Preview

Concept of Change

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
728 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Concept of Change
Conceptually, the change process starts wit awareness of the need for change. An analysis of this situation and the factors that have created it leads to diagnosis of their constructive characteristics and an indication of the direction in which action needs to be taken. Possible courses of action can then be identified and evaluated and a choice made of the preferred action.
It is necessary to decide how to get from here to there. Managing change during this transition state is a critical phase in the change process. It is here that the problems of introducing change emerge and have to be managed. These problems can conclude resistance to change, low stability, and high levels of stress, misdirected energy, conflict and loss of momentum. Hence the need to do everything possible to anticipate reactions and likely impediments to the introduction of change.
The installation stage can also be painful. When planning change there is tendency for people to think that it will be an entirely logical and linear process of going from A to B. It is not like that at all. As described by Pettigrew and Whipp (1991), the implementation of changes is an ‘iterative, cumulative and reformulation in-use process’.
To manage change, it is first necessary to understand the types of change and why people resist change. It is impossible to bear in mind that while those wanting change need to be constant about ends, they have to be flexible about means. This requires them to come to an understanding of the various models of change that have been developed. In the light of an understanding of these models they will be better equipped to make use of the guidelines for change set out at the end of this section.
There are two main types of change; Strategic change is concerned with organisational information. It deals with broad, long-term and organisation-wide issues. It is about moving to a future state, which has been defined generally in terms of strategic vision and scope. It will

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Factors That Drive Change

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages

    1.1 Analyse the factors that drive change Change is to transform something. It is generally done for an improvement. It needs to be done for the right reason and to achieve an objective and it has to follow a process. It may be an individual is changing, an organization is changing or a society is changing. It is highly emotional and may cause upheavals and stress and resistance.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The change process starts with the organisation becoming aware it needs to make changes. Once the decision is made, then the steps needed to make the change will be developed by the management. Once the strategy is in place, this needs to be communicated to the work force. This is where resistance to change, low stability, high stress, conflict and loss of momentum at work appear. Which is why the process needs to be managed and all these aspects anticipated before they happen.…

    • 4281 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ldr 535

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Week Five, you begin to understand the mindset of the consultant. How will you recognize potential barriers to a planned change? What can cause this resistance? As the consultant, you must understand the goals associated with a given change and develop the ability to identify, plan for, and manage potential barriers to the change. These barriers can manifest themselves in terms of people, processes, and technology, or a combination of these. Change initiatives are complex and initiated where people interact with individuals such as a new manager; with processes such as a new way of doing things; or with technology such as new information systems. When you encounter resistance, alternative strategies for implementing the change must be considered; however, you have no direct authority to implement the change and must succeed through your ability to navigate this complex environment. When and if you engage the executive management of your client to force the change, the change initiative is almost sure to fail; therefore, the key to successful change is sustainable adoption and acceptance.…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    U010A1 Final Paper

    • 3116 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Change management entails thoughtful planning, sensitive implementation and involvement of the people affected by the change. Since managing change in organizations requires adhering to personal as well as the organizational needs of the people involved in the change, it should be holistic, achievable and measurable. Utilizing these principles of change will require reevaluating how we propose change management strategies as it relates to business decisions and processes. If you force change on people, problems will arise and resistance to change processes will build (businessballs.com).…

    • 3116 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    What is change? Change is ironically one of the very few consistencies in life. Yet we regard change as an aberration or a brief disruption, in a paradoxically ever so changing world. It is not a mystery then that the sum of all stress can be attributed to change, e.g., changes at work, changes in finances, changes in the family structure, etc. In light of this, John Kotter and David Cohen (2002) have published a book The Heart of Change which illustrates a step by step a process to implement effective change in the work place that minimizes those disruptions or aberrations. In the following analysis this writer will compare the eight steps for successful large scale change in an organization outlined in the book, The Heart of Change, with those discussed in the scientifically validated text Organizational Behavior and Management, by Ivancevich, Konopaske, and Matteson, (2011). As The Heart of Change presents their method of organizational change in eight stages, the comparative text discusses the undertaking of change through the perspective of slightly different methods starting on page 528. Both books are typically synonymous regarding the concepts of change in an organization; this analysis will dissect these differences and similarities, and prove both are valid resources.…

    • 2549 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The first step involves communicating and convincing employees that the change is critical to the sustainability of the company, reachable, and for the best of everyone. Step two is to gather a team of respected leaders. Step three involves building a clear vision of the change and the situation that will help the company and its employees. Step four communicates that vision with leadership team as role models. Step five is the enabler for employees to change in accordance with the vision through short-term goals. Step six recognizes the improvements and reassessment of changes to make adjustments as needed. The last step reinforces change by instilling the change into the organizational culture, processes, and procedures (Robbins, 2011).…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The phrase ‘change management’ has been defined as “the process of continually renewing an organization’s direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customers” (Todnem, 2005, p. 369 cited Moran and Brightman, 2001, p. 111). Generally, organizational change can be initiated by managers or come into existence through external pressure or implemented as a result of specific changes in policy and procedures. In brief, organizational change is an effort made by management to have members of the organization to think, behave and perform in a different way (Yılmaz and Kılıçoğlu, 2013 cited Kreitner and Kinicki, 2010).…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    According to Cummings and Worley (1997) there is a five-phase process for managing change, including: motivating change, creating vision, developing political support, managing the transition, and sustaining momentum. Motivating change involves creating a work environment that embraces change and developing approaches to overcome any resistance to change. The general guidelines include: enlightening members of the organization about the need for change, expressing the current status of the organization and where it should be in the future, and developing realistic approaches to change. Employees may be resistant to change due to fear of the unknown. Leaders need to reassure their employees and listen to their concerns. Creating a vision for the company involves describing what the change effort is striving to accomplish. Employees must feel that the vision is realistic and relevant to the company. Developing political support is critical to the change being implemented successfully. Politics is all about power in the organization. Change often means a shift in power across management levels. In order for the change to be successful, the change effort must recruit the support of all key players in the organization. A strong mechanism for ensuring an alignment of power is developing a network of power-players who interact and count on each other to support and guide the change effort. Managing the transition occurs when the actual transition from the current state to the future state occurs. These changes might require on-going coaching as well as training and enforcement of new policies and procedures. It is important to keep employees focused on the goal that the change is trying to achieve. Ideally, the various actions should be integrated into a Change Management Plan that focuses on specific objectives,…

    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    For many years, the world of business has experienced an increasing rate of change. Alvin Toffler (1970) predicted the trend several decades ago. Toffler also noted that people exhibit a natural tendency to resist change. This resistance to change is a major organizational challenge that organizations must learn to manage. As individuals respond to change in different ways, and as variations in responses produce different outcomes the recognition of this resistance to change is an essential step in the development and implementation of effective change management strategies. Change, positive or negative, is unsettling because people seek stability. Certain individuals are more resistant to change than others, at times there can be situational characteristics such as a lack of trust in management contributing to this resistance to change. Often this resistance to change is out of self interest, at stake can be factors such as income, job security, prestige, power, and personal convenience. Low tolerance for change, lack of trust in management, and self interest are all factors which result in resistance to change. However my experience suggests that lack of understanding of the need for change can be the single greatest contributing factor and is the factor which the organization has the greatest control over.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bundy (2004) argues that MI is based on the Transtheoretical Model of Change developed by Prochaska in 1997. The model comprises of six stages of change which include pre-contemplation, contemplation, planning, action, maintenance and termination.…

    • 156 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Change Initiative

    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Organizational change is a necessary outcome when considering various scenarios contributing to the resulting vision. Perplexing as it may seem, change initiatives don’t always result in positive outcomes. In fact, many never succeed. As a change agent, one should always have formulated a vision of what change will “look” like for the organization. One would be hard pressed to paint a landscape without having a vision of what the landscape should resemble. Yet, resistance to change usually becomes a significant factor contributing to an initiative’s failure. It is likely an implicit expectation to prepare for the advent of resistance and it consequences. A change agent’s tool box should contain a number of strategies which will support the process of change. Defining and re-defining the end result as well as the change process itself is a useful exercise in that clarity eventually overcomes obscure, poorly orchestrated attempts at invoking change. This paper will propose a change initiative designed for LC- an organization referenced previously in part I of a continuing anthology of LC’s attempts at facing change. Resistance to change will be examined within the context of how certain attributes of any successful change process operate to support or derail attempts at managing a successful change initiative.…

    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Caluwe

    • 5535 Words
    • 23 Pages

    In Chapter 3 we discussed paradigms concerning change: What exactly does the concept of change mean to an individual (which color?), and is this meaning experienced consciously or subconsciously? In Chapter 4 we looked at a method for change: Which main elements seem to be constant irrespective of how people view change? What does a road map for change processes look like? In this chapter we will delve yet a little deeper: What exactly do you, as a change agent, do in each specific phase of a change process? How do you steer through the four phases from idea to outcome? This chapter probably offers the change agent in the field the most practical advice. During external and in-house courses in change management we have noticed that most change agents wrestle with the question of how to structure each phase (Figure 5.1). How do you find answers to questions such as the following: • What exactly is the problem? How do I uncover that? Why are things the way…

    • 5535 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Implementing Change

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Implementing change in a department of organization can be difficult. Management must have a plan before implementing the change. The manager’s role and responsibility in implementing change within a department is very important. The manager’s role is to assess the change that needs to take place, come up with a plan to implement a change, implement the change, and evaluate the change in a timely order. To have a successful implementation of a new process, the manager must be involved in each step. The manager must keep the staff involved and let the staff know why the change is taking place and how it will affect the work process. The manager faces many challenges such as meeting the organizations goals and working with staff members who might resist the change. This paper will focus on the manager’s role and responsibility in implementing change, the way a manager should successfully handle staff resistance to change and define each step of the change process such as assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation.…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Change in the Workplace

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages

    To successfully manage change, one must differentiate between effective and ineffective strategies for introducing change. Surprisingly, the strategies people tend to rely on are usually the…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hyten Corporation

    • 2805 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Change is ongoing in any organisation and this is to be a managed process. The need for change should be clarified and has to be analysed, the new goal clearly laid out, the change effected and then the whole change measured against the goals initially stated. Then one can see if a new change or further change is necessary. These processes are laid out in Dr. E. Goldratt's book the Critical Chain as The Theory of constraints.…

    • 2805 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays