Kurt Lewin Planned Change Theories - Essay Example

Introduction Change is one of the requirements that many ambulance companies need in order to render their services effectively. The world is changing everyday. This can be attributed to the advancement in technology that has been taking place in addition to many other factors. Ambulance services are very necessary especially in times of emergency and the response that the service provider gives to a call, determines the consequences to follow. In case of a delay, a sick person may die and if speed and efficiency are prioritized, a life maybe saved. The most important aspect of an ambulance company is a system that responds to messages fast and assigns the right ambulance to a call depending on the urgency of the call. Several companies have been experiencing problems in the way that they respond to calls and this has called for the need to make some changes that facilitate efficiency in the rendering of services. Several change theories can be used and among these changes include: Lewin's Three Step Change Theory, Lippit's Phases of Change Theory, Prochaska and DiClemente's change Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, etc. The Metropolitan Ambulance Service is responsible for offering ambulance services in Melbourne, Australia. The Ambulance Despatch system in Australia has been challenged by the recent changes especially in technology. These changes have affected their efficiency in offering these services. Several change theories that can help companies in making some necessary changes do exist. With the implementation of these theories, companies will meet their targets in terms of the efficiency of services that are offered. This paper will seek to analyze the Ambulance Despatch system in Australia and the way that the Kurt Lewin Planned change can be applied to help bring the necessary changes. Literature Review The planned change theory argues that planned change occurs by design where each and every process is planned. This is as opposed to spontaneous change or change by accident. The status quo is disrupted and results into some imbalance of forces. The two forces that are mostly present are the driving force and the restraining force. The driving force acts as a motivator in motion towards a positive direction or a goal that has been set. The restraining force opposes the movement towards a destined goal. When the opposing forces are overcome, another equilibrium position is reached (Bessie, 2003: p.167). The three phases that he identified include: unfreezing the status quo, attaining a new state and refreezing to make the change permanent. The first thing to be done is to inform individuals of the required change and agree on the importance of the change. Change is at times quite challenging and the individuals may feel as if they have lost control of everything but it is important to encourage them. The individuals will then take time to implement the real change. This might take quite sometime but the process should be gradual. Freezing makes the process to stabilize and the process can now be implemented into the system. In Lippit's Phases of Change Theory, an extension of the Lewin's Change Theory is done where seven steps are developed that focus more on the change agent than on the change itself. It involves exchange of information throughout the process. The change begins by a diagnosis of the problem and then checking the motivation that the change will bring and the capacity of the change to make a difference from the current situation. The change agent should also be examined so as to decide if the necessary capacity that is required is available (Alicia, 2004: p.1). The strategies that will be used to accomplish the change are chosen and each agent of change is assigned and alerted of the changes that are expected from his part. Experts and facilitators may be required at this stage and may be part of the change agents. The company that is implementing the change should ensure that the change is maintained. This can be achieved by efficient communication, coordination and feedback on every activity that takes place. When the change has been implemented and the employees have adopted the new culture, the change agent can now withdraw from the process. According to the social cognitive theory, individuals can change their behaviours depending on the environmental factors that surround them, the personal factors of the individuals and the attributes of the behaviour itself. The individuals must believe that they have the capacity to perform the new behaviour and they must also see the importance of adopting the new behaviour. If the individuals see the consequences of the behaviour to be positive, they will be willing to adopt the new behaviour and vice versa. This means that social learning will take place where the individuals can perceive the positive expectations to outdo the negative expectations (Alicia, 2004: p.1). If the individuals can visualize the positive benefits and see the importance of the change, they are likely to be motivated and to have more morale to carry out the changes in the behaviour. Self-efficacy is the most important aspect in this process and can be increased by: giving clear instructions that will allow the change to be achieved, providing proper training that will enable the individuals to develop the skills required for the change to be achieved and trying to model the desired behaviour. Analysis of Case Study Using Kurt Lewin Planned Change and Any Other Change Management Theories The metropolitan ambulance service was established at the end of the nineteenth century. The aim was