Strategic management leadership strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic management leadership strategy - Essay Example An organizational change that leads to a more organic and flexible environment would be related strongly to the entrepreneurial spirit. This means that there must be an adjustment away from the traditional school of top-down management that seeks out new talent and innovation to maintain a strong level of competition (Timmons 2004). The importance of entrepreneurial management strategy also relates to the need to incorporate unique skill sets and knowledge management into the corporate environment (Rigsby and Greco 2003). Very often, companies require employees to work long hours, and yet remain flexible in the evolution and growth of the company (Rigsby and Greco 2003, Timmons 2004). This often has an effect on the balance between work and life for the employee, and difficulties often arise when employees do not embrace excitement, innovation and opportunity, the essence of the entrepreneurial spirit (Rigsby and Greco 2003, Timmons 2004). Another issue with traditional top-down mana gement is that it very often imposes restrictions on creativity. An overabundance of policies will not enhance change management, but instead can stifle it and, possibly, be counteractive to the empowerment and encouragement of employees (Rigsby and Greco 2003). Motivating change requires that the people within the organization understand and commit to the change; creating vision in employees is a continuation of commitment where employees know where they fit into that change; developing political support means that stakeholders-from employees to HR professionals-have been assessed according to their place and function in the change; managing the transition must be set by parameters and adequate available technology as well as an understanding employee wide of how the parameters and technology work towards the goals. The momentum of leadership in change management is sustained by "(1) providing resources for change, (2) building a support system for the agents of change (3) developing related competencies and skills among those charged with administering and using the modified process and (4) reinforcing new behaviors called for by the changed environment" (Dreher and Doherty p 17 2001). Assumptions Change management is not without its assumptions. Organizational change management strategies that rely on the theories may not fully examine their own nature and culture. Most management theories assume that change management is a process and not a continuous improvement event (McKelvey and Holmen 2006). This is strongly relative to the idea of leadership, rather than management. Management is a process that organizes and implements, where leadership is an idea that presents and motivates. In the face of business and organizational changes, it is important that both paradigms exist, but as noted by McKelvey and Holmen (2006), leadership is often overlooked in management strategy. To understand the manners in which good managers can lead the organization members through business changes and