Critical Review of Academic Journal Articles on Change Management

This report provides a critical review of two academic journal articles concerning organizational change management. The first article, by Nordin et al. (2012), examines change management within the context of lean manufacturing implementation, highlighting key success factors such as effective communication, leadership, and employee training to mitigate resistance and improve performance. The second article, by Zhu & Jones (2014), analyzes Huawei's approach to change management, emphasizing its ability to adapt to complex and dynamic environments through proactive and reactive strategies. The report compares and contrasts the two articles, concluding that while Nordin et al. (2012) focuses on specific changes needed for lean manufacturing, Zhu & Jones (2014) offers a more comprehensive perspective, considering market competitiveness, technological advancements, and external factors. The report suggests that Huawei's model is more relevant in the current business landscape due to its broader scope and consideration of external influences. The review underscores the importance of understanding the impact of change on employee behavior and performance and developing strategies to manage resistance effectively.

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Critical Review of Academic Journal
Word Count: 794
Brief overview
Organizational change management is important factor that assists in growth and success
of firm. In this assignment, two articles are considered related to organizational change. The first
article is about organizational change management process during lean manufacturing. Another
article provides information regarding Huawei’s Change management for the growth and success
of their organization and to become the market leader in the industry.
Nordin, N., Deros, B.M., Wahab, D.A. & man, M.N.A., (2012). A framework for
organisational change management in lean manufacturing
implementation. International Journal of Services and Operations
Management. 12(1). pp.101-117.
Nordin et.al. (2012), comments on the change management concept that can applied at
the time of lean manufacturing transformation. There are various challenges that are being by
faced the organization during the implementation of lean manufacturing due to frequent changes
in the organizational environment. This article suggests that the companies implementing lean
manufacturing are required to change leadership and management, team development,
communication and change agent system etc. It is required to change the system, structure, and
process and employee behavior for lean manufacturing implementation. The article is providing
information about the critical success factors which is essential for implementing lean
manufacturing that consists of effective communication, leadership, team development, change
agent, rewarding and employee autonomy etc. The lean manufacturing can be successfully
implemented by considering the changes in the organization structure and system.
Communication is important to successfully implement the lean manufacturing and
three sort of communication is crucial i.e. within individuals, departments and across boundaries
vertically and horizontally. During the change, the employee resistance is higher and thus, it is
important for the organization to provide motivation to the employees during change
management. Moreover, it is important to provide the workers with appropriate training
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regarding the lean manufacturing in order to boost their performance and motivate them by
providing them knowledge regarding the benefits of the change.
Zhu, H. D., & Jones, M. (2014). Huawei: an exemplar for organizational change in a
modern environment. Journal of information technology education: discussion cases.
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Zhu & Jones (2014), discuss about the organizational change that been conducted by
Huawei. It is the world leading information and communication technology solution provider.
The article is providing information regarding transformational change and the incremental
changes. The firm copes up with the changes in proactive as well as in reactive manner. The
Huawei operates in the complex environment that has uncertain economic environment and
political environment and competitive technological and industry pressure. The firm has its own
structure, vision, value and culture. The firm has changed itself from technology imitator to a
technology leader. The organization has started its operation internationally.
The company learns from world – class management process that assist in the successful
implementation of the change in the organization. It is important for the firm to enter into new
market through diversifying their product and services in which there is less completion in order
to increase their customer base. The research and development team of Huawei gather the
information regarding the market forces and changes that arises in the external environment. This
assisted in framing the strategies in order to reduce the negative impact of the external forces on
their operation. The article is discussing the change management of Huawei, which leads to the
success of firm in changing environment. Huawei has changed its strategies and system and
process in order to get the advantage regarding the changes, which are happening in the external
environment.
Comparing and Contrasting both Articles
Nordin et.al. (2012) and Zhu & Jones (2014) has stated regarding the change
management in the organization in order to improve their performance and to become the market
leader. In the first article, it has concluded that lean manufacturing requires various changes in
order to be successful but another article highlights the change management approach been
considered by the Huawei. Zhu & Jones (2014) has provided more effective arguments than
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Nordin et.al (2012) because Nordin has mainly focused on lean manufacturing rather than
changes. Based on the comparison, it is required to understand the effect of changes on the
organization such as employees’ behavior, performance etc. the strategies for reducing the
employee resistance towards changes. It is evident that Nordin et.al. (2012) has overlooked the
factors of market competitiveness, change in technology, shift in customer trends, forces from
external factors and other related while framing strategy for change. Contrary, the change
process in Huawei considers all these factors, which makes this model more appropriate in
present time. Further, Nordin et.al. (2012) focused on lean management, which is mainly applied
in manufacturing company and hence, it possesses less scope as compared to model of change
been explained by Zhu & Jones (2014).
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