What is Transformation Change?

Business just like many aspects of reality is constantly evolving. This evolution is a result of the need
to adapt to new challenges and create competitive advantages. In addition, not only do modern
businesses and organizations rely on technology and the media, they must also adapt to social and
corporate pressures in the form of regulations, corporate responsibility and direct competition. As a
result, without the flexibility to adapt to its environment a company may find it difficult to thrive by
relying solely on experience. The process of integration change to meet the demands of an
organization’s environment is known as transformational change. Transformational change is a
complex concept which covers a range of areas within an organization, this complexity is highlighted
by the following definition which describes transformational change as three things “an approach, a
philosophy and a methodology”. A more specific meaning from the business dictionary describes
transformational change as "a shift in the business culture of an organization resulting from a change
in the underlying strategy and processes that the organization has used in the past. A
transformational change is designed to be organization-wide and is enacted over a period of time".
This definition describes transformational change as essentially the rerouting of the organization’s
strategic direction. Transformational change is therefore a comprehensive procedure and a means of
altering the fundamental principles and processes that previously characterized an organization in
order to achieve an ultimate goal.

Reasons for change

As mentioned in the paragraph before like everything that exist organizations must adapt to an ever-
changing environment in order to thrive. In some cases, change may be a matter of life and death for
an organization. The specific requirements needed by a particular organization in order to adapt to
its environment depends on a several factors. A report by Forbes insights in January 2014 based on a
survey on 106 executives identified 3 of the main catalyst for driving transformation within an
organization. In descending order of the most common reason they are as follows:

1. Regulation changes

The introduction of new regulations introduced by statutory and governing bodies in a particular
industry can have major implications on the organizations operating within that area. For example,
the introduction of the health and safety act in the 1970’s transformed the construction industry.
With the increase of accountability for accidents within the workplace construction companies were
forced to change their manner of operation in order to avoid falling foul of the law.

2. Increase in competition or new or changing competition

Competition within many industries can be extremely fierce with several companies vying for a
proportion of a market share. In order to compete with increase competition some companies may
be forced change their business strategy to compete with other businesses. For example, a company
may choose to focus on areas of expertise to avoid wasting resources on areas where competitors
excel at. Or to adjust a company may decide it has to increase the quality of its product or service in
order to separate it from its competition e.g. better customer service

3. Changing customer needs and expectations

A good example of this reason for change is may be observed in competition between modern smart
phone companies. As time progresses the needs of customers change. Most often the changes are in
the form of an increase in the requirements and quality of a product. Based on my personal
experience a mobile phone was required to provide phone calls and text messages however modern
phones are now required to provide email viewing, internet capabilities, satellite navigation, picture
taking in addition to phone calls and texting. In order to meet the demand of customers companies
such as Samsung and Apple must adapt their company structure and culture to one that focuses
more on style and innovation.

Challenges of Transformational Change

To take a quote from the famous philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli “There is nothing more difficult to
carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle than to initiate a new order
of things.”. This quote highlights the difficulties encountered by an organisation whenever a
transformational change is to be implemented. Organisational transformational change often results
in the in the introduction of a new order of things, which is a process that may be described as
dangerous for the organisation due to the major implications for the future of that business.
Although transformational change may include changes in structure, procedure, system or process,
the biggest challenge for an organisation is changing the behaviour of people within it.

Difficulties when changing the behaviour of people within the organisation

The biggest challenge for an organisation when it comes to transformational change is the resistance
of the staff to the perceived change. There are several reasons why individuals may be reluctant to
change. For example, workers may have a fear of trying something new. An individual may be
reluctant to adopt a new method of performing his/her job because of the comfort and familiarity
with the previous methods. For instance, in an administration office some workers may be used to
following a script on the telephone when communicating with customers. If an organisation
proposes a change to the script perhaps because the previous script was too old fashioned some
staff may feel reluctant to embrace the change. They may feel learning a new script may be too
difficult as it probably took them some time to become accustomed to the previous one. Another
reason for resistance from workers is a perceived significant change in workload or loss of job. For
instance, in a business which decides to introduce a new technology into its operation process. Some
workers having heard the idea may feel their role may become limited or redundant and that they
may eventually lose their job. Similarly, the introduction of new technology may increase the
difficulty of the job role which may result in a backlash from workers. Workers may also feel
aggrieved when they feel they are have not been compensated adequately for the increased
difficulty in the work. The other reasons for resistance to transformational change include a
scepticism about the necessity of change, reallocation of resources, previous negative experiences
lack of belief in proposed change and threat to current relationships

Implications of Conflicting visions among executive leadership or decision makers

Forbes insight highlighted several factors which can derail the transformation process, including lack
of adequate technology, Lack of internal talent to spearhead or execute business change and
resource and budget constraints however the biggest issue highlighted was Conflicting visions
among executive leadership or decision makers. If the transformational process is not executed
successfully it can have severe consequences on the behaviour of the workers and ultimately the
success of the business or organisation. Lack of an effective transformational strategy may result in a
negative response in the staff which in turn may cause complaints, reluctance to put procedures in
to action, anger, truancy and absenteeism, lack of commitment. Ultimately if a significant number of
key executive leaders disagree with the changes proposed, an attempt to improve the state of an
organisation may in fact lead to a disastrous outcome. In 2012 Zurich UK life appointed a new CEO
named Gary Shaughnessy to transform an organisation which appeared to have become stagnant for
some time. One of the solutions included changing the mindsets of the most senior members in the
organisation. Research about the staff in the company showed they were unfulfilled and did not feel
valued. His proposed solution was to ensure the executives became closer to the staff by increasing
the face to face interaction while at the same distancing themselves from the technical detail of the
work. The aim was to improve the relationships between the leaders and the staff of the company
while at the same time ensuring the staff felt empowered. Because the executive agreed with the
vision of the CEO, they implemented his proposal. A follow up survey showed the new executives
and staff interaction policy had been effective because the staff felt more valued. For the executives
to implement the new staff interaction they had to be committed to new proposal. Because the
executive were willing to implement the new changes, the company benefited. However, if the
executives disagreed with the proposal or refused to change perhaps because they felt they were
comfortable with working the way they were used to because of success in the past or they felt the
changes will be ineffective then the company will almost certainly not have gained the benefits of a
more content and fulfilled staff.