Impact of Organizational Narratives on Performance

This report examines the significant impact of organizational narratives on an organization's performance, particularly within the context of change management driven by globalization. The introduction emphasizes that understanding an organization's direction is crucial for success, especially during times of change. The report explores how narratives shape beliefs, communication, and culture, and how they facilitate organizational control, connect employees to the organization's purpose, and foster human connection. It highlights the importance of narratives in communicating change, building organizational identity, and differentiating organizations from competitors in a globalized market. The report also addresses the challenges of change management, including employee resistance and the role of effective communication in overcoming it. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of narratives in improving organizational performance in the face of globalization, which demands constant restructuring and adaptation. The report references several academic studies to support its claims.

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How may organizational narratives impact organizational performance in the context of change
management due to globalization?
Introduction
Organizational narratives have a positive effect on the success of an organization. This is so
because members who have an understanding of where the organization are headed and how
every day operations are crucial towards overall success tend to outperform competition. As such
leaders, especially in a context of organizational change should communicate the need for
change and this can be best achieved by the use of an organizational narrative. For this reason,
organizational narratives positively impact organizational performance in the context of change
due to globalization.
Organizations operate in an increasingly dynamic and unpredictable environment. Organizations
often face so much external pressure not only because of active markets but also highly
empowered and demanding customers. Besides, increasing regulations are have as well greatly
affected the organization's abilities. Even though there is so much external pressure for
organizations, there exist internal drivers for change among employees. Employees need to
access flexible working and learning opportunities (Vaara, Sonenshein, Boje, 2016). A corporate
narrative brings together a range of elements to create a story regarding the organization's
purpose, heritage, and culture. Apart from this, it may include the organization's strategy, values,
the context for change, desires for adapting change, and desired employee behavior. Generally, it
is considered as a story that provides an achievable and aspiration journey the organization is in.
Narratives are considered an essential tool because in organization performance because they
mold people's beliefs, views, and ways of communication and, for that reason, have

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demonstrated to have a positive impact on organization performance. Naturally, human beings
are attracted to stories. This is so because stories bring meaning to life by fueling personal
relationships and, in the process, shaping people's beliefs towards a shared culture(Landau,
Drori, Terjesen, 2014). In an organizational context, narratives enable the organization to own as
well as control their story. Organizational narratives influence organization performance by
helping organizations control their story, connecting employees and other stakeholders to
purpose, strategy, and action plan of the organization and driving human connection necessary
for growth and development of the organization.
Narratives positively influence organization performance by facilitating the introduction of
needed change to steer an organization in the right direction. Since managers are supposed to
plan for practical actions to be undertaken by an organization, narratives provide an avenue for
communication of these plans. Once the change has been communicated, actions to be
undertaken are also articulated. Besides, individual roles towards attaining the proposed goals are
also communicated so that every employee can know what they are supposed to do.
Apart from facilitating the introduction of organizational change, narratives also improve
organization performance by acting as building blocks of organizational identity. Narratives
enable organizations to control their story. This is of advantage to the organization because it
controls what it tells the public (Jacobs, Van, Christe‐Zeyse, 2013). An organization that has no
control of its story is often at a high risk of performing poorly. This is so because when a
narrative is not intact, there would be alternative stories that would be spread by competitors,
which might otherwise tarnish an organization's reputation.

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Narratives also have a tendency of building and strengthening relationships as well as loyalty
among employees and other relevant stakeholders, thus improving organization performance.
People are often drawn to an emotional connection. Narratives provide an opportunity for
stakeholders to connect with an organization emotionally. Since it communicates essential
aspects of the organization, including heritage and culture, people often get attached and commit
to advancing the organizational course.
Finally, narratives improve organization performance by enabling organizations to differentiate
themselves from competitors. In dynamic and crowded markets, organizations need to rise above
other organizations of their kind. This is achieved when there is a strong organizational narrative
that identifies the organization's story, direction, and game plan.
In an organizational context, change management is the continuous process of monitoring a
range of events and programs that cause major disruption to the daily operations of an
organization. For change management to be effective, organizations must demonstrate a strong
mentality as well as cultural willingness to adapt to the proposed change (Drzensky, Egold, van,
2012). All organization tends to resist change, and for this reason, communication is a crucial
aspect in addressing this change. Organizational narratives can be a tool that contributes to
effective organizational communication not only in the context of change management but also
in other areas in its scope.
Narratives are a significant aspect of enhancing effective communication in an organization,
especially in the context of change management. This is so because narratives tend to
communicate ideas holistically and in that way conveying a clear and rich message (Shin,
Taylor, Seo, 2012). In change management, it is required that change is communicated in a

