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Touqeer Ahmed MS (MS)
COMPREHANSIVE NOTE ON THE CHANGE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
01-395192-015 IN

ORGANIZATION ]
Organization Change
Organizational change is about the process of changing an organization's strategies,
processes, procedures, technologies, and culture, as well as the effect of such changes on
the organization.another definition of change.

Change management has been defined as ‘the

process of continually renewing an organization’s direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the
ever-changing needs of external and internal customers’.

According to Burnes (2004) change is an ever-present feature of organisational life, both at an

operational and strategic level. Therefore, there should be no doubt regarding the importance to
any organisation of its ability to identify where it needs to be in the future, and how to manage the
changes required getting there. Consequently, organisational change cannot be separated from
organisational strategy, or vice versa (Burnes, 2004; Rieley and Clarkson, 2001). Due to the
importance of organisational change, its management is becoming a highly required managerial skill
(Senior, 2002). Graetz (2000: 550) goes as far as suggesting ‘Against a backdrop of increasing
globalisation.

Today's business environment requires companies to undergo changes

almost constantly if they are to remain competitive. Factors such as
globalization of markets and rapidly evolving technology force businesses
to respond in order to survive. Such changes may be relatively minor—as
in the case of installing a new software program—or quite major—as in the
case of refocusing an overall marketing strategy. "Organizations must
change because their environments change, " according to Thomas S.
Bateman and Carl P. Zeithaml in their book  Management: Function
and Strategy.  "Today, businesses are bombarded by incredibly high
rates of change from a frustratingly large number of sources….
Insidepressures come from top managers and lower-level employees who
push for change. Outside pressures come from changes in the legal,
competitive, technological, and economic environments."

Organizational change initiatives often arise out of problems faced by a

company. In some cases, however, companies are encouraged to change
for other, more positive reasons. "Change commonly occurs because the
organization experiences some difficulty, " Bateman and Zeithaml wrote.
"But sometimes the most constructive change takes place not
because of problems but because of opportunities ." The authors used
the term "performance gap" to describe the difference between a
company's actual performance and the performance of which it is capable.
Recognition of a performance gap often provides the impetus for change,
as companies strive to improve their performance to expected levels. This
sort of gap is also where many entrepreneurs find opportunities to begin
new businesses.

Consequences of change in an organization

Let me explain change consequences in organization through 6 stage organization change
model Although the six stages of reaction described in this model don’t occur every time
and with every person, it’s amazing how accurately this model can predict how people
behave when faced with organizational change.

There are 6 stages in model which explain the effect of change in the organization.

 Stage 1: Shock

When significant organizational change is first realized it is common for those

affected to experience feelings of shock. It’s not uncommon, for example, to
physically see the effects of shock in the faces and body language of those
 persons. The reason for the shock is a personal fear of how the change might
impact the status quo.

Stage 2: Denial

Soon after the Shock Stage sets in it’s common for people to go into denial. You can
usually hear this stage more than see it, as in Stage 1. You’ll recognize Stage 2 by
hearing comments like, “They’ll never go through with this!” “I can’t believe this is
going to happen!” Or, “Watch, they’ll change their mind before this ever gets off the
ground.” Or, “If we ignore this long enough, it will just go away.” The reason
people experience denial comes from their disbelief or even anger over what they
think is about to happen. Whether it’s real or not, disbelief can trigger feelings, and
expressions, of denial.

Stage 3: Reject

After two stages a person can make a conscious or unconscious decision that the
impending change will be bad. This rejection of the change usually comes as a result
of the person trying to preserve the status quo and/or a zone of personal comfort.
Rejection of change can result in either a “fight or flight” reaction from persons
affected by it. This is why it’s not uncommon for turnover to increase after changes
are announced. People can believe that the possibility of comfort elsewhere is more
probable than the uncertainty of change where they are.

Stage 4: Tolerate (With Resistance)

The people who choose to stay, but who

have not accepted or embraced the change, typically shift to a mode of tolerance.
They may appear to be onboard, but in actuality, the tolerance is only masking either
overt or covert resistance. It is easier to deal with overt resistance than covert
resistance.Overt behaviors are in the open and can be seen and diffused, whereas
covert behaviors are difficult to recognize, let alone deal with.
Stage 5: Tolerate

When people who have been subjected to organizational

change become involved in aspects of the changes, there is a possibility of strategic
understanding. Involvement could be membership on a team, being asked for an
opinion or suggestion, or participating in some way in the evolving organization.
Without deliberate involvement, many people will take a “wait and see” attitude. The
key to move people to ultimate embracing is maximum involvement of as many
people as possible.

Summary

In today’s business climate, implementing organizational change is a regular

occurrence. Leaders and managers clearly need to be sensitive to the impact of
change on their human capital and be aware of both the negative and positive
impacts of change in an organization. But at the same time, they must weigh the
benefits of what the change might do for the overall organization against what the
change might do to those affected by it.