to offer emergency medical transport especially in transporting patients in critical conditions to hospitals as fast as possible. They offer first aid services to individuals that require the first aid services as they move them to places where they can be attended to. They provide first aid education to the public for free and in addition, they provide special facilities that can be used by individuals who require these special transport services in order to get to the hospital. Other responsibilities included: clinic car transport services, non-emergency stretchers and pre-hospital care. It is the largest ambulance service and possesses many facilities that allow it to serve a wide region. It offers its services for free especially for those individuals who have registered with it (Darren, 2004: p.1). In the late 1980s, the company experienced intense criticism even with the press analysing major events where the company's response to calls was very poor. The private sector had also tried to become very active and had started actively competing with the Metropolitan Ambulance service. The financial status of the Metropolitan Ambulance Service had also been very poor. The service was recording losses every year. The relationship that existed between MAS management and the ambulance unions was not good. Many strikes, mistrust and tensions had always prevailed in the region and the media produced some articles on how the ambulance had been inadequate in dealing with some cases. In the year 1992, it was found that MAS was using some systems that were not integrated in terms of technology. In 1992, a new government was elected which was concerned with the way that the service was using the finances that the government had allocated to it. A review that was formed in 1992 to address the issue concluded that the Metropolitan Ambulance Service should restructure its management and structure so that it could focus on improved technological systems so that the dispatch of ambulances could be strengthened. A CEO was elected that was expected to break the union by cutting the costs. The CEO wanted to use computer technology in managing emergency calls and in the management of finances. X-consultants were given the contract for providing the emergency system and were offered about $A32 million by the Victoria State Government. This brought no major changes in the situation that was there before and in 1994, the media produced records of delays by the company and the deaths that occurred as a result of those delays (Darren, 2004: p.1). Many changes took place but in most cases, the results were negative instead of being positive. Concerning the case of the Metropolitan Ambulance Service, the first process that ought to have been discussed was if the change to bring in other companies was necessary. If it was found to be necessary, the process of convincing the individuals of the importance of the change would begin. This would have taken sometime but at the end of the day, the individuals would have been convinced and would have embraced the need for change. The next process would have been identifying the driving forces and the restraining forces. When all these are identified, the goals that are destined are identified (Bessie, 2003: p.168). This will help in identifying the means that will be used in achieving these goals. In the example above, the government together with the MAS could have sat down and negotiated on the requirements that would result in efficient distribution of the emergency services. Different companies that would have supplied the requirements would have been identified and the best one chosen. The barriers towards achieving these goals would also have been evaluated and ways of overcoming them designed. In unfreezing the status quo, the management together with some government officials will think of the specific areas that need change and these areas will eventually be destabilized. This will call for some processes that will involve the planned changes. The time that will be taken to establish the change may also be noted so that people may work and dedicate their efforts towards achieving the greater goal (Bessie, 2003: p.313). Much resistance should be expected as usual since some individuals will view the change as being stressful and may seem to lose focus. Reaching the equilibrium is not that easy and every member should be determined to make a change. This way, it will take less time to reach the destined goal. When MAS started being criticized by the media and the public, they ought to have sat down and tried to evaluate the changes that they ought to have done so as to achieve the demands of the public. The government on the other hand needed to have consulted with MAS in order to try and determine the way forward. In dispatching the system, resistance is one of the expectations as individuals are not trained in working with computers and especially in the new software. The best training should be given to employees to ensure that they are confident in working with the new system. Appropriate software also ought to be developed so that there is no confusion in the software. The Lippit's Phases of Change Theory could also have been used to address the issues that existed in the case. Before taking any action, the government ought to have taken sometime to sit down with the Metropolitan Ambulance Company and see if there was a way that the problem could have been solved by making some changes. The first necessary process could have been diagnosing the problem and knowing why there were delays in releasing the ambulances that led to the death of many people. If a change was deemed