Good The Lack Of Hierarchical Structures In Small Organizations Affects Unfreezing And Movement Case Study Example

Introduction

The paper will address factors that determine organizational culture and change and highlight how organizations can continue to perform diligently in changing situations. The comprehensive analysis comprises of three sections; section one provides a summary of the article, section two highlights and discuss the key learning points while the last section explains the implications on UAE educational sector.

Section 1

The paper aims at assessing the competing opinions of whether the size of organizations creates the conditions of rigidity of fluidity when adaptation and change occurs. The empirical study draws a comparison of the processes applied to planned change and their related outcomes in both small and large organizations.
The Lewin’s three-phase model of change was applied in the methodology section whereas an evaluative framework. Through it, managers from small and large organizations were subjected to questionnaires. After that, variance and profit analysis were conducted to examine the size-related differences in unfreezing, movement and refreezing phases of change. Main study variables included unfreezing, movement, freezing, and implementation success.
The findings of the empirical study revealed that lower levels of refreezing activities were applied by small organizations, but they still experienced lower levels of success compared to the large organizations. The findings casted doubts on whether small organizations had the ability to adapt to change than the large organizations. The results failed to indicate the differences in unfreezing and movement.
The sample size limited the extent at which the results could be applied. It was difficult to apply the findings in a generalized setting. In the future, researchers should contemplate whether the size-related effects are affected by change related factors like intentionality, continuity, amongst others (Ford, 2009).
Researchers realized that dismantling hierarchical structures in organizations was not an appropriate move because it could lessen the capacity for managing change. On the other hand, there is the need for small organizations to advance their hierarchical structure since it automatically advances the implementation control.

Section 2: Key learning points

According to the Lewin’s (1947) unfreezing and movement phase, it is challenging to hypothesize differences in organizations confidently (Ford, 2009). The reasons behind this are the lack of a hierarchical structure in small organizations, and the fact that unfreezing and subsequent movement in small organizations remains chaotic and unfocused. Contrariwise, it is assumed that large organizations are directly affected by structural inertia, but the environment remains conducive boosting unfreezing and movement that lead to a positive trend that ensure the large organizations are stable.

Hypothesis 1: During implementation of planned change, small organizations are expected to demonstrate pointedly lower levels of freezing than large institutions

The success observed in the implementation of planned change is influenced by the following factors: completion, acceptability, and achievement. When the reward systems are poorly designed, and the managers fail to observe the organizational processes closely, implementation success is delayed. Evidently, issues linked to refreezing directly influences the success of an organization. The small organizations are affected since they depend excessively on individuals and social systems rather than formal controls. On the other hand, large organizations have well-organized feedback and control systems that accommodate freezing, and this helps them to realize implementation success. When the freezing factors are poorly designed and performed, the implementation success will not be realized.

Large organizations have well-organized hierarchical structures that ensure proper control.

The lack of established structures in small organizations causes inconsistencies in their operations. In large organizations, the structural inertia is influenced by the availability of experts, hierarchical structure that boosts unfreezing and movement. The refreezing stage highlights the common differences observed between small and large organizations. Since small organizations do not have control structures, they lack the ability to support refreezing. Large organizations perform incredibly because of their control structures that provide a stable environment that supports refreezing and movement.

The selected sample size was a limitation to the study

The sample size was not all inclusive because it was narrow, and this posed problems to the findings. In the future, scholars must ensure that they maximize on improving the statistical power to make the findings more reliable and increase their dependability. It is also necessary for researchers to include additional factors in Lewin’s framework to improve the results. Small organizations are well placed in adapting to change compared to large organizations. Also, the lack of hierarchical structure reduces inertia and promotes mobility in small organizations. In the end, the change implementation process is affected in small organizations. Contrariwise, large organizations are placed in a good position to control the refreezing process.

Section 3

The introduction of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the UAE educational sector is an appropriate case study of organizational culture change. Educational institutions are burning the midnight oil to ensure that they implement the change successfully. I will pay close attention to UAE educational environment to track the introduced ICT changes in the sector (Makrakis, 2002). The rapidly changing environment has witnessed the advancement of technology raising the needs to subscribe to the expected standards. Learners are encouraged to embrace the change introduced to support academic work. The higher institutions of learning are large organizations that have control systems that will guide them towards implementation of the technology whereas small schools are affected by numerous challenges, unlike their counterparts.
The ICT strategic plan must be holistic and comprehensive by ensuring that all stakeholders are involved. The change must be perceived as a process that transforms the vision to reality and planning to action. ICT experts in the education sector will provide structural inertia that will be necessary to promote unfreezing and movement. The already established control structures in educational institutions play a great role towards the implementation of ICT reforms (Al-Khouri, 2012).
In the ICT strategic plan, the situation analysis in UAE education consists of seven components namely; action plan framework, designing the infrastructure, designing an ICT model, establishing ICT partnerships, ICT implementation in schools, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. The components function dialectically because they are not a linear process (Makrakis, 2002).

References

Al-Khouri, A. M. (2012). eGovernment strategies the case of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). European Journal of ePractice, 17, 126-150.
Ford, M. W. (2009). Size, structure and change implementation: An empirical comparison of small and large organizations. Management Research News, 32(4), 303-320.
Makrakis, V. (2002). Strategic planning for information and communication technologies in education: The case of the United Arab Emirates. ICTs in Education, 1, 491-500.
Sokol, D., & Sisler, V. (2010). Socializing on the Internet: Case study of Internet use among university students in the United Arab Emirates. Global Media Journal, 9(16), 1-34.