Yhtomit,
Change Management Impact
Change Management Plan for GlaxoSmithKline Company
Florzaireth Da Silva
HRM 531
March 21, 2017
Richard Dettilng
Change Management Plan for GlaxoSmithKline Company
Change management is said to involve the movement from one state to another, in most cases, from the problem state to a solved form. Change comes individually or in organizations. From an individual perspective, the change could be attained if the employees increase their skills, values, attributes and behaviors. On the contrary, change in the organization arises from the reward systems, work designs among others. Due to among other things, globalization, technological advancement as well as organizational consolidation, change has become an important part of every organization. Corporations need to undergo changes to survive in the changing business environment. To manage change, change management is required for groups and individuals. As far as efficient organization strategy is concerned, internal and external conditions that necessitate the changes should be considered (Cameron & Green, 2015).
All the same, individual change should be pursued before an organizational change is sought. In other words, change management should be adopted at the individual level so that it can initiate change at the corporate level. Change agents are the ones who implement change strategy. However, they need to possess a clear understanding of strategic change concept. The change agents need to have change models and tools so that change can be implemented. In essence, the skills required for change are analytical skills that could be utilized for analyzing change contexts. Critical thinking could be used for applying the change. Besides, self-awareness is necessary for the modification managers to develop change from the organization’s point of view, rather than the manager’s perception (Hayes, 2014). This paper seeks to examine change management plan in GlaxoSmithKline Corporation a pharmaceutical company that is based in the United Kingdom.
In the process of change, three states come into play, current state, transition state and future state. To achieve change, a number of approaches are utilized. The methods used make use of PESTEL and Porters five forces. Based on the existence of the internal and external environment that is unique in each organization, no ideal tool could be called best to be applied by an organization. For this reason, change is implemented independently as per an organization’s specific needs. Some of the methodologies of change are planned as well as the emergent approaches. In proposed approach, change is said to be deliberately developed through a rational and intentional process that is driven down from the top down based on an assumption of a stable environment. The initial goal is to seek improvement of individual operations through the group applications of change programs. From an emergent point of view, change is found from an unpredictable environment. Change is then developed from variables that include the external environment (Bradley, 2016). The process of change in an emergent approach is said to be open-ended and driven from the bottom to the top and adapted to changing organization conditions.
In the modern business setting that is shaped by a range of factors, various tools could be used to manage changes. As a result of internal and external environment, each of the organizations needs to consider and analyze their situations to take the most appropriate approach as well as tools to implement the changes successfully. In the case of GSK, the company utilized both the emergent as well as the planned approaches to alter how the change was brought in the business. GlaxoSmithKline also used the changing kaleidoscope to analyze the contextual features and adopt the most suitable design choices that would be used to implement the changes (Bradley, 2016).
GlaxoSmithKline is said to be United Kingdom based corporation that manufactures pharmaceutical products. The company was incepted in 2000 after a merger between GlaxoWellcome and SmithKline Beecham companies. Initially, GlaxoWellCome operated as an independent entity. After the merger, GlaxoSmithKline was born. Presently, GSK is said to be the second world largest manufacturer of pharmaceutical products. Even so, the company has undergone changes before becoming the giant corporation it is today.
The first changes took place in the year 1994. The changes were driven by the increasing competition, government policies and changing consumer behaviors. The customer at that time was the National Health Service. The managers decided to bring change as a strategy to achieve competitive advantage. The employees were confident that change would be attained that will move GSK forward. The senior executives had prepared the workforce for the incoming changes. They created change awareness by introducing the RATIO program. The program directly involves Role clarity among the employees. The workforce was expected to accept the change, work as a team, and seek innovation as well as output orientation. The RATIO program was backed up with a range of support change initiatives that included the cross-function project group (Bradley, 2016). Altogether, RATIO program succeeded in creating culture change awareness.
The other change in the company started in 1997. The company sought to restructure as well as reengineering programs. That was initiated by the recent merger with the Wellcome Organization. The change reduced the number of Glaxo Hierarchy from 7 to 4. The company shifted its strategy from focusing on individuals products to disease management. The company also resolved to join hands with local Universities and Biotechnology organizations to reduce the expenses. After the changes, the firm achieved a good relationship with the customers. The employees were also prompted to change their behavior and attitude to align with the new strategies at the company. After the change had been implemented, new staff evaluation and reward procedures were put in place. Also, computer-based feedback system was implemented. The other change that was adopted is that of customer focus. The company resolved to put the needs of the client first.
Based on the previous statement, the new approach to change comes when the contingency is subjected to play their roles in an unpredictable environment without planning. The new approach is critical, in the sense that, it could be implemented within a short duration of time. The form of change follows a systematic manner. Even so, the emergent approach has several limitations due to uncertainty. However, the restrictions are quashed if proper mechanisms are put in place by the management. GSK applied both emergent as well as the planned approach in a series of phases. Change in the company was initiated by the changes in how business is conducted. The new approach was applied to the company through the creation of change awareness and the introduction of re-engineering and restructuring programs. Planned approach at the company was the long term strategy that would bring change.
GSK also utilized the kaleidoscope strategy of change where several things at the company underwent a transformation (Bridges & Bridges, 2017).
Time (+) –GSK sought to change the time it takes to serve their customers.
Preservation (-)-The company aimed at preserving its talented employees with the objectives of keeping their talent intact.
Diversity (+) - diversity in the workforce was an exclusive remedy that would bring change in the company.
In conclusion, GSK underwent two stages in their change strategy. The first one was the emergent approach that was applied together with the planned approach to achieve long term company changes. On the other hand, change kaleidoscope was utilized as the primary tool that was used to implement the changes. The kaleidoscope model was employed to conduct an analysis of each and every GSK contextual features with the aims of determining the appropriate options that were available at the disposal. During the initial stages of change, the tool created change readiness among the employees.
Reference
Dessler, G. (2017). Human Resource Management (15th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Hayes, J. (2014). The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015). Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Bradley, G. (2016). Benefit Realisation Management: A practical guide to achieving benefits through change. CRC Press.
Bridges, W., & Bridges, S. (2017). Managing transitions: Making the most of change. Da Capo Press.