Organisational Behaviour Chapter 10. Managing change Objectives: Classify sources and drivers of change Discuss different approaches to managing change.

Organisational BehaviourChapter 10

Managing change

Objectives:

• Classify sources and drivers of change

• Discuss different approaches to managing change

• Outline the strengths and weaknesses of change management theories and approaches

• Differentiate the characteristics of planned versus

emergent change© Mike Maughan, Organisational

Behaviour, Palgrave (2014)

© Mike Maughan, Organisational Behaviour, Palgrave (2014)

Drivers of change - PESTELWhen it comes to deciding on and managing the change process, organisations need to know what is driving the change in order to decide on what can be done about it. Perhaps the best known approach to this is the PESTEL analysis:

– Political – Economic– Social (or sometimes, Societal)– Technological – Environmental – Legislative (or Legal)


Drivers of change - SWOT• Strengths – The features of the organisation which enable it to thrive and

which are seen as being superior to similar features in similar organisations. • Weaknesses – Those features of the organisation which are known to be less

effective than the same features in similar organisations. • Opportunities – Those things happening outside the organisation which

could enable it to be more successful, more competitive or more innovative. • Threats – Things happening outside of the organisation which the

organisation (or significant parts of it) is not presently set up to confront successfully, and which will need radical change if the organisation is to survive those threats.


Individual resistance and defences to change Individual defensiveness can be caused by:

• Insecurity when facing an unknown future. Many change processes, particularly those involving changes in structure can lead to strong feelings of insecurity. Workgroups may be broken up and new ones created, staff may need to work in a different location. However, the most potent source of insecurity is any real or perceived threat to continued employment – an all to real threat in difficult economic times.

• New working methods or processes. Change often requires staff to learn to use new technologies or adapt

to new working methods. This can pose a threat for several reasons, not least a worry that it will be difficult to learn new ways of working,

• Restriction of opportunities. Opportunities for advancement may exist in the present system but may not

exist in a changed one. For example, a restructuring may well take out layers of management and consequently make the next step up the ladder much more difficult.

• Loss of informal contacts. Work is often made easier and more pleasurable through the informal contacts

and friendships individuals form. If a change process removes these networks, then, until new groupings can emerge, individuals will feel uncomfortable.

• Threats to leadership. If an individual has developed a leadership role, whether formal or informal, this may

be threatened by changes


Collective and organisational resistance and defences to change

• Powerful groupings within the organisation: These may be groups whose own prescription for change was not adopted, or who wanted to retain the status quo.

• Rules, procedures and norms changing. This can lead to confusion about what is

done and who does it. It can lead to instability, itself leading to loss of productivity and efficiency.

• The change process itself. Most change processes do not achieve the outcomes they

are designed to bring about. • Retaining old practices and procedures. Change will often require a period where old

working practices have to run alongside the new ones. For example, where contractual terms need to be honoured or where products which are being discontinued still need to be produced to fulfill past orders. This can be expensive and it can slow down the change process.


Hard versus Soft contexts of change

Two contrasting change contexts (describing the degree of certainty and predictability of the change context ):

1. Hard Complexity – in situations of relative stability and predictability where problems are easy to define and the solutions are clear.

2. Soft Complexity – uncertain and unpredictable situations where the nature of the problem is not readily apparent or agreed on.


Hard versus Soft contexts of change


Lewin’s Field Theory• Lewin proposed that the behaviour of individuals is influenced

by the context of a given situation, which he refers to as the ‘field’

• The individual’s behaviour is influenced by forces within the field which favour a particular set of behaviours

• It can be inhibited by countervailing forces which set up obstacles to that behaviour

• The emergent behaviour is an equilibrium between those opposing forces

• The forces which favour the desired behaviour will be promoted and the forces opposing it will be reduced.


Lewin’s Field Theory

Lewin’s Force Field Analysis

Desired State

Forces opposing changeForces driving change


• Lewin also models the way individuals, groups and whole organisations change.

• He uses the metaphor of freezing and unfreezing. When we are in a situation we are familiar and comfortable with we are said to be ‘frozen’.

• In order to change we need first of all to ‘unfreeze’, that is, we have to move out of the situation we find comfortable into a much less familiar state which seems to have little form or context.

• We begin to internalise the new situation, learn to operate effectively within it and slowly, we begin to ‘refreeze’.

Lewin’s Change Process


Lewin’s Change Process

Frozen state Unfreezing Refreezing


The contextual features of the change process

• The cultural norms of the organisation. Since culture is a key determinant of how members of the organisation will behave, then it will clearly have an impact on how management plans to implement change.

• Management style, itself a component of an organisation’s culture, will play a key part in

selecting the approach to planned change. We would expect to see an authoritarian management style take a much more directive approach than in an organisation which has a more consultative style of management.

• The time constraints within which change needs to be achieved will be critical to the approach used. An organisation faced with an urgent need to change will adopt a different approach to one where the timescale for change is longer.

• The nature of the change will also be important. A change involving only a small part of the

organisation, or just a few of its staff will require a different approach from one where the whole organisation is likely to be involved.


Kotter’s eight stage approach to leading change

• Establish a sense of urgency. It is important that all those involved understand and recognise the need for change.

• Create a guiding coalition. There needs to be a cohesive team with enough power and resources to bring about the desired change.

• Develop a change vision. Those charged with leading the change must develop a vision of the change which can inspire and attract people.

• Communicate the vision for buy-in. It is one thing to create a vision, but another to make sure it is communicated in such a way as to enable people to commit to it.

• Empower broad-based action. Try to remove obstacles to change.• Generate ‘short-term wins’. When people can see that their actions have resulted in a

successful conclusion, they will be motivated to look for more success.• Never let up. Use the credibility won by short-term wins to bring about more and more . • Incorporate the changes gained into the organisation’s culture. Culture usually changes by

embedding behaviours until they become internalised.


Kanter’s two kinds of change • Bold strokes which are major changes of strategy because

of changing market or general economic issues. They tend to have a big impact on the organisation in a short space of time. These changes are thought to be so important that the co-operation of staff throughout the organisation is not considered critical to the implementation of the change.

• Long marches which tend to be longer term and may

consist of smaller change initiatives. However, this type of change needs the wider support and participation of members of the organisation at all levels if it is to succeed.


Kanter’s ‘Ten commandments for executing change’

• Analyse the organisation and the need for change • Create a shared vision and a common direction• Separate from the past • Create a sense of urgency • Support a strong leader role • Line up political sponsorship • Craft an implementation plan • Develop enabling structures • Communicate, involve people and be honest • Reinforce and institutionalize change


Organisational Development (OD)

‘A long-range effort to improve an organisation’s problem-solving capabilities and its ability to cope with changes in its external environment with the help of external or internal behavioural-scientist consultants, or change agents as they are sometimes called.’ (Wendel and French)


Organisational Development (Beer)

• A system-wide process of data collection, diagnosis, action planning, intervention, and evaluation aimed at: – Enhancing congruence among organisational structure, process,

strategy, people and culture.– Developing new and creative organisational solutions. – Developing the organisation’s self-renewing capacity. It occurs through

the collaboration of organisational members working with a change agent using behavioural science theory, research and technology.


The guiding principles behind OD • Groups are the main drivers of change. • Decision making should take place where the relevant information is, not at some

level of hierarchy distanced from the problem.

• All components of the system should monitor their activities against goals. However goals are for providing feedback on progress, not rigid strategic aims. By this we mean that if it is proving problematic to achieve a goal, then it is legitimate to alter the goal.

• OD should foster open communication, mutual trust and confidence between groups laterally and vertically through the organisation.

• People will support what they are involved in creating, therefore those affected by

change should be able to own and participate in the change process.


How OD works: Action research

Plan

Reflect

Collect

Act

The Action Research Cycle


How OD works: two key features

• First, Action Research is not linear, it is iterative. At each stage there has to be the opportunity for feedback and the potential to modify the plan based on the feedback.

• The second point is that the researchers are the same people who will implement the solution. In other words Action Research is carried out by practitioners who are researching their own organisational lives.


Senge’s five disciplines for the learning organisation

• Systems thinking: this requires that people in the organisation understand how the component parts of the system integrate and how their acts an omissions impact on those other component parts.

• Personal mastery: this discipline implies a commitment by the individual and by management to develop

skills and understanding as far as possible, not only to carry out job tasks but to be able to take on new or a greater range of tasks in the future.

• Mental models: these are the schemata which were discussed in the chapter on Individual Differences. They are the internal mental frameworks we use to build a coherent picture of our world. In a learning organisation it is important that everyone shares a similar view of the organisation and that they also share similar values bout the organisation.

• Shared vision: there must be a vision of what the organisation wants to achieve which must be shared by its members.

• Team learning: individual learning needs to be shared with the team, so dialogue, trust and openness are

crucial.

Organisational Behaviour Chapter 10. Managing change Objectives: Classify sources and drivers of change Discuss different approaches to managing change.

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