Chapter Seven: organizational Change and
Development
What is change
What is Organizational Change Management
Benefits of Organizational Change
Management
Forces for Organizational Change
Elements of Change (change option) and
Domino Effect
Types/Forms of Change
Barriers to Successful Change
Managing resistance
11/24/2022 By Aman A. (PhD) 1
What is change and organizational change?
Change
is the process of moving from one
state (current state) to another (future state)
Change can be perceived from the perspective of any
social unit i.e., individual, group and
organization.
What is Organizational Change?
Organizational change is the movement of an
organization from one state of affairs to another.
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What is Change and organizational change?
(cont.…..)
It is the process of moving from one state (current
state) to another (future state)
Current State Future State
Transition
Organizational change can be represented as
three states of change
States of change
Current Transition Future
state state state
How things How to move How things will
are done today from current be done
to future tomorrow
Examples of changes organizations are currently
taking on
Current Transition Future
state state state
Ad hoc processes Documented and managed processes
Multiple, legacy systems One integrated database
Generalists in the call center Specialists in the call center
No web interface for suppliers Supplier website integrated into supply chain
Two different companies Merged organization
What is change management/ organizational
change management?
Change management
is an approach to transitioning
individuals, teams, and organizations
to a desired future state.
means defining and implementing
procedures and/or technologies to deal
with changes in the business
environment and to profit from
changing opportunities
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What is change management/ organizational
change management?
Organizational change management is a
process with following generic activities:
- Identify the need for change (external
and internal environmental audit)
- Determine what need to be changed
- Plan change
- Implement change
- Reinforce or institutionalize change.
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What is change management/ organizational
change management?
- Organizational Change management includes
- the management of changes to the organizational
culture, business processes, physical environment,
job design / responsibilities, staff skills /
knowledge and policies / procedures.
NB - When the change is fundamental and radical, one
might call it organizational transformation
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The Heart of Change. . .
The central issue to creating change is never just
strategy, structure, culture, or systems. The core of
the matter is always about changing behavior of
people…how they see and think about what is new or
proposed...
John Kotter
The Heart of Change
Due to the above fact, some scholars define Change management
as: The process, tools and techniques to manage the people side
of change to achieve the required business results.
Benefits of Organizational Change Management
Proactive
Initiate and influence activities
Helps shape firm’s own future
N.B. OCM has also reactive benefit i.e. effective and
efficient response to emergent changes
Principal Benefit
Formulate better strategies
Systematic, logical, and rational approach
Communication
Key to successful change management
Benefits of Organizational Change Management (cont.…)
Financial Benefits
More profitable and successful
Improvements in sales, profitability, and productivity
Nonfinancial Benefits
Enhanced awareness of external opportunities and
threats
Increased employee productivity
Reduced resistance to change
Clear performance-reward relationships
View change as opportunity
Primary reasons for applying
organizational change management
Increase probability of project success
Manage employee resistance to change
Build change competency in the
organization
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Forces for Organizational Change
Drivers or forces for organizational change can be
categorized as external and internal environmental forces
External forces(OT factors) for organizational change
include
Political/legal forces i.e. change in government
business regulatory policies
Economic forces i.e. GDP, unemployment rate,
Inflation, exchange rate etc.
Socio-cultural forces i.e. Population pattern,
religion, aging society etc.
Technological forces
Competitive forces
Customers, suppliers and distributors
Forces for Organizational Change (cont.…)
Internal forces (SW factors) for organizational change include
Employee motivation and productivity (problem or further
improvement)
Organization structure(problem or further improvement)
Work or production process(problem or further improvement)
Change in organizational strategy or the need to pursue new
strategies.
Internal functions(problem or further improvement)
Merger or acquisition
Change in top management and so on.
N.B. the main source of change can also be change itself due to domino
effect (i.e., one change touches off a sequence of related and supporting
changes).
Change options and Domino Effect
What do organizations change?
It depends upon the specific force of change as well
as the form of change that organization looking
for (radical Vs. incremental). This
notwithstanding, in organizational change, the
following elements or factors are involved:
Culture (perception, attitude, value)
Structure (relation of parts and number of levels)
Technology (methods, techniques and process)
Physical setting
people (skill, ability and motivation).
Change options and Domino Effect
– The Above elements or factors are interrelated and
interdependent, a change in one produces
alterations in one or more of the other elements. This
situation is known as domino effect of change.
– - An oversight of domino effect in change leads to
adoption of fragmented and peace meal approach in
managing of change, which is one of the barrier for
successful change in organizations.
Change Options
What are
the change
options?
Physical
Culture Structure Technology People
setting
What Do Organizations Change
(cont.…)?
• Culture
– changing the underlying values and goals of the
organization
• Structure
– altering authority relations, coordination
mechanisms, job redesign, or similar structural
variables
• Technology
– modifying how work is processed and methods
and equipment used
What Do Organizations Change
(cont.…)?
• Physical Settings
– altering the space and layout arrangements in the
workplace
• People
– changes in employee skills, expectations and/or
behaviour
Types/Forms of Change
There are various types of change in change management
literature. This notwithstanding, types of change in
organizational context can be categorized into two main
categories :
Planned versus Unplanned(Emergent change)
Episodic versus Continuous change
- Planned versus Emergent change
Planned change
deliberate, conscious, rational social action. It is also known as
proactive change.
