Identify the most important facts surrounding the case
A case study, The impact of change management on the attitudes of Turkish security managers towards change, seeks to address the application of managerial methods to influence employees’ attitudes towards the process of change in the context of Turkish homeland security management. The researchers gather and evaluate the current evidence on the way different managerial methods affect Turkish homeland security organizations employees’ views on change and provide their recommendations on the application of these methods.
Yilmaz and his team used an anonymous questionnaire developed from the theoretical research propositions to gather answers from top security managers. The reliability of the questionnaire was determined during a pilot test conducted before the main study. Four hypotheses were developed to test the relationship between the application of managerial methods and the security managers’ attitude towards change (Yilmaz, Ozgen and Akyel 128). Correlation and regression analyses of the questionnaire responses were performed to test the hypotheses. The findings of the correlation analysis are as follows:
- 90.2 percent of the participants claimed that change of the homeland security organization is necessary (Yilmaz, Ozgen and Akyel 129);
- the majority of respondents were not informed on the change initiative, and all of them were not involved in the reorganization process (Yilmaz, Ozgen and Akyel 130);
- the majority of respondents had an adverse attitude towards reorganization (Yilmaz, Ozgen and Akyel 130);
The findings of the regression analysis are as follows:
- there is a statistically meaningful positive effect of informing, consulting and inviting the participation of employees on their attitudes towards change (Yilmaz, Ozgen and Akyel 131);
- The authors conclude that the application of managerial methods during the reorganization largely determines employees’ attitudes towards change. The researchers recommend that “the employees should be informed, consulted and made part of the change process at the outset” for the change process to be efficient.
Identify the key issue or issues
The goal of this study is to use the evidence-based approach to assist “the reorganization process of homeland security organizations in Turkey”, and provide practical recommendations regarding the application of selected managerial methods to assist the process of change (Yilmaz, Ozgen and Akyel 118). As such, the key issue described in the study is the homeland security managers’ attitude towards the reorganization process of Turkish homeland security forces. Organizational change is always met with some reaction from the employees, which can either be positive and help facilitate change or negative and hinder the change process.
In the case of Turkish homeland security reorganization, the change initiative, although deemed necessary, did not attract the support of homeland security managers. The researchers hypothesized that it is because the required management strategies were not implemented during the change initiative, leading to the uncertainty among top security managers. The lack of support from the employees means that the change process is not happening in the most efficient way possible, and maybe met with skepticism and resistance on the employees’ part (Bovey and Hede 372).
The researchers argue that the proper implementation of “inform, consult and engage” management strategy could have affected the initiative in a positive way, and that the current situation is the result of improper management. The researchers found out that the security managers were not engaged in the change process, which explains their adverse attitudes (Yilmaz, Ozgen and Akyel 131).
Evaluate each course of action
Various studies show that proper management of the change process is vital to the initiative’s success (Bovey and Hede 372). This fact prompted the scholars’ to evaluate change more thoroughly and examine those factors that sabotage the process of change. One of these factors is employees’ resistance, and several strategies for facilitating change were developed aimed at minimizing the resistance. These strategies are built upon different assumptions about people and the style of leadership. The following change management strategies are outlined in the literature:
- Empirical-Rational;
- Normative-Reeducative (N-R);
- Power-Coercive (P-C);
- Environmental-Adaptive (E-A) (Nickols 1).
The Empirical-Rational strategy suggests engaging employees by communicating the value of change or providing incentives for people not to resist change (Nickols 1). This strategy highlights the necessity of employees’ involvement in the change process. This strategy is the most democratic way of facilitating change as it is based upon the value of communication and incentives, and is most likely to lead to success unless the change is radically for worse.
The Normative-Reeducative strategy is also based on communication between policymakers and employees and is based upon reimagining of social norms and developing a new organizational culture in line with the change (Nickols 2). Such a strategy requires time to be implemented properly. The Power-Coercive Strategy is based upon the exercise of authority through the punishment of those who resist change (Nickols 3).
It is damaging to the employee’s morale and is applicable in cases where a threat to the organization requires immediate action. The Environmental-Adaptive Strategy implies building a new organization and gradually transferring employees into its structure (Nickols 4). The success of this course of action is based upon people’s adaptive abilities and is suited for radical overhauls.
Recommend the best course of action
The reorganization of homeland security forces in Turkey is aimed at better addressing the problem of terrorism by improving operational efficiency (Sadik par. 1). The reorganization happened on multiple levels and led to the creation of new agencies and a new organization called “The Undersecretariat of Public Order and Security (UPOS)” (Yilmaz, Ozgen and Akyel 118).
Such drastic changes require homeland security personnel engagement to meet their goals. Therefore, the best course of action would be the combination of empirical-rational strategy and normative-reeducative strategy, with a high emphasis on consulting employees and informing them of every aspect of change. The employee’s involvement has shown to play an important part in the success of change (Schwahn and Spady 47; Ullah, Jaan and Ullah 1443). Therefore, it is necessary to develop the culture of change and get across the message about why the change is necessary to meet the required goals.
These two strategies also result in higher participation of the employees in the reorganization process which is a necessity in optimizing organizational performance. The study done by Yilmaz et al. showed that the failure of the reorganization process was not maintaining the participation of the employees which led to their adverse attitude towards change.
The reorganization process could have been more effortless if security managers were provided sufficient information about the change process. The Power-Coercive and Environmental-Adaptive strategies are not applicable in the case of Turkish homeland security reorganization due to the de-emphasis on the value of establishing a clear vision for the change process.
Works Cited
Bovey, Wayne and Andy Hede. “Resistance to organizational change: the role of cognitive and affective processes”. Leadership & Organization Development Journal 22.8 (2001): 372-382.
Nickols, Fred. Four Strategies for Managing Change.
Sadik, Giray. Turkey Reorganizes Security Structure to Combat Terrorism. 2008.
Schwahn, Charles and William Spady. “Why change doesn’t happen and how to make sure it does”. Educational Leadership 55.7 (1998): 45-47. Print.
Ullah, Zeeshan, Saleem Jaan and Ehsan Ullah. “Cognition, Resistance and Turnover Intentions of Employees”. World Applied Sciences Journal 20.11 (2012): 1443-1447.
Yilmaz, Sefer, Huseyin, Ozgen and Recai Akyel. “The impact of change management on the attitudes of Turkish security managers towards change“. Journal of Organizational Change Management 26.1 (2013): 117-138.