fit for the process such as the proposed use of computers in call taking, the motivation and capacity for change could have been necessary before implementing it. Some agents like facilitators and experts could have been identified to help in the process of change. Determination of the capacity of the change agent to attain the required change is also necessary when using the Lippit's Phases of Change Theory (Alicia, 2004: p.1). The power, stamina and commitment to change are important and therefore, the company should be very keen in selecting the change agents. The strategies that were to be used to help accomplish the change could have been identified and the change agents assigned the roles that they should play in the process. Proper communication between the change agents and the members of the company is necessary as it will allow the members to get the details about the change. The system that was proposed advocated for a dispatch system that was to automatically release vehicles that were near or the ones that were most appropriate in case of an emergency call, a vehicle location system that is satellite-based and one that was to be supported by the computerised mapping system and a model that was to transfer data between the terminals other than the use of the voice radio communication (Henry, 1994). Before proposing the change, an analysis ought to have been done to determine if the change was necessary and if the capacity for change was available. Most of the processes failed because the companies together with the government never attempted to analyze the problem in hand before proposing the change. Again, after proposing the change, no analysis was done to see if the implementation of the change was possible and if so, whether the change would have any impact on the current process. The MAS was supposed to lower its performance standards instead of X-consultants improving the performance of their computerised system. The head of MAS was for the idea that X-consultants did not recognize the importance of emergencies and therefore were not the right people to provide the services to the MAS (Becker, 2003: 232). The department of finance and the Public Bodies Review Committee spoke against the decision by the government to enter into a contract with the X-consultants. Some major flaws that were identified include: the reliance on an unknown consultant who had no experience, technical and functional flows, acceptance of wrong documents, lack of evidence on how the registrations were divided among the four suppliers, lack of the criteria under which X-consultants won the place and why the other bidders lost, etc. Most of the change theories are advocating for an analysis before implementing a change. In determining whether it is the MAS that was supposed to lower their standards or if it is the X-consultants that were supposed to improve their performance, an analysis of the one that would produce the best results was necessary. Again, in hiring experts like the consultant, the capacity of the agent to bring the necessary change is a consideration before hiring one. Such an individual should have the capacity to influence other people in the company. Many of the changes that were made ended up wasting a lot of money and achieved nothing in the end. For example, the software that was developed never made any changes but led to even more confusion. Conclusion Ambulance Service companies offer their services in case of a need or emergency e.g. sickness. The quick response of a company in response to a call is very important as it may help save a life. Most of the companies that offer emergency services lack competent systems that allow them to answer messages quickly and respond to calls depending on the emergency of the call. The Metropolitan Ambulance Service is one such company in Australia and it has suffered a lot as a result of failure to respond to emergency calls with emergency. Many conflicts arose between the government and the service which led to the downfall of the service company. If the company together with the government applied the Kurt Lewin Planned Change Theories together with other change theories such as: Lippit's Phases of Change Theory, Prochaska and DiClemente's change Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, etc., the problem could have been solved without the conflicts that later came as a result of hiring the X-consultants. Many of the changes that were implemented involved no analysis to determine their effectiveness and consequences. As a result, a lot of money was wasted and many more deaths occurred with no major improvements. References Alicia, K. (2004). Comparison of Change Theories. Retrieved on 19-Nov-09 from http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Kritsonis,%20Alicia%20Comparison%20of%20Change%20Theories.pdf Darren, D. (2004). Emergency: Implementing an Ambulance Despatch System. UK: IDEA Group Publishing. Retrieved on 18-Nov-09 from http://www.infosci-journals.com/downloadPDF/pdf/IT5715_ZFAV6bdOJK.pdf Geoff, C. (2009). The medical Priority and Dispatch System. Retrieved on 18-Nov-09 from http://www.emergencydispatch.org/articles/ArticleMPDS%28Cady%29.html Melanie, N. (2002). Theoretical Basis for Nursing. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 369-373. Bessie, L. M. (2003). Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing: Theory and Application. London: McMillan Publishers, 166-172. Lex, D. (2000). American Anti-Management Theories of Organization: A Critique of Paradigm Proliferation, 312-314. Tony, B. (2004). The Principles and Practice of Educational Management. New York: Sage Publishers, 123-124. Henