Year: 2020

Action research can be defined as “an approach in which the action researcher and a client collaborate in the diagnosis of the problem and in the development of a solution based on the diagnosis”. In other words, one of the main characteristic traits of action research relates to collaboration between researcher and member of organisation in order to solve organizational problems.

Action study assumes social world to be constantly changing, both, researcher and research being one part of that change. Generally, action researches can be divided into three categories: positivist, interpretive and critical.

1. Positivist approach to action research, also known as ‘classical action research’ perceives research as a social experiment. Accordingly, action research is accepted as a method to test hypotheses in a real world environment.
2. Interpretive action research, also known as ‘contemporary action research’ perceives business reality as socially constructed and focuses on specifications of local and organizational factors when conducting the action research.
3. Critical action research is a specific type of action research that adopts critical approach towards business processes and aims for improvements.

The following features of action research need to be taken into account when considering its suitability for any given study:

• It is applied in order to improve specific practices. Action research is based on action, evaluation and critical analysis of practices based on collected data in order to introduce improvements in relevant practices.
• This type of research is facilitated by participation and collaboration of number of individuals with a common purpose
• Such a research focuses on specific situations and their context

Advantages of Action Research

• High level of practical relevance of the business research;
• Can be used with quantitative, as well as, qualitative data;
• Possibility to gain in-depth knowledge about the problem.

Disadvantages of Action Research

• Difficulties in distinguishing between action and research and ensure the application of both;
• Delays in completion of action research due to a wide range of reasons are not rare occurrences
• Lack of repeatability and rigour

It is important to make a clear distinction between action research and consulting. Specifically, action research is greater than consulting in a way that action research includes both action and research, whereas business activities of consulting are limited action without the research.

Action Research Spiral

Action study is a participatory study consisting of spiral of following self-reflective cycles:

• Planning in order to initiate change
• Implementing the change (acting) and observing the process of implementation and consequences
• Reflecting on processes of change and re-planning
• Acting and observing
• Reflecting

Nature of Organizational Development

1. Organizational development is an educational strategy for bringing a planned change.
2. It is related to real problems of the organization.
3. Laboratory training methods based on experienced behaviour are primarily used to bring change.
4. O.D. uses change agent (or consultant) to guide and affect the change. The role of change agent is to guide groups towards more effective group processes rather than telling them what to do. Change agents simply assist the group in problem solving processes and the groups solve the problems themselves.
5. There is a close working relationship between change agents and the people who are being changed.
6. O.D. seeks to build problem-solving capacity by improving group dynamics and problem confrontation.
7. O.D. reaches into all aspects of the organization culture in order to make it more humanly responsive.
8. O.D. is a long term approach (of 3 to 5 years period) and is meant to elevate the organization to a higher level of functioning by improving the performance and satisfaction of organization members.
9. O.D. is broad-based and describes a variety of change programmes. It is concerned not only with changes in organizational design but also with changes in organizational philosophies, skills of individuals and groups.
10. O.D. is a dynamic process. It recognises that the goals of the organization change and hence the methods of attaining them should also change.
11. O.D. utilizes systems thinking. It is based on open, adptive systems concept. The organization is treated as an interrelated whole and no part of the organization can be changed without affecting other parts.
12. O.D. is research based. Change agents conduct surveys, collect data, evaluate and then decisions are taken.
13. O.D. uses group processes rather than individual process. It makes efforts to improve group performance.
14. O.D. is situational and contingency oriented.
15. Organization Development and Management Development are complementary rather then con­flicting.

Characteristics of OD

The salient characteristics of OD implied in its definitions are gleaned as follows:

• OD is a systematic approach to the planned change. It is structured style of diagnosing organizational problems and opportunities and then applying expertise to them.
• OD is grounded in solid research and theory. It involves the application of our knowledge of behavioral science to the challenge that the organizations face.
• OD recognizes the reciprocal relationship between individuals and organizations. It ac­knowledges that for organizations to change, individuals must change.
• OD is goal oriented. It is a process that seeks to improve both individual and organizational well- being and effectiveness.
• OD is designed to solve problems.

