425 CH 1

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Copyright © 2017, 2015, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
1
Why Do Organisations Change?
The puzzle:
Change is difficult – 70% of initiatives fail.
Yet, change seems to be happening more frequently and
with greater magnitude than ever before.
Why?
• They change to survive.
• If competitors increase their effectiveness and they don’t,
they’ll go out of business.
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Organisational Effectiveness
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Should we Focus on Individual, Group or System
Change?
The Individual Perspective School
The supporters of this school are split into two camps:

Behaviourists who argue that:
 Behaviour results from an individual’s direct interaction with their

environment.
 All behaviour is learnt and that the individual is the passive recipient of
external stimuli which shapes behaviour.
 Once identified, these external stimuli can be manipulated to bring

about behaviour change.
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The Individual Perspective School
• Gestalt-Field psychologists who argue that:

– An individual’s behaviour is derived from the totality of
coexisting and interdependent forces that impinge on them
and make up the field or life space in which the behaviour
takes place.
– Individuals function as whole, total organisms and are
capable of understanding the forces which make up their life
space and changing them so as to amend their behaviour.
– To understand an individual’s behaviour, it is necessary to
take into account not only a person’s actions and the
responses these elicit, but also the interpretation the
individual places on these.
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The Group Dynamics School
 The rationale for this school is that because people in

organisations work in groups, individual behaviour
must be seen, modified or changed in the light of
groups’ prevailing practices and norms.
 They argue that group behaviour is an intricate set of
symbolic interactions and forces that not only affect
group structures, but also modify individual behaviour.
 The focus of change must be at the group level and
should concentrate on influencing and changing the
group’s norms, roles and values.
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The Open Systems School
• Open Systems school does not just see organisations as systems

in isolation; instead it views them as ‘open’ systems.
• It sees them as open in two respects:
– Firstly, they are open to, and interact with, their external
environment.
– Secondly, they are open internally: the various sub-systems
interact with each other. Therefore, internal changes in one
area affect other areas, and in turn have an impact on the
external environment, and vice versa.
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The Open Systems School (Continued)
• In terms of change, the emphasis is on achieving overall synergy, rather than on

optimising the performance of any one individual part per se.
• ‘Managerial leaders must develop an integrative, comprehensive approach to

change that achieves subsystem congruence’.
• There are four principal organisational sub-systems:

– The organisational goals and values sub-system
– The technical sub-system
– The psychosocial sub-system
– The managerial sub-system.
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Should We Focus on Individual, Group or System
Change?
• Firstly, with the exception of the Behaviourists, these schools
of thought stand, generally, in sharp contrast to the mechanistic
approach of the Classical school towards organisations and
people.
• Secondly, the three theoretical perspectives focus on different
types of change.
• Thirdly, though each school can be seen as an independent and
distinct approach to change, they are not necessarily in conflict
or competition. Indeed, it could well be argued that they are
complementary approaches.
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Should We Focus on Individual, Group or System
Change? (Continued)
• Lastly, change at one level or in one area should take into

account the effect it will have elsewhere in the organisation.
However, whatever the perspective adopted it is fundamentally
the behaviour of individuals and groups that is being changed.
• All organizational problems are fundamentally problems

involving human interactions and processes’
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Resistance, Commitment and Readiness
• Resistance is active or passive responses on the part of a person or group

that militate against a particular change, a program of changes, or change
in general.
• Consequently, it is argued that for change to be successful, change agents
have to anticipate and overcome employee resistance.
• However,:
─ identifies a number of different forms of resistance, including situations
where resistance plays a constructive role in the change process.
─ does not see resistance as arising from employees, but from conflicting
or incompatible objectives within the organisation, i.e. he sees
resistance as product of the system and not of the individuals who make
up the system.
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Four Theories of Resistance
1. Cognitive Dissonance
• Any gap between beliefs and actions causes stress.
• The greater the gap the greater the stress.
• Stress is resolved by changing or modifying the actions or the
beliefs (or both).
• Change to beliefs will only occur if the person can exercise
free will.
• Fundamental changes to beliefs may only be possible through
counselling and therapy.
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2. The Depth of Intervention
The psychological impact of change depends on the

‘depth’ of the intervention. These range from:
•Shallow
•Deep
•Deeper
•Deepest.
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2. The Depth of Intervention (Continued)
The shallow level

• Changes in structure.
The deep level

• Job Design
• Role analysis.
The deeper level

• Examinations of personality and relationships
• Conflict resolution.
The deepest level

• Fundamental aspects of an individual’s personality
• Life and career planning. 425MGT (1.13)
3. The Psychological Contract
There is an unwritten set of expectations operating at all times between every

member of an the organization and the various managers and others in the
organization.
Both sets of expectations change:

• Over time
• As the context changes.
Conflict occurs when either party feels the
contract has been violated.
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3. The Psychological Contract (Continued)
What individuals expect of organisations:

Pay, Benefits, Privileges, Guarantees, Fairness, Respect, Treated
as an adult, Opportunities, and Fulfilling work.
What organisations expect of individuals:

•Enhance its image, Be motivated, Do their best, Confidentiality,
Make sacrifices, and Loyalty.
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4. Dispositional Resistance
• Oreg’s (2003) research showed that individuals varied

in the degree to which they were psychologically
‘disposed’ to accept or resist change.
• Oreg constructed a resistance to change (RTC) scale

to measure ‘an individual’s tendency to resist or avoid
making changes’ (Oreg, 2003: 680).
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4. Dispositional Resistance (continued)
• The RTC is designed to measure the personality factors that

Oreg identified as influencing resistance to change. These are:
‒ routine-seeking;
‒ emotional reaction to imposed change;
‒ cognitive rigidity; and
‒ short-term focus.
• Oreg also found that an individual’s reaction to change can be
moderated by whether they have a positive or negative view of
the change agent.
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How People React to Change?
Summary:
An individual’s reaction to any change will depend upon:

• The type of change
• How it is managed
• Their level of their dispositional resistance
• The level of dissonance – how it affects them
• The degree of free will
• The psychological depth
• The psychological contract.
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Four Theories of Resistance
Taken together the four theories show that:
Resistance to change is not uniform amongst human beings; instead,
it varies according to a person’s level of dispositional resistance.
 An individual’s level of dispositional resistance does not necessarily

predict their actual level of resistance to any particular change
initiative. Instead, it will be moderated by the context and the nature of
the change.
Research shows that employee involvement allied to a participative
style of leadership are essential for successful change (Oreg et al,
2011). However, this general rule of involvement has to take account of
the context of the change situation and the type of change being
proposed.
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Readiness for Change
Readiness is:
An individual’s beliefs, attitudes, and intentions regarding the extent to which
changes are needed and the organization’s capacity to successfully undertake
those changes.
Creating a readiness for change involves:

Effective leadership and a good relationship between managers and
employees;
Organisational commitment;
A positive communication climate;
A coherent change strategy that is aligned with the organisation’s cultural
values and communicated to and debated with those involved;
The organisation having the resources necessary to implement the change;
A high level of employee participation in change; and
The availability of change agents with the necessary change skills.
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425 CH 1

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CHAPTER 1

The Individual Perspective School

The supporters of this school are split into two camps:

 Behaviour results from an individual’s direct interaction with their

 Once identified, these external stimuli can be manipulated to bring

• Gestalt-Field psychologists who argue that:

 The rationale for this school is that because people in

• Open Systems school does not just see organisations as systems

• In terms of change, the emphasis is on achieving overall synergy, rather than on

• ‘Managerial leaders must develop an integrative, comprehensive approach to

• There are four principal organisational sub-systems:

• Lastly, change at one level or in one area should take into

• All organizational problems are fundamentally problems

• Resistance is active or passive responses on the part of a person or group

The psychological impact of change depends on the

The shallow level

The deep level

The deeper level

The deepest level

There is an unwritten set of expectations operating at all times between every

Both sets of expectations change:

What individuals expect of organisations:

What organisations expect of individuals:

• Oreg’s (2003) research showed that individuals varied

• Oreg constructed a resistance to change (RTC) scale

• The RTC is designed to measure the personality factors that

An individual’s reaction to any change will depend upon:

 An individual’s level of dispositional resistance does not necessarily

Creating a readiness for change involves:

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