Forces For Change - Motivation Theory

1. Organizations face a dynamic and changing environment. This requires adaptation. The Exhibit

below summarizes six specific forces that are acting as stimulants for change.

2. The changing nature of the workforce:

• A multicultural environment.

• Human resource policies and practices changed to reflect the needs of an aging workforce.

• Large expenditure on training to upgrade reading, math, computer, and other skills of employees

3. Technology is changing jobs and organizations:

• Sophisticated information technology is also making organizations more responsive. As organizations have had to become more adaptable, so too have their employees.

• We live in an “age of discontinuity.” Beginning in the early 1970s with the overnight quadrupling of world oil prices, economic shocks have continued to impose changes on organizations.

4. Competition is changing:

• The global economy means global competitors.

• Established organizations need to defend themselves against both traditional competitors and small, entrepreneurial firms with innovative offerings.

• Successful organizations will be the ones that can change in response to the competition.

5. Social trends during the past generation suggest changes that organizations have to adjust for:

• The expansion of the Internet, Baby Boomers retiring, and people moving from the suburbs back to cities

• A global context for OB is required. No one could have imagined how world politics would change in recent years.

• September 11th has caused changes organizations have made in terms of practices concerning security, back-up systems, employee stereotyping, etc.