 MOD-5

 Model of organizational change

 Force field analysis
 Force field analysis is an
influential development in the field
of social science. It provides a
framework for looking at the factors
(forces) that influence a situation,
originally social situations.
 It looks at forces that are either driving
movement toward a goal (helping
forces) or blocking movement toward a
goal (hindering forces). The principle,
developed by Kurt Lewin, is a significant
contribution to the fields of
social science
 Analysis tool used to identify forces that help or
hinder a change or solution

 Helps teams focus on change from the “current

state” to the “desired state”

 Highlights both weaknesses and strengths, pros and

cons, barriers and opportunities

 Determine if change is feasible/viable

 Assist in the analysis of cause and effect

 Assessment of the strength of opposing

forces

 Help analyze and prioritize solutions to

problems or areas needing improvement
 Force-field Model of
Change
Desire
d state

Restraining
forces

Status
quo

Driving forces

Time
Force Field Analysis
Example
Video Check Out Process Improvement

Helping Forces (+) Hindering Forces (-)

4
Loyal customers 3
Customers
Computer 3 1
dissatisfied
affordable 2
Manual activities
2

Software 3 1
No computer
available 5
expertise
Mgt. Wants to 4
Unfriendly
change employees
Total: 12 Total: 16
Store layout
Employees
turnover
 Implementation
8 steps for successful change
“People will not make sacrifices, even if they are unhappy with the 
status quo, unless they think the potential benefits of change are 
attractive and unless they really believe that a transformation is 
possible.”
                     The Heart of Change (John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen) 

    Increase urgency
      Build the guiding team
        Get the vision right
           Communicate for buy-in*
              Empower action
                Create short – term wins
                  Don’t let up
                     Make change stick

* “70% of people’s problems need no other solution than understanding” 
“Resolving conflict”, McConnon
Force Field Analysis
Example
Video Check Out Process Improvement

Helping Forces (+) Hindering Forces (-)

4
Loyal customers 3
Customers
Computer 3 1
dissatisfied
affordable 2
Manual activities
2

Software 3 1
No computer
available 5
expertise
Mgt. Wants to 4
Unfriendly
change employees
Total: 12 Total: 16
Store layout
Employees
turnover
Implementing Organizational
Change
Top-down Change

Change Agents

Bottom-up
Change
 Eight Steps to a Planned
Organizational Change
 Establish a sense of  Empower others to
urgency. act on the vision.
 Form a powerful  Plan and create
coalition of short-term wins.
supporters of  Consolidate
change. improvements and
 Create a vision of produce still more
change. change.
 Communicate the  Institutionalize new
vision of change. approaches.
 Stages of Organizational Change and
their Relationship to Implementation
Organizational Implementation
Change Phases Phases

• Unfreezing • Install

• Moving • Activate

• Refreezing • Institutionalize

(Adapted from: Lewin, K., Field Theory in Social Science, Harper & Row, New York, 1958.)
Action Research & Force Field Analysis
• Action Research: A method for identifying the data
associated with the degree of conflict or resistance
in a business’s environment and then dealing with it
in a real-time manner.

• Force Field Analysis (Tool/Form): A tool used to

identify an individual’s perceived positive and
negative aspects about some current or pending
organizational change.
Force Field Analysis Tool
Blank Force Field Analysis Form

Restraining Forces Driving Forces

(Negative) (Positive)
 Completed Force Field Analysis Form

Restraining Forces Driving Forces

(Negative) (Positive)
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 Managerial options for implementing the
change process are:

 Top –Down Approach.

 Laissez-Faire Approach.
 Collaborative Approach.
TOP-DOWN APPROACH

 In this approach the solutions or decisions

are arrived at by the people at the top.
 They are passed down the formal channels of
communication & control in a unilateral
manner.
 These changes focus on the tangibles.
 Two assumptions under this approach
 The reasons for the existing behaviors in an
organization (Low performance, high
absenteeism, low productivity rate)
 Can be traced to single tangible factor.
 The overall system can be changed by
changing these tangible causes of existing
behaviors.
 Thus if one changes the existing structures,
systems, & procedures it leads to the basic
change in the organization.
 The second assumption is that change is a
coercion-compliance phenomenon i.e. the
change process is approached with the basic
assumption that some people initiate
changes while others get changed.
Advantages

 A top down strategy of change is effective

provided the change initiator has
considerable power (coercive, charismatic
power)
 The advantage of this strategy is that change
is quick and speedy.
 Last option for managers when other
strategies don’t work.
 People do not like to be coerced.
LAISSEZ-FAIRE APPROACH
 Assumptions
 Systems can change only when its members
change.
 People are primarily rational beings who follow their
rational self interests.
 They will change in a particular direction only when
they realize that it is advantageous to change.
 Hence to bring about change we should provide
enough information to make rational choices.
Consequences
 It delegates much responsibility for defining and
acting upon problems to the subordinates.
 The common forms of this approach that takes in
the organizations are:
 Communication Meetings
 Work Shops.
 Conferences
 Training Programmes
 Decision Making Skills– Participants would be
learning these skills, later would be using in
concrete organisational situations.
COLLABORATIVE
APPROACH
 The approach that deals with the superiors
and the subordinates.
 It involves sharing of the power b/w the
superiors and subordinates in terms of jointly
defining the problems and developing the
solutions.
Assumptions

 Organisational systems & structures, which

need to be changed, are not mere
mechanical procedures, or exhibits, in the
organisational chart. Rather
 They are defined by the patterns of behaviors
& practices which are rooted by the patterns
of behaviors and practices, which are rooted
in the socio-cultural norms, values, &
attitudes of the people.
Role of a Superior.

 To provide a broad perspective to guide the

process and direction of change.
 He will highlight the problems which require
the organization attention.
 Invites participation to solve problems.