Organisational Change and Development: A Personal Reflection

This report delves into the concept of organizational change and development through a student's personal experience working in a retail store undergoing a transformation. The report begins by describing the initial environment under the old owner, characterized by flexibility and a friendly atmosp...Read More

Running head: ORGANISATION CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT
ORGANISATION CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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ORGANISATION CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT
Organisational change is the process through which an organisation faces changes in
strategies, technologies, culture and other factors which are essential for an organisation.
Recently I have also faced a scenario of organisational change, and this has made me
understand the concept clearly. During my summer holidays, I did not want to sit at home
idle and wanted to earn some extra money which is why I approached a local retail store near
my house and opted to work there through the summer holidays for two months. The retail
store was on being bought by another businessman in some days. However, the old owner
was still the boss when he hired me. I started working soon in the store and became
accustomed to the rules and the people who worked there. The employees of the store were
mostly aged people who have been there for a long time, and they were quite friendly. The
owner was very flexible with the working hours and allowed the people to come and go as
they deemed fit provided the job was being done properly. Since the owner was from the
same locality, he even gave credits to the people whom he knew for a long time.
Everyone liked the owner, but the store did not have many customers since they failed
to provide good stocks of products due to the long credits and the less income that they made.
The owner told me that this was the reason that he was selling the store since he was not
capable of managing it any further. Soon the store was sold to the businessman, and on the
first day itself the new owner set down some rules that had to be followed by the employees
of the store from then on. He firstly let go of all the aged employees in a polite way stating
that young people would be more enthusiastic to work and contribute to the development of
the store. This decision received much backlash from the people of the community as well as
the people who were being let go since they have been associated with the store for a vast
length of time. However, the new owner and the management was fixed on their decision and
made the changes accordingly. They also made several other changes such as no provision
for credits to any customer, fixed shift hours with stipulated numbers of leaves every month.

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They also established a reporting hierarchy where we employees had to report to their
managers about their work progress every month, and every employee was given a target
which they had to meet. An incentive system was also started where the best performing
employee of every month was awarded incentives. The structure and the culture of the
organisation became more organised and systematic.
This incident made me had a high impact on me since this was my first exposure to
any organisation and the operations that occur within. I had to adapt myself to a more
professional environment from a friendly and personal environment that I was hired into.
When I was first hired by the old owner, I experienced a very free environment where the
people with whom I worked were friends, and they guided me in any work that I had
difficulty in. Since this was not a permanent job for me, the owner did not put much pressure
on me. However, with the changes that occurred in the store, the environment and culture of
the workplace also changed. Every person who worked in the store had to follow the same
rules irrespective of the time that they would be working for. This sudden changes had a
significant impact on me as well as on the old employees who were still working. However,
within a few days, the store became more organised and received more customers than they
had before. The stock was fully updated, and new varieties were provided which attracted
many customers. The positive effects of the change were visible within a few days, and even
we were motivated to work harder due to the incentive structure that was established by the
management.
This change that I have experienced can be better understood with the help of a theory
of organisational change. The most relatable theory according to me is the teleological theory
of change. Burke (2017) states that in the teleological theory, the change that occurs is
intentional which is done to achieve a particular goal. The theory establishes that a change
occurs in an organisation with the motive to reach a set goal which is done by the

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management (Tuck and Yang 2013). To ensure the achievement of this goal the management
changes many aspects of the organisation with only one agenda in mind to succeed in their
work. The whole organisation has to work as one unit to reach the desired goal and have to
follow the changes that have been made by the management for the success of the changes
that have been done by the management (Langley et al. 2013). The progress has to be strictly
monitored by the management, and the proper measure has to be taken. The employees need
to be appropriately directed and should be provided with the best ways that would help them
to work correctly (Gioia et al. 2013). This kind of change is also established in the vision,
mission and the objectives of the organisation which would help them to form a strategic
direction which would be followed by the whole organisation (Gunitsky 2013).
This theory is highly relatable to my own experience since the change that was made
in the store was also purposeful by the management. The new owner decided to make the
changes so that he could form a new direction in the store which would eventually lead it to
be one of the successful stores in the area. He realised the problems and the challenges that
were earlier faced by the old owner which led to the downfall of the store and made the
changes accordingly by eradicating and controlling most of the issues (Robey, Anderson and
Raymond 2013). The issues were the first things that were addressed by the owner before he
introduced anything new. He made policies and rules which would, in reality, help the
employees to do their work correctly. This proper establishment of the policies have created a
strict environment in the workplace but have been a positive change (Wufka and Ralph
2015). Even though it might seem that the policies are harsh and the changes that have been
made have initially received much negativity, after some time it was seen that the same
changes had received positive feedback from the people of the society.
From my above experience, I have learnt that change can be both positive and
negative. However, it is not right to judge the effects of a change without waiting for the

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results. Any change would require a great deal of time to show their effects (Küng 2013).
Moreover, the management would always do what is best for the organisation. Their
approaches might be different since every person have a different outlook. However, no
matter what the approach is the change would positively contribute to the betterment of the
organisation. I have also understood that it is not just the work of the management to make
sure that the change is for the better (Georgalis et al. 2015). The whole organisation have to
work as one unit to make the change successful and to help the organisation to succeed in
their mission, vision and objectives that have been set by the management. Furthermore, it is
also the job of the management to conduct changes and introduce policies which will
motivate the employees to work hard, and they receive incentives and rewards for their
excellent performances.
This incident has made me ready for any future organisations where I would work. I
now have a clear understanding of organisational change, having experienced a real-life
scenario. I have derived that for staying in an organisation for a long-term, I would have to
work hard and adapt to the changes that are done by the management so that I may be able to
contribute to the development and the good future of the organisation. It is also understood
that change is not always a negative thing and is sometimes essential for the proper
functioning and operation of an organisation. Organisational change is, therefore, an essential
aspect of an organisation when the need arises and this would be understood better by the
management (Lozano, Ceulemans and Seatter 2015). The change has to receive the support
of all members of the organisation and the management to be successful and to becoming a
developing step towards the better future of the organisation. Thus, I can say that I had a
fruitful summer experience which has enabled me to learn new things which would greatly
help me in my future endeavours. The experience that I had was helpful in shaping me and

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my views towards working in any organisation in future times and have made me ready
regarding the challenges that I would be facing.

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References:
Burke, W.W., 2017. Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.
Georgalis, J., Samaratunge, R., Kimberley, N. and Lu, Y., 2015. Change process
characteristics and resistance to organisational change: The role of employee perceptions of
justice. Australian Journal of Management, 40(1), pp.89-113.
Gioia, D.A., Patvardhan, S.D., Hamilton, A.L. and Corley, K.G., 2013. Organizational
identity formation and change. The Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), pp.123-193.
Gunitsky, S., 2013. Complexity and theories of change in international politics. International
Theory, 5(1), pp.35-63.
Küng, L., 2013. Innovation, technology and organisational change. Media innovations: A
multidisciplinary study of change, pp.9-12.
Langley, A.N.N., Smallman, C., Tsoukas, H. and Van de Ven, A.H., 2013. Process studies of
change in organization and management: Unveiling temporality, activity, and flow. Academy
of management journal, 56(1), pp.1-13.
Lozano, R., Ceulemans, K. and Seatter, C.S., 2015. Teaching organisational change
management for sustainability: designing and delivering a course at the University of Leeds
to better prepare future sustainability change agents. Journal of Cleaner Production, 106,
pp.205-215.
Robey, D., Anderson, C. and Raymond, B., 2013. Information technology, materiality, and
organizational change: A professional odyssey. Journal of the Association for Information
Systems, 14(7), p.379.

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Tuck, E. and Yang, K.W. eds., 2013. Youth resistance research and theories of change.
Routledge.
Wufka, M. and Ralph, P., 2015, August. Explaining agility with a process theory of change.
In 2015 Agile Conference (AGILE) (pp. 60-64). IEEE.