P3116 Information Technology and Strategic Management
Introduction
Present report focuses on the analysis of information technology and strategic management of an organisation in the engineering and technology sector. The analysis will be done on White Star Line and its creation and management of Titanic in the 1900s.
The study will focus on theoretical discussions and methods of change management in an organisation. The study will even discuss the role of a project manager in the case of engineering and technical sectors.
Classical Organisational Theory
Classical organisational theory is one of the most popular theories which have been in practice for a long time. As per the study by McClean et al. (2016), this is a traditional theory which critically focuses on the organisation rather than its employees.
This theory considered an organisation as a machine and the employees as parts of that machine. There are several characteristics of this theory, they are:
- Accounting model is used in order to build this theory (Wojciechowski et al.2016)
- Error detection and correction is among the prime attributes of this theory
- Labour remains undivided in this theory as classical theory considers humans or employees as un-modifiable and homogenous (Hussain et al.2018)
- The theory is concerned about organisational output rather than effort of employs
- This theory assumes that each of the employees is generally stable at the time of change (Okhotnikov, 2019)
This theory is largely based on a technological aspect of each organisation and states that usage of employees is more significant in case of change. Correct usage of employees is enhanced using this theory rather than collaborative working medium.
White Star Line was one of the most popular organisations in building ships and vessels. The company has partnered with Henry Wilson and launched ‘Greatest Triumph’ which was the first ship to cross the Atlantic in 1870. WSL even won the ‘Blue Riband’ award for achieving this milestone which caused the company to move forward with expansion.
That time, a series of other competitors like Cunard Line, German Lines were designing ships which were much faster, however, WSL decided to create ships which provided more comp front (as per case study).
Based on the trends of the late 1800s, WSL was aimed to create ships which would have been much slower in speed but would have provided extensive comfort. WSL followed the approach of an accounting model which would have resulted in generating 75% revenue of Titanic on its first run. WSL believed that the employees were homogenous and continuous with building luxury ships rather than faster ships which would have required huge employee strength and effort.
Lewin’s change management model
Kurt Lewin’s change model is the most popular theory regarding organizational change. It is done in mostly three basic steps concerning unfreezing, changing and refreezing. As per the study by Cummings et al. (2016), change is mostly accepted in case of following this particular model in an organisation. Change is difficult for every organisation and employee acceptance is the key.
The key requirement for unfreezing is identification for a change, on identification; an organization is required to communicate with its employees regarding the change. This will initiate higher acceptance among the employees (Tourish, 2020).
During the late 1800s, WSL realised that air-flown ships were getting older and people were accepting more vessels. Vessels are mostly faster and are done by increasing employee effort. WSL quickly sold all their ships to other German companies and was starting to replace all their air flown ships by vessels.
Changing
This is the most important step as it includes the actual change. This stage is vulnerable as employees may lose interest. This step can also affect employee satisfaction. As per the study by Macrae and Draycott (2019), this stage will even result in hampering a company’s morale and finances.
While WSL was preparing and selling its old ships in order to replace them with vessels, it realised that WSL was losing money. On identification, WSL was leasing its old ships and was accumulating capital by exchanging old clippers ships.
Refreezing
The stage concerns refreezing based on the newly formed changes. This aims toward new methods of working (Steinberg, 2017).
WSL had sold and leased all their clipper ships and was now aiming to build faster vessels which would have focused more on luxury than speed. WS has created ‘Greatest Triumph’ and ‘Titanic’ which were faster and included extreme luxury measures.
Strength and Weaknesses
Main advantage in change management is to remain competitive in the industry or market. As per the study by Brown and Lawrence (2017), adoption of change is one of the biggest advantages in case of an organisation. Competitors can be largely affected by such measures. Change can enhance the way of thinking and planning of an organisation. Employee support can be identified in such tough times.
WSL identified the decreasing demand for their ships when the vessels were surfacing the ocean created by German manufacturers. WSL started to change its operational plans and started selling their clipper ships. However, on selling, WSL realised that they were not making enough money and started leasing their ships. This change of plan created an opportunity for the company.
Weaknesses of the company include future predictions and financial disbenefits. A company cannot predict each and every event that might occur after a change (Abdullahi et al. 2017).
WSL on the creation of the Titanic predicted that almost 75% of its production cost can be retrieved from its first sail. However, little did the company know that Titanic, the ‘Unsinkable’ ship would meet the ocean floor on its first voyage resulting in huge amounts of casualties and deaths. It also resulted in huge losses for WSL.
Project Plan for Titanic’s first voyage
The Titanic was created using extreme security measures and technology that was relatively new at that particular time. Since Titanic was the largest ship of that time and almost each of the tickets was first class, the ship included extraordinary measures for luxury and communication.
The Project manager planned that the Titanic included a control panel which was 30 to 40 feet long that was responsible for controlling the fans and generators. The ship had a master-slave clock which was responsible for showing time for different time zones. Elevators were installed on the ship which was new at that time. Telephones were installed in the ship for internal communication.
The Titanic even had Macronigramms which were used in case of wireless communications (as per case study). Titanic had even changed the course of manufacturing after the Olympics were damaged. It went through extensive testing for more than four weeks. The original passenger capacity for Titanic was 2453; however, it was eligible to carry 3547 passengers. Chief of Titanic even suggested that the Titanic requires more than 900 employees for its functioning.
Conclusion
Based on the above analysis, it can be concluded that Titanic was one of the most iconic ships ever sailed the sea. WSL had gone through extensive organisational change and several procedures were implemented in order to create vessels that were faster and luxurious.
Titanic was one of the largest projects which included extreme measures in providing luxury. Titanic was not faster than its competitors, however, included extreme technological measures which made it the most luxurious ship.
References
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Cummings, S., Bridgman, T. and Brown, K.G., 2016. Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. Human relations, 69(1), pp.33-60.
Hussain, S.T., Lei, S., Akram, T., Haider, M.J., Hussain, S.H. and Ali, M., 2018. Kurt Lewin’s change model: A critical review of the role of leadership and employee involvement in organizational change. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 3(3), pp.123-127.
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McClean, J.R., Romero, J., Babbush, R. and Aspuru-Guzik, A., 2016. The theory of variational hybrid quantum-classical algorithms. New Journal of Physics, 18(2), p.023023.
Okhotnikov, O.A., 2019. About proof-search in classical natural deduction calculus using partial skolemization. Intelligent systems. Theory and applications, 23(4), pp.39-90.
Steinberg, M., 2017. Strength and Weakness of the Swedish Legislation Regarding to Psychosocial Risks. In Psychosocial Risks in Labour and Social Security Law (pp. 105-121). Springer, Cham.
Tourish, D., 2020. Towards an organisational theory of hubris: Symptoms, behaviours and social fields within finance and banking. Organization, 27(1), pp.88-109.
Wojciechowski, E., Pearsall, T., Murphy, P. and French, E., 2016. A case review: Integrating Lewin’s theory with lean’s system approach for change. Online journal of issues in nursing, 21(2).
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