Lewins System Change Model - Essay Example

?MANAGING CHANGE Describe Lewin's change model and the systems model of change Practitioners and researchers have posited that change within a business organization is something that can never be ruled out. Change is such a sensitive process that if it is not managed well it can dislodge the entire system or the business. Hence implementation of change calls for an extra-ordinary effort and Change Management one such extra-ordinary approach. Change management has been defined as (Moran & Brightman, 2001) “the process of continually renewing an organisation’s direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customers.” Many researchers have worked to define the change models for bring about a change, some of these are: 4-D process of appreciative enquiry, The Keubler-Ross Model of Change, Jon Kotter’s Change Model, The change Journey, Cyclical Process Framework, Theory U & Lewin’s Change Model. Lewin’s change model: The model has three stages, these are: Unfreeze, Change and Refreeze. The unfreeze stage involves convincing the organization that the change is necessary. This is done by artificially creating a minor crisis that leads to the required motivation for the change. Change stage owing to the uneasiness faced by the people in the unfreeze stage, the employees start believing and acting in the direction of the change. Some employees take to change quickly where as some people who are genuinely affected by the change take time to adopt the change. In the final stage termed ‘refreeze’, as the change is being accepted, the employees are supported in order to help them to adapt to the change in a better manner. Discuss the external and internal forces that create the need for organizational change There are two types of forces those generate the need for a change in an organization. These are: i) external forces: Industry Standards, Government Regulations, Technology trends, Socio-Economical aspects. ii) Internal forces: Strategic decisions, Changes in technology and Employee attitudes etc. External forces are beyond the control of an organization, e.g. personal computers replaced the electronic typewriters, the employees had to be trained on the use of personal computers. Similarly, in the case of internal forces, if the company needs to change its business from services to production then the organization will need employees with different skill sets, hence the change. Kotter's Eight Steps for Leading Organizational Change: Professor John Kotter of Harvard Business School has mentioned Kotter’s eight steps for leading organizational change in his book “Leading Change”. These eight steps are: 1. Establish the sense of urgency – this sense can be created by very honest and clear discussions depicting the real state of affairs like poor sales figures. If people start talking about it this will lead to motivation, hence the sense of urgency for the change will appear. 2. Form a strong coalition: Coalition will not get formed unless the organization identifies few forward looking leaders. After these leaders have been identified, they must be committed. Their weak areas are worked upon to make them better leaders. 3. Create a vision: The vision of the organization needs to be created, this is summarized and familiarized by the leaders. A strategy is then worked out for implementing the vision. 4. Communicate the vision: The vision is discussed and talked about amongst the employees, the idea is to address the queries and anxieties of the workers. All types of changes are linked with the vision. 5. Remove Obstacles: After the system is in place for working out the change, the people who oppose this change need to be identified. The barriers and obstacles are also identified and then the needful is done to remove these issues. 6. Plan and create short term wins: Initially change is implemented in the projects those are certain. This is done to pose confidence in employees about the change. 7. Consolidate improvements and produce more change: After the change has been worked, the analysis is carried out for the entire case and lessons are learnt. The weak areas are found out and they are also improved. 8. Institutionalise new approaches: The success stories are talked about and the members are publicly acknowledged for their contribution. After this new leaders are identified and they replace the existing leaders. Discuss the 11 Reasons Employees Resist Change. Resistance to change is very normal in a business organization, the resistance is because of imaginary or real threats. Eleven reasons employees resist change are: 1. an individual's predisposition toward change – it is a natural tendency in an individual to not welcome change, hence an individual is expected to never be ready to accept a chance. 2. surprise and fear of the unknown – another natural tendency to resist change is that there is an element of surprise and fear embedded in each change. Hence the employees resist change in their existing set up and system. 3. climate of mistrust – new system or new environment is bundled with a component of mistrust. Employees normally do not blindly trust any new arrangement, they take time to pose trust in the new system. 4. fear of failure – since the change represents a new system or an arrangement the newness induces a fear of failure, hence the employees avoid a change. 5. loss of status or job security – since the new system or an arrangement lacks trust, the employees fear the los of status or security. 6. peer pressure – more than the employee involved, at times the peer pressure takes a toll on the employee concerned and distracts the employee from patiently analyzing the pros of the change, as a result the employee succumbs to the peer pressure. 7. disruption of cultural traditions or group relationships – since man is a social animal, a change would mean that the employee would have to recreate his / her social network, the uncertainties pertaining to the cultural traditions or group relationships induces an element of resistance in employees for that change. 8. personality conflicts – at times an employee does not possess qualities to jell well with any change that is unexpected or not wanted. Hence such employees suffer from personality conflicts with respect to any change. 9. lack of tact or poor timing – at times the timing of change is such that it clashes with the plans of an employee – hence the employees resist a change. 10. non-reinforcing reward systems – poor rewarding system hits the motivation of employees hence if the motivation is low the employees resist change despite being capable of performing well 11. past success- at times the employees with good record start getting a feeling that they are indispensible and in the event of any change they start resist a change. Identify alternative strategies for overcoming resistance to change. It is a well known aspect that well managed changes enhance efficiency. Resistance to change is something that shows up in every organisation. Organisations bank heavily on alternative strategies for overcoming resistance to change, these approaches are: 1. education communication 2. participation involvement 3. facilitation support 4. negotiation agreement 5. manipulation co-optation 6. explicit implicit coercion Bibliography Moran, J. W., & Brightman, B. K. (2001). Leading Organisational Change. Career Development International , 6 (2), 111-118. Read More