Forces of Organizational Change
All business organizations establish, operate, and grow within a wide range of changing environments. All such forces affecting the survival and growth of business organizations are known as forces of organizational change. Mainly, there are two types of forces that lead to change in an organization consisting of internal and external forces.
- Internal forces of organizational change
- External forces of organizational change
#1 Internal Forces
All conditions and forces within the organization affecting business operations are internal forces of organizational change. For the internal health of the business, it is essential to manage internal change forces in a useful way.
Internal forces are to some extent controllable to the management. The component of internal forces consist of:
- Change in owner and board of directors
- Change in goals
- Change in plan and strategy
- Change in organizational structure
- Change in job technology
- Change in the work environment, etc.
#2 External Forces
The external forces refer to the environment and institutions outside the organization are potential can affect the organizational performance. The external environment is formed with two elements, the specific or task environment, and general forces.
Change in external forces gives a great impact on the achievement of an organization. Management of an organization can not control the change in external forces, it needs to adapt itself by modifying its goals, plans, policies, strategies, on the basis of changing external forces.
Let’s discuss the components of external forces of organizational change:
Task or Specific Forces
The task environmental forces consist of specific organizations or groups that influence organizations’ performance. Such forces have a direct and immediate impact on managerial decisions and actions.
Every organization may have a novel task force and it may vary in accordance with interval and state. The task forces consist of a change in competitors, customers, suppliers, government, pressure groups, media, financial institutions, and strategic allies.
General Forces
General forces refer to broad external conditions that may affect the business activities of the organizations. These forces are uncontrollable and require proper monitoring of the components of adapt on the basis of emerging changes. Change in general forces creates opportunities and threats to the business organizations.
The following are the external forces of organizational change:
Change in Political Forces. The political-legal forces refer to government regulation and the legal system for business. The political-legal environment is the influence of three institutions-legislature, execution, and judiciary. These institutions play a major role in directing, developing, and controlling business activities.
Change in Economic Forces. Economic forces indicate the system of producing and distributing goods and services. They refer to all factors which give shape and form to the development of economic activities. These forces involve economic systems, economic policies, economic conditions, and legal institutions.
Change in Socio-Culture Forces. The socio-cultural forces are comprehensive since they include the total social forces within which an organization operates. These forces involve tradition, social values, beliefs, norms, attitudes, customs, and demographic composition. All the elements of the socio-culture environment are adaptable, shared, and interrelated.
Change in Technology. Technology is the process of converting input into outputs. It focuses on machines and equipment, the transmission of information, new techniques and processes, research, and development. The innovation of automation, robotics, and computerization brings tremendous change in production and distribution systems. The development of mass communication and the internet system is the outcome of technology, which brings a revolution in the communication system of the world.