What are some of the challenges for organisational development and organisational culture in today’s business environment? Technological advancement has brought businesses a range of diverse challenges. Technology solutions are constantly being retired and upgraded this exercise requires on-going change management and a skilled and flexible workforce to transcend with the changes. The ageing workforce also presents challenges to organisational development. Some members of the senior workforce find it harder to grasp the skills required to utilise electronic tools and processes than their younger counterparts.
As the ageing workforce retires there is great risk that large amounts of corporate knowledge will be lost. Succession planning needs to form part of an organisations strategic development plan. Another challenge that faces businesses today is change. Organisations are now competing for business on multi-national levels. This calls for proactive solutions and flexible workforces that can adapt and adjust to the constant pace of change required to maintain a competitive industry edge.
Many businesses now have multi-national operations, this can bring an array of culture challenges including; various religions, different award conditions, differing values and language barriers. It is challenging for businesses to align their strategic direction with so many cultural challenges. If organisational change is not managed strategically a culture of resistance can develop and hinder the change process, support for and success of the change program. Change can be perceived as a negative if it is not managed and marketed appropriately.
There is risk of employee morale decreasing if staff, feel threatened that their positions or level of authority is in jeopardy. Employee buy- in needs to be evident from the top down so that staff are wanting to be part of the change. Dunphy 2008 chapter 30 describes the defining theme for organisational challenge in the 21st century will be sustainability that is how to limit or eliminate the negative impact of economic development on the biosphere and global society and to devise new production technologies and distribution systems that sustain the natural environment and develop human capabilities (dunphy, 2002)
