Change Management and Human Resources

This assignment delves into the crucial relationship between change management and human resource management. It examines how organizational restructuring and change initiatives influence employee trust, work satisfaction, and overall HR effectiveness. The assignment requires students to analyze various theoretical frameworks and practical implications of implementing change management strategies in diverse organizational contexts.

Running Head: Human Resource Management 1
Case Analysis of World Health Organization

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Required change path in WHO........................................................................................................4
Managing change process by Dr. Lee..............................................................................................7
Failed change processes of Dr. Brundtland.....................................................................................9
Future challenges of Dr. Lee.........................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction
This report is based on the case study of famous agency for health i.e. World Health
Organization (WHO). Before proceeding, it is crucial to understand about WHO and its
functions. Who is the specialized agency of United Nations which has aim to provide highest
possible health care to the people. WHO started its operations in 1948 an now it has 192 member
states. Headquarter of the organization is in Geneva including 6 regional offices and 150
countries offices and now around 8,000 people are working there. Headquarter of WHO is
accountable for seven key functions i.e. policy expansion, research, support and communication,
technological support, execution, observing & valuation and corporation & organization. There
are three main bodies in the organization i.e. World health assembly (WHA), the executive board
and the Secretariat. WHA is the decision making body of the WHO by which all the meeting are
conducted in Geneva in every May with all the member states. Key functions of WHA are to
electing Director-General (DG), determination of WHO policies, and review and approval of the
budgets proposed for various programs. Further, the executive board and Secretariat are the
supporting bodies of WHA and WHO (WHO, 2017).

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(Source: WHO, 2017)
Required change path in WHO
Based on the given case study, it is observed that there are some parts in WHO which are
needed to be changed. There is the need to perform effective change management strategies in
order to deal with the earlier incorrectness due to Dr. Brundtland. After the election of Dr.
Brundtland, it was assumed that she would implement some important reforms to enhance the
position and reputation of WHO organization. But, despite of implementing changes and
improvements, World health organization faced some structural problems that were needed to be
addressed. There were basically some sources of impact the organization including two groups
i.e. internal and external. The internal factors included bureaucratic organizational structure that
affected the human resource in the organization. The bureaucratic organizational structure was
the cause of centralized resources in the Headquarters, employment issue for long term and
cultural issues in human resource. Further, the external factors include big change in the health
situations in all over the world including increased high infection rates of HIV and AIDS and

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many other diseases on daily basis. Further, there was appearance of new health organizations
i.e. IOs, NGOs and many other private health institutes which negatively impact on the authority
and authenticity of WHO (Pasmore & Woodman, 2007).
To deal with the above discussed issues, Dr. Lee set five core priorities that needed to be
changed in the organizational process i.e. decentralized decision making process, achieving
various development goals, IT investments, human resource reforms, improvement in the
managerial efficiency and liability. To implement the effective change in the organization, Dr.
Lee tried to handle WHO with the clear picture of projected process. He gathered an efficient
team to implement the change process. He planned for major steps and used them in the prepared
plan for the change management. So, there were five basic priorities set by Dr. Lee which are
needed to be changed effectively (Martocchio, 2004).
Decentralization-
Dr. Lee took first step towards the decentralized organization as the changing process.
Dr. Brundtland differentiated the organization as practical in which the decision making process
leads by the top level management. She was also not able to hold the challenges of organization
effectively. When Dr. Lee took office in 2003 and he supposed that he could implement the
tactical plan of the organizational formation for World health organization. There were many
employees who felt stress due to controlling with the centralized structure. Centralized structure
can be described as decision making process and formulation of the process are handled by the
top level management in the organization and it is used within whole organization (Fleming &
Senior, 2006). Although, coordination and leadership are not the part of decentralized process
but it is considered as the effective management by the organization. For making an effective
decentralized organization, it is important to build up open and free connection in the
organization. Being as DG, DR. Lee tried to make WHO recognized into decentralized process
by distributing the resources in those parts where they are needed. The distribution of the
resources is important and major step to implement the change in the organization effectively.
Main objective of Dr. Lee by adopting decentralization is to enhance the authority and priority of
the regional offices in various countries. By the decentralization process, world health
organization would be able to improve its supervision and control in the organizational
operations (Lee & Teo, 2005). Along with this, organization will also be able to do rapid

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decision making and effective and flexible communication with the members. Dr. Lee repeated
that the decentralized system of WHO is essential for enhancing the responsibilities, authorities
and accountabilities of the regional and country offices. He tried that all the members and
employees to understand decentralized method and provide the necessary and required support.
According to Yach (2003), Dr. Brundtland was not successful in this manner but Dr. Lee did it
successfully (Szamosi & Duxbury, 2006).
Investment in information technology-
It is observed that there is the lack of leadership in the IT department of World Health
Organization and it was very important for the organization to invest in the IT sector. From the
given case study, it is observed that Dr. Lee realized that IT infrastructure is an important and
crucial part for the change implementation as the data, important information and knowledge
cannot be shared without the support of IT in the organization. So, the team of Dr. Lee decides to
select an effective leader for the IT department who would be able to install important software
for the organizational growth and success. It was assumed that the new software system in the
organization would be based on the Enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool which is system
software that can be used for coordinating the working process of various departments
(Wooldridge, Schmid & Floyd, 2008). By the case, it is analyzed that WHO wants to spread out
the information at various level department in the organization but there is the lack of technical
support. So, new IT director was appointed to implement new system i.e. Global Management
system based on ERP tool. Along with this, organization had conducted training for the staff to
understand new technological investments. Along with the new system, organization also
established new communication network i.e. Strategic Health Operations Centre (CSHOC). Main
objective of this communication network is to enhance the connectivity among the global
dispersed teams by the faster information flow and data exchange (Ardichvili, 2012).
Accountability-
The accountability of world health organization is to complete the projects related to
global organizations, UN agencies, foundations and governments. If the outcomes of the projects
do not accomplish in the deadline then organization would lose the trust of investors and
financial support provided by them. So, there is the need of decentralized resources and

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authorities at the regional and national level to improve the accountability of the organization.
Along with this, organization would implement performing auditing system to analyze the
requirements for investors. This auditing system would analyze the effectiveness and efficiency
of the operations of World Health Organization and promote the investors, employees and the
member states. In the change implementation, Dr. Lee and his team used this structure to analyze
and evaluate the liability of the organization and expected results of the projects.
Renovation of human resource-
Human resource is main and important part of the organization for the future growth.
There was the need of some skills such as leadership, management practices, writing skills and
conversation which are important for the development of each position in the organization. Dr.
Lee and his team implemented an appraisal structure for the development of human resource. For
this manner, Dr. Lee and his team was quite acceptable among the staff and member states. In
the process of HR renovation, objective of Dr. Lee was to minimize the cultural limits in the
various organizational departments and enhancing long-lasting employment at the equal position
(Gashi, 2013).
Managing change process by Dr. Lee
For implementing the change, Dr. Lee had an effective proposal for the change of entire
operation process. After taking his responsibilities, he had a detailed plan for the effective
change management. There were five basic steps for the effective change process. Those steps of
change process include inception phase, listening and learning process, analysis and planning
process, rollout stage one and rollout phase two. Along with this, there was timeframe for each
step of transition.
Transition steps Timeframe
Inception 28th January 2003 – 3rd March 2003
Listening and learning 3rd March 2003 – 25th May 2003
Analysis and planning 25th May 2003 – 21st July 2003
Rollout phase I 21st July – 30th August 2003
Rollout phase II 1st September 2003 – May 2004

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Inception-
This was the primary phase of the overall transition procedure. Dr. Lee gathered a small
team of 3 to 4 people as the mentors to enhance the level of operational plan during the change
process. After that, Dr. Lee and his team focused on the development of information technology
infrastructure and organizational structure in the positive manner. Along with this, team would
also ensure the budget during the change process.
Listening and learning-
This step was started in March 2003 and started internal discussion with the ended
questions. The discussion was done with all the consultants of the organization to understand
their opinions and experience of the organization. Team took on the trip of member and regional
states to hear the opinions of external and internal stakeholders in terms of health cases across
the world. As the outcome, they were able to understand the views of inner and outer investors
for the tactical plan of the organization.
Analysis and planning-
In this process, various people effectively were involved in the temporary team of change
management. This step was started from 25th May 2003. In this step, the team tried to implement
working master plan and reporting methods which are required to improve in the rollout stages.
The planning team would evaluate every situation in the detailed pattern. Objective of this phase
was to achieve the goals and complete the plan. Dr. Lee and his team tried to implement high
level of leadership practices for the best operational parts (Kossek, 2007).
Rollout phase one-
In this phase, Dr. Lee and his team implemented the transformational leadership style
along with the decentralized structure. The team set the goals and responsibilities for all the team
members from all the departments, arranged effective organizational operations and controlled
serious communication intentions. Initially, Dr. Lee had an effective plan to improve the fund in
the organization for its effectiveness. After these phases, Dr. Lee was able to implement the
change process successfully in World Health Organization in main five areas i.e.
decentralization, IT investments, Human resource reinvent, accountability and efficiency.

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Rollout phase two-
After starting of the rollout phase one, second phase was launched in the organization by
the transition team. This was the last step of the changing process and transition team tried to
complete the working plans which are required to implement the change in organization.
Although not all the targets would be completed by the leaders but leaders had confidence in
completing their work (Smart & Pontifex, 2003).
Change management plan-
To implement the change in the World Health Organization, DR. Lee adopted the change
management framework i.e. Lewin’s three-step change model. According to Lewin (1951), the
change management plan includes three main steps i.e. unfreeze, change process and refreeze.
First step is unfreeze i.e. new missions are defined and share the vision with the employees.
After that, set plans are implemented by various adjustments, reassessments, and consolidations.
The refreezing parts include the reinforcement of change to implement them permanently (Kotter
& Cohen, 2008).
Figure 1: Lewin’s three-step change model
(Source: Kotter & Cohen, 2008)
New vision foe WHO is to implement the change in the structure, transition phases,
minimizing the cultural barriers and ensure the employees to follow the change path. Team of
Dr. Lee collaborated with the Lewin’s model during the transition process (Graham & Bennett,
2008).

