“The primary objective of change is to ensure the future competitive sustainability of an organization” (Borkowski, 2005, p. 391). The phases in organizational change are unavoidable, regardless if they have positive or negative results. A case study can demonstrate that a planned organizational change process will lead to the change success. In this paper, the case presented will demonstrate the importance of completing and implementing the phases of this process.
The organizational change process has three phases. The first phase is sometimes called the "contracting” phase between the change agent and the stakeholders. In this phase, a problem is recognized and its sources. This is the time to realize the need for change, time to clarify expectations and roles, and to assess readiness for changes.
Phase two is “planning” the change, characterized by identifying the priorities for change. The change agent determines the ideal future state and identifies what obstacles need to be changed in order to reach it. The change agent must team up with the stakeholders because the success will depend on their collaboration and effective communication. In this phase they collect data, analyze it, and provide conclusions and recommendations from this information.
Phase three is “implementing” and sustaining the change. During this phase a feedback meeting is important to share with others the priorities that need consideration and to generate recommendations to deal with those priorities. In this phase, stakeholder’s “resistance may arise from a number of sources” (Spector, Chapter 1, Conclusions).
Case example is Concord Bookshop where phase two of the organizational change was not implemented. “When companies try to move on into Phase 3 without having achieved these Phase 2 results, their progress is usually disappointing” (Phillips, 1983, p. 191). The employees, including the managers were not aware of the oncoming
References: Borkoswki, N. (2005). Organizational behavior in health care. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook. Phillips, J. R. (1983). Enhancing the effectiveness of organizational change management. Human Resource Management, 22(1/2), 183-199. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Spector, B. (2010). Implementing organizational change. Theory into practice. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook.