greatly affected by technology in the way it perceives, works, learns and grows, how organizations can manage themselves in this rapidly changing environment. In the present world technology has encompassed all the significant aspects of human life. Since, corporate enterprises are engaged in the production of goods and services that are mostly designed to support or enhance these aspects of human lives it is important that they keep track of the continuously developing technologies. According to Palmer, Dunford and Akin (2016) the changing environments within which organizations operate create situations of paradox for the managers. On the one hand they are often advised to go a bit slow on the change process as rapid change can hamper the operations of the organization. However, on the other hand sometimes fast changes in operational aspects of the company are required in order to tackle the obvious challenges. New technologies are crucial external pressures that greatly affect organizations (Mesquida and Mas 2015).

Change management theories need to be effectively incorporated within organizational frameworks. This can help towards effectively realizing the goals that are important towards the long term functional benefit of an organization. Various change models can be used in order to effectively organize the enterprise for absorbing necessary change. In order to cope with the hanging technological advancements that affects the organizational functions, the Lewin’s change model can be utilized (Cummings, Bridgman and Brown 2016). The model incorporates various stages in order to deal effectively with the prospects of necessary change. The first step is to unfreeze or the preparation for change. At this stage, the organization finds out the changes that needs to be done. Most of the people at any given working environment primarily resist change. This is due to the fact that change causes a lot of disruptions in the common working environment that people are habituated with (Cameron and Green 2015). This stage involves explaining to the people, why the changes are required to prepare them for the same. The second phase is change. This is the actual area of change implementation where the necessary changes take place. Effective leadership has to be utilized in order to ease the process of change. The key factors are communication and time as they determine how far the change will be possible. Hence, they have to be used judiciously. The last phase of this model is referred to as the refreezing stage. In this stage the organizations begins to regain its stability after the change processes have taken place. The stage is the closing stage and requires the effective participation of all the people that are part of the change. It can be difficult if a large number of changes have taken place.

Critical success factors of Leadership and learning

In another model proposed by McKinsey a framework of change considering a 7s strategy is used. The seven S that are used are strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills (Ravanfar 2015). Strategy refers to the plan for change that is created. Structure refers to the structure that is to be followed by the organization. Systems refer to the arrangement of the activities for change. Shared values refers to the basic values that are to be incorporated within the change. Style refers to the manner in which the organization will bring about change. Staffs are the workforce that will form the basic element of change process. Lastly, skills that are the most important features of the employees need to be considered. The technological changes that are required in a given organization can be essentially managed through this model. The model can help to ascertain the way in which an organization works. Better insights into the operational environment of the organization can be garnered. The integration of the practical and the emotional aspects of the organization helps to motivate the employees towards change (Goetsch and Davis 2014).

The change models need to be implemented in order to systematize the change necessary to effectively increase the ease of operation. Business models are very important towards the optimized functioning of the business areas of organizations. The digitization of businesses can enable organizations to realize their potential in better ways. The various changes that are required are due to the digital transformations that are taking place. Digital transformation is the realization of how the existing functions of businesses can be reimagined. Subsequently, these functions can be reframed in accordance with the digital requirements of the present age. The main reason for implementing change models is that the difference between the physical and digital boundaries. Thus it becomes very important that the models are incorporated within the need for the effective implementation of technological changes. Change management is important towards helping the organizations develop effectively with the changing corporate environments (Goetsch. and Davis 2014).

Leadership becomes an important factor whenever organizational effectiveness is considered. Hence, it also becomes important that leadership is used towards realizing the new opportunities that are provided by change in better ways. This necessitates the requirement for putting big ideas into practice. Although it can be said that old models for change management can be utilized in the present day to effectively incorporate the technological changes that might be required. It has to be kept in mind that innovative ways have to be determined in which the models can be utilized. This will require the formation of the big idea for implementation of technological change. Critical thinking is important in this case and change management is not the only aspect that has to be considered. The big idea has to be formed by critically assessing the ways in which technology can be implemented in better ways in the organizational setup.

Two critical success factors that contribute towards effective leadership are strategic planning and situational leadership. Given that the context is in regards to the utilization of technology that has shaped the current expectations of the customers, these two factors can greatly determine the success of the changes that the organizations may plan to implement.

Strategic planning is an important leadership function when the aspect of strategic planning gains much importance. The review systems are also much important as they can help to assess the amount of progress that has been made in regards to the implementation of the plan which in this case is the technological optimization of the functional aspects of organizational (Thompson and Glasø 2015). Since, the strategic planning in case of the better utilization of rapidly developing technology will involve managing change within the organization, strategic planning becomes an essential aspect. Strategic planning involves determining the direction which the company wants to take. This helps towards the identification of crucial goals which in turn lead to the foundation of the paths through which the goals can be reached. As mentioned earlier these goals can be realized through either of the two change management methods that have been identified. However, strategic planning of leadership can be applied in more ways than simply adapting to change. The success factor of an enterprise is increased through strategic planning because it helps in the creation of effective frameworks that can be used towards the developments that are needed to remain up to date with the changing corporate environments. The change model of Lewin can be used where unfreezing takes place followed by change and finally by refreezing. The technological changes can be implemented in this way. The big idea is to make strategies by considering the values that each individual team members associated with their work. Moreover, better technologies can also be implemented towards the complete optimization of functions.