Emergent change
Spontaneous, unplanned. It is also known as reactive change.
Types/Forms of Change (continued…)
• Episodic versus Continuous change
– Episodic
• Infrequent, discontinuous, intentional. Also
known as radical or revolutionary or 2nd order
replacing one program or strategy with another
– Continuous change
• On-going, evolving, cumulative. Also known as
1st order or evolutionary or incremental change.
Constant adaptation and editing of ideas –
critical mass develops if enough people involved.
Incremental versus Radical change
Incremental Change
Continual improvement that takes place within
already accepted frameworks, value systems, or
organizational structure that is necessary for survival
and success.
Radical Change
Rapid change in strategy, structure, technology, or
people.
Radical change alters accepted frameworks, value
systems, or organizational structure.
N.B form of change depends on forces of change and
organization state of crisis.
Barriers to Successful Change
Barriers to successful change
1. Normal Human resistance
2. Pressures of day-to-day events
3. Scarce resources (capital, material and manpower)
4. Inadequate planning processes and peace meal approach
5. Limited stakeholders involvement
6. Lack of incentives
7. Lack of leadership champion and commitment
8. Lack of communication
N.B. barriers to change can not by any means limited to the above factors. For
instance, See the next power point that presents research results on barriers to
successful change.
Managing resistance
• Resistance to Change: an emotional/behavioral response to
real or imagined work change.
• Resistance is the opposition to move from current state to the
desired state by individual, group and organization.
• N.B. It has been said people do not resist change, they resist
being changed.
A number of studies support the assertion that the most
common and biggest hurdle for successful organizational
change is Resistance.
Is resistance always bad? Resistance has some values but
failure to manage it causes tremendous problem for successful
change endeavors in organization.
Signs of Resistance
• Confusion • Malicious Compliance
• Immediate Criticism • Sabotage
• Denial • Deflection
• Easy Agreement/Does not • In-Your-Face Criticism
fully Understand What the • Political behaviors (i.e.,
Change Means stagnation (slow down work) and
over conformity to rules)
• Silence
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The Cycle of Transition- modified version of ROSS
model(DABDA)
Denial Commitment
teamwork
Inform, satisfaction
it will be over soon Reward and
Communicate
this won’t happen clear focus and plan Motivate
and Motivate cooperation
apathy
numbness balance
minimize the change clear vision of the future
ignore
Resistance Exploration
seeing possibilities Facilitate,
sense of loss of control exploring alternatives
Listen, Problem Solve
concerned with competency feeling “ I can make it”
Share and Motivate
future contribution unclear high creativity and energy
and Understand
lack of focus or direction too many new ideas
can’t sleep at night lack of focus
anger/fights indecisiveness
withdrawal from the team have too much to do
blaming
ZIGZAG start “being” in the future
Adapted from Managing Change at Work by Cynthia Scott and Dennis Jaffe
Causes of resistance-
Sources of Individual Resistance to
Change
Selective
information Habit
processing
Individual
Resistance
Security
Fear of
the unknown
Economic
factors
Causes of resistance-
Organizational Resistance to Change
Threat to established Structural
resource allocations inertia
Threat to established Organizational Limited focus
power relationships Resistance of change
Threat to Group
expertise inertia
Strategies to manage or overcoming resistance
• Education and Communication
– This tactic assumes that the source of resistance lies in
misinformation or poor communication.
• Participation and Involvement
– Prior to making a change, those opposed can be brought
into the decision process.
• Facilitation and Support
– The provision of various efforts to facilitate adjustment.
Strategies to manage or overcoming resistance
(cont.…)
Negotiation and Agreement
Exchange something of value for a lessening of resistance.
Manipulation and Cooptation
Twisting and distorting facts to make them appear more
attractive.
Coercion
The application of direct threats or force upon resisters.
N.B the above strategies are complementary than substitutable.
Strategies for Overcoming Resistance
to Change (cont.…)
Approach Education + Communication Participation + Involvement
Commonly Where there is a lack of Where the initiators do not have all
Used in information or inaccurate the information they need to
Situations information and analysis design the change and where
others have considerable power to
resist
Once persuaded, people will often People who participate will be
Advantages help with the implementation of committed to implementing
the change change, and any relevant
information they have will be
integrated into the change plan
Drawbacks Can be very time consuming if lots Can be very time consuming if
of people are involved participators design an
inappropriate change
Strategies for Overcoming Resistance
to Change (cont.….)
Approach Facilitation + Support Negotiation + Agreement
Commonly Where people are resisting because Where someone or some group
Used in of adjustment problems will clearly lose out in a change and
Situations where that group has considerable
power to resist
No other approach works as well Sometimes it is a relatively easy
Advantages with adjustment problems way to avoid major resistance
Drawbacks Can be time consuming, expensive, Can be too expensive in many cases
and still fail if alerts others to negotiate for
compliance
Strategies for Overcoming Resistance
to Change (continued)
Approach Manipulation + Co-optation Explicit + Implicit Coercion
Commonly Where other tactics will not work Where speed is essential and
Used in or are too expensive where the change initiators possess
Situations considerable power
It can be a relatively quick and It is speedy and can overcome any
Advantages inexpensive solution to resistance kind of resistance
problems
Drawbacks Can lead to future problems if Can be risky if it leaves people mad
people feel manipulated at the initiators
End of the course