Objectives of OD

The main objectives of OD are to:

• Improve organizational performance as measured by profitability, market share, innovativeness, etc.
• Make organizations better adaptive to its environment which always keeps on changing.
• Make the members willing face organizational problems and contribute creative solutions to the organizational problems.
• Improve internal behaviour patterns such as interpersonal relations, intergroup relations, level of trust and support among the role players.
• Understand own self and others, openness and meaningful communication and involvement in planning for organizational development.

Douglas McGregor, who was working in the Union Carbide, is considered one of the first behavioural scientists to systematically talking about and advocating for the implementation of OD for organizational improvement. OD as a subject is relatively new. Notwithstanding, it is becoming increasingly popular and visible in USA, UK, Japan, Norway, Sweden and even in India.

In India, OD is in scene since 1968. Since then, many public and private sector organizations like HAL, HMT, IDPL, LIC, SAIL, TELCO and TISCO have been applying the interventions of OD to solve the organizational problems.

When the Leadership System functions effectively, performance improves. The Leadership System is the central organizing system that must deliver on all functions owned by the Top Team or C-suite. These functions include and require that leadership: become cohesive, define the future (vision), set direction, create and execute strategy, ensure alignment, communicate clarity, engage stakeholders, develop talent, manage performance, build accountability, ensure succession, allocate resources, craft the culture, and deliver results.

The Leadership System is the organization’s DNA its genetic code or distinctive brand. It sets the context that produces all outcomes, gives everything its meaning, and indicates what we are predisposed to doing and being. The effectiveness of the Leadership System determines the performance of the business. Does your Leadership System predispose you for quality, agility, speed, stakeholder engagement, profitable growth, fulfillment, competitive advantage, and strong financial performance? How can we improve business performance by establishing a healthy Leadership System?

We use our proven Whole Systems Approach to advance the Six Systems of organizational effectiveness. This approach to developing the organization, with leadership at the core, balances the development of competence and capability with consciousness and character, and transforms any enterprise into a profitable and purposeful organization. Every essential system is integrated and aligned, and every stakeholder is involved.

The Six Systems are broader in scope than functional departments and must be understood independently and interdependently as part of an integrated whole. These Six Systems set up the conditions and components necessary to create a healthy, high-performing organization.

1. Leadership

To achieve high performance or sustain results, leaders must define and refine key processes and execute them with daily discipline. They must translate vision and values into strategy and objectives, processes and practices, actions and accountabilities, execution and performance. Leaders address three questions:

1) Vision/Value. What unique value do we bring to our customers to gain competitive advantage? What do we do, for whom? Why?

2) Strategy/Approach. In what distinctive manner do we fulfill the unique needs of our customers and stakeholders? What strategy supports the vision for achieving competitive advantage?

3) Structure/Alignment. What is the designed alignment of structure and strategy, technology and people, practices and processes, leadership and culture, measurement and control? Are these elements designed and aligned to create optimal conditions for achieving the vision?

2. Communication

Everything happens in or because of a conversation, and every exchange is a potential moment of truth a point of failure or critical link in the success chain. Strategic communication ensures that the impact of your message is consistent with your intentions, and results in understanding. What you say, the way you say it, where, when, and under what circumstances it is said shape the performance culture. When leaders maximize their contribution to daily conversations, they engage and align people around a common cause, reduce uncertainty, keep people focused, equip people for moments of truth that create an on-the-table culture, prevent excuses, learn from experience, treat mistakes as intellectual capital, and leverage the power of leadership decisions to shape beliefs and behaviors.

3. Accountability

Leaders translate vision and strategic direction into goals and objectives, actions and accountabilities. Performance accountability systems clarify what is expected of people and align consequences or rewards with actual performance. Leaders need to build discipline into their leadership process and management cycle to achieve accountability, predictability, learning, renewal, and sustainability.

4. Delivery

The best organizations develop simple processes that are internally efficient, locally responsive, and globally adaptable. Complexity is removed from the customer experience to enable them to engage you in ways that are both elegant and satisfying. Establishing and optimizing operational performance is an ongoing journey. Operations need to be focused on the priority work, using the most effective techniques aligning initiatives and operations with strategy; continuously improving operations; pursuing performance breakthroughs in key areas; using advanced change techniques in support of major initiatives; establishing a pattern of executive sponsorship for all initiatives; and building future capability and capacity.

