Kurt Lewins Three stage model

Approaches to Managing Organizational Change

Prepared
By
Manu Melwin Joy
Assistant Professor

lahia School of Management Studies

Kerala, India.
Phone 9744551114

Mail manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com

Kindly restrict the use of slides for personal purpose.

Please seek permission to reproduce the same in public forms
and presentations.

Three stage model

One of the cornerstone
models for understanding
organizational change was
developed by Kurt Lewin
back in the 1940s, and still
holds true today.
His model is known as
Unfreeze Change
Refreeze, refers to the
three-stage
process
of
change he describes.
Kurt Lewin, a physicist as
well as social scientist,
explained
organizational

Three stage model

Kurt Lewin
Unfreezing

Provide rationale

for change
Create minor
levels of
guilt/anxiety about
not changing
Create sense of
psychological
safety concerning
change

Moving

Provide information

that suspects
proposed changes
Bring about actual
shifts in behavior

Refreezing

Implement new

evaluation systems
Implement new
hiring and promotion
systems

Three stage model

Three stage model

Unfreezing is the process which
involves finding a method ofmaking
it possible for people to let go of an
old
pattern
that
was
counterproductive in some way.
Unfreezing is necessary to overcome
the strains of individual resistance
and group conformity.
Unfreezing can be achieved by the
use of these three methods.

Increase the driving forces that direct

behavior away from the existing
situation or status quo.
Decrease the restraining forces that
negatively affect the movement from
the existing equilibrium.
Find a combination of the two methods
listed above.

Three stage model

Movement stage involves a process of
change in thoughts, feeling, behavior,
or all three, that is in some way more
liberating or more productive.
Once team members have opened up
their minds, change can start. The
change process can be dynamic and,
if it is to be effective, it will probably take
some time and involve a transition period.
In order to gain efficiency, people will
have to take on new tasks and
responsibilities, which entail a learning
curve that will at first slow the
organization down.
A change process has to be viewed as an
investment, both in terms of time
and the allocation of resources: after
the new organization and processes have
been rolled out.

Three stage model

Change will only reach its full
effect if its made permanent.
Once
the
organizational
changes have been made and
the structure has regained its
effectiveness, efforts should be
made to cement them and
make
sure
the
new
organization reaches the
standard.
Re-freezing gives people the
opportunity to thrive in the
new organization and take
full advantage of the change.

Changing People: Some Basic

Steps
Step 3: Refreezing
Incorporating the changes,
creating and maintaining a
new organizational system

Step 2: Changing
Attempting to
create a new state
of affairs
Step 1: Unfreezing
Recognizing the
need for change
en
r
r
u
C

te
a
t
S
t

w
Ne

te
a
St

Case study
The oil company had three
divisional offices in the West,
located
in
Seattle,
San
Francisco, and Los Angeles.
The decision was made to
consolidate the divisions in
to a single regional office to
be located in San Francisco.
The
reorganization
meant
transferring
over
150
employees, eliminating some
duplicate managerial positions,
and instituting a new hierarchy
of command

UNFREEZING
The status quo can be considered
to be an equilibrium state. To move
from this equilibrium to overcome
the pressures of both individual
resistance and group conformity
unfreezing is necessary. It can be
achieved in one of three ways.
The driving forces, which direct
behavior away from the status quo,
can be increased.
The
restraining
forces, which
hinder movement from the existing
equilibrium, can be decreased.
A third alternative is to combine
the first two approaches.

Movement
The oil companys management
could expect employee resistance
to the consolidation. To deal with
that
resistance,
management
could use positive incentive to
encourage employees to accept
the change, such as these;
Increase in pay can be offered
to those who accept the transfer.
The company can pay liberal
moving expenses.
Management might offer low
cost mortgage funds to allow
employees to buy new homes in
San Francisco.

Movement
Employees
could
be
counseled
individually. Each employees concerns
and apprehensions could be heard and
specifically clarified.
Assuming that most of the fears are
unjustified, the counselor could assure the
employees that there was nothing to fear
and then demonstrate, through tangible
evidence, that restraining forces are
unwarranted.
If
resistance
is
extremely
high,
management mat have to resort to both
reducing resistance and increasing the
attractiveness of the alternative if the
unfreezing is to be successful.
To be effective, change has to happen
quickly. Organizations that build up to
change do less well than those that get to
and through the movement stage quickly.

Refreezing
Once the consolidation change
has been implemented, if it is to
be successful, the new situation
needs to be refrozen so that it
can be sustained over time.
Unless this last step is taken,
there is a very high chance that
the change will be short lived and
that employees will attempt to
revert to the previous equilibrium
state.
The objective of refreezing, then,
is to stabilize the new situation
by balancing the driving and
restraining forces.