Assignment

Q. Take one example of any organization that you think it needs to adopt change. Think
as a strategist, which model, framework it is using currently and what do you
recommend the change management and which framework, change model or models
for them and how to manage the resistance for such change.

Solution:
Change management – Example: Failure in implementing Health Information System
(HIS) in Malaysian Government Hospitals
The Malaysian government invested heavily on implementing HIS projects in
government hospitals, to provide better healthcare services to its citizens. However, the
government had to face huge challenges in successful implementation of HIS projects,
due to many factors.
HIS refers to a computer-based IS designed to be implemented in healthcare facilities. It
is used to manage patients’ record as well as the administrative & financial information
such as billing. HIS modules normally include Inventory IS, Financial IS, Patient
Management, Laboratory IS, Radiology IS and Pharmacy IS.
Successfully implementing HIS is an uphill task and has become a global issue. As per
a study conducted by Standish Group International in 2015, the percentage of failed
projects swings around 17-22 %. Resistance to change has emerged as one of the
common challenges, faced during the implementation of HIS projects. The success of
HIS projects is linked to their level of adoption.
HIS projects implemented by the Malaysian government, also suffered setbacks due to
many organizational factors, categorized as human, technological/software and support
issues. By adopting a Change Management strategy, these implantation issues could
be tackled effectively. Change Management Models of Lewin and Kotter can be applied
to all the three stages of project implementation i.e pre-implementation, during-
implementation and post-implementation.
Lewin’s Change Management Model is a top-down approach that involves three steps
of unfreezing, changing and re-freezing. Kotter’s Change Management Model involves 8
steps for successfully implementing a change; creating a sense of urgency, establishing
a guiding coalition, formulating a clear shared-vision, communicating the vision,
empowering workers to act upon the vision, creating short-term gains, consolidating &
building upon achievements and institutionalizing the change.
In pre-implementation stage, Lewin and Kotter model can be applied by forming a
guiding team, comprising a group of committed & empowered people, who could lead
the change effort. The foremost task of the guiding team should be to win support of
senior management for the HIS project. For that team needs to first assess the change
in terms of its impact on users as well as the organization. Next, the team will have to
chalk out a clear strategy based on Kotter’s model, to effectively manage the change. In
this way, the guiding team will be able to win the financial as well as moral support of
top management. Preventing & minimizing user resistance is another task that the
guiding team should address, as early as possible. Creating awareness about HIS will
help in preparing workers for the change. The users should be able to fully understand
why HIS needs to be utilized and what will be the benefits to them if they adopt this
change. In this way they will become more inclined to support HIS project. Imparting
knowledge on how to use HIS, will also help in reducing the user resistance and
preparing them to embrace the change. Users should be provided hands-on trainings so
that they do not face any problems while using HIS.
For during-implementation stage, three processes namely HIS adoption, enforcement
and monitoring need to be undertaken. HIS adoption involves application of knowledge
and skills by users, to perform their routine duties. Proper guidance and coaching,
coupled with top management’s visible support, help workers to adopt to HIS.
Enforcement is key to ensure that users switch from manual healthcare system to HIS.
In government hospitals, setting direction from top management, can be instrumental in
enforcing workers to shift from manual system to HIS. Monitoring helps change
managers in identifying and overcoming hinderance to HIS implementation. As
proposed by Kotter, assessments and regular meetings can be conducted to monitor a
change.
Lastly, in the post-implementation stage, it is very important to sustain the uptake of HIS
in the organization. The users should be continuously encouraged to maintain their
interest and commitment to the HIS project.