5. Performance

The Human Performance System is designed to attract, develop, and retain the most talented people. The idea is to hire the best people and help them develop their skills, talents, and knowledge over time. Of course, it becomes more critical, as they add abilities and know-how, that we reward them properly so they feel good about their work and choose to remain with the organization as loyal employees.

6. Measurement

A system of metrics, reviews, and course corrections keeps the business on track. Organizations need concrete measures that facilitate quality control, consistent behaviors, and predictable productivity and results. Within these parameters, control is instrumental to viability and profitability. Every activity has a set of daily rituals and measures. Leaders establish and maintain the measurement system to ensure disciplined processes. They track progress against strategy and planning; review status on operational results through clear key metrics; update the strategy regularly; and ensure action is driven by insight based on relevant, current information that is focused on achieving the vision.

This Six Systems frame helps people see how everything is integrated. Again, until the Leadership System operates effectively, all other systems are degraded. We work with leaders to ensure their Leadership System is highly effective, and we have dozens of cases that demonstrate the power of using a Whole Systems Approach.

The starting point to understand buyer behaviour is the stimulus-response model. Marketing and environmental stimuli enter the buyer’s consciousness. The buyer’s characteristics and decision process lead to certain purchase decisions. The marketer’s task is to understand what happens in the buyer’s consciousness between the arrival of outside stimuli and the buyer’s purchase decision.

A consumer’s buying behaviour is influenced by cultural, social, and personal factors. Cultural factors exert the broadest and deepest influence. Culture is the fundamental determinant of a person’s wants and behaviours. Each culture consists of smaller subcultures that provide more specific identification and socialization for their members. Subcultures include nationality religion, racial groups, and geographic region.

Multicultural marketing grew out of careful marketing research revealing how different ethnic and demographic niches did not always respond favourably to mass-market advertising. Virtually all human societies exhibit social stratification. This stratification sometimes takes the form of caste system where members of different castes are reared for specific roles and they cannot change their caste membership.

More frequently the stratification takes the form of social classes, relatively homogeneous and enduring divisions in society that are hierarchically ordered and whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviour.

Social classes have several characteristics

(a) Those within a class tend to behave more alike than persons from two different social classes.

(b) Persons are perceived as occupying an inferior or superior position according to their social class.

(c) Social class is indicated by a cluster of variables (occupation, income, etc.) rather than by any single variable.

(d) Individuals can move up or down the social-class ladder.

(e) Social classes show distinct product and brand preferences in many areas.

(f) Social classes differ in media preferences. There are also language differences among them.

In addition to cultural factors, a consumer’s behaviour is influenced by such social factors as reference groups, family, and social roles and statuses A person’s reference group consists of all the groups that have a direct (face-to-face) or indirect influence on his/her attitudes or behaviour. Groups with a direct influence on a person are called membership groups.

Some memberships groups are primary such as family friends, neighbours, and co-workers with whom the person interacts fairly continuously and informally. Some membership groups are secondary groups such as religious and professional groups that tend to be more formal.

People are significantly influenced by their reference groups in at least three ways. One, they expose an individual to new behaviours and lifestyles, influencing attitudes and self-concepts (how one views oneself). Two they create pressures for conformity that may affect actual product and brand choices Three, people are also influenced by groups to which they do not belong aspirational groups are those a person hopes to join, associative groups are those whose values or behaviours an individual rejects. The buyer evaluates these elements together with the monetary cost to form the total customer cost.

Manufacturers of products where group influence is strong must determine how to reach and influence opinion leaders in these reference groups. An opinion leader is a person who through informal, product-related communication, offers advice or information about a specific product or product category Marketers try to reach opinion leaders by identifying demographic and psychographic characteristics associated with opinion leadership, while also identifying the media preferred by the opinion leaders.

Buying roles and buying decisions constitute consumer decision-making behaviour. A customer can adopt various buying roles like initiator, influencer, decider, buyer, preparer, maintainer and disposer. A buyer’s decisions are also influenced by personal characteristics.

