Organization Behavior Business Encompass

Question: Describe about the Organization Behavior for Business Encompass. Answer: Introduction The need for development makes it essential for the management of an institution to analyze the current conditions and develop plans for implementation of new policies and regulations. Consequently, the expected modification process must encompass the support of the employees as a measure to prevent conflict and resistance of the proposed plans. However, discriminative change process more often leads to resistance from the employees, a factor that the leads to undesirable performances from the affected staffs. Thus, the paper discusses the effects of the open plan model that was introduced in Cheetham and Wynne law firm after the recruitment of new employees. The Reasons for the Resistance to Open-Office Plan In the case of open plan, several factors lead to the resistance of the proposed changes. Notably, Mai Ling opposed the change mainly because of the inconveniences that are associated with the new office layout. The discomforts included the lack of privacy that inhibited the employees from freely receiving calls that regard their social life. Observably, the change adversely affected the employees by making them continuously look for places to satisfy some of their needs like making calls from their spouses, purchase of airtime among other personal and confidential issues. Additionally, the new office could result in conflicts among the employees due to the inherent invasion of privacy that exists in an open office layout. For instance, Talanoa was concerned that some of the staff members were spying on him just because he was criticized for being on Facebook. The potential conflicts negatively impact on the working relationships of the employees that could ultimately result in reduc ed production regarding quantity and quality. The poor communication between the proposed new office hindered the acceptance of the change. Mark and Cathy only considered their father to be important when making the decision, and emailed the other members of the staff just one month before the change. As a result, members of the team might have developed a mindset that the change was aimed at fulfilling personal interests of the Mark and Cathy at the expense of the company. In such circumstances, some employees more often commit to seeing the change process fail and, therefore, oppose the proposed modification (Burnes, 2015). Constant change characterizes the business environment. As such, managers of the firm should put great emphasize on scanning the environment to identify meaningful changes that can improve the competitive advantage of the law firm. However, Catherine approach to identifying the change was inadequate. Analytically, they further developed a poor strategy to implement the change. A poor research in the identification of the modification and poor implementation plan is highly likely to attract resistance from the employees (Georgalis et al., 2015). Additionally, some members of the organization were of the opinion that particular members of the group were accorded special attention. Jack claim that there has never been equality between the new employees and the senior managers evident by the fact that the administrators blindly welcomed the idea of moving into the new office after the two people were given personal posts. The open discrimination significantly hinders the process of change. Employees at times resist change due to the fear of the unknown. When a modification is proposed, some people in the organization tend to be rigid to change because they do not know why the team needs the change. In such cases, the employees are more often comfortable with the current system. In the case of Open Plan, Owen claims that things changed and were no longer the way they used to be. Some senior officials further expressed the fear of losing status in the new office (De Jager, 2001). Suggested Actions for the Partners to Minimize Resistance The partners would have reduced the resistance significantly by involving the members in the decision process. Confident and efficient change management calls for employee participation plans of the organization. The staff more often has brilliant ideas that can help in developing their organizations and, therefore, the partners ought to have involved the workers in the process of making the decision to change the office. The participation would have made the staff feel important and valued in the law firm hence reducing the chances of resistance (Appelbaum et al., 2015) Moreover, the firm should have adequately communicated to the members. The senior managers should have organized meetings with a primary aim of the explaining to the staff the reasons why they had to change. Preferably, the staff needs to the current situation that makes the change vital. Proper communication significantly removes the fear that is associated with the modification and assures the employees the expected transition is for the benefit of the company and all its stakeholders. Change needs a comprehensive plan and strategy, a factor that the management of Cheetham and Wynne did not put into consideration. The managers should have developed a plan that details the requirements needed for efficient and decisive implementation of the changes. Remarkably, a budget is vital in the transition process to avoid investment in unnecessary changes. Specifically, the management should have carried out a cost- benefit analysis to determine whether the cost to be incurred when moving to the new office is worth. Moreover, the firm should have instilled a culture of change in the organization before executing the process of change. The shared beliefs of the members of an organization are important during the process of change. As such, the management should have influenced the mindset of the employees to be able to support the change. Additionally, the leadership skills and emotional intelligence is critical to the success of a transition process. In the case of Cheetham and Wynne, the change was introduced forcefully, a factor that fuelled the resistance. Therefore, the partners should have developed a democratic leadership style that comprises of individuals with high emotional skills. 