Organizational Development and Change Management: Case of Lenovo

In today’s ever changing business environment, it is essential for leaders at all levels to acquire the knowledge of organizational development as well as how to manage change in a strategic manner. In the long history of corporate change management, some seasoned predecessors wisely pointed out the significance of adapting with the times in an attempt to reap success.

Therefore, the purpose of the essay is to assess Machiavelli’s (1532) quote on change by examining Lenovo's 2005 acquisition of IBM PC division, a vivid example that illustrates the impacts of change, in this case, business acquisition on Lenovo’s sustainable development in the past few years and how the company proactively dealt with the enormous differences. First, my interpretation of the quotation will be briefly examined. Next, I will incorporate organizational change management concepts into the argument by further analyzing why change is needed in Lenovo’s case, the impacts of change on Lenovo’s new business strategy and organizational culture as well as the role of executive leadership in tackling employees faced with change. In the meantime, the paper will justify if the quotation makes sense in the case we’ve examined. The secondary data is quoted from websites, academic journals and industry research papers.

[...] Aquila (2010) defined organizational change as “organization- wide changes that are broadly focused and applicable to any types such as technical, managerial and social innovations.” Among several external reasons that shape organizational change (e.g., globalization, informational technology or management innovation), change in Lenovo falls into the category of management innovation. Moreover, Recardo (2011) asserts that successful organizational restructuring change requires a change in culture which explained the strategies adopted by Lenovo Group to evolve both linguistically and culturally. Meanwhile, Lenovo case also contained subsystem change that might include removal or addition of certain or some changes in procedural implementation in order to deliver products or services. [...]

[...] The great market potential stemming from strategic alliance was leveraged to help new Lenovo change the new dynamics of the global PC business, thus becoming an essential element in shaping the organization’s product and business strategy. In the meantime, formulating a win-win organizational culture brooked no further postponement. As a compelling indicator associated with organization effectiveness, organization culture originates from long-term social learning and can be rooted deeply in an organization’s history (Stanwick, 2006). According to Aquila (2010), some guidelines for managing organizational culture included “clear strategic vision, top-management commitment, symbolic leadership, supporting organizational changes and the socialization of newcomers.” The new Lenovo set a good example of how managing well organization culture could contribute to sustained corporate development. [...]

[...] Reference Anonymous Lenovo and IBM: East Meets West, Big-Time, Businessweek,com, accessed on Feb at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_19/b3932113_mz063.htm Aquila, A . (2010, December). Change: It Starts with Senior Leadership. CPA Practice Management Forum, 11-12. Retrieved February from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2219733581). Company Profile Lenovo office homepage accessed on Feb from http://www.lenovo.com/lenovo/us/en/our_company.html Higgs, M., & Rowland, D . (2010). Emperors With Clothes On: The Role of Self-awareness in Developing Effective Change Leadership. Journal of Change Management, 10(4) Retrieved February from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2174464911). [...]