These include the buyers age and stage in the life cycle; occupation and economic circumstances; personality and self-concept; and lifestyle and values. Each person has personality characteristics that influence his or her buying behaviour. Kotler has defined brand personality as the specific mix of human traits that may be attributed to a particular brand.

Jennifer Aaker identified the following five traits:

• Sincerity (down-to-earth)
• Excitement (daring)
• Competence (reliable)
• Sophistication (upper class)
• Ruggedness (outdoorsy).

Consumers choose and use brands that have a brand personality consistent with their own self-concept. Although in some cases the match may be based on the consumer’s ideal self-concept (how he would like to view himself), in certain cases they are influenced by others’ self-concept (how he thinks others see him).

A lifestyle is a person’s pattern of living as expressed in activities, interests and opinions. Lifestyle portrays the whole person’ interacting with his or her environment. Marketers search for relationships between their products and lifestyle groups. Lifestyles are shaped partly by whether consumers are money-constrained or time-constrained. Consumers who lack time are prone to multitasking.

Change is a word that generates uneasiness in most of us. However, successful organizations understand that when they are doing things the same way with poor results, implementing organizational change can be necessary.

But most would agree that we can think of a time we had a good change in our lives.

A marriage, the birth of a baby, moving into a new home or a new job are examples of positive changes in our lives. So why is it so difficult to swallow change at work?

For anyone who has ever gone into an organization and tried to change “the way things are” understands the resistance employees can have against any kind of change effort.

I worked for an organization that was implementing some change and we started the process by asking the staff to read this book:

The book was simply a way to help employees think about change a little differently and hopefully embrace some of the changes we were getting ready to make.

It was sadly comical how resistant the staff was to just the mention of change.

There was a woman who participated in the training that we later moved from a very small cubicle to a large shared office, with privacy and new furniture.

8 Steps to Implementing Change

1. Management Support for Change

Employees develop a comfort level when they see management supporting the process.

It is critical that management shows support for changes and demonstrates that support when communicating and interacting with staff.

There is nothing worse than sending a mixed message to employees.

If you can’t support the change 100%, don’t even think about making it.  Employees will know it and it will self destruct.

2. Case for Change

No one wants to change for change sake, so it is important to create a case for change.

A case for change can come from different sources. It can be a result of data collected on defect rates, customer satisfaction surveys, employee satisfaction surveys, customer comment cards, business goals as a result of a strategic planning session, or budget pressures.

Using data is the best way to identify and justify areas that need to improve through change initiatives.

3. Employee Involvement

All change efforts should involve employees at some level.

Organizational change, whether large or small, needs to be explained and communicated, specifically changes that affect how employees perform their jobs.

Whether it is changing a work process, improving customer satisfaction, or finding ways to reduce costs, employees have experiences that can benefit the change planning and implementation process.

Since employees are typically closest to the process, it is important that they understand the why behind a change and participate in creating the new process.

4. Communicating the Change

Communicating change should be structured and systematic.

Employees are at the mercy of management to inform them of changes.

When there is poor communication and the rumor mill starts spreading rumors about change, it can create resistance to the change.

Being proactive in communications can minimize resistance and make employees feel like they are part of the process.

5. Implementation

Once a change is planned, it is important to have good communication about the roll-out and implementation of the change.

A timeline should be made for the implementation and changes should be made in the order of its impact on the process and the employees who manage that process.

For instance, if your organization is upgrading its software program, employee training should be done before the software is installed on their computers.

An effective timeline will allow for all new equipment, supplies, or training to take place before it is fully implemented.

Implementing without a logical order can create frustration for those responsible for the work process.

6. Follow-up

Whenever a change is made it is always good to follow-up after implementation and assess how the change is working and if the change delivered the results that were intended.

Sometimes changes exceed target expectations but there are occasions that changes just don’t work as planned.

When this is the case, management should acknowledge that it didn’t work and make adjustments until the desired result is achieved.

7. Removing Barriers

Sometimes employees encounter barriers when implementing changes.

Barriers can be with other employees, other departments, inadequate training, lacking equipment, or supply needs.

Sometimes management also needs to deal with resistant or difficult employees.

