Organization Development and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Organization Development and Change - Essay Example Employees may not talk about these principles every day, but they reflect on these values when there are issues at work. In a way, employees judge the organization’s performance against its values. Should there be changes made to an organization, one of the first things that the employees would do is analyze if the process and result of the proposed changes would be aligned with cultural principles. If it does, the employees will acquiesce. If it does not, they will certainly complain and not cooperate. If they have doubts, they will voice it out and challenge the company as what happened with IBM. (Cummings, T. & Worley. C., 2008) In the reading, culture was used to facilitate merger and acquisition integration processes when the CEO epitomized the newly-established values of the company. The CEO trusted first and second level managers with a certain amount of money to spend on activities that would promote productiveness, eliminating the delays caused by going through finance departments and getting approvals. By promoting cultural principles, the CEO was able to encourage the employees to revisit their opinion of the company and adjust their behavior. As such more opportunities were made available to the IBM and the company effectively transitioned from their past beliefs and practices to the new ones. As manifested in the reading, cultural change started from the CEO and the strategies and decisions he made to steer the organization towards the much needed change. As one of the studies conducted in the field has discovered, leadership greatly influences the outcome of cultural change. (Heidrich, B., 2002) The same study listed being role models, making decisions that directly influence the value system, and practicing efficient methods of decision-making as possible ways a leader can change a company’s culture. The use of