Chapter 13
13. Organizational Change
Understanding Key Concept l Change agents are people who take action to change the behavior of people and systems. l Unplanned change occurs spontaneously and without a change agent’s direction. l Planned change is intentional and occurs with a change agent’s direction. l Unfreezing is the stage at which a situation is prepared for change. l Changing is the stage in which specific actions are taken to create change. l Refreezing is the stage in which changes are reinforced and stabilized. l A force– coercion strategy uses authority, rewards, and punishments to create change. l A rational persuasion strategy uses facts, special knowledge, and rational argument to create change. l A shared-power strategy uses participatory methods and emphasizes common values to create change. l Resistance to change is an attitude or behavior that shows unwillingness to make or support a change.
Change in Organizations
“Change” is the watchword of the day for many, if not most, organizations. Some of this change may be described as radical change, or frame-breaking change. This is change that results in a major overhaul of the organization or its component systems. In today’s business environments, such radical changes are often initiated by a critical event, such as a new CEO, a new ownership brought about by merger or takeover, or a dramatic failure in operating results. When it occurs in the life cycle of an organization, radical change is intense and all-encompassing.
Another common form of organizational change is incremental change, or frame-bending change.
This type of change, being part of an organization’s natural evolution, is frequent and less traumatic. Typical changes of this type include the introduction of new products, new technologies, and new systems and processes. Although the nature of the organization remains relatively the same, incremental change builds on the existing ways of operating to enhance or
extend
Understanding Key Concept l Change agents are people who take action to change the behavior of people and systems. l Unplanned change occurs spontaneously and without a change agent’s direction. l Planned change is intentional and occurs with a change agent’s direction. l Unfreezing is the stage at which a situation is prepared for change. l Changing is the stage in which specific actions are taken to create change. l Refreezing is the stage in which changes are reinforced and stabilized. l A force– coercion strategy uses authority, rewards, and punishments to create change. l A rational persuasion strategy uses facts, special knowledge, and rational argument to create change. l A shared-power strategy uses participatory methods and emphasizes common values to create change. l Resistance to change is an attitude or behavior that shows unwillingness to make or support a change.
Change in Organizations
“Change” is the watchword of the day for many, if not most, organizations. Some of this change may be described as radical change, or frame-breaking change. This is change that results in a major overhaul of the organization or its component systems. In today’s business environments, such radical changes are often initiated by a critical event, such as a new CEO, a new ownership brought about by merger or takeover, or a dramatic failure in operating results. When it occurs in the life cycle of an organization, radical change is intense and all-encompassing.
Another common form of organizational change is incremental change, or frame-bending change.
This type of change, being part of an organization’s natural evolution, is frequent and less traumatic. Typical changes of this type include the introduction of new products, new technologies, and new systems and processes. Although the nature of the organization remains relatively the same, incremental change builds on the existing ways of operating to enhance or
extend