The Politics of Organisational Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Politics of Organisational Change - Essay Example This is a change from transactional leadership, a traditionalist governance system where rewards are strictly contingent on performance from a functionalist perspective. Trust-based philosophies in transformational leadership are designed to foster job role autonomy and flexibility, thus promoting employee freedom to ensure dedication and loyalty to meeting organisational objectives. The multiple constituencies perspective is inter-linked with chosen management philosophy as it relates to connecting with subordinate personnel with recognition of emotions and psychological needs related to their decision-making power in the organisation. It is not until these needs are satisfied that change can be enacted successfully as constituencies in the organisation respond according to perception of politics rather than the tangible realities of change, politics and organisational design. The politics of change and psycho-social considerations The multiple constituencies approach to organisational development recognises the foundations and validity of the psychological contract as a template methodology for enacting more consensus-based organisational changes. This post-modern approach to managing people and leading them through organisational change practices rejects unitarism as a viable management strategy, a system of governance that is centralized and control is established through non-consensus governance actors (Grieves). Effectively, in order to attain commitment and adherence to change practices, the subordinate constituency must be granted recognizable power-sharing opportunities throughout the change processes to promote perceptions of autonomous working environments; a lean toward organisational democracyÃ'Ž. However, in order for a legitimate and true democracy to exist, it must sustain seven distinct characteristics. These are freedom, openness, trust, transparency, fairness, equality and accountability (Bar rett 2010). â€Å"If there is no consensus within organisations, there can be little potentiality for the peaceful resolution of political differences associated (with change)† (Almond and Verba, p.251). Planned change, such as the push and pull factors identified through Force Field Analysis, dictate the need for negotiated strategies in order to maximise positive change outcomes. For instance, when fear of change is identified as it relates to a specific change goal, fear can be mitigated through more effective interpersonal communications between governance and subordinate work teams or promoting job security as part of the psychological contract. In this case, the leadership of the organisation appeals to the foundational needs of employees as identified in the fundamental Hierarchy of Needs promoted by