2a: Barriers to Communication That Exist In the New Law Firm The presence of Indians and Chinese in the company is a major hindrance to effective communication. Notably, there exist cultural differences resulting in an undesirable interaction system. The weak interaction between the employees is further evident by Owen when he asserted that nobody recognized the joke about the Jewish lawyers. In an organization that has diverse culture, communication barriers are inevitable and therefore, the senior managers should put emphasize on efficient management of the different cultures that exists in the organization (Andersson, 2016) The team lacked a proper hierarchy which results in a breakdown of communication. The senior managers ought to have communicated the message of the new change systematically; however, this was not the case as Owen complained that the changes were experienced because the business is management by the children. This assertion portrays disconnect between the managers and the employees and improper flow of information given that the individual was also reporting talks of the secretaries (Haji-Kazemi et al., 2015). Moreover, other staffs indicated the lack of motivation and support due to the negative comments provided during the appraisals as asserted by John that some vital aspects of communication are carried out in a bar when the parties are under the influence of alcohol thus making the agreed deals to be hard to fulfill. Observably, the management failed to provide the employees with the needed feedback regarding the signed contracts. This irresponsible characteristic of the administration reveals the lack of sensitivity and poor communication system (Zimmerman Shelley, 2016) 2b: How to Overcome the Existing Barriers Communication barrier more often impacts negatively on the overall productivity of the company. As such, the management should put controls in place to reduce the unfavorable outcomes of poor communication. One of the most vital techniques of dealing with the barrier is through improving the listening skills and actively paying attention to the different thoughts and opinions presented by other colleagues. Through active listening, the staff members and the firm founders can listen and appreciate the message communicated (Armstrong Taylor, 2014). Furthermore, the senior managers of the organization should put measures in place to ensure that the personnel are not overloaded with information. The firm founders and other leaders should make sure that they prioritize their requirements to avoid overloading (Sherani et al., 2016). The four associates need to significantly increase the amount of time they spend with their workers, instead of spending much of their time playing golf and drinking. Increasing the amount of time with the employees will enable the partners to listen to their problems closely and ultimately solve their problems. Importantly, the partners should encourage feedback channels as well as the informal communication systems such as the grapevine communication (Cameron Green, 2015). Moreover, the workers and their bosses should always pay close attention to the use of body language during the communication process. They should watch their emotions and take enough care not allow their feelings distort the meaning of the intended message. For example, when an employee passes an important message sarcastically, the information is highly likely to be misinterpreted. Notably, the mood of the sender of the message significantly determines the interpretation by the receiver (Rudawska, 2013). The Sources of Power That the Partners Exercised The four partners have two primary sources of power, that is, legitimate authority and expert power. Expertise power mainly arises from the knowledge they have in law since they are graduates who are qualified in the field. The significance of this kind of power is to give the managers a status in the organization that further improves their control of the entire staff (Park Tzabbar, 2016) However, the most outstanding power in Cheetham and Wynne is the legitimate power that arises from the hierarchical positions that are held by the four partners in the organization. The two founders are primarily responsible for overseeing the entire operations of the company and are, therefore, tasked with the responsibility for making crucial decisions that relate to the activities of the law firm such as action on upgrading the office, hiring and firing workers among other duties. As mentioned in the case study, the two senior managers spend most of their time playing golf. This is made possible because of the legitimate power that makes the other employees respect them and do their work with minimum supervision. Notably, the ideas and opinions of the senior managers are highly regarded by the other employees and the power significantly influences their relationship with other employees (Baynes et al., 2016). Impacts of the Powers on Other Employees The expertise power makes the employees respect the ideas and opinions of the founders. The employees believe that the managers are experienced and know much about law. As such, if they are faced with a challenge in the course of duty, they find it comfortable and have the confidence to consult the senior managers. The legitimate power makes the workers follow the laid down rules and regulations. This kind of authority confers the top executives with leadership skills to command the workers. Mostly, the legitimate power makes the employees abide by all the commands and guidelines given to them by those in authority Tricks That Have Been Used By the Partners and Other Employees The establishment of a performance review strategy was one of the methods deployed by the partners. Performance review and appraisal is a valuable tool for motivation as it emotionally encourages the staff to work hard. The fact that the employee expects a report significantly helps them to put more effort and ultimately improves the overall performance of the workforce (Sirn et al., 2016). Moreover, the change to a new office was a trick to enable close supervision of the employees. The nature of an open office system allows the founders to learn more about the attitudes and behaviors of different employees. As such, they could easily monitor their actions and note their concerns by listening to their conversations. Moreover, the new office put pressure on the employees to work harder since their bosses can easily monitor their jobs (Ward Peppard, 2016). Additionally, the two founders carefully listened to their employees chats and later discuss them with the aim of noting their concerns. This trick enabled the senior executives to know what the employees think about them and importantly, the issues that affect the employees. Effectiveness of These Behaviors The use of performance reviews more often pushes the employees to work extra hard since they expect to be evaluated after some period. Therefore, the workers are required to improve their performance in cases where there are reviews The trick of listening to employees conversations improves the grapevine communication. The informal message networks in an organization are equally important and thus should be given attention. From the conservations, the founders learn more about their worker's behaviors and issues affecting their performance (Vangelova Stanchev, 2014). Finally, the new office layout is useful in ensuring close supervision, and maximum results could be realized if the change process could have been management positively and successfully with minimum resistance. Conclusion Change is an important aspect of an organizations growth. As such, comprehensive planning and employees participation in the change process is vital to reduce the resistance significantly. Moreover, communication barriers in any organization hinder the success of the business. Thus, emphasize should be put on eliminating the barriers to effective communication. References Andersson, A. (2016). Communication barriers in an interorganizational ERP-project.International Journal of Managing Projects in Business,9(1), 214-233. Appelbaum, S. H., Degbe, M. C., MacDonald, O., Nguyen-Quang, T. S. (2015). 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