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precise manner to reduce misunderstandings in the direction of an organization. Narratives serve
as an excellent way of communicating change because it can easily break down complex ideas
into simpler and understandable forms.
Apart from this, narratives are enhancing learning and development. According to various
theories on learning, learning requires interest, which is often not readily available for many
individuals. Unlike other communication models, narratives naturally bring interest in learning
(Fugate, Prussia, Kinicki, 2012). In a change management context, employees must learn about
the proposed change as well as its implication. In such cases, narratives provide an avenue for
learning.
People tend to naturally enjoy sharing stories and talking about issues that unite them and make
them feel like a team. Evidence shows that stories not only enliven but also entertain. As such,
narratives act as vital tools in enhancing entertainment, job enrichment, and job satisfaction
among employees. Job satisfaction is directly linked to increased employee performance. It when
an employee is satisfied with their job, their performance also increases (Gabriel, 2015). For this
reason, narratives are considered as a trigger of job satisfaction and a crucial aspect of
employee's performance. It is, therefore, clear that in a context of change management, the use of
narratives can be a very effective tool of communication.
Globalization is referred to as the increasing interdependence of the world's cultures, economies,
and population. Globalization is triggered by the increased cross-border trade and transactions
happening globally. Evidence shows that globalization is an all-rounded phenomenon that
incorporates social, political, legal, and cultural aspects (Birchall, 2014). Legally. Socially,
globalization has led to greater interactions among people from various geographical areas;

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culturally it represents the spread of ideas and values while legally, it has affected how
international laws are interpreted and enforced (Tidd & Bessant, 2018). Since organizational
change includes all alterations of not only structural relationships but also individual roles among
employees, it is greatly affected by globalization. Globalization has affected organizations in
almost all spheres. As a result, the organization has been forced to change various aspects in its
operations to remain relevant in the competitive global market and to meet its constantly
changing customer demands.
Globalization has the spread of technology over national borders. As a result of the spread of
technology, organizations are developing means to cut down production costs. According to a
recent survey, most organizations have computerized and automated their operations to reduce
labor costs (Ravasi & Canato, 2013). There has also been wide adoption of e-marketing to
reduce advertising and promotional costs. It is, therefore, clear that organizations have been
forced to undergo temporary and transformation and change to remain relevant in a relatively
dynamic environment.
In a context of change management due to globalization, organizational narratives can be an
essential tool in improving organizational performance. As depicted earlier, globalization is an
all-rounded phenomenon that forces the organization into undertaking necessary restructuring to
remain relevant in the constantly changing environment (Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015). This is
so because globalization affects organizations socially, economically as well as from a legal and
political perspective. Change is inevitable; organizations face both internal and external
pressures to initiate change. External pressure comprises a change in technology and equipment,
a change in market situations, and social-political changes. Advancement in technology is

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considered to be among the main cause of organizational change. It is believed that every
technological advancement achieved results in new forms of organizations intending to meet the
changes and consumer demands. The market is dynamic. When market condition changes,
various aspects may be changed as well, including consumer needs (Anderson, 2019). For any
organization to survive, it must be in a position to cope up with the constantly changing
marketing situations. Internal pressures include changes in managerial personnel, deficiencies in
existing organizations, and other factors such as the need to improve employees working
conditions (Hewison, 2012). Both internal and external factors that force organizational change
are variables that define ae driven by globalization.
Before introducing any change, it is essential that managers fully understand employee's attitudes
to increase chances of success. Also, while introducing change, there is resistance, which is a
common challenge faced by many managers. Sings of resistance may include increased
absenteeism, transfer requests, strikes, reduced motivation, and reduction in overall productivity
or employees.
Naturally, human beings are designed to resist change because it not only causes tension but also
emotional turmoil among employees. In most cases, change faces resistance, and in cases where
the managers are not competent enough, change may fail, thus rendering the organization
irrelevant (Battilana & Casciaro, 2012). These techniques comprise of communication of actual
change and involving employees in change. When the performance of organizations on the verge
of transitioning goes down, it is usually because of resistance, which is characterized by
diminished motivation among employees and absenteeism.

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Studies indicate that one of the simplest ways of overcoming resistance to change in
organizations is to communicate with the people resisting the change. This is so because
circumstantial evidence shows that people who do not understand the change are likely to oppose
it because they are afraid of its consequences that they are not even aware of (Benn, Edwards,
Williams, 2014). Organizational narratives can be used as a tool for communicating change in
the context of change management due to globalization. This is so because narratives
communicate the procedure of change and when to communicate change. According to previous
studies conducted on organizational narratives and performance, have shown that narratives play
a very crucial role as far as communication and exchange of information is concerned. Scholars
consider organizational narratives as tools used in change communication (Goksoy, Ozsoy,
Vayvay, 2012). This is because narratives tend to bring people together by facilitating the
creation of personal connections as well as strong professional relationships among employees.
Even amid organizational change due to globalization, organizational narratives may be used as a
tool to communicate change and thus improving organization performance regardless of the
environmental uncertainties triggered by the change
Conclusion
Globalization has is an aspect that has seen advancements of technology, people’s interactions as
well as a change in regulations regulating international trade. Locally globalization has seen
many organizations undertake structural transformation in order to meet new market
requirements or customer demands. On the verge of transition, organization’s performances tend
to go down, however, with the use of organizational narratives as a tool of communication
performance of organization may improve.

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References
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