A Comparative Study on the Perception of the Proponent of Change and the Employees Towards Organizational Change in National Power Corporation

Abstract

As Heraclitus put it, nothing endures but change. In any aspect of human life, change is something that people has to deal with. This is the deal of survival. This same concept holds true in the corporate setting — the workplace. This study on the perception of proponents of change and employees is based on the context of the National Power Corporation (NPC). NPC is one of the largest corporations in the Philippines primarily in the business of power generation and transmission. It provides more than half the country’s electricity needs. Now in the process of organizational change, the researcher would like to look into the perception of the proponents of change and compare it with the perception of the NPC employees. This study aims to answer the main problem: what are the perceptions of the proponents of change and employees towards organizational changes in the National Power Corporation. With this aim at hand, this study seeks to answer the specific problems, which include: (1) What are the reasons for organizational change? (2) What are the perception of the proponents of change towards the organizational changes that occur in: (a) Structure, (b) Leadership, (c) Support Systems, (d) Rewards, and (e) Relationships; (3) What are the perception of the employees towards the organizational changes that occur in: (a) Structure, (b) Leadership, (c) Support Systems, (d) Rewards, and (e) Relationships. Guided with the main objective of this study which is to compare the perception of the proponents of change and employees on organizational changes in the National Power Corporation, the specific objectives are: (1) To identify the reasons for organizational change; (2) To determine the perception of the proponents of change towards the organizational changes that occur in: (a) Structure, (b) Leadership, (c) Support Systems, (d) Rewards, and (e) Relationships; (3) To determine the perception of the employees towards the organizational changes that occur in: : (a) Structure, (b) Leadership, (c) Support Systems, (d) Rewards, and (e) Relationships. Based on the data gathered from the interview and survey questionnaire, the researcher found that there is a negative perception towards the ongoing organizational change. On the other hand, the proponents of change perceive Organizational change in NPC as the best solution to the problem and that it is for the betterment of their company. Despite the negativity in the perception of the employees, the acceptance of the organizational change in the company was achieved through effective information dissemination and open line of communication. In studying the process of organizational change that is taking place in the National Power Corporation, it was found that the reason for organizational change is primarily the demand of the economy in the country. This economic reason then, in effect, brought out the need for NPC to seek for private sectors because of its inability to support the organization's deficits. Additionally, the government will not be able to support NPC because the government itself has budget deficit on its own. Hence, the planned privatization calls for the need to reorganize the whole organization not only in terms of structure but also in every area of the corporation. Additionally, the structure, leadership, support systems, rewards, and relationships, being interdependent with each other, were all affected by the organizational change. Once the need for change is determined, the other areas of the organization must change along with the other areas of the company. In the case of NPC, the change that is called for is a total reorganization. Thus the corporation must seriously take into account the need for change in the structure, leadership, support systems, rewards, and relationships. In comparing these data with the response from the proponents of change, it was found that the proponents’ reason for proposing the concept of change in the company was indeed because of economy. The other external forces which they view, as has something to do with the status of the company is similar to those indicated by the employees on the survey conducted. First area to that was discussed is the purpose. In an interview with Mr. Armando S. Javier, one of the officials of the Union (employee group of those belonging to the rank and file level), he stated that NPC will no longer monopolize the electricity industry and in a larger sense, the energy industry in the Philippines will be different from what it was before. Since the organizational change is still an ongoing process, the change in process is not yet fully implemented. However the preparation towards the change in purpose is established and well informed to the employees. From a government owned corporation which aims to provide service to the people, NPC will be a private owned corporation equally divided into six generating companies (Gencos). This entails that from a corporation monopolizing the electricity industry in the Philippines; there will be an introduction of competition among the Gencos. NPC will no longer function as the producer of electricity. Instead it will govern the transmission company or transco. This phenomenon is explained by Ms. Perez as same concept with the express ways in the Philippines. She said: “[A]ng transmission lines, interconnected...it’s more profitable to go into a generation if you are a private sector rather than a transmission kasi ang transmission lines are like a highway, dadaanan lang yan ng mga kuryente. Babayad ka lang ng toll fee, yun ang transmission. Yon ang i-o-own ng government (Perez, 2001).” However, in an interview with Mtr. Javier, he mentioned that while it is clear that privatization of NPC will introcluce competition in the electricity industry, the fear of the employees is that the management’s concept of privatization to break the government monopoly would only lead to ‘private monopoly’. They (employees) assume that the six Gencos will always agree to increase their prizes just like that of the three oil companies in the country. “Mas maganda na siguro yung government monopoly kaysa private [monopoly]. “Pag private kasi. Puro profit...gobyerno...serbisyo (Javier, 2001).” On the other hand, Mr. Anguluan reiterated the advantage of competition in the industry in saying that “we are inviting the private sector, to come in. if there is more player in the industry, we believe there will be competition...when there is healthy competition, maganda ang presyo. Kung isa lang, we'll dictate the price. Pero kung may competition, magapapasiklaban tayo...hindi lang sa presyo kundi sa galing natin. Quality of service, dependability of service, availability of service. And we believe it will redown to the benefit of...not only industry but the residential consumer. (Anguluan, 2001).” On the other hand structure is perceived by the employees with a positive 2.76 total mean value of all the indicators. This is for the perception on structure prior organizational change. The perception on structure during organizational change is a low average mark of 3.33. In spite of the claim of the proponents of change on the clarity of the division of work, interdependence of each department, accomplishment of decision-making responsibilities, satisfactory reporting relationships, open and effective information channels, meeting of job requirements, and well defined organizational goals, it can not be denied that organizational change affected the way the employees perceived the structure of the company. In terms of leadership, the way the employees perceive this area prior organizational change is a positive 2.63 and 3.33 positive perception during organizational change. The 0.7 significant difference in the perception prior and during organizational change just shows that the employees favor the leadership that there was prior organizational change than the leadership there is now that organizational change is in process. In comparing it with the perception of the proponents of change, it is notable that the process of organizational change affected the way employees behave. Other key personnel already retired as they were attracted to the retirement package offered by the corporation. Hence, those on leadership positions left their post and from this, the company adjusts. With the mere fact of replacing the left post, there will be a great need for reorientation and the like. This can be one of the reasons why employees’ perception on leadership during organizational change decreased by 0.7 . Data shows that the perception of the employees on support systems prior organizational change was X=2.88. The perception of employees on support system during organizational change is X=3.26. This shows that the way employees perceive support systems changed by X=0.38 significant difference. This implies that the process of organizational change did not improve the way the employees perceive support system in the organization. On the perception of the proponents, their reward system is effective and satisfactory for the employees. However, it can be inferred that the employees are dissatisfied with the reward system of the corporation (X=3.35) prior organizational change and much lower during organizational change (X=3.78). The researcher notes that there is X=0.43 significant difference. This implies that the process of organizational change did not improve the way the employees perceive the rewards system of the company. . The cata obtained shows that the employees perceive the area of relationship positively with a mean value of X=2.21 prior organizational change. And the respondents perceive the said area during organizational change with X=2.77. It can be inferred therefore that the employees perceive the relationships they had before organizational change as more harmonious than the relationships that they have now. This can be manifested by the significant difference of X=0.56. The researcher also found the significant role of communication in the company. Communication made it easier for the management to disseminate information and more importantly, make the employees understand the concept of change. Effective communication earns the management a favorable response and acceptance from majority of their employees evens those in the Union--the employee group of the rank file. The different forms of communication that were utilized were newsletters published quarterly, monthly, and every Monday, dialogues between the management, Union and Executive Association (employee group on the managerial level), meetings monthly, and every 2m Mondays of the month and road shows (visits to other units of the corporation). The researcher presents the following recommendations: (1)NPC management may consider the side of the employee regarding the organizational change. Perhaps an open forum will be good to hear out their opinions and sentiments. (2) The future researchers may assess the perception of members of the organization in all levels. (3) ‘he same study involving the six generating companies that are formed from the National Power Corporation. (4) The same study using relational method. 5) The same study comparing two different organizations.