Change Management: Pros & Cons

Role of Change Agent

Discuss the pros and cons of change agents implications for organizations.

The contemporary scenario has witnessed a rise in the level of changes associated with technology with the help of technological innovations. In addition to technological changes, there has been a considerable rise in the number of competitors. Hence, in order to tackle the challenges pertaining to competition and meet with the changing needs of the people, there is a need to ensure that the companies are able to implement necessary changes in the organization. Herein, it must be noted that the process of change management is considered as a vital aspect associated with managing change in the organization and ensuring that the process of change management occurs in a successful manner. The process of change management requires the intervention of change advisors who have the key responsibility of managing change in the organization. Change advisors can further be categorized into internal and external; change advisors. Contextually, there further exist a number of pros and cons underlying use of change agents for an organization (McCalman, Paton & Siebert, 2015). Hence, based on an assessment of the role play conducted on a one-to-three interview, I would like to share my experiences regarding the pros and cons of using internal and/or external change agents by an organization. I would further focus upon detailing the implications pertaining to organizations and the key questions for change agents.

It is evident from the interview conducted as parts of the role-play that change agent have an important role to play in managing change in the organizations. According to my interpretation of the role play, I was able to understand that it is very difficult for the companies to make interventions by themselves. From my perspective, intervention change advisors are required in situations when an organization is under pressure from its competitors and it is considered tough for the organization to operate without the intervention of change advisors. I further analyzed that the role pertaining to change advisors needs to be understood with the help of various process underlying organizational change. Specifically mentioning, the role play equipped me with an understanding of the fact that there are there are two ways to work with the change advisors that can be subdivided into internal and external change advisors. Correspondingly, according to my interpretation of the discussion, I noted that internal change advisors are the ones who are the internal employees of the organization. On the contrary, external change advisors are considered as the ones who provide the most appropriate intervention to an organization in case an organization requires the same. In addition to interpreting the roles played by the change advisors, I was further able to derive an understanding of the various advantages as well as disadvantages associated with recruiting internal and/or external change advisors (Jain, 2005).

My understanding of the knowledge gained from the interview suggests that both the internal as well as external change agents carry a number of advantages and disadvantages. Internal change agents are people such as CEOs, executives, managers and board members of the organization. From the interview session conducted with one of the interviewees, I was able to recognize the importance of internal change advisors regarding the manner in which they helped in implementing interventions. My opinion of the views held by the respondent is fairly true since internal agents are considered as having an established relationship with the employee. I think that this is appropriate since internal change advisors have been trained in values and further possess an understanding of the behavior of organization. Additionally, this might mean that internal change advisors give their views at the time of implementation of change process (Grünwald, 2015).

Correspondingly, my opinion about this experience suggests that internal change advisors are beneficial for managing change, and the company does not have to pay extra expenses considering the fact that they receive equal wages when compared with the change initiative. I was further able to develop an understanding of certain examples that strengthened my perception of change advisors. I was able to take a note of the example of Erico Tadashi Yamamoto, who was the Chief Information Officer and Chief Process Officer at Maritima Seguros. After the company hired Yamamoto, it was able to make considerable amount of progress, considering the fact that Yamamoto was able to implement new changes along with the necessary efficiency measures. My opinion regarding the aforementioned example is that being an internal change advisor provides an added advantage to the organization in managing change effectively. Moreover, I consider that a successful internal change agent needs to understand the employees towards making sustainable changes in the organization and ensuring that the organization is capable of meeting with customer requirements. The interview further provided me with an understanding of the fact that internal change advisors are required in organizations that requires implementing long term period of intervention change. Correspondingly, I further realized that the implementation of long-term changes requires an internal knowledge regarding the organization that is made easily possible through an internal advisor. This information will be useful to me since it would enable me to foster my knowledge regarding the pros of internal change advisors. This further suggests that the internal change advisors possess a considerable amount of knowledge regarding the organization and are hence able to make more appropriate decisions. Moreover, they have higher level of authority and control when compared with the external change advisors. Contrarily, from the interview, I further noted some of the disadvantages attributed with the internal change advisors. Although, the disadvantages of each of the internal and external change advisors were discussed to a limited extent; however, a number of disadvantages can be highlighted during the conversation. The cons of internal change advisors include holding biased views and carrying limited level of expertise regarding change management as they emerge from bottom to top levels within the organization (Schollaert, 2003).

Implementation of Intervention Change

On a similar note, I was able to develop my knowledge regarding the benefits of seeking assistance from external change advisors in the process of managing organizational change. Specifically mentioning, conversation with one of the respondents equipped me with the benefits of selecting external change managers that include community activists, suppliers and investors. The external change advisors are concerned with dealing with similar issues along with change process across various organizations. According to my opinion, the external change advisors hold considerable amount of expertise and experience that is beneficial towards managing the various change processes that are considered beneficial for the organization. I further learnt about the examples of some of the companies such as Six Sigma and TQM that are considered as the prime external consulting firms associated with transforming countries across the globe. From a similar perspective, I think that external change advisors are important since they are required to attain wider as well as complex changes in the organization that are not possible with the help of internal change interventions. However, as opposed to my perception of the pros of external change advisors, I was also able to develop an understanding of a number of disadvantages underlying external change agents, which include involvement of higher costs and lack of appropriate knowledge regarding the organization. Additionally, lack of acceptance of external change agents by the employees was another important factor that shaped my perspective of external change management for managing change in organizations (Lunenburg, 2010).

In addition to gaining an understanding of the perspectives highlighting the pros and cons of internal and external change agents, I was further able to assess the manner in which such agents were capable of facilitating change management in organizations. As per the views shared by the participants, firms must realize that change management is a continuous process, and hence, it is vital for the organization to ensure that the employees are provided with continuous performance support after change implementation. Hence, based on my perspective, I consider that good relation and mutual understanding amongst the manager and change agents can play a successful role in implementation of intervention technologies. The case of Nissan and Renault as disclosed during the discussion further broadened my understanding of the importance of intervention change that can be made successful with the help of developing mutual understanding towards enabling development of technical skills, management as well as expertise (Thomas, Robert & Paul, 1990).

In addition to highlighting the pros and cons of change advisors, the role-play further enhanced my level of understanding regarding the problems encountered as part of change intervention. Such problems include lack of support from the leaders and the management and negligence of human aspect. Rapid implementation of change was another significant problem that hindered the implementation of change, which results in lack of communication. Hence, in my opinion, I consider that successful change intervention is only possible in case external and/or internal change agents participate throughout change phase (Lunenburg, 2010).

Conclusion

I consider that change management plays an imperative role in development of an organization, which is ensured with the help of internal and external change agents. The information regarding pros and cons of change agents will be beneficial for enhancing my level of understanding regarding the same. I consider that changes needs to execute in case of business necessity and employees further need to ensure that they are able to adjust to such changes.

References

Grünwald, N. (2015). Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability. Hamburg: BoD – Books on Demand.

Jain, N.K. (2005). Organisational BehaviourVol. 2, Volume 2. India: Atlantic Publishers & Dist.

Lunenburg, F.C. (2010). Managing Change: The Role of the Change Agent. International Journal of Management, 13(1), 1-6.

McCalman, J., Paton, R.A. & Siebert, S. (2015). Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation. US: SAGE.

Schollaert, R. (2003). Disclosing the Treasure Within: Towards Schools as Learning Communities. Belgium: Garant.

Thomas, L. C., Robert, J. V. & Paul, H. M. (1990). Internal and External Change Agents. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 11(1), 4–15.