When pursuing performative excellence, businesses need to focus on introducing innovative decisions into their framework. The importance of incorporating change into the very system of corporate functioning is demonstrated perfectly by companies such as Apple, Google, and similar firms working in the IT setting. However, even for other industries, ensuring that innovation and change are integrated carefully yet regularly into the organisational environment is vital. By setting the platform for continuous change, a firm encourages progress and becomes capable of meeting new quality standards and requirements. Thus, the notion of change has to be institutionalised into the organisational context. As soon as a firm recognised change as a natural component of functioning in the market of its choice, it is capable of embracing the notion of innovative thinking and, therefore, forwarding its performance to a new level. For this reason, change models that can spur the integration of change and innovation into the corporate context have to be reviewed.
Lewin’s Change Management Model
Revisiting the most basic yet also the most effective change management frameworks, one should give credit to Lewin’s change management model. Though being rather basic and including only three main stages, it allows establishing the concept of positive alterations on an organisational level and encouraging employees to accept it. In the context of the UAE economic environment, the described procedure will also allow minimising the risk of losing a significant amount of profit due to possible hiccups in the implementation of the changing paradigm of performance. For instance, using the Emirates Telecommunications Group Co (Etisalat) as an example of a company that can integrate the concept of change successfully into its corporate environment, one will notice that Lewin’s Model is easily applicable to the processes within the organisation.
The focus on introducing proactiveness and SMART principles of operating, which align with a broader concept of innovation-based management, is an important change that Etisalat has recently had the need to face. The described alterations in the framework of the firm’s market performance can be viewed from the standpoint of Lewin’s Model of Change as the process of freezing the key processes, remodelling them to fit a new purpose, and refreezing them to institutionalise change. Spurred by the necessity to build a competitive advantage that would outweigh the growing influence of DU, Etisalat will manage to repurpose its resources to update its SMART model that will help the firm to promote change with every new concept introduced into the telecommunications market.
Dissecting the change that will need to take place at Etisalat from the standpoint of Lewin’s model, one will realise that the key steps will mostly be in their place according to Lewin’s framework. Specifically, the assessment of the organisation’s problems in managing organisational tasks and the issues that may pose as hindrances to the introduction of an effective innovation-based system of operations represents the “freezing” stage. According to Lewin, the described step suggests studying organisational issues and dissecting the key operational, managerial, and production-related processes to remove these obstacles. In retrospect, Etisalat could have launched a better strategy for evaluating its management framework to assess the entire management system and locate the problems in its current management of HR functions. Thus, the concern of motivation rates and engagement levels in employees could be addressed at a larger scale.
The change step itself was also implemented quite aptly at Etisalat, with a close focus on the current concerns and especially the legal aspects of managing corporate performance. For instance, the problem of introducing staff members to a new model of waste management as one of the critical aspects of innovative performance in the IT market should be addressed respectively. However, by far the most important concern that the firm will have to implement is the transfer to the framework that will help the company to assist staff members in acquiring new skills and reaching a new level of competence.
The described challenge has become particularly topical due to the recent increase in the number of instances involving power outages as a result of Etisalat’s mismanagement of operations. Since the specified concern represents a large threat to the company’s reputation in the UAE market and reduces its competitive advantage compared to one of its rivals, it is critical to assist employees in accepting the learning process. However, the second stage of the change promotion will be even more difficult due to the need to fight a rise in resistance toward innovations and the transfer to a new mode of managing workplace responsibilities. Finally, the refreezing process will require supervision of compliance with the newly established standards, along with extensive support for each of the staff members. Observations coupled with an enhanced reporting system and a framework for locating the slightest discrepancies in the management of data or delivery of telecommunication-related services will be established.
Kotter’s Theory of Change
While Kotter’s approach to change management is similar to that one of Lewin, his model is far more elaborate and involving a much greater number of steps. Comprising eight stages, the framework can also be applied to the context of Etisalat when implementing the transfer to a new model of enhancing performance within the firm. Suggesting that the process of implementing alterations within a firm should be gradual and steady, Kotter’s Model of Change Management recognises eight key success factors. These include acknowledging the need for change, building a guiding team, establishing a vision, communicating it, eliminating hindrances, defining short-term wins, and anchoring changes.
Applying the model to the context of Etisalat, one will have to view the assessment of a company’s operations and the further location of problems as the step toward recognising the necessity to change. Recruiting proactive staff members into a team that will promote change on an organisational level, Etisalat will address the possibility of resistance to change among employees through the recruitment of volunteers and their further transformation into change agents. At the same time, a vision rooted in the concept of innovation and the focus on change will be established at the corporate level.
The new vision will be communicated with the help of the principles of innovation-driven management, whereas the process of communicating it will take place through sharing its vision and supporting its staff members throughout the entire journey. Specifically, it is recommended that Etisalat should integrate the services for counselling into its approach for promoting change in the organisational setting. By introducing services for professional counselling and assistance for employees that have difficulties coping with change, Etisalat will show that its leaders care for the emotional well-being of its staff members. The focus on the professional growth of employees is another aspect of effective implementation of change that the company should not ignore when promoting a positive shift in the firm’s perception of innovation.
The stage described above will also help in eliminating the hindrances that may hamper the promotion of innovative thinking and a general change in the course of the organisation. Addressing the staff members’ resistance to change can become possible with the incorporation of the methods that will allow boosting the extent of employees’ enthusiasm and engagement, thus convincing them to perform better and gain new competencies. For instance, the application of the strategies such as education and communication, participation and involvement, and negotiation and agreement will lead to establishing a dialogue between Etisalat and its employees. As a result, a gradual transfer to the required mode of behaviour will take place. Simultaneously, financial incentives coupled with emotional support mentioned above, including public acknowledgement of employees’ contribution to the company and the use of counselling for their professional and personal needs, will be needed.
Each of the theories is noteworthy for its potential for reducing resistance to change in employees. During the integration of an innovation-driven platform for HRM and operational management, staff members may develop resistance and a generally negative perception of the proposed change due to the fear of failing to meet the new standards for performance. In addition, an increase in work responsibilities and workload may serve as a hindrance to some staff members. Lewin’s Change Model and Kotter’s Theory of Change, in turn, allow employees to reconcile with the notion of change and accept it as a part of their own professional development. Thus, the problem of resistance to change as one of the potential threats to the institutionalisation of innovation-driven management will be resolved.