It is management’s responsibility to ensure that employees can implement change without obstacles and resistance.

It is unfortunate but there are times when employees simply can’t accept a change. In these rare cases, employees simply need to move on in order to successfully implement a needed change. These are difficult but necessary decisions.

8. Celebrate

It is important to celebrate successes along the way as changes are made. Celebrating the small changes and building momentum for bigger changes are what makes employees want to participate in the process.

When employees understand why a change is made and are part of the process for planning and implementing the change, it allows for a better chance for successful implementation.

Resistance to change can manifest itself in several different ways. It could come in the form of missed deadlines, failed commitments, being absent from meetings, and a general sense of apathy are all indicating signs that employees are not invested in the organization.

Resistance to change could also present itself in more obvious ways. When change is occurring, pay attention to your employee’s general mood, whether there is more gossip than usual, or if they are responding to requests in a sarcastic or snide manner.

In some cases, there may be an individual elected by the employees to speak out against the change. This may be in the form of an official union or just a collection of individuals who share the same feelings towards the change and see that there is power in numbers.

The surprising benefits of resisting change

Contrary to common belief, resistance to change is not inherently bad. In fact, it can actually be a good thing.

First, it forces management to choose their battles carefully. Employee pushback begs the question, “Is this change going to drive significant growth?” In other words, is this worth it? This helps ensure resources aren’t thrown into initiatives that don’t have a clear payoff.

Second, it encourages planning and communication. Management must identify where resistance will likely occur and come in with a game plan to prevent it.

So now that we are a little less frightened of change, and resistance of it, let’s explore how to best manage employees during organizational change. 

Effective change management is all about understanding what underlies resistance to change. From there, you can address your employees’ biggest concerns.

Top strategies to overcome unproductive resistance to change

1. Listen First, Talk Second

The first strategy to overcome resistance to change is to communicate. Communication is key you already knew that. However, try letting your employees initiate the conversation. People want to be heard, and giving them a chance to voice their opinions will help alleviate the frustration they feel over the situation.

What’s more, your employee’s thoughts, concerns and suggestions will prove wildly valuable to steer your change project. At the very least, understanding them will help you pinpoint the root of employee resistance to change.

2. Communicate the Reasons for Change

The next strategy to overcome resistance to change is to communicate the why, what and how. Develop a communication plan that is more than just telling your employees what you want them to do. Effective communication segments and targets each audience, focusing on what they care about and need to know. Underline why this change will benefit them.

3. Get Excited

How you communicate the change has a huge impact on how much resistance to change will occur. If you wholeheartedly communicate the reasons for change, your conviction will be contagious. Any hesitancy will undermine the operation.

4. Make it About Employees

Change is only possible if your human resources are on board, so make sure changes are approached in terms of the employee. If you are implementing a new software system plan your project through the lens of user adoption rather than focusing on the technology. It’s not about what the technology can do, it is about what the user can do with the help of this new technology.

5. Delegate Change

A great strategy to overcome resistance to change is: Fight resistance with culture. Train team members who are natural leaders first. They will serve as role models and influencers for the rest of your employees. This has a ripple effect.

6. Show Them the Data

While resistance to change is usually emotional rather than logical, it can be helpful to use some hard facts as a supplementary strategy. Let your employees see the data for themselves. This is a great way to simultaneously show transparency and demonstrate the need for improvement.

7. Implement in stages

Whether digital or other, any kind of transformation can’t just happen overnight. There had to be proper preparation leading up to the change, with plenty of advance warning and participation from employees at all levels. Implementing the plan in stages will employees are able to tackle the change one step at a time, learning the new and relevant skills as they go.

This is a much easier way to digest the change and will feel less drastic for those learning new skills and information, meaning they are less likely to resist the changes at hand.

8. Practice change management exercises

Resistance to change is usually driven by emotions such as fear and feeling threatened. To help combat this there are a number of simple exercises employees can do to simulate the feeling of change. These exercises, which include folding your arms one way and then switching them around or bouncing balls to show companies “bounce back” are also just a bit of fun and are non-threatening unlike genuine change can be. The point of these exercises is to show that though change may be uncomfortable at first, you get used to the new reality pretty quickly.

