Managing Change

Organizational Change

Planned Change - Unplanned Change -

change resulting change that is imposed
from a deliberate on the organization
decision to alter the and is often
organization unforeseen

Managers must be
prepared to handle both
 External Forces for Change

Globalization Workforce
Diversity

Changing Ethical
Technology Behavior
Globalization

Organizations must rethink

the most efficient ways to
Majority of
Use resources
new workers
Disseminate/gather information
will be female
Develop people
Workforce will
grow in diversity -
Structural
more Hispanics &
Change
African Americans
&
Workforce is aging -
Mental less young workers, more
Change middle-aged
Workforce
Diversity
 Ethical
Behavior Other Organizations

Customers
Ethical
Treatment Changes
Environment in work
relationships

Society Technological
Change
Changes in
Changing organizational
Technology structure
 Internal Forces for Change

Company
Declining Crisis
Effectiveness

Changing
Changing Employee
Work Climate Expectations
 Scope of Change

Incremental Change - change of a relatively small

scope, such as making small improvements
Strategic Change - change of a larger scale, such as
organizational restructuring
Transformational Change - change in which the
organization moves to a radically different, and
sometimes unknown, future state
 The Change Agent’s Role

Change Agent - the individual or group who

undertakes the task of introducing and managing a
change in an organization

The change agent can be internal or external

 Internal Change Agents

Advantages Disadvantages
 know past history,  may be associated

political system, and with factions,

culture accused of favoritism
 must live with  may be too close to

results of change so the situation to be

will move carefully objective
 External Change Agents

Disadvantages
Advantages
 limited knowledge of
 outsider’s
organization’s history
objective view
 may be viewed with
 impartiality
suspicion

To succeed, they must be perceived as trustworthy,

be experts with proven track records, be similar to
those they are working with
 Resistance to Change

 Fear of the unknown

 Fear of loss
 Fear of failure
 Disruption of interpersonal relationships
 Personality conflicts
 Politics
 Cultural assumptions and values
 Dealing with
Resistance to Change

 Communication
 details

 rationale

 Participation in the process

 ownership

 commitment

 Empathy and support

 Reactions to Change & Managerial Interventions
Reaction Expression Managerial
Intervention
Disengagement Withdrawal Confront, identify
psychological withdrawal
from change
Disidentification Sadness, worry Explore, transfer
feeling that one’s
identity is being
threatened by change
Disenchantment Anger Neutralize,
feeling negativity or acknowledge
anger toward a change
Disorientation Confusion Explain, plan
feelings of loss and
confusion due to change
Table adapted from H. Woodward and S. Buchholz. Aftershock: Helping People through corporate Change, p. 15.
Copyright © 1987 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted by Permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
 Lewin’s Three Step Change
Model
1. Unfreezing - involves encouraging individuals to
discard old behaviors by shaking up the
equilibrium state that maintains the status quo
2. Moving - new attitudes, values, and behaviors are
substituted for old ones
3. Refreezing - involves the establishment of new
attitudes, values, and behaviors as the new status
quo
 Force Field Analysis of Decision to
Engage in Exercise
Forces for change Forces for status quo
Weight gain Lack of time
Minimally passing No exercise facility at
treadmill test work
Feel lethargic; Spouse/partner hates to
have no energy exercise
Equilibrium
Family history of No interest in physical
cardiovascular activity or sports
disease Made a grade of D in
New, physically physical education class
demanding job
 Applying Lewin’s Model to the
Organization

 Unfreezing: the organization eliminates rewards for

current behavior
 Moving: the organization initiates new options and
explains their rationale
 Refreezing: organizational culture & formal reward
systems encourage the new behaviors