The second most important success factor is situational leadership. This is a specific way of leadership in which the decisions are taken on a situational basis rather than a fixed all-round decision. The basic element that leads to the success of situational leadership is that it is flexible. When it comes to the implementation of relevant technology the leadership should hence focus on the present situation of the technology and the present requirements of the workers. It is more concerned with the adjustment of leadership techniques. In this case application of situational leadership will make the implementation of changes more flexible. The adaptation of technology need to be done considering the growth requirements of the workers. In this case the process of implementing newer technologies have to be developed more on the lines of the 7s model proposed by McKinsey. The seven S that are used are strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills. The emphasis will in this case be more on the shared values, staff and skills. Hence, it can be said that only those technologies have to be implemented in which not only the productive aspects of the people that will be using it need to be given preference. Organizations have to implement technologies that can keep the customer at the center and at the same time be easy for the workers to handle. Moreover, organizations should focus on the development of technologies that apart from working well towards productivity also ensure that thy can be easily managed by the employees. Moreover, situational leadership requires more coaching and feedback, hence, all the employees can be well attended if any issues arise. Developmental levels of the employees can be considered and rather than simply providing the employees with technology, their growth can be complimented with the development of better technology. Decision making becomes a much easier task for the leaders.

Improvement of organizational practices can definitely be enhanced through the use of better focused leadership and effective change management. However, the most important function of the organization in still decision making. This is mainly because of the fact that effective decision making can help the organization to tackle crucial challenges along with realizing better market opportunities. Communication becomes much important for taking decisions and effectively implementing it across the organizational levels. The best communication practices thus, take into account the usage of proper message, communication channels and development of effective communicational frameworks. The improvement of organizational practices take into consideration both effective management of change and leadership management. This is because the utilization of better technological resources with the ever developing technological advancements will require the necessary changes to be made. Subsequently, the leadership will be vested with the responsibilities to implement these changes. Many essential theories of management can also be utilized for the better utilization of technology.

According to the systems theory of management an organization is to be treated as an essential system. In this theory organizations are treated as open systems that are greatly affected by the environments that surround them (Chikere and Nwoka 2015). In this case the organization is definitely affected by the changing face of technology. Moreover, the open environment consists of essential elements of natural resources, employee productivity and production. The employee productivity coupled with the utilization of equipment is referred to as the input and the production is known as the output. Here, technology plays a large part as on the one hand it helps towards the procurement of resources and on the other hand it helps to transform the inputs in to outputs. Hence, technology becomes a much important factor towards effective management of business. It thus becomes very important to utilize the right kind of technology for the optimization of organizational functions (Laudon and Laudon 2016).

The best organizational practices can be said to be the practices that incorporate effectively the aspects of leadership, functional management and change management. This is because these are all the necessary functions for the effective development of businesses. Organizations are developing in terms of the way they operate their businesses. For example- organizations are taking part in more information gathering through which they are able to exactly determine the productivity requirements. Additionally, organizations are getting more competitive and adapting technologies that are the latest in the corporate environment. Organizations are also taking competition very seriously and keeping close watch on the market development. The organizations that are making the most of the available resources with them are becoming the most productive. As technology is being considered as an essential factor in the study, it has to be said that organizations are getting more technologically sufficient (Cummings and Worley 2014). It definitely should be mentioned here that organizations that are adapting to technologies are becoming more successful. At the greater corporate levels organizations operating their businesses are maintaining tough competition in the sphere of using technology for increasing productivity. Organizations are keeping track of technology that can be best utilized for increasing productivity. Subsequently these technologies are being introduced through proper change management methods. Moving forwards effective leadership is being used in order to utilize the technology for optimizing all the major productive functions (Dinh et al. 2014). Organizations through this process are keeping their technological aspects up to date. This is important as growth in further technology can mean that the organizations might have to bear greater expenses to replace the long obsolete technologies for newer advanced technologies. It becomes important to note that technology is improving at a fast rate however organizations are making most of the presently available technology to accumulate capital that can be used towards obtaining better versions of technology as they keep on moving forward (Palacios-Marqués, Soto-Acosta and Merigó 2015). It can be said that technology is not only affecting the lives of people but also affecting the ways in which the organizations are interacting with the people that are the most essential for their businesses.

Conclusion

In conclusion it can be said that the present corporate situation has greatly necessitated the usage of technology across all the important levels of corporate organizations. It becomes important that effective management theories are applied in order to gain significant expertise in the field of technological usage. Organizations thus, have to be more focused towards optimizing their effectiveness in accordance with their significant goals. It was understood from the study that living up to the expectations of the customers requires organizations to grow along with the development of technology. It was found through the study that change management can be implemented and enhanced through the usage of better leadership for implementation of better technology. Moreover, the systems approach can help towards the better procurement and utilization of technology. It is important to note that in order to live up to the expectation of the consumers in the modern environment of technological advancement, it is important for organizations to keep changing. However, the same needs to be optimized through the usage of better leadership and better management systems. It is important that specific technological strategies are in place. Effective ways of optimizing output through the use of better employee management systems also need to be considered for better productivity.

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