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Failed change processes of Dr. Brundtland
Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland former Prime minister was designated as the Director
General of World Health Organization in 1998. She was conscious of all the challenges and
issues of the operations of the organization and then she set some visions for the organization
such as better communication, effective structure and superior simplicity as the objectives of
change process. Alike Dr. Lee, she also gathered a change management group and she also
proposed some effective changes in the organizational structure. But many members in the
organization resisted the change implemented by her (Erkama, 2010).
Dr. Brundtland removed various top level managers from the organization and brought
external experts from outside to attain and execute the health care operations. Her acts revealed
her control in the top level management and due to this fact; many employees had insecurity with
their job. This triggered inactive participation of the employees in the change process. There
were some reasons behind the unsuccessful attempt of Dr. Brundtland. Based on the analysis of
given case, it is observed that there were several factors that lead failure in the change process
i.e. leadership failure, resistance to change and lack of managerial skills (Tracey, 2004).
Leadership failure-
It is observed that there were the lack leadership skills. According to Adair’s action
centered leadership model, the leaders in the management need to focus on three basic areas
including task, team and individual. Leaders will get success when all these requirements are
fulfilled and significantly met.

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Figure 2: Adair’s action centered leadership model
(Source: Tracey, 2004)
Task includes the achievement of the organizational objectives by various actions i.e.
defining group tasks, designing work plans, allocation of task and controlling the performance of
the employees. Teams should be maintained by the effective training and communication system.
Team must be maintained at high level of morale to achieve cohesiveness of team and enhance
the effectiveness of the organization. Individual must support the development of the
organization with full potential. Mistake of Dr. Brundtland was to focus only on fulfilling the
task and neglected other important components (Gill, 2012).
Resistance to change-
With the given case, it is analyzed that Dr. Brundtland had to deal with the resistance of
change. In such case, employees of the organization did not actively take part in the change
process. The reason was that they felt unsecured with their job and were not able to change their
bureaucratic organizational structure as they felt that they have to divide up their authorities and
rights with the other member states. Because of these particulars, Dr. Brundtland was not
successful in implementing effective change process in the organization (Hersey & Blanchard,
2012).
Lack of managerial skills-

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According to Mullins (2011), there are basic management philosophies hat must be
included in the change management such as involvement, trust, satisfaction of the employees,
recognition etc.
Figure 3: Managerial Philosophies
(Source: Jeanes, 2011)
The supreme framework of administrative philosophy must comprise all described
factors. But Dr. Brundtland did not focus on every fundamental management philosophies and
she did not get success in managing the employees effectively.
Future challenges of Dr. Lee
It is analyzed that DR. Lee and his team has to deal with some issues and challenges
while implementing change process in World Health Organization. For implementing change
with the change management philosophies, the organization adopted Lewin’s change model.

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With the change of the structure of organization, the working culture of the employees was
completely changed. For maintaining efficient workplace environment for the employees, Dr.
Lee and his change management team have to face some future challenges i.e. organizational
culture, reliability, utilization of various departments and motivation and job satisfaction of the
employees (Brown, 2006).
The implemented change can impact on the culture and effectiveness of the organization.
Dr. Lee and his team has to deal maintain compatibility of changes with the culture of World
health organization. Along with this, they should adjust with the various levels of culture to get
benefits. Further, change management team should motivate the employees in terms of
economic rewards, social relationships and intrinsic satisfaction. Employees need job satisfaction
and by providing job satisfaction, organization can get various benefits such as higher
productivity, increased profit, low employee turnover and increased loyalty of the employees
(Smith, 2015). In terms of consistency, decision making and quality work should be delivered by
the regional offices for improving the effectiveness of the organization. Based on all the
discussion, Dr. Lee and his transition team should be prepared to deal with all the challenges and
make the work of organization consistent (Saphiro, 2010).
Conclusion
This report is based on the case on famous health organization i.e. World Health
Organizations. From the analysis of overall case, it is observed that Human resource is the
important part in the development of the organizational structure along with the resources and
behavior. According to Buchanan and Huczynski (2004), human resource management can be
described as the managerial process which analyzes the need of the personal policies for
developing organizational strategies. It is well known that World Health Organization needed
tremendous reforms while serices was managed by Dr. Brundtland as the Director General of the
World Health Organization. Although she tried to implement some effective changes but she had
to face resistance to change by the employees. After that, Dr. Lee implemented change process
plans by setting five basic priorities as the change objectives. With the help of his change
management team, Dr. Lee was able to implement effective change successfully and achieved all
the expected goals. It is analyzed that transformation of the organization structure took lots of
time and efforts and the team had to deal with various challenges in terms of culture and

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sustainability. But the core objective of the change implementation was to enhance the efficiency
of World Health Organization in terms of health care services. To achieve good outcomes of the
transition process, Dr. Lee has to deal with the challenges and manage the consequences of the
change implementation plan.

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