In an economy, financial transactions hold an important place as it helps in assigning people’s savings and investments. Financial instruments like commodities, securities, currencies, etc. are made and traded by investors in the market. Financial markets are often classified depending on the time of delivery.

Cash Market

Also known as the spot market, securities and commodities like shares and bonds of precious metals, agricultural produce, etc. are traded for immediate delivery. There are 2 sections in this market; debt and equities. The deal between the concerned parties is settled by T+2 or 3 days to the date when the trade happened. The cash market is regulated by SEBI. One can trade in the cash market through Bombay Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange, Commodity Exchange or a Foreign Exchange Market. It’s a place where the buying and selling of commodities are mutual and is undertaken by government, the general public, other companies, etc.

Future Market

This refers to the market where future contracts are traded at an agreed date and price in the future. In the contract between the parties, one party decides to buy a certain commodity at an agreed price. This has to be delivered on a specific date mentioned by both the parties. The regulators for the future market are Securities Exchange Board of India and Forward Markets Commission. The future market exchanges in India are BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) and NSE (National Stock Exchange).

Difference

Ownership: In the cash market, one remains the shareholder of the company as long as he/she holds the shares. Whereas, in the future market, one can never become a shareholder as he/she just holds positional stocks which have to be traded at the end of the agreement.

Payment: In the cash market, at the time of buying shares, the whole amount has to be paid. While initiating the future market trade, only a small amount of money has to be paid.

Size: A single share of the company can be brought in the cash market. A pre-defined amount or size has to be brought in case of the future market.

Tenure: You can hold the stock for a lifetime in the cash market. Sometimes the stocks can also be passed on or transferred to the future generations. In the future market, you can only hold it for a pre-determined period of time, i.e. the expiration, which usually means 3 months.

Dividends: You’ll receive dividends on the cash market stock as a shareholder of the company. In the case of future market stocks, you’ll not receive any dividend. This also stands true for other benefits like bonus, shares, etc.

Risk: There is a risk factor in both these markets, but it could be higher in the future market as you have to settle the contract in a specific time and also note down the losses. With cash market stocks, you can decide to sell it at your convenience or when it reaches a higher price.

A Safe Refuge during Crisis

Often investors do not feel confident about investing in commodities but think about precious metals like silver, gold, and platinum; they offer a clear protection during inflation and times of economic uncertainty. They are a good source of investment even during tough times.

Diversified Investment Portfolio

An ideal asset allocation plan means having a diversified portfolio. Commodities are an important component of having a diversified investment portfolio. If you are already investing in stocks and bonds, it is suggested that you consider investing in raw materials simultaneously. This way, whenever there is a stock market crash, you are not putting all your eggs in a single basket.

Often, the values of commodities see a downfall just like stock market shares. They react differently in various geo-political and economic scenarios. Diversification, thus, is more likely to improve risk-adjusted returns and reduce volatility.

Transparency in the Process

Trading in commodity futures is a transparent process. The course of action leads you to fair price discovery which is controlled by large-scale participation. Such a huge participation also reflects different perspectives and outlook of a wider section of people who are dealing with that commodity.

Profitable Returns

Commodities are riskier form of investments with huge swings in prices. Companies either hit it right on a resource discovery or experience heavy losses. This opens up opportunities for you to make profits in the commodity market provided you plan your investments right.

Hedging

Whenever the rupee becomes less valuable, you need more money to buy commodity goods from different parts of the world. Especially during inflation, the prices of commodity goods go up as other investors sell off their stocks and bonds to invest in commodities. Therefore, you can be benefit from some commodities in your portfolio that act as a potential hedge against risks.

Protection against Inflation

When the economy is dipping, money is worth less inflation occurs. The prices for commodities usually go up during high inflation; accordingly the price of raw materials also sees an upward trend. Therefore, a few commodities in your portfolio will help you benefit from this upswing.

Trading on Lower Margin

As a trader, you need to deposit a margin with your broker which can be close to 5 to 10% of the total value of contract, which is much lower considering other asset classes. Such a low margin allows you to take larger positions at a lesser capital.