Types of Change

Types of change
TYPES OF CHANGE
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 12
CATEGORISING CHANGE ..................................................................................... 13
CHANGE AND APPROACHES ............................................................................... 17
CULTURE ................................................................................................................ 19
CULTURE AUDIT .................................................................................................... 25
THE CHANGE CULTURE........................................................................................ 28
CHANGE IN PUBLIC-SECTOR ORGANISATIONS................................................ 31
REFERENCES AND READING............................................................................... 32
REFERENCES AND READING............................................................................... 35
© Effecting change in Higher Education 11

Types of change
Introduction
Critical issues covered in this section include:
• There are many different ways of categorising change processes;
• Understanding the nature of the change you wish to effect and the context in which you are
working are important in determining an appropriate strategy;
• There is no simple solution.
Change is complex – entering uncharted ‘change’ territory without some sort of route map puts you at
an immediate disadvantage form the start. One of the first stages in charting the territory is to
understand a little more about the type of change you wish to make (broadly where you want to get to
and how you plan to travel) and the second is to understand the lie of the land (the culture and political
environment in which you are travelling) which will help you avoid the steep climbs and major
obstacles where possible and work with the lines of least resistance. This section looks at these
issues and their implications for those planning changes.
We have drawn on a number of sources but would like, in particular, to express our appreciation to the
NHS Service Delivery and Organisation (SDO) programme for sections of Managing Change in the
NHS1.
1
Iles and Sutherland, NCCSDO (2001) Managing Change in the NHS: Organisational Change. Available on
line at www.sdo.lshtm.ac.uk (accessed November 2003).

Types of change
Categorising change
There are a number of ways in which change can be categorised most are related to the extent of the
change and whether it is seen as organic (often characterised as bottom-up) or driven (top-down).
Ackerman (1997) has distinguished between three types of change: developmental, transitional and
transformational.
Developmental change may be either planned or emergent; it is first order, or incremental. It is

change that enhances or corrects existing aspects of an organisation, often focusing on the
improvement of a skill or process.
Transitional change seeks to achieve a known desired state that is different from the existing one. It
is episodic, planned and second order, or radical.
The model of transitional change is the basis of much of the organisational change literature (see
Kanter, 1983 and Nadler & Tushman, 1989) It has its foundations in the work of Lewin (1951) who
conceptualised change as a three-stage process involving:
• unfreezing the existing organisational equilibrium;
• moving to a new position; and
• refreezing in a new equilibrium position.
Schein in 1987 further explored these three stages. He suggested that unfreezing involves:
• disconfirmation of expectations;
• creation of guilt or anxiety; and
• provision of psychological safety that converts anxiety into motivation to change.
Moving to a new position is achieved through cognitive restructuring, often through:
• identifying with a new role model or mentor; and
• scanning the environment for new relevant information.
Refreezing occurs when the new point of view is integrated into:
• the total personality and concept of self; and
• significant relationships.
Transformational change is radical or second order in nature. It requires a shift in assumptions made
by the organisation and its members.
Transformation can result in an organisation that differs significantly in terms of structure, processes,
culture and strategy. It may, therefore, result in the creation of an organisation that operates in
developmental mode – one that continuously learns, adapts and improves.

Types of change
One way of viewing change is to consider it in terms of two dimensions: how radical the change is and
how centrally controlled. A recent audit commission report visualises this as shown in the following
figure:
Figure Four types of Change (source: Audit commission)
An interactive tool which explores the various sections of the diagram is available at: http://ww2.audit-
commission.gov.uk/changehere/content/intro.htm
Planned versus emergent change

Sometimes change is deliberate, a product of conscious reasoning and actions. This type of change is
called planned change. In contrast, change sometimes unfolds in an apparently spontaneous and
unplanned way. This type of change is known as emergent change. Change can be emergent rather
than planned in two ways.
• Managers make a number of decisions apparently unrelated to the change that emerges. The
change is therefore not planned. However, these decisions may be based on unspoken, and
sometimes unconscious, assumptions about the organisation, its environment and the future
(Mintzberg, 1989) and are, therefore, not as unrelated as they first seem. Such implicit
assumptions dictate the direction of the seemingly disparate and unrelated decisions, thereby
shaping the change process by ‘drift’ rather than by design.
• External factors (such as the economy, competitors’ behaviour, and political climate) or
internal features (such as the relative power of different interest groups, distribution of
knowledge, and uncertainty) influence the change in directions outside the control of
managers. Even the most carefully planned and executed change programme will have some
emergent impacts.
This highlights two important aspects of managing change.
• The need to identify, explore and if necessary challenge the assumptions that underlie
managerial decisions.

Types of change
• Understanding that organisational change is a process that can be facilitated by perceptive

and insightful planning and analysis and well crafted, sensitive implementation phases, while
acknowledging that it can never be fully isolated from the effects of serendipity, uncertainty
and chance (Dawson, 1996).
An important (arguably the central) message of recent management of change literature is that
organisation-level change is not fixed or linear in nature but contains an important emergent element.
The section on complexity theory gives more details of some of the developments in this area.
Episodic versus continuous change

Another distinction is between episodic and continuous change. Episodic change, according to Weick
and Quinn (1999), is ‘infrequent, discontinuous and intentional’. Sometimes termed ‘radical’ or ‘second
order’ change, episodic change often involves replacement of one strategy or programme with
another.
Continuous change, in contrast, is ‘ongoing, evolving and cumulative’. Also referred to as ‘first order’
or ‘incremental’ change, continuous change is characterised by people constantly adapting and editing
ideas they acquire from different sources. At a collective level these continuous adjustments made
simultaneously across units can create substantial change.
The distinction between episodic and continuous change helps clarify thinking about an organisation’s
future development and evolution in relation to its long-term goals. Few organisations are in a position
to decide unilaterally that they will adopt an exclusively continuous change approach. They can,
however, capitalise upon many of the principles of continuous change by engendering the flexibility to
accommodate and experiment with everyday contingencies, breakdowns, exceptions, opportunities
and unintended consequences that punctuate organisational life (Orlikowski, 1996).
References and Reading

Ackerman, L (1997) Development, transition or transformation: the question of change in
organisations. In: Van Eynde, D., Hoy, J and Van Eynde, D (eds) Organisation Development
Classics. San Francisco, Jossey Bass.
Dawson, S. J. N. D. (1996) Analysising Organisations, Hampshire, Macmillan.
Kanter, R. M. (1983) The Change Masters London, George Allen and Unwin. Beckhard, R and
Harris, R (1987) Organisational Transitions: Managing Complex Change. Wokingham, Addison-
Lewin, K (1951) Field Theory in Social Science New York, Harper Row.
Mintzberg, H (1989) Mintzberg on Management: inside our strange world of organisations

Chicago, Free Press.
Nadler, D and Tushman, M. (1989) Organisational framebending. Academy of Management

Executive, 3: 194-202.
Orlikowski, W. (1996) Improvising organisational transformation over time: a situated change

perspective. Information Systems Research, 7(1), p63-92.
Schein, E (1987) Process Consultation, vol II, Wokingham, Addison-Wesley Weick, K. E and
Quinn, R. E. (1999) Organisational change and development. Annual Review of Psychology, 50,
p361-86.
Weick, K. E and Quinn, R. E. (1999) Organisational change and development. Annual Review of
Psychology, 50 p361-86.

Types of change
Wesley. Nadler, D and Tushman, M. (1989) Organisational framebending. Academy of

Management Executive, 3: 194-202.

Types of change
Change and approaches
Different approaches to change are discussed in a separate section of this resource on the basis of
Ways of viewing change and Ways of doing change. How do these relate to these various types of
change – which approaches fit which sort of changes best? The broad relationship is indicated in the
following table – but should be treated with care because of the lack of research underpinning to some
of the approaches and the reality that effective implementation depends on a wide variety of different
factors including culture, personality, process and resource.
Type Possible approach
Incremental TQM
Parallel learning structures and Quality circles
Organisational development
Step-change Project management
BPR
Organic TQM
Parallel learning structures and Quality circles
The Learning Organisation
Benchmarking
Action research
Directive BPR
Project management
Planned Project management
Emergent TQM
Action research
Episodic BPR
Project management
Continuous Parallel learning structures and Quality circles

Types of change
TQM
Action research

Types of change
Culture
“but there has always been that schism in higher education between those who still feel that managers
should be shot on sight if you can call them that and those who feel that the system has to be more
like that in other pubic and private sectors more businesslike...If you then say that higher education
has a culture of its own and then to ignore that culture from top to bottom would be a great mistake the
powers of inertia are very very powerful “
VC, Post ’92 University
Introduction
There are two aspects of the issue of culture and change. Firstly, the importance of working with the
existing culture when seeking to effect any change; and secondly, how to go about changing the
culture itself. This section explores these and associated issues both require shrewd and effective
leadership.
When asked ‘what is culture?’ staff in HE subscribed almost unanimously to the common definition of
culture as being ‘the way we do things around here’. Culture involves both the explicit way of working
– the formal systems and processes in place and how they operate, and the tacit level of operation –
the informal and semi-formal networks and other activities that people employ to get things done and
by-pass, subvert or seek to influence the more formal processes.
Culture provides the context for our working lives and defines the standards by which we expect to be
judged and the processes and procedures by which we expect to be involved in the activities which
affect us. When dealing with change it’s important to recognise that different institutions have different
cultures and that within institutions different areas and different academic subjects also have their own
way of doing things – their own cultures. Larger departments will contain their own sub-cultures. Thus
it is impossible to talk about a generic culture of HE.
Culture can be transmitted by:
• The philosophy of the institution – themes like equity and diversity, widening participation,
striving for excellence in teaching; research reputation etc.
• The mission statement
• The criteria for evaluating and rewarding performance, job progression etc.
• The approach to change which is adopted
• The way in which leaders act
Culture is also transmitted in the informal history of the organisation that is shared in stories and
legends about key people and events that have affected the organisation.

Types of change
McNay2 identified four broad cultures depending on the degree of control of policy definition and policy
control as shown in the following figure.
loose
Collegium Bureaucracy
definition
Policy
Enterprise Corporation
tight
loose Control of tight

implementation
McNay identifies the key features of each of these models as follows:
Factor Collegium Bureaucracy Corporation Enterprise
Dominant value Freedom Equity Loyalty Competence
Role of central Permissive Regulatory Directive Supportive

authorities
Handy’s Person Role Power Task

organisational
culture
Dominant unit Department/individ Faculty/committee Institution/senior Sub-unit/project

ual s management team teams
Decision arenas Informal groups Committees and Working parties Project teams
networks administrative and Senior
briefings Management team
Management Consensual Formal/’rational’ Political/tactical Devolved

style leadership
Timeframe Long Cyclic Short/mid term Instant
Environmental fit Evolution Stability Crisis Turbulence
2
McNay I. (1995) From the collegial academy to the corporate enterprise: the changing cultures of universities in
T. Schuller (ed) The Changing University? Buckingham, SRHE and the Open University press.

Types of change
Nature of change Organic innovation Reactive Proactive Tactical flexibility

adaptation transformation
External referents Invisible college Regulatory bodies Policy makers as Clients/sponsors

opinion leaders
Internal referents The discipline The rules The plans Market

strength/students
Basis for Peer assessment Audit of Performance Repeat business

evaluation procedures indicators
Student status Apprentice Statistic Unit of resource Customer

academic
Administrator The community The committee The chief The client, internal
roles: servant of executive and external
…
Using the above table to identify the culture in which you operate can be a useful starting point in
identifying the appropriate levers and approaches which will assist with change.
Change and Culture

Cultural differences need to be taken into account when introducing change, going against the
predominant culture will make achieving change more difficult. Working with it and recognising the
key levers can help facilitate change.
One way of considering change is to use the change quadrants model. This considers the
organisational culture and the nature of the change and characterising each as either warm or cold.
Cold
rules, regulations, systems, structures and procedures drive direction.
culture
Warm shared norms and values are important together with a common understanding of
culture direction.
Cold
the result of an emergency situation.
change
Warm
driven by personal and professional desires.
change

Types of change
Figure Change vs Culture matrix
Intervene Change is likely to be directed from the top down and will be largely accepted.
Implement Change will need to be implemented from the top but with extensive communication and
support to assist staff to make the necessary changes.
Transform Rules and regulations will have to change to meet changing circumstances.
Innovate Ideas are likely to come from the bottom up. Managers need to listen and respond
accordingly supporting where appropriate.
Some points:
Be wary of forcing a cold change through a warm culture.
A cold change is easier to communicate than a warm one.
Factors to be considered include:
• What is the overall culture of the institution (and hence how can change be achieved)? The
Culture Audit tool is designed to explore this in more detail.
• How will the proposed change be perceived? The Change Culture tool is designed to help with
this process.
• Are there sub-cultures where different strategies or tactics need to be applied or which will
require different forms of negotiation and communication?
• Academics may owe as much loyalty (or possibly more) to their own subjects rather than to
the institution or department in which they operate. Thus they will want to know how any
change will be perceived by those outside the organisation. Benchmarking processes can
help with this.

Types of change
• Academics are challenging individuals - it is the nature of academia to debate, discuss and
criticise. Engaging in debate is essential if there is to be buy-in from the academic community
and criticism should not necessarily be seen as a lack of support.
Changing Culture
A change of culture values or beliefs is the most difficult sort of change to effect. There are two broad
strategies that can be adopted: crisis change or co-ordinated incremental change.
A major crisis can provide a useful basis for effecting a change in culture since it can force staff to
recognise the need for change and that the culture needs to be different. The upheaval that such
crises generate can then be used to identify the new culture and embed it in practice. It has been
known for crises to be created specifically with the intention of creating the right climate to assist with a
change in culture.
The VC kept saying that the Resources and Planning Committee were very concerned about the
projected figures and were actively considering some severe options including staff cutbacks or
closing down the Unit. This made staff finally sit up and take note and come forward with an action
plan that everyone agreed to. In reality the University had no such committee.
Head of Department, Pre-92 University
Incremental change is slower but requires concerted movement on a number of different fronts all
designed to support the implementation of the new culture. Changing the culture piecemeal in an
uncoordinated way is unlikely to have any long-term effect.
Ten questions to consider when attempting to change the culture:
1 Are you clear about the characteristics of the new culture that you wish to create and how
these differ from where you are now?
2 What change to processes would help embed the new culture?
3 How will the changes be communicated to staff?
4 How will existing staff be ‘developed’ into the new culture? (Training individuals and letting
them go back to their original workplace is likely to lead to reversion to old ways. Training
may best be done on a team or departmental basis. New ways of doing things then need to
be immediately practised.)
5 Do you promote the new culture in job advertisements and associated literature? Do you
actively look for the required attributes when recruiting new staff? Are new staff inducted into
the required culture? (New staff will rapidly adopt the standard local culture – if they are
trained and supported to the new culture then they can act as beacons for new practices.
Untrained and unsupported they will adopt the old ways.)
6 How will managers visibly demonstrate the new way of doing things?
7 How will old practices be challenged?
8 What procedures can be put in place to acknowledge and reward the new ways of working?
9 How can good practice be identified and supported?
10 Do you need a change policy or plan to help create the new order?

Types of change
References
Bennis W G (1969) Organisation Development: Its Nature Origins and Prospects Reading, Mass:
Addison-Wesley Publishing
Eckel,P., Green,M., Hill, B. & M.W.(1999) Taking Charge of Change: A Primer for Colleges and
Universities. ACE Fulfillment Services: Washington
Kotter,J.P., and Heskett, J.L. (1988) Corporate Culture and Performance’. The Free Press: New
York
Schuler, R.S. and Jackson, S.E. (1987) "Linking competitive strategies with human resource
management practices", Academy of Management Executive, 1(3), 207-19.

Types of change
Culture Audit
Position Scale Suitability Tool before Tool after

Culture Large scale Individual, Team
Purpose
This tool uses two aspects of the standard SWOT analysis to examine aspects of the organisational
culture. Having an awareness of culture issues can help with the decision-making process about how
to approach change.
Process
Consider a number of change initiatives in the institution and for each one identify whether it is
characterised by:
• threats or opportunities;
• a short-term or long-term view.
Position each on a 4-quadrant matrix.
Think of as many changes as you can (in a group or by yourself). Where within the quadrant would
you position them?
• Is there a concentration of change initiatives in any one quadrant?

• Are the changes successful or not so successfully implemented?
THREATS OPPORTUNITIES
Long
term Super-tanker Space
Explorer
Short Fire- Band-wagon

term fighting
Fire-fighting
Areas in the fire-fighting quadrant are always reacting to changes and threats at very short notices and
feel not in full control of circumstances and actions.

Types of change
Advantages Disadvantages
Culture of change can help make change Externally-driven

happen
Never run things long enough to fully embed
Changes happen readily them
Change fatigue can set in
High stress levels
Band-wagon
In the band-wagon quadrant you are always driven by external factors and the latest initiative.
Responsive Externally-driven
Changes happen readily Never run things long enough to fully embed
them
Sense of ‘Buzz’
Entrepreneurial
High stress levels
Never have the opportunity to review whether

what you do is effective
Super-tanker
In the Super-tanker quadrant change is slow and driven by external factors rather than by a sense of
drive and purpose from within the organisation.
Change can be managed Change is slow
Systems have time to react Lack of responsiveness
Unlikely to be able to respond to

opportunities
Fall behind competitors
Enthusing staff about the need for change

can be difficult
Space explorer
In the space explorer quadrant change is slow and driven by opportunities from the internal and
external environment. This may seem like the optimum quadrant but it has its drawbacks.

Types of change
Change can be managed and embedded Change is relatively slow and some
opportunities may be missed
Systems have time to react
Lack of responsiveness
Staff feel more in control
Is change taking us in the right direction –
and quickly enough?
Can we afford the investment?
Changing cultures
When reviewing your strategy to develop the desired culture there are a number of actions that can be
taken to change institutional culture. Some examples are given below.
To be more long-term:
• Set the style from the top.

• Reject some initiatives/opportunities – concentrate only on those changes which are essential.
• Plan changes so that the chances of change-fatigue are more limited.
• Put structures in place to consider long-term planning.
To be more short-term:
• Develop a culture of change.

• Look for easy short-term gains.
• Set short-term goals – and monitor them.
• Advertise and reward changes and those involved.
To be more opportunistic:
• Have systems in place to reward innovation

• Have systems in place for environmental scanning – be aware of what’s going on nationally
and internationally.
To be more threat aware:
• Look at what your ‘competitor’ institutions are doing.

• Undertake benchmarking activities.
• Listen to the students and other stakeholders.

Types of change
The Change Culture
Position Scale Suitability Tool Before Tool After

Culture
Purpose
This tool uses two aspects of the standard SWOT analysis to examine aspects of the approach to the
planned change and how it matches with institutional culture.
It is designed to help inform and clarify decisions about:
• The time-scale.
• The scope of the change.
• Aspects of resistance.
• The approach to change to be adopted.
• Building support and enthusiasm for the proposed change.
It is related to the Culture Audit tool and it might be helpful if you look at this tool first which examines
the institutional culture in which you are operating.
Process
In relation to the planned change, consider internal and external factors that represent:
• Threats and barriers to the initiative.

• Opportunities and facilitators of the initiative.
Threats and barriers Opportunities and facilitators
List List
Divide these into short and long term threats and opportunities.
Position them on a 4-quadrant matrix.
THREATS OPPORTUNITIES
Long
term Super-tanker Space
Explorer
Short Fire- Band-wagon

term fighting

Types of change
It can be useful to repeat this exercise from the point of view of the key stakeholders – is their
perception of the need for change the same as yours?
Fire-fighting
Areas in the fire-fighting quadrant are always reacting to changes and threats at very short notices and
feel not in full control of circumstances and actions.
Culture of change can help make change Externally-driven

happen
Never run things long enough to fully embed
Changes happen readily them
High stress levels
Band-wagon
In the band-wagon quadrant you are always driven by external factors and the latest initiative.
Responsive Externally-driven
Changes happen readily Never run things long enough to fully embed
them
Sense of ‘Buzz’
Entrepreneurial
High stress levels
Never have the opportunity to review whether

what you do is effective
Super-tanker
In the Super-tanker quadrant change is slow and driven by external factors rather than by a sense of
drive and purpose from within the organisation.
Change can be managed Change is slow
Systems have time to react Lack of responsiveness
Unlikely to be able to respond to

opportunities

Types of change
Fall behind competitors
Enthusing staff about the need for change

can be difficult
Space explorer
In the space explorer quadrant change is slow and driven by opportunities from the internal and
external environment. This may seem like the optimum quadrant but it has its drawbacks.
Change can be managed and embedded Change is relatively slow and some
opportunities may be missed
Systems have time to react
Lack of responsiveness
Staff feel more in control
Is change taking us in the right direction –
and quickly enough?
Can we afford the investment?
Questions to consider:
• Which quadrant best describes the planned change as currently perceived?
• Is that the quadrant in which you really want to be operating?
• Do you need to make changes to the way the change initiative is perceived?
• What actions would support this?
• Who would be responsible for these?

Types of change
Change in public-sector organisations
Whilst there are numerous papers outlining case studies on the implementation of change in higher
education (see the resources section for further details of these) and examples of the academic study
of change in complex business organisations, there are few systematic studies of change within higher
education itself. Can the lessons form the business world be extrapolated into education and higher
education in particular?
Michael Fullan (1999) has examined the management of change within the pre-university sector.
Here there has been greater governmental intervention than in higher education (so far) but some of
the key lessons bear consideration:
Lesson 1 You can’t mandate what matters (the more complex the change the less you can force
it).
Lesson 2 Change is a journey not a blueprint (change is non-linear, loaded with uncertainty and
excitement and sometimes perverse).
Lesson 3 Problems are our friends (problems are inevitable and you can’t learn without them).
Lesson 4 Vision and strategic planning come later (premature visions and planning blind).
Lesson 5 Individualism and collectivism must have equal power (there are no one-sided
solutions to isolation and group think).
Lesson 6 Neither centralisation nor decentralisation work (both top-down and bottom-up
strategies are necessary).
Lesson 7 Connection with the wider environment is critical for success (the best organisations
learn externally as well as internally).
Lesson 8 Every person is a change agent (change is too important to leave to experts, personal
mind-set and mastery is the ultimate protection).
Two meta-analyses have addressed the question of the transfer of lessons to the public sector more
generally. Golembiewski, Proehl and Sink (1982) found that public sector interventions displayed a
pattern of results very similar to private sector programmes (84% positive in public sector versus 89%
positive in private sector organisations). Robertson and Seneviratne (1995) studied organisational
outcomes in terms of work setting, individual behaviour and organisational performance, and
concluded that there were no overall significant differences between public and private sectors
regarding the amount of change induced by the 47 planned change interventions they studied.
These findings should be interpreted with care. Change in public sector organisations, and particularly
in those populated by influential professional groups, is beset by complexity of a different order from
that in more hierarchical organisations. Success is likely to depend as much on the quality of
implementation, on the sensitivity to different points of view and on the degree of support from
influential organisation members as on the soundness of the principles of the change approach
adopted. Much of the evidence from the manufacturing sector demonstrates that top management
involvement is critical to success; however, in translating these findings to the HE sector we must
remember the importance of opinion-formers within the professions who may not see themselves as
top management.
The scale of change is another important consideration when drawing lessons from other sectors.
Small, focused interventions may have an equal potential for success in most contexts while more

Types of change
ambitious change initiatives are challenged, diverted and deflected by the inherent complexity,
traditions and power dynamics of public sector organisations.

Fullan M. (1999) Change Forces: The Sequel. Falmer Press.
Golembiewski, R., Proehl, C. and Sink, D. (1982) Estimating success of OD applications. Training and
Development Journal, 72, p86-95.
Robertson, P. J. and Seneviratne, S. J. (1995) Outcomes of planned organisational change in the
public sector: a meta anlaytic comparison to the private sector. Public Administration Review,
55(^), p547-58

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Educational Change in Higher Education
Universities seem to be in the horns of a dilemma when it comes to institutional change,

hovering between top down and bottom up approaches. That top down change is invariably
resisted and bottom up approaches are slow and partial highlights the importance of a
forthright and listening leadership where strategic and institutional change is less planned from
above and more crafted in action and learning throughout the organisation around the
development of shared sense of institutional direction (Dearlove, 1997).
The LTSN Generic Centre has a range of articles dealing with handling educational change in a higher
education setting. See www.ltsn.ac.uk/genericcentre/index.asp?id=19045
Hopkins (2002) draws on experience from the school’s sector to identify that improvement
programmes in higher education should be:
Achievement focussed – they focus on enhancing student learning and achievement, in a broader
sense than mere examination results or test scores
Empowering in aspiration – they intend to provide those involved in the change process with the
skills of learning and ‘change agentry’ that will raise levels of expectation and confidence throughout
the educational community
Research based and theory rich – they base their strategies on programmes and programme
elements that have an established track record of effectiveness, that research their own effectiveness
and connect to and build on other bodies of knowledge and disciplines
Context specific – they pay attention to the unique features of the educational organisation and build
strategies on the basis of an analysis of that particular context
Capacity building in nature – they aim to build the organisational conditions that support continuous
improvement
Inquiry driven – they appreciate that reflection-in-action is an integral and self sustaining process
Implementation oriented – they take a direct focus on the quality of instructional practice and student
learning
Interventionist and strategic – they are purposely designed to improve the current situation in the
educational organisation or system and take a medium term view of the management of change, and
plan and prioritise developments accordingly
Externally supported – they build agencies around the educational organisation that provide
focussed support, and create and facilitate networks that disseminate and sustain ‘good practice’;
Systemic – they accept the reality of a centralised policy context, but also realise the need to adapt
external change for internal purpose, and to exploit the creativity and synergies existing within the
system.
Hopkins goes on to identify that, when more generally applied to higher education, these principles
also fulfil a number of other important functions. They can:
• Define a particular approach to improvement strategies in Higher Education.

Types of change
• Can be used to organise the theoretical, research and practical implications that define
educational change as a field on enquiry.
• Provide a set of criteria that can be used to differentiate broad approaches to improvement
efforts in Higher Education.
• Can also be used more specifically to help analyse and define individual educational
improvement efforts or programmes.
• Contain a series of implications for policy that could enable them to more directly influence the
achievement and learning of all students.
Pennington (2003) suggests that proposed changes can be placed along two scales: radical –
incremental and core – peripheral. Plotting the character of a proposed change along these scales
can provide a sense of how difficult the introduction of any particular initiative might be and how much
‘disturbance’ to the status quo it might generate. Radical changes to an institution’s or department’s
core business will normally generate high levels of disturbance; incremental changes to peripheral
activities are often considered to be unexceptional and can be accommodated as a matter of course,
especially if the group involved has a successful past record of continuous improvement.
Figure Planning tool for change in higher education (Pennington, 2003)
Pennington notes that, as a general rule, professionals and technical staff will tend to resist changes
which are perceived to threaten their core values and practices, and which have a negative impact on
individuals and which diminish group autonomy. Pennington suggests that managing change in
higher education also has to take account of cultural features such as:
• The sector’s general commitment to collegiality.
• Fuzzy lines of accountability, particularly for academic staff.
• A general lack of extrinsic rewards to shape behaviour.
• Well developed subject sub-cultures.
• Rotating management/leadership responsibilities (in some contexts).

Types of change
Certain implications for the management of change in HEI’s arise from these features, namely:
• The ability to influence is as important as the authority to control.
• Managing tends to be by consent and incrementalism.
• Decisions tend to be committee-based and generally consensual.
• The status of potential change agents is often derived from personal credibility and their
standing in a subject community.
• A high value is placed on dialogue and the legitimacy of critique.
Dearlove, J. (1997) The academic labour process: from collegiality and professionalism to
managerialism and proletarianism? Higher Education Review 30(1) 56
Hopkins, D. (2002) The Evolution of Strategies for Educational Change: Implications for Higher Education. LTSN
available on the Generic Centre web site. www.ltsn.ac.uk/genericcentre/index.asp?id=19045
Pennington, G. (2003) Guidelines for promoting and facilitating change, LTSN available at
www.ltsn.ac.uk/genericcentre/index.asp?id=19045

Types of Change

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Types of change

CATEGORISING CHANGE ..................................................................................... 13

CHANGE AND APPROACHES ............................................................................... 17

CULTURE AUDIT .................................................................................................... 25

THE CHANGE CULTURE........................................................................................ 28

CHANGE IN PUBLIC-SECTOR ORGANISATIONS................................................ 31

REFERENCES AND READING............................................................................... 32

REFERENCES AND READING............................................................................... 35

© Effecting change in Higher Education 11

Critical issues covered in this section include:

• There are many different ways of categorising change processes;

• There is no simple solution.

© Effecting change in Higher Education 12

Developmental change may be either planned or emergent; it is first order, or incremental. It is

• unfreezing the existing organisational equilibrium;

• moving to a new position; and

• refreezing in a new equilibrium position.

• creation of guilt or anxiety; and

• provision of psychological safety that converts anxiety into motivation to change.

Moving to a new position is achieved through cognitive restructuring, often through:

• identifying with a new role model or mentor; and

• scanning the environment for new relevant information.

Refreezing occurs when the new point of view is integrated into:

• the total personality and concept of self; and

© Effecting change in Higher Education 13

Figure Four types of Change (source: Audit commission)

Planned versus emergent change

This highlights two important aspects of managing change.

© Effecting change in Higher Education 14

• Understanding that organisational change is a process that can be facilitated by perceptive

Episodic versus continuous change

References and Reading

Dawson, S. J. N. D. (1996) Analysising Organisations, Hampshire, Macmillan.

Mintzberg, H (1989) Mintzberg on Management: inside our strange world of organisations

Nadler, D and Tushman, M. (1989) Organisational framebending. Academy of Management

Orlikowski, W. (1996) Improvising organisational transformation over time: a situated change

© Effecting change in Higher Education 15

Wesley. Nadler, D and Tushman, M. (1989) Organisational framebending. Academy of

© Effecting change in Higher Education 16

Change and approaches

Type Possible approach

Parallel learning structures and Quality circles

Step-change Project management

Parallel learning structures and Quality circles

The Learning Organisation

Planned Project management

The Learning Organisation

Continuous Parallel learning structures and Quality circles

© Effecting change in Higher Education 17

The Learning Organisation

© Effecting change in Higher Education 18

VC, Post ’92 University

Culture can be transmitted by:

© Effecting change in Higher Education 19

loose Control of tight

McNay identifies the key features of each of these models as follows:

Factor Collegium Bureaucracy Corporation Enterprise

Dominant value Freedom Equity Loyalty Competence

Role of central Permissive Regulatory Directive Supportive

Handy’s Person Role Power Task

Dominant unit Department/individ Faculty/committee Institution/senior Sub-unit/project

Management Consensual Formal/’rational’ Political/tactical Devolved

Timeframe Long Cyclic Short/mid term Instant