Change Model - Essay Example

Change Model As the saying goes, "Change is inevitable." In the current competitive business world, companies need to constantly change their processes so that they can survive in the market (Cummings, 2009). Change is no longer optional for companies, and they now have to learn how to love change so that they can have a competitive advantage. Change normally occurs at either an individual level or organizational level. At an individual level, people are usually expected to change their attributes, values, behaviors, and skills. At an organizational level, change normally occurs in the organizational systems and structures such as work designs and the reward system. It is crucial for managers to deal with change as change agents in their organizations. As seen in Sea Treasures, employees are usually against change because of the natural tendency of human beings to live in their comfort zones. Body There are many circumstances that make organizational change necessary in companies (Kezar, 2001). The most obvious one is the advancement in technology as seen in the case of Sea Treasure. In this case, the company's customer base is reducing because of the obvious fact that there are new ways of reaching customers as opposed to what was used by businesses 50 years back. It means that at the moment the company is not keeping pace with changes in the business environment to overcome changes in technology so as to improve its processes. Innovation such as creating an internet website would help the company improve its sales. However, this would not be effective if the employees do not accept change. As expected, the company is expected to face many barriers from employee resistant, shipping methods, and new technology. Just like Amazon Company, Sea Treasures can implement a change model that would lead to the success of the transition. It is crucial to have a change model for the short-term then followed by the long-term. The best short-term change model for the company is Kotter's 8 Step change model created by John Kotter, a Harvard University Professor. In this case, he argues that employees accept change when their leaders convince them of the urgency for change. The process involves eight stages, the first stage being increasing the urgency for change that aims at motivating employees. The next step is building a team that will be dedicated to change and who will build momentum around the need to change. The next step is creating the vision of change that people can understand. Communicating the need for change is also a crucial step. Communication needs to be frequent and powerful. Empowering workers with the ability to change and creating short term goals are also crucial. For change to succeed the next steps are being persistent and it should be made permanent. The model is best for the organization because of its advantages including the fact that it is easy and is a step-by-step model. The process also focuses on the preparation and acceptance of change among employees and not the actual change. The method also makes the transition to be easier. However, it also has its disadvantages that include the fact that the company cannot skip a step. It means that all the steps need to be followed for the model to be successful. There is also the risk that it would take a great deal of time to implement the model. It is critical to note that the company intends to make major changes on how it reaches its customers. The changes involve using the internet as compared to the traditional methods. The method would mean major changes in the operations of the company because for instant employees might need to have additional skills and knowledge. It means that bringing a major change in the organization can be a difficult task. The company needs to consider its long-term strategy of ensuring the success of the organizational change. The change targeting the short-term period in the company is only expected to affect the sales department of the company. However, the long-term change models aim at embedding change in the whole organization so that it can be part of its culture. In the long term, the best model to be adopted by the company is the Lewin's Change Management Model. It was created by Kurt Lewin in the 1950s because he noted that workers often like to work in safe environments. The model includes three stages of change. The first stage is the unfreeze. It is expected that in this stage most of the workers would make an effort to resist the change. The organization needs to overcome the risk but initiating a period of unfreezing or thawing by motivating employees. The company needs to encourage employees to accept change for the survival of the company. It means that they need to understand that the change will help in securing their jobs. The second stage is the transition after the change has been initiated. To increase the success rate, reassurance and leadership is crucial at this stage. The final stage is to refreeze where the company becomes stable after employees have accepted and implemented the change. In this stage, employees accept to operate under the new guidelines. This change model is widely used in today's organizations even though it can take longer time than expected depending on employee resistance. However, this model is best for the company considering the fact that it is implementing major change that would highly affect its operations. However, the model faces a lot of criticism, especially in the third stage. Many analysts argue that today businesses keep on changing with the dynamic business environment. It is feared that companies might not get the chance to refreeze after the implementation of the change. Even though it is very popular, there is a risk that the model might affect the company's flexibility in terms of changing with changes in the market. Conclusion Organizations operate in complex and competitive environments that force them to implement change (Cameron, 2004). The strategy aims at increasing the chances of the company's ability to survive in the market. Leaders have a crucial role in making sure that change is successful. Planned implementation of change is crucial. For this company, two models are crucial to increasing the success rate of change both in the short-term and long-term. These include the Lewin's Change Management Model and the Kotter's 8 Step change model created by John Kotter. The methods make sure that change is not imposed to employees but that they are motivated to accept the change. Planning and consideration are looked at during the process. Bibliography Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2004). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. London [u.a.: Kogan Page. Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2009). Organization development & change. Australia: South-Western/Cengage Learning. Kezar, A. J., ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education., Association for the Study of Higher Education., & George Washington University. (2001). Understanding and facilitating organizational change in the 21st century: Recent research and conceptualizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Read More