Differences in Change Management in the World of Business and Technology - Research Paper Example

Apple: Lewin’s Change Model

Rasaun Ezell-Ray

American Military University

Apple: Lewin’s Change Model

Change is the major key to growth and success of organizations or people. However, attaining change is difficult, uncomfortable and challenging. In this fast evolving world of business and technology, change is inevitable. It can be likened to a thread that runs through every organization regardless of the time and size. The management of change and its success varies extremely from business to business depending on the nature of this change, the people involved in it and the type of business in itself. One of the crucial aspects of these differences in change management depends on the understanding of change and its requirements by the people involved.

Usually, many people are afraid of organizational change because of a number or reasons. According to Carnall, the chief reason as to why change becomes a scary venture is because of the nature of the unpredictability of the outcomes of the given organizational change (2007). Therefore, adopting a method or model of organizational change which has been tested on different organizations in a different scenario and proven to be successful can attest to be an important endeavour for an organization intending to undergo organizational change. With that in mind, this paper is aimed at reviewing Kurt Lewin’s three-step change model and how Apple Inc. and several other organizations have benefitted by adopting it.

Phases of Organizational Change

People especially those in leadership need to embrace change and acquire new behaviors and get along with various classes of people putting pressure on them. However, they need to embrace and employ the desired behaviors slowly over time to attain a lasting change. Lewin’s change model is one of the mostly applied foundations that can be used in the understanding and efficient undergoing of organizational change. Developed in the early 1940s, the model holds true even today as the management of most organizations. This model breaks the process of organizational change down into three stages. Being a physicist and social scientist, Lewin likened the process of change in organizations to the steps of transforming the shape of an ice block. The stages of organizational change according to Lewin include Unfreezing, Transition, and Refreezing, as discussed below;

• Unfreezing

Lewin uses an analogy of transforming the shape of a block of ice to break down the stages of organizational change. To change the shape of the block, the first stage is to melt the current shape in order to build up a new shape (unfreezing). In this phase, the forces that are striving to maintain the organization and the employees’ status quo are reduced. These forces can be depicted by the routine thinking of the employees along the lines of what is considered to be the norm and the current fixed mindset of the employees in the organization (Kritsonis, 2005). This phase aims at dismantling the aforementioned forces by providing a new and challenging problem that requires extreme thinking outside of what is considered the norm. The result of this action will be an invoked change on how the problem is viewed, and hence prompting the search for new solutions. This phase of unfreezing, however, is not easy to undertake.

The main challenge is changing the ways which the employees have become accustomed to while in the workplace. In order to properly prepare an organization for change, beginning at its core values, attitudes, behaviours and beliefs by challenging them. This is because these beliefs are the ones likely to cause hindrances to the new way of thinking intended to be introduced in the organization. The most challenging part of the process is changing the way things are being done. This is because by doing so, every employee and the organizational process is left off balance off balance. Often, it is quite difficult to convince someone to let go of what they believe in and start something new.

These factors are likely to evoke strong emotional reactions to the proposed way of carrying out operations in the organization. As a result, employee resistance is likely to arise, and if not tackled earlier on, it may threaten the whole process of change before it begins. Lewin’s change model, however, is goal-oriented in that the employees’ views and feelings about change have no major impact (Kritsonis, 2005). The reason for this is because once the management has initiated the process of change, it is required of every employee to play their new role assigned to them. In as much as employee resistance is likely to slow to down the process, eventually, the stage of unfreezing has to be completed.

However, it is noteworthy that this phase can only begin after an individual has seen and understood the need for a change (Levasseur¸ 2001). Some employees might fail to see the need to change the organizational status quo. Understandably, they may be given appropriate time and guidance to ensure that they are brought up to speed. Therefore, before undertaking the organizational change process, the management should always anticipate for employee resistance. This way, the appropriate counter measures should be taken to ensure that this resistance does not hinder the main activities in the whole process, especially during the unfreeze phase.

Traditionally, Apple used to manufacture personal computers only. However, the application of Lewin’s model of organizational change commenced when the decentralized organization around loose product groups was transformed (unfreezed) in order to pave the way for a change. This was achieved through the differentiation of the Apple product lines into two major product divisions. Of the two divisions, Apple II Division was directed by Del Yocam while Steve Jobs headed the Macintosh Development Division. The change of the status quo from was the first major step of Apple. These two divisions were each reorganized whereby their major functions such as manufacturing, product development and marketing were decentralized in a move to ensure an articulate product strategy.

As a result of these changes, the employees from both divisions started to think creatively, giving rise to iPods. In as much as the products were new in the market, they actually became a surprisingly major hit. Apple’s target customers had already begun to appreciate the need for a change in the technology as several devices were becoming miniaturized. Since the organization was still interested in these parties, that is, the target customers, it had to answer the question or dilemma of whether or not to embrace this change in technology. This is in line with Weick and Quinn’s point on organizations which have an interest in parties that have already adjusted to new conditions (2009). The result of this was a mass production of these iPods that are popular even up to date.

• Transition

This step involves being open to and developing new ideas and behaviours. A change in values and attitude by all stakeholders also depicts this phase. This stage involves a complex series of concurrent actions involving various business processes, all of which are faced by high degrees of uncertainties as a result of transformation (McNulty & Ferlie, 2004). The techniques of innovation, process change, and the overall organizational structure are altered in this phase to fit the requirements of the current conditions best, new ways of thinking and conducting business processes. This phase involves the leaders understanding the people and knowing how best to deal with them, influence them and ensure that they all willingly work towards achieving the intended goals is also essential for organizational change (Carnall, 2007).

Medley and Akan state that organizational change can only be successful and advantageous if all the concerned groups acquire new perceptions into a situation (2008). For Apple, the employees were required to make innovation and thinking outside the box their culture. This saw several ideas and inventions being brought forward to the leaders, the best of which were carried on to production. For effective change to take place, design thinking should include continuous refining and testing of strategy during its early stages. This is important as it will help prevent mistakes that may take place when it is already too late or difficult to rectify (Dunne & Martin, 2006).

After the first phase of Apple’s organizational change process, the next requirement was to change a number of the organization’s business processes and activities to accommodate the transformation from the old ways. Among the changes that took place in Apple Inc., the main ones were structural changes such as control costs, reduction of the overhead expenditures and rationalization. Additionally, the product lines were also altered together with an adoption of centralized reporting relationship, whereby the general managers initially reporting to the vice president were now reporting to Steve Jobs. In addition with to efficient and accurate status reports, the centralized reporting relationships were crucial for creating a fruitful relationship between Jobs and his juniors. This was essential for the low-level employees to understand the change process that the organization was going through and appreciate it.

The organization also saw a number of senior management team members leaving or being replaced. Downsizing was not only done to reduce overhead costs but also to replace the employees who were not ready to embrace the structural and process changes that Steve Jobs division was undergoing. Also, the organization’s workforce was reduced by 700 employees. More financial resources were generated through reduction of humongous shares in the profit sharing program. This led to an increase in the company’s marketing expenditure from USD 12 million to USD 80 million in two years.

During the phase of transition, however, Apple’s main challenge was the period of confusion. This refers to the period whereby some of the employees may involuntarily revert to the old ways of thinking and performing their work. Leaders in an organization should be in a position to mobilize adaptive behavior by the employees (Spector, 2013). The management is expected to share a common understanding of the organizational goals, and as a result, influence the employees to think in a similar manner so as to have the intended transformative organizational change. For Apple Inc., this was achieved through its then CEO Steve Jobs, who had expressed his concerns about the stiff competition that Apple was facing from other giant computing companies such as Microsoft. To ensure that Apple remained relevant in the market, Steve Jobs encouraged the employees to be more imaginative. Consequently, the second phase of Lewin’s change model was completed successfully.

• Refreeze phase

This is the third phase in Lewin’s change model. The purpose of Refreeze phase is to ensure that the adopted mechanism becomes the new norm of the organization. This is intended to prevent the employees from reverting to their former way of doing things around the organization. Therefore, this phase involves reinforcing the acquired change for permanency. After Apple had restructured and become sure of its objectives, the consumer perception of was also altered as it began exceeding the customer expectations.

During the early 80s, John Sculley replaced Steve Jobs as the internal change agent at Apple. As Apple’s CEO and President, Sculley is credited to be among the key people who brought about organizational change, turning Apple around as a result. By implementing the change model brought forward by Lewin, Sculley aided in the successful introduction of two computers at Apple. This is in addition to the 54 percent increase in the sales, an improvement in the company’s stock prices and an extension of the Apple II line division, which sustainably provided more than 75 percent of the company’s proceeds. The benefits of this internal changes being clear day by day, the process of refreezing had to take place to ensure the permanence of these changes.

This was achieved through the management’s full engagement with the employees in its change implementation process. This resulted in the company’s process being run with a high degree of autonomy. Consequently, employee resistance faltered and paved the way for bigger and better innovations that have seen Apple designing and manufacturing different amazing products over the years, with corresponding high sales. Arguably, the main reason for this success can be attributed to the unwavering resolve by the CEO and employees’ willingness to adapt to change. Cohen points out that Apple’s management structure, which makes use of the four management functions, which are organizing, leading, planning and controlling to ensure that the available resources are properly utilized efficiently and effectively (2015).

The success of the refreeze phase can, therefore, be attributed to the company’s effective management structure, as the employees have been made to understand the importance of changing their mindset. Additionally, the company’s organizational culture that enables easy, open and effective interaction between the employees and other groups within the organization has also enabled the easy adoption of new ways of thinking among the employees, and as a result, this phase of refreezing has also been successful. This is in agreement with Levasseur, as he points out that for effective organization change to take place, agents have to work hand in hand with individuals in an organization to correct, fix, measure, assess or improve and use the new system of development (2001).

Organizational change can be done over and over again depending on the economy and market requirements of business (Levasseur, 2001). Apple’s current CEO Tim Cook has brought about various changes after replacing Jobs. Chief among these changes is the mode of management. Instead of having all information and decision flow through him as it was the case with Jobs, he is taking a more interactive and joint approach. For example, under his leadership, the hardware and software departments have been encouraged to work together. This was not seen under the leadership of Jobs. This approach is causing the company to be more cautious with their production in a move that ensures maximum compatibility and improved the user experience.

Nevertheless, Apple’s organizational culture is an advantage for facilitating a quick and efficient refreezing process. Over time, the culture continues to change with respect to the company’s growth and change in strategy. Initially, Apple’s culture represented unconventional fun and uniqueness as well as a sufficiently competitive organization. This organization culture is based on its belief and emphasis on the values of personal motivation and achievement, obligation and entrepreneurship all aimed at devotion to the company. This has made it quite easy for the organization to change quickly, transition and adopts new ways of performing various tasks around the organization.

Conclusion

Apple entered the market as a Personal Computer manufacturer in the late 1970s. The company is still competitive in the industry because its leaders were willing to tackle the challenges they faced, even if it meant having to undergo business processes re-engineering. They embraced and adopted change by adapting to the continually changing business environments. The results of Apple’s change implementation are tremendous. The following are the major projects. They include iPod, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple Television and also the company’s acquisition of Beats by Dre headphones. The aforementioned products have seen a huge commercial breakthrough in the market today, and all of these were as a result of Apple’s decision to expand from manufacturing only Personal Computers to being one of the largest companies which design and manufacture electronics in the World.

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