response on organization’s culture
Response 1
Hello everyone, I admit that it is tough for management to choose change over holding on to an organization’s culture. In most times, change is faced with opposition. Naturally, the people who are affected by change experience some emotional distress. Despite the adaptation being positive, people still feel like the new change brings uncertainty and loss. The conflict between the urgency to change or maintain an organization’s culture may arise because of the fear that the employees may fail to develop new skills and behavior required of them by the new system.
I agree with the idea that organizational culture cannot be underestimated. Indeed, culture is like the wind; it is invisible, yet its effects are profound. Nevertheless, when the culture threatens the organization’s survival, the institutional systems and values’ urgent change is inevitable. Also, businesses can change bureaucratic cultures to have a competitive edge over their competitors. In cases where managers do not consider urgency over culture in critical times suffer failure. A good example is the Kodak Company that went bankrupt due to refusal to shift from film to digital. Consequently, managers are obliged to change the organizational culture if it contributes to the organization’s downfall.
The choice of strategies adopted by management to introduce cultural change determines the ease of accepting the change. Successful managers first anticipate resistance and then employ communication and training strategies to counteract opposition. Another way that can help staff to accept change is through participation. The process of unlearning old systems and adopting a new culture can be encouraged by both the managers and the employees’ involvement to drive the change. Nonetheless, it is up to management to decide on the most effective strategies to eliminate resistance to organizational culture change in critical times.