Any change management plan must take into account the culture of an organization. For instance, some organizations prize the inclusion of their employees in all aspects of operations, while other organizations have a top-down approach to management. Creating a plan without taking this cultural background into context can be problematic for the success of a change initiative.
Search to find scholarly articles related to change initiatives which apply to an organization in the KSA. Assess the cultural elements that you believe may impact the development of change strategies and implementation of change plans. Synthesize the information and discuss challenges and strategies that should be considered to address (or overcome) these cultural elements which could negatively affect the implementation of a change strategy.
Change Initiatives
The localization is a major change that the Saudi telecom company intends to initiate. It seems the transformation of the culture of the company to integrate with local cultural values. The cultural transformation is a huge change initiative that can also mold operations of the company in the competitive telecom industry. The second change is the technology. This telecom industry has taken this initiative to produce advanced telecommunication services for customers. Along with the cultural transformation, technological change seems purposeful (Al-Adaileh & Al-Atawi, 2011).
Elements Impacting Development and Change
Saudi Telecom Company has contained the change process. However, several factors create an impact on the change and development process. For Instance, employee resistance is a key factor that usually restrains the company from bringing the change. Employees usually resist due to different cultural values. For Instance, older employees in the company may resist due to their traditional cultural values. On the other hand, young employees in the company may embrace the change due to their assertiveness in learning and growth. Moreover, In the international expansion process, language is a prominent cultural element that may create the impact. The firm has to integrate with local customers in their language (Idris, 2007).
Challenges and Strategies that should be Considered
These cultural factors can create a negative impact on the change management plan. However, the employee training and development process is an appropriate strategy that can help to eliminate the change resistance and language barriers. The other key strategy is adaptation. For Instance, if the language barrier is a negative factor, the firm may adopt poor modify the technology that can be understood in different languages. It seems a big challenge for this company, but these strategies can be implemented to make the change happen in the competitive landscape (Al-Aali & Kamel, 2015).
References
Al-Aali, A., & Kamel, M. M. (2015). Saudi Telecom Company: Rapid International Investments and Divestments. Journal of Competitiveness Studies, 23(3), 38-53.
Al-Adaileh, R. M., & Al-Atawi, M. S. (2011). Organizational culture impact on knowledge exchange: Saudi Telecom context. Journal of Knowledge Management, 15(2), 212-230.
Idris, A. M. (2007). Cultural Barriers to Improved Organizational Performance in Saudi Arabia. S.A.M. Advanced Management Journal, 72(2), 36-53,2.
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