Organisational Change and Development:

Managing Change:
Organisations are vehicles of socio economic change and development in any society. As a
vehicle of development they are affected by the changes that take place in the environment.
Changes may also be possible in the internal environment of an organisation due to changing
aspirations of its members and / or induction of new technology ( the simple and recent example of
which is the computers).Change is the phenomenon of the day and any change in any part of the
environment, either internal and external, will affect every aspect of organisational life.
Management of change, therefore, is assuming far greater significance today in view of the rapid
pace and unpredictability of its direction both in the internal and external environment of any
organisation. As organisations are a complex network interdependent individuals and groups,
change in any one aspect of the organisation will have repercussions on every other aspect in the
organisation. Change, therefore, even seemingly insignificant ones, must be carefully planned so
as to anticipate its negative impact on other subsystems of the organisation and corrective action
plan kept ready to be implemented on time.

At the same time we must be ware of the factors in the internal and external environment of
the organisation that will bring about changes and these changes are sometimes inevitable and
may be for the future good health of the organisation. Some of these factors are:
1. need for improvement in productivity and quality.
2. uncertainties in social, political and economic environments.
3. rapid changes in technology and knowledge.
4. globalisation of business and standards of goods and servicesas customers will compare the
indigenous goods and services with multinational standards.
5. increase in the number of stake-holders and pressure groups both within and without the
organisation.
6. increased competition at national and international levels.
7. pace of obsolescence is likely to increase demanding continuous learning by organisational
members.
8. Reduction of time availability for decision-response.
9. adaptations through search, creating newer option and adjustments thereto.
10. increasing need for value based training to develop culture of work commitment.


Resistance to Change:
The factors mentioned above will bring about inevitable change, and the organisation even
though well aware of the same, will still find it an uphill task to introduce changes in the existing
systems. All contemplated changes will fundamentally involve transformation and modification of
peoples attitudes. Knowledge, skills and practices they had acquired over the time while coping
up with the existing contingencies. Any change in belief and habit are bound to be resisted as it
requires new - untried - coping mechanisms. Specifically from the employees point of view,
changes are resisted for the following reasons:


1. Evaluation of outcome:
Employees perception of the change and assessment of its impact on goal achievement is
likely to be different depending on hierarchical levels to which they belong I.e. the same change
proposal may be perceived differently by managers and workers in terms of its impact on their
individual goals and on the organisation.
2. Adaptability to change:
Psychologically individuals differ in characteristics especially risk taking ability, threshold
levels for anxiety, ambiguity and flexibility etc. Those employees with low thresholds levels will
react negatively and resist changes.
3. Personal Goals:
Many employees may see changes as a threat to their personal goals like power,
competence, money, prestige and security and react the only way they can safeguard
themselves resist changes.
4. Misunderstanding of Purpose and Lack of Trust:
Low levels of trust amongst the various sections of the employees and with the
management as also a lack of real understanding of the real purpose of the change will result in
their resisting the change.

Resistance can be contained to a minimum by adoption of the following measures:
a) nature of change be made clear to all, especially to those who will be affected by it.
b) through education and proper communication employees can be made to accept changes in the
larger interests of the Organisation and their own.
c) by identifying, interest and pressure groups ( who are likely to resist change) and involving them at
some stage of decision making process.
d) employees must be encouraged to actively participate and get involved in deciding about the
nature and direction of change.
e) by ensuring that changes are not effected on personal grounds or for personal benefits of a few
individuals but only for objective requirements of the organisation .
f) by incorporating already existent customs, social relations and institutions - to the extent possible -
in the new order.
g) providing for counselling, individual and group therapy for developing facilitative and supportive
skills for the management of change.


Planning and Implementing Change:
Management is often called a Change agent and any change this change agent desires,
employees support is essential as they are at the helm of affairs. Change is essentially of three
steps: Unfreezing, change and re-freezing.
Unfreezing means, old practices and ideas are to be set aside so that new ones can be
brought in place. Change is the step in which new practices and ideas are learnt so that
employees can think and perform in new, changed ways. Refreezing means that what is now
learnt (new) is integrated in to actual practice.
When the change that has been brought about, after it has been accepted and has been
decided to make it a part of the on-going activity, is to be blended in to all ongoing activities of the
organisation, it requires total commitment to absorb them in its vitals. This process comes about
by positive implementation of the change process. Implementation is a multidimensional process.
When the change(s) are made a permanent part of the organisation, we have achieved
Institutionalisation. When changes thus institutionalised become a permanent part of the
organisation, we have achieved Internalisation.
The Implementation process commences with planning. The three stages in this planning
process are, Monitoring Change, Taking action in relation to the change and Making necessary
adjustments, if necessary, in the programme made for implementation.

Planning Monitoring Action Adaptation
Cases * Implementation * General & Local
Processes Team * Coping with
Strategies * Minimum Consequences
Control
Feedback
Communication


Institutionalisation Stabilisation


Planning:
The objective is to have an understanding of implementation. It means determining in
advance the various steps in implementation. It may be focused on phasing, which may be
temporal ( in time dimension) or spatial ( in terms of various units or locations of the organisation).

Processes:
The processes involved in planning should be finalised in advance, which include: initiation,
motivation, diagnosis, data collection, analysis of data, proposed action, implementation and
stabilisation.

Strategies:
Management should enunciate various strategies for implementation, focusing on taking
outsiders help, change agent, designing structures, unit / location of organisation to be selected
for initial phase, openness with the environment etc.

Monitoring:
It is the periodic measurement of programme inputs, activities and outputs undertaken
during implementation. Monitoring is necessary to make implementation effective and to ensure
that plans proceed as per the originally envisaged. An independent with no undue interest may be
entrusted with this task and preferably should have continuity.

Implementation Team:
HRD department of the organisation or a broad based task group of implementation should
look after the change programme.Minimum Control:
Since it is a delicate issue, control should be minimum in order to ensure that the
monitoring is effective. Though it is a control function, at the same time it attempts to develop new
standards of creativity, diversity and experimentation.

Review and Feedback:
The task force must review the data obtained and experiences collected and provide
feedback to people concerned how they are implementing compared to the plans.

Dissemination of Information:
All data, information, experiences collected from various units/ processes to be provided to
all parties of change implementation for motivation and renewed commitment.

Action:
It covers all the minute details of what is to be implemented at different stages. This
process involves various phases and steps for people and various group tasks in relation to
change programme.

Adaptation:
Adaptation is the blending of two criteria - effectiveness and implementation. Some
modifications may be made in the original plan and some may be developed at a alter stage.

Support:
Support in various forms and from various quarters will be required for the implementation
of change. Main agencies which will be called in for support are:
Human Resources Development: Effective implementation of change requires new and
varied technical, managerial and behavioural skills and knowledge. HRD can contribute to the
development of these skills through training, executive / organisational development programmes.

Resources:
Implementation requires resource support: financial, human, technology etc.

Linkages:
Support is also essential in building linkages with external experts, external agencies and
internal departments, as also linkages between departments, implementation teams, line
management and top management.

Management Commitment:
Top management should fully involve itself in the process encourage the implementation
teams and provide all required resources.
In addition to the above management has to get the support of employees through the
following means:
a) Encouraging and using group force.
b) Development of leadership for change.
c) Encouraging participation and free exchange of views.
d) Maintaining employee security.
e) Effective communication.
f) Participation and working with the unions.
g) Working with the total system, which is undergoing change by adopting useful and necessary
changes.
h) Changing by evolution and ensuring no abrupt changes takes place.
i) Adopting the change with adequate attention to human relations.
j) Identifying and taking care of post-change problems.



Organisation Development:
Organisation Development (OD) is by far the most widely used strategy of planned change
in organisations. Based on the analysis derived from researches n behavioural sciences in the last
four to five decades, OD provides a normative framework within which changes in climate and
culture of the organisation for harnessing the human potential for the realisation of organisational
objectives and goals is brought about. Organisation Development, therefore, aims at developing
and revitalising the adaptive capacities of organisations so as to enable them to respond to their
internal and external environment in a proactive manner.

Objectives of Organisation Development:
Some of the major objectives of OD are:
1. Create an open problem-solving climate throughout the organisation, so that employees develop
a high degree of problem solving orientation.
2. Develop relationships based on trust and collaboration among individuals and groups - vertically,
horizontally and diagonally.
3. Inculcate team spirit amongst employees and to develop a culture of consensual decision-making.
4. Make competition positive where it exists, and so contribute to excellence in meeting the work
goals as opposed to win / lose competition.
5. Locate decision-making and problem-solving responsibilities as close to the information source
as possible.
6. Increase the sense of affiliation with the organisation objectives among the employees
throughout the organisation by adopting strategies geared to integrating the individual needs with
organisational requirements.


Characteristics of OD:
The main characteristics of OD are as follows:
1. Planned Change:
A great deal of effort is directed toward planning for change in a systematic manner as it is
focused on people. Interdependence amongst individuals as also other constituent elements of the
organisation is recognised and planning is attempted so as to deal with unintended consequences
of change efforts.
2. Systematic Change:
The OD efforts usually involve the organisation as a whole or an identifiable unit within it.
The emphasis is on total system change.
3. Relational Thrust:
The OD programmes have a relational thrust - they seek to relate individual needs with the
organisation goals by activating work groups and teams and using them as medium and target of
change.
4. Long-range Change: Since OD aims at bringing about a culture change, the time span for such a
change is much larger, sometimes two to three years or more.

5. Catalyst for Change:
The catalyst for change is often called the Change Agent, with professional expertise in
applied behavioural sciences, must be involved while introducing OD programmes. Though an
external change agent needs to be involved, however, a major thrust of OD effort is to prepare a
cadre of internal change agents from within the organisation who sustain, maintain and strengthen
the change efforts.



Intervention and Action Research:
The OD approach places emphasis on making appropriate intervention in the ongoing
activities of the organisation. In action research, the change agent establishes collaborative
relationship with the clients and works jointly with them in diagnosing problems, setting change
goals, making intervention and evaluating the outcome. The process is continuous and cyclical
and, therefore, requires active involvement and commitment of both change agent (external or
internal) and the clients for a longer time duration.

Interventions:
A wide variety of interventions have been developed to assist the organisation to move
towards its change gals. The choice of an intervention, however, depends on the target group, that
is, the level at which the change is desired. The levels could be individual, dyads / triads. Teams /
groups, inter group and organisation as a whole.
At the level of the individual, interventions like life and career planning counselling,
sensitivity training (T-Group) for heightened self-awareness are used. For dyads (superior-
subordinate), process consultation and third party peace-making are considered to be more
appropriate. At the level of group, team-building workshops, family, T-group and survey feedback
are some of the interventions which have proved effective. The most widely used interventions are
sensitivity training, process consultation and survey feedback. These three taken together can be
used for any target group. In OD, while one may begin at any one level (individual, interpersonal,
group, inter-group, organisation) because of the interdependence of these levels, interventions
must be directed at all subsequent levels.