Managing change

Paula OBrien
 Managing change
Traditional approaches to organizational
change have been dominated by
assumptions privileging stability, routine,
and order. As a result, organizational
change has been reified and treated as
exceptional rather than natural
 Managing change
Some change may be both necessary and
desirable, and the management of it has
become a challenge for corporate leaders
and a lucrative area of practice for
consultants.
In our case study OA Ltd: the need for
managing change has become very
important.
Certain changes may be better thought through
and both more appropriate and more welcome
than others. How might this apply to OA ltd?

Certain initiatives may be mistaken, counter-

productive or wrong in scale or timing.
(being unrealistic with our time scales or having an
unsupportive organisational culture/climate)
.
Understanding Types of Change
Change can be stressful and destructive when it
is either mistaken or mismanaged.
Few changes affect everyone in the same way,
and the impacts of certain changes may not be
immediately apparent.
There might be hidden and longer term
consequences
You can improve your analysis if you address
these considerations in your discussion of
change at OA Ltd
THEORY VS PRACTICE
THEORY:Identifying 3/4 definitions
of managing change
Author 1
Author 2
Author 3
Author 4
We need to identify what we mean by this
term/concept?
How do these definitons differ? (compare and
contrast the defintions)
Which of these definitions if any are closest to
your thinking on managing change
And explain the reason for this
 IN PRACTICE :
design and implement a plan for cultural change
use a range of tools and techniques to initiate
and support change
identify appropriate management development
tools to support change.
REF:CIPD website
CIPD is a nationally recognised professional
institute of personnel and hr managers
If we apply this approach to OA LTD - can you
identify any limitations of their approach?
 Employee Resistance
When change occurs of where change is
managed in business organisations there
is a possibility that resistance will occur.
What is resistance?
How does it occur?
Are there different writers on resistance?
To what extent do they agree?
 Four basic reasons why change is resisted
Kotter and Schlesinger

(1)Parochial self interest

Individuals are more concerned with the implications for
themselves
(2)Misunderstanding
Communications problems
Inadequate information
(3)Low tolerance of change
Sense of insecurity
Different assessment of the situation
(4) Disagreement over the need for change
Disagreement over the advantages and disadvantages
 Resistance is an inevitable
response to any major change.
Individuals naturally rush to defend the
status quo if they feel their security or
status are threatened. Folger & Skarlicki
(1999) claim that "organizational change
can generate skepticism and resistance in
employees, making it sometimes difficult
or impossible to implement organizational
improvements" (p. 25).
 If management does not
understand
., accept and make an effort to work with
resistance, it can undermine even the most well-
intentioned and well-conceived change efforts.

Coetsee (1999) states "any management's

ability to achieve maximum benefits from change
depends in part of how effectively they create
and maintain a climate that minimizes resistant
behavior and encourages acceptance and
support" (p. 205).
 Individual barriers to change
Tradition and set ways
Loyalty to existing relationships
Failure to accept the need for change
Preference of the existing relationships
Break up of work groups
Fear of loss of power/skills/unknown etc
 Understanding change
We may need to consider making changes
to OA Ltd in an attempt to solve some of
their problems in terms of their scrap level,
communication problems, high staff
turnover etc.
There will be barriers to change in
organisations
 Organisational barriers to
change

Structural inertia
Existing power structures
Resistance from work groups
Failure of previous change initiatives
 There are, however, a number of barriers to successful
change - both in terms of implementing it and equally if not
more importantly sustaining it
1. Not enough understanding about the change itself and poor
alignment behind it - for example, no clear vision, direction, priorities
2. Lack of leadership - this is needed to inspire and engage
peoples energies as well as to keep relentlessly moving forward
3. Lack of focus and strong project management of the change -
no clear accountabilities and inter-dependencies between roles
4.No engagement and/or buy-in of key stakeholders - start with a
failure to identify the key stakeholders (they could be any or all of
the following: employees, shareholders, customers,
executive/Board, the community) and then a failure to undertake
detailed analysis of their needs/preferences and a detailed
communication and engagement strategy
5.No clear process for managing endings and beginnings, and co-
ordinating the change process
 6.Peoples issues/ barriers to change are not defined and and
there are no actions to address them leading to low engagement,
poor morale, a fast return to 'the old ways' and a sort of 'let's sit it out'
environment
7.People are not involved in developing quick wins and
communicating them - this is needed to build credibility around
change
8.People practices are not reviewed and re-aligned - this is needed
to ensure the change is sustained and to enable people to operate in
a new way
9.Successes are not recognised, communicated and/or
celebrated - this is needed to increase the pace of change and gain
commitment to the new way of doing things. Change is very tiring and
is often something that requires extra effort - people need to see that
this effort is paying off and their contribution is valued.
10. Progress is not measured and the learning is not reviewed - this
is needed to sustain the change
The role of the manager within
change management??