Organizational Change

Forces for Change

Nature of the Workforce
Greater diversity
Technology
Faster, cheaper, more mobile

Economic Shocks
Mortgage meltdown
Competition
Global marketplace

Social Trends
World Politics

Forces for Change

Companies constantly face pressures to
change. Forecasts for changing economic
conditions, consumer purchasing patterns,
technological and scientific factors, and
competition, force top management to
evaluate their organization and consider
significant changes.

Pressures for Change

The four areas in which the pressures for
change appear most powerful involve
people, technology, information
processing and communication, and
competition.

Pressures for Change

Category

People
Technology

Type of Pressure for Change

Demands for different training, benefits,

and compensation systems.
More education and training for workers
at all levels; products move faster to
market.

Information Processing
Faster reaction times, immediate
responses to questions, new products,
different office arrangements.
Competition

Global competition, more competing

products with more features and options.

Rate of Change

When the rate of change outside exceeds the rate

of change inside, the end is in sight

Jack Welch

Principles of Change
1. Change is a process that can be enabled, not
managed
2. The belief that you can change is the key to change
3. It is not the duration of the treatment that allows
people to change but rather its ability to inspire
continued efforts in that direction
4. Repeated efforts are critical to changing

Principles of Change
5. Behavioral change is a function of perceived need
and occurs at the emotional, not the intellectual level
6. Resistance to change is predictable reaction to an
emotional process and depends on a persons
perception of a change situation
7. People do not usually succeed all at once. But they
can show significant improvements; and all
improvement should be accepted and rewarded

Five Activities Contributing to

Effective Change Management

Five Activities Contributing to Effective

Change Management
1. Motivating Change
2. Creating Vision of
Change
3. Developing Political
Support
4. Managing the
Transition of Change
5. Sustaining Momentum

Effective
Change
Management

1. Motivating Change
Sensitize
organizations to
pressure for
change
Motivating change
and creating
readiness for
change

Reveal
discrepancies
between current
and desired states
Convey credible
positive
expectations for
the change

Planned Change
Change
Making things different

Planned Change
Activities that are proactive and purposeful: an
intentional, goal-oriented activity
Goals of Planned Change
Improving the ability of the organization to adapt to changes
in its environment
Changing employee behavior

Change Agents
Persons who act as catalysts and assume the
responsibility for managing change activities

Resistance to Change
Resistance to change appears to be a
natural and positive state
Forms of Resistance to Change:
Overt and Immediate
Voicing complaints, engaging in job actions
Implicit and Deferred
Loss of employee loyalty and motivation, increased
errors or mistakes, increased absenteeism
Deferred resistance clouds the link between source
and reaction

Sources of Resistance to Change

Individual
Habit, security, economic factors, fear of the
unknown, and selective information processing
Organizational
Structural inertia, limited focus of change,
group inertia, threat to expertise, threat to
established power relationships and resource
allocations

Resistance to Change
An organization resists change in that its
structure and control systems protect its
daily tasks. Yet it must also react to external
shifts with internal change to maintain
currency and relevance in the marketplace.

Organizational Sources of
Resistance
Group Inertia

Threatened
Expertise

Threatened
Power

Narrow Focus
of Change

Resource
Allocation

Individual Sources of
Resistance
Habit
Economic
Factors
Fear of the
Unknown

Security
Lack of
Awareness
Social
Factors

Minimizing Resistance to Change

Communication

Coercion

Negotiation

Training

Minimizing
Resistance
to Change
Stress
Management

Employee
Involvement

Tactics for Overcoming Resistance

to Change
Education and Communication
Show those affected the logic behind the change
Participation
Participation in the decision process lessens resistance
Building Support and Commitment
Counseling, therapy, or new-skills training
Implementing Change Fairly
Be consistent and procedurally fair
Manipulation and Cooptation
Spinning the message to gain cooperation
Selecting people who accept change
Hire people who enjoy change in the first place
Coercion
Direct threats and force

2. Creating Vision of Change

Constructing
the Envisioned
Future

Bold and
Valued
Outcomes
Desired
Future
State

3. Developing Political Support

Assessing Change
Agent Power

Developing
Political
Support

Identifying Key
Stakeholders

Influencing
Stakeholders

Roles in Organizational Change

Change
Sponsor

These are individuals or groups with

the power to determine that a change
will occur

Change
Agents

These are individuals or groups

responsible for seeing that a previously
determined change occurs

Change
Target

These are individuals or groups who are

asked to change something (knowledge,
skills, or behavior) as a result of the
change

4. Managing the Transition

Current
State

Desired Future
State

Transition
State

Activity Planning
Change Management Team

Critical Skills of Change Agents

Understands
change
dynamics

Appreciates
diversity

Anticipates
and manages
resistance

Has high
credibility

Understands
power and
influence

Manages
multiple tasks

5. Sustaining Momentum
Providing Resource for
Change

Sustaining
Momentum

Building a Support System

for Change Agents
Developing New
Competencies and Skills
Reinforcing New Behaviors
Staying the Course

The Politics of Change

Impetus for change is likely to come from

outside change agents, new employees, or

managers outside the main power structure.
Internal change agents are most threatened
by their loss of status in the organization.
Long-time power holders tend to implement
incremental but not radical change.
The outcomes of power struggles in the
organization will determine the speed and
quality of change.

Lewins Process Model of Change

Kurt Lewin suggested that efforts to bring

about planned change in organizations

should approach change as a multistage
process.
His model of planned change is made up of
three steps: unfreezing, changing, and
refreezing.

Force Field Analysis

Desired
Conditions

Restraining
Forces
Driving
Forces

Restraining
Forces

Restraining
Forces

Current
Conditions

Driving
Forces
Driving
Forces

Before
Change

During
Change

After
Change

Lewins Process Model of Change

Unfreezing

Changing

Refreezing

The process by
which people
become aware of
the need for
change

The movement
from the old way of
doing things to a
new way

Making new
behaviors relatively
permanent and
resistant to future
change

Lewins Process Model of Change

Slide 3 of 3

Old State

Refreeze
(Assurance of
Permanent
Change)

Unfreeze
(Awareness of
Need for Change)

New State

Change
(Movement from
Old State to
New State)

Unfreezing
Arouse dissatisfaction with the current state.
Activate and strengthen top management

support.
Use participation in decision making.
Build in rewards.

Chapter 10, Nancy Langton

and Stephen P. Robbins,
Fundamentals of
Organizational Behaviour,
Third Canadian Edition
10-31
Copyright 2007 Pearson
Education Canada

Moving
Establish goals.
Institute smaller, acceptable changes that

reinforce and support change.

Develop management structures for
change.
Maintain open, two-way communication.
Chapter 10, Nancy Langton
and Stephen P. Robbins,
Fundamentals of
Organizational Behaviour,
Third Canadian Edition
10-32
Copyright 2007 Pearson
Education Canada

Refreezing
Build success experiences.
Reward desired behaviour.
Develop structures to institutionalize the change.
Make change work.

Chapter 10, Nancy Langton

and Stephen P. Robbins,
Fundamentals of
Organizational Behaviour,
Third Canadian Edition
10-33
Copyright 2007 Pearson
Education Canada

Kotters Eight-Step Plan

Builds from Lewins Model
To implement change:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Establish a sense of urgency

Form a coalition
Unfreezing
Create a new vision
Communicate the vision
Empower others by removing barriers
Movement
Create and reward short-term wins
Consolidate, reassess, and adjust
Reinforce the changes
Refreezing