Organization Development and Change

Sec One: Ch Four:

The Paradox of Change
 Learning Objectives
for Chapter 4
HRD is itself a change.

•change is universal.

 Stopping change is in itself a change.

Cummings & Worley, 7e (c) 2001 2-2

South-Western College Publishing
 five paradox principles of Change:

1. Positive change requires significant stability.

2. To build an enterprise, focus on the
individual.
3. Focus directly on culture, indirectly but
cautiously.
4. True empowerment requires forceful
leadership.
5. In order to build, you must tear down.
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 THE NATURE OF CHANGE
1. The locus of the essential; in some cases this is internal to
the organization but often change is a response to changes in
the external environment within which the organization
operates.
2. Compulsion for the change; government regulations may
impose change on an organization whether it wishes it or not,
but many other changes are taken in response to, for example,
perceived market pressures.
3. Radical change relates to substantial reworking of an
organization's culture and processes over a short period of time;
throwing out the old ways and bringing in new. Incremental
change is much more subtle and small scale.
4. New procedure may be perceived as purely a technical matter
or a restructuring as a purely organizational one but in practice
these domains will inevitably impact upon one another.
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 Seven-S framework:
• Strategy;
• Structure;
• Systems;
• Staff;
• Style;
• Shared values;
• and Skills.
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METHODS TO MAKE THE TRANSITION
Lewin’s Change Model

Unfreezing

Movement

Refreezing

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 Tom Lupton (1971)Change Model
• Set up organization alternatives open and systematic.
• Map out the present organization as a social system, not forgetting
its external links.
• List the groups affected by each organization alternative.
• Examine the issues likely to be raised in each group from the
adoption of each alternative.
• Assess likely reactions on each issue and score for acceptability.
• Test economic feasibility against social acceptability and adopt the
course that offers the most adaptive and least costly balance.
• Examine the problems. Ask whether existing means of redress of
grievance are adequate to cope. If not, take appropriate steps to
create such machinery as seems to be required.

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nine-element model by Bernard Burnes
(1992):
1. Create a vision.
 Mission
 valued outcomes
 valued conditions
 mid-point goals
2. Develop strategies.
3. Create the conditions for successful change.
 make people aware of the pressures for change.
 give regular feedback–feedback
 publicize successful change
 understand people's fears and concerns
 encourage communication
 involve those affected.
4. Create the right culture.

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 nine-element model by Bernard Burnes
(1992):contd

5 . Assess the need for, and type of, change.

Appropriateness of response is also seen as key to the change process–
appropriateness not only in the particular change to be undertaken but also in
whether to undergo a process of change at all.
• a. The trigger–organizations
– one of the organization's strategies highlights the need for change;
– performance in attainment of the organization's goals appears seriously impaired;
– opportunities are offered which appear to achieve significant improvement
• b. The remit–a clear remit must be provided for assessing
the process of change.
• c. The assessment team–the team should be led by a senior manager,
preferably one who will go on to champion whatever change is
necessary, and should include all relevant disciplines.

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• d. The assessment–again, Burnes advocates a four-step
approach:
• first, the problem or opportunity should be clarified or redefined;

• second, alternative proposals should be drawn up and tested against

criteria founded on the redefined problem specification;

• third, the proposals meeting the criteria, together with the problem or
opportunity statement, should be shared with a wider constituency;

• fourth, recommendations for action should be drawn up, including

type of change advocated, timetable for implementation and resource
implications, and presented to senior management for decision.

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• 6. Plan and implement change. Having gone through the
assessment process, management needs to commit to the change and
to prepare a detailed plan.
• • activity planning–constructing a detailed list of all the tasks to be
undertaken, their sequence and the critical path through them;
• • commitment planning–identifying key people and groups whose
commitment to the project is essential to success;
• • management structures–the team or teams managing the
process of change may need new reporting structures with rapid
access to top management and to the champions of change;
• • training–the obvious aspect of training is the acquisition of new
technical skills, but a wider view needs to be taken to ensure that
training underpins all aspects of change and targets the appropriate
individuals and groups, including middle and senior management;
• • review–Burnes calls this 'post audit'. After the changes have taken
place the effects should be audited to see how successful the changes
have been in meeting their objectives and to learn how the change
process can be improved.

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• 7. Involve everyone. Maintaining the commitment,
particularly over a long timescale (remember that even the
simplest information technology projects can take years to
design, build and implement) requires continuing involvement of
all parties.
• a. Information–letting everyone involved know what is
happening right from the beginning and reporting honestly on
progress, or lack of it, is the key.
• b. Communication–providing information is only the start.
Communication has to be two way with employees' responses
gathered and listened to.
• c. Actual involvement–responsibility for detailed aspects of
change need to be given to those directly affected; this requires
the correct identification of those responsible.

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• 8. Sustain the momentum. Particularly in long-term projects, a
failure to maintain the momentum of change can lead to regression on
the part of those participating and potentially fatal delay. To
bolster the momentum, organizations can:
• • provide resources for change–even where a project is looking for
down-sizing, the actual pursuit of change is likely to consume
resources.
• • give support to the change agents–often the change
management team is having to boost morale and motivate others.
• • develop new competences and skills–training has already been
mentioned but the momentum has to be borne on a tide of new styles
and approaches.
• • reinforce desired behavior– behaviors that are consistent with
the change can be reinforced not only in financial ways (for example
using suggestion schemes or bonuses) but also symbolically (using
praise, changing a job title, or awarding prizes).
• 9. Commit to continuous improvement. Real success should
see change as an ongoing process, not a once-and-for-all
activity
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THE ROLE OF HRD IN ORGANIZATIONAL
CHANGE PROCESS V/S TASK
• Process roles
– perceived as a high prestige role
– team building and
– facilitation skills
– Training
– assessment and implementation
– interpersonal skills and sensitivity training
– feed new ideas for change
– maintain morale.
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• Task roles
– Detailed task roles will vary according to the nature of the
change
– training in handling new equipment or new software
– dealing with new methods of operation
– familiarize thoroughly with the equipment or procedures
well before implementation.
– Outplacement counseling
– retrain to new ways of working
– from line to group based working
– supervisors and shop floor mentors are appropriately
prepared for the task

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 Conflict
• Conflict is a disagreement about something
of importance to each person involved.
• Ability to resolve conflict is an important
part of change management.
• Conflict is not necessarily bad.

Cummings & Worley, 7e (c) 2001 2-16

South-Western College Publishing
 Sources of Conflict
• Allocation/availability of resources
• Personality differences
• Differences in values
• Internal/external pressures
• Cultural differences
• Competition
• Differences in goals
• Issues of personal/professional control
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