Index ContentsContext of the organization and the work processThe importance of changeFactors of changeThe process of changeResistance to changeMeasuring the effectiveness of the process of changeContext of the organization and work process of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine (SIU-SOM) is located in Springfield, Illinois. SIU-SOM is part of Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIU-C). SIU-C is where students spend their first year of medical school. The final three years of medical school take place on the Springfield campus. I work in the Office of Student Affairs as an Office Support Associate. My primary responsibility is to provide administrative support, maintain departmental calendars, purchase supplies, manage inventory, and other duties as assigned for the operational and administrative needs of the Office of Student Affairs. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The position I am in requires strong attention to detail and the ability to learn things quickly. The Office of Student Affairs is a resource for both prospective and current medical students. We also run student organisations, student and alumni events. Through countless services, programs and activities, the office supports and encourages the intellectual, personal, social and cultural development of all students. The office's comprehensive set of responsibilities makes it the perfect place to address all inquiries. The staff is always ready to answer questions regarding admission, financial aid, registration, advising and graduation requirements. The work process I chose is inventory management. The goal of inventory management in the student affairs office is to be able to efficiently and effectively track and order the products needed for the office. This has been one of my main tasks since I started working in this position. Every week I take an inventory of what's in the supply closet and what people specifically need in the office. SIU-SOM is contracted through certain suppliers that we must use for supplies. I want to create an Excel spreadsheet that focuses on the items we have and the items we need. I believe this could be a more practical, economical and beneficial way to order office supplies for smaller offices. The Importance of Change To develop an action plan or change for your inventory management process, it will take a lot of effort, knowledge and information. This change needs to happen based on the sorting of duplicate items and the depletion of others. At the end of each fiscal year, the office reviews each account. Different school and student accounts are associated with different supplies and events throughout the year. Each account has a specific budget purpose number associated with it. This budget scope number shows Accounts Payable the group or department for which the purchase was intended. The item code will indicate what type of purchase it was. Some examples of different item codes can be related to office supplies, furniture, printer toner, or food. The study of organizational change is what facilitates and enhances effective change within organizations. Change can happen in an organization in many ways, in recent years SIU-SOM has seen many different types of change. As the textbook explains, there are two types: Changetransformational (revolutionary) and transactional (evolutionary). The main level of change that the inventory management work process would affect is the individual unit (myself). I am the only one doing this work process, so to make it more efficient I will create a spreadsheet that calculates each inventory item. The spreadsheet will have specific names for each item and categories to search for. This new process will put an end to confusion about how many supplies you need or ordering supplies we already have. Overall, the importance of this simple change will make inventory much easier for the office. If someone wants or needs something, all I would have to do is open the spreadsheet, search for the item, and see if we have it or if it needs to be ordered. Drivers of Change In organizations like mine, external environmental forces can influence what you can and cannot do. The external environment is addressed in terms of “environmental scenarios”. An environmental scenario is when members try to predict the future of the organization and whether they will be able to adapt. This happens when organizational members become involved in a process of future business conditions, not just the environment. These members prepare to respond if necessary. Technology is a continuous driver for many different things. It is very important to keep up with new programs and software for the benefit of yourself and the office. I will have to determine the need for this system to be electronic rather than just a "I spy" game in the closet. I would like to enter all the information into an Excel spreadsheet and save it to the Student Affairs shared drive. This shared drive is accessible to anyone in the Student Affairs office. If anyone needs to check supplies and I'm not here that day, they can do it themselves. This technological aspect of the system will benefit the office in many ways. Not only would it save the office money, but it would save everyone time to find what they need faster. If other people in the office don't see the need to change the inventory system, they may not support your change efforts. By implementing an Excel spreadsheet that contains all the information you need to reorder and find supplies, you will significantly reduce the costs of over-ordering. Before starting my position, the girl who was here before me ordered random things without even checking first. This was not an effective way to handle inventory management. It cost the office unnecessary funds and now we have unused supplies lying around. Knowing how much you need and how many you currently have would be much easier just by looking at the spreadsheet. Organizational Development Efforts Organizational development (OD) is when an organization improves strategies and understands the changes they are making within the company. One of the most frequently cited definitions of OD comes from Richard Beckhard (1997), an early leader in the field of OD: it is a planned, systems-level change program that uses behavioral science knowledge to move the organization toward a new state. The inventory management process would consist of limiting access to supplies, having a written procedure or spreadsheet for controlling supply systems, and better grouping of supplies in the cabinet. I would also like to set up a tidy up point in the office for larger supplies like printer paper and pens. This plan would help reduce spending on supplies we already have or items that are not needed by the department. Action learning (AL) isthe approach I absolutely want to follow for this change. AL is an approach to working with people to develop, and sometimes change and transform, themselves and their organisation. I would offer a simulation of past orders, supplies held, and supplies needed in spreadsheets and involve both action and learning. I learn best when I can see something visually and physically. This would also give my group the opportunity to practice the new system in a safe environment. Once the AL training is completed, I want to know the group's opinions on changes that may occur. The key questions everyone should ask are: what happened, why it happened and how we can improve. I understand that group members may become resistant at first, however ultimately this will save the office money every fiscal year. Key Management Objectives Robert Blake and Jane Mouton began with an organizational diagnosis that they believe is generalizable to most organizations. Their study demonstrated that managers consider the most common barriers to organizational effectiveness to be (1) communication problems and (2) lack of planning. Blake and Mouton argued that these two barriers were at the top of managers' lists, regardless of the country, company, or characteristics of the managers they reported. Overseeing inventory management means managing the input and output of supplies across your interoffice systems. Inventory management has different goals for different companies. In SIU-SOM the main objectives are: ensuring there is sufficient stock in the office, minimizing unnecessary orders and storage of items. Sufficient supplies are an important goal, without the proper supplies in an office the work cannot be completed efficiently. If the Dean of Student Affairs runs out of black pens, he or she will not be able to sign the documents needed by the office. It is important to keep track of the supplies you order and whether they are low. Minimizing unnecessary orders can save the department money throughout the fiscal year. Everything that is ordered is an asset to the office, is documented and tracked in accounts payable. To make sure the processes are done correctly, this is where the Excel spreadsheet would come into use. Storage of items is another important factor of inventory management system. If office supplies are stored properly, they will not be destroyed causing the office to lose money. When ordering supplies for admissions committee meetings, I store paper and food items in dry, non-humid areas. If we stored them in damp areas they would mold and we would have to throw them away, making the items a total loss. Implementing these different goals would make the inventory management system more organized for the small office and employees. The Process of Change Your company, employees, goals and technology will continue to change, and so must the support your employees receive. Training and support are a key factor for changes to take effect. The main objectives of the inventory management change process would be to: study the effectiveness and accuracy of the inventory system, communicate the importance of the changes to employees, reassure staff that they will be trained and ensure that everyone understands the importance of success. edit. Inventory management is something everyone needs to know and understand to make the transition effective. Studying the accuracy of the inventory system is the main process ofchange to be accepted. Investigating how new technologies in the workplace can actually save time and money in the office will be key takeaways for staff. Everyone should try to be on the same page about how this needs to be updated and done to keep things running smoothly for the future. Communicating the importance of changes in the office can help the resistance to change not be too strong for others. Not everyone will accept the changes in the new office due to how things have always been done, however, everyone will be trained on the new Excel spreadsheet and how to use it. The main thing to reiterate to everyone is how this change will make it easier to maintain your entire office inventory management system. I would consider the changes made as a group change, since it is only one unit in the office that chooses to implement the new goals. Changing anything in an organization is a process and therefore everyone needs to be updated on how the procedures and processes are going. This change process would be a revolutionary change as the inventory management system will be transformed using new objectives. Resistance to Change Sooner or later, most companies must change to keep up with new technologies in today's workforce. For people who have been in that work environment for a long time, any kind of change can be unnerving. At SIU-SOM many employees are resistant to change. The excuse I hear most often is: "it's always been done this way". Even though things have been done a certain way for many years, that doesn't make it the most effective. Some employees may not feel the need for such a change, while others totally think so. Many people experience resistance to change. It all starts with a lack of choice and leads to being forced to switch to something completely new. To keep up with new technology, my office should implement a new inventory tracking and ordering system. At the moment, I have post-it notes on boxes in the closet listing everything in them for the staff to find. While this has been the process for many years, I believe there is a more efficient way to track and find supplies. I know some in the office would be reluctant to make the change to Excel as it is a difficult application. I would explain to the staff how this process would be easier and, in the end, save the office money. Whatever the underlying cause of resistance, the challenge for OD professionals is to use their facilitation skills to identify problems and collaborate with various constituents to try to resolve them. Facilitating new inventory management goals is something that would take time. Nothing happens overnight, and as I've learned this semester, staff need to be continually reminded of new changes. Constantly reminding them how new techniques will be different but saving money would make them feel a little more comfortable. Everything new is scary, but it will pay off for everyone in the end. Measuring the effectiveness of the change process Organizational change is a very complex process and will take time to resolve everything. According to the book, organizational change is too complex to rely solely on traditional literature in areas such as organization theory, organizational behavior, organization development, and strategic management. As stated previously, training and support are a huge factor for changes to take effect. It's important to make sure this change makes things easier.