adaptation

Examples of adaptation in the following topics:

• Increasing Adaptation

  • In order to succeed, modern organizations must constantly adapt to evolving technologies and expanding global markets.
  • There are a number of examples in which some organizations have adapted to new technologies or global competition, while others have failed to adapt and subsequently gone under.
  • Strategic management largely pertains to adapting an organization to its business environment.
  • Knowing how and being able to increase this adaptability is important to organizational success.
  • Implementing a strategy of adaptation may have effects that ripple across an organization.

• Inside and Outside Forces for Organizational Change

  • Economics - The 2008 economic collapse is a strong example of why adaptability is important.
  • Technology - Technological changes are a constant threat, and embracing new technologies ahead of the competition requires adaptability.
  • When media went digital, adaptable companies found ways to evolve their operations to stay competitive.
  • Globalization - Capturing new global markets requires product, cultural, and communicative adaptability.
  • Identify the internal and external pressures for change, which drive organizations to adapt and evolve

• Accelerated Change and Adaptation

  • Drivers of rapid adaptation are numerous, but one of the most relevant to modern organizations is the advent of new technology.
  • Companies that could not react and adapt quickly enough to the disruptive technology were left in the dust.
  • Major changes to an organization will force employees to adapt.
  • Employees may not approve of the change, but they will be required to adapt to it if they want to keep their jobs.
  • Change management helps employees adapt to accelerated organizational change by attempting to eliminate the tension between employees' resistance to and suspicions about change and the organization's new direction.

• Phases of Organizational Change: Lewin

  • Kurt Lewin's phases of change (unfreezing, change, and freezing) describe how people react and adapt to change.
  • Many people criticize this component of Lewin's model, arguing that there is never time for people to comfortably adapt to change in the fast-paced world of today.
  • This is important for understanding how employees may react to change in the workplace and why some may adapt more quickly to change than others.

• Considering Cultural and Interpersonal Differences

  • Intercultural competence is an individual's ability to communicate with, and adapt to, the cultural norms and expectations of each employee or customer.
  • Army Research Institute may have come closest to summarizing what it means to be cross-culturally competent: "A set of cognitive, behavioral, and affective/motivational components that enable individuals to effectively adapt in intercultural environments."
  • Self-confidence – Understanding personal weaknesses and difficulties in adapting to situations is important in controlling reactions.

• Considering the Environment

  • Complexity theory postulates that organizations must adapt to uncertainty in their environments.
  • Therefore, companies in a highly uncertain environment must prioritize adaptability over a more rigid and functional strategy.
  • Understanding these varying forces gives the company an idea of how adaptable or fixed the organizational structure should be to capture value.

• Cultural Intelligence

  • Cultural intelligence is the ability to display intercultural competence within a given group through adaptability and knowledge.
  • The concept of cultural intelligence is exactly what it sounds like—the ability to display intercultural competence within a given group through adaptability and knowledge.

• Strategies for Successful Organizational Change

  • Education and training is essential for employees to understand and adapt to a change in the workforce.
  • Training in this situation is necessary to help employees become familiar with the change and better adapt to it.
  • For these employees it may be useful to have a program, most likely through human resources, that will help them adapt to the change.

• The Impact of Culture on an Organization

  • Culture is a malleable component of an organization that can adapt and evolve through influences to create value.
  • Identify areas in the organizational structure and control systems which require updates to conform with the new or adapted culture.
  • Finally, ensure that the ethical and legal implications of the adapted culture are understood, planned for and in line with corporate ethics.

• Speed of Innovation

  • Companies compete to adapt their products and services to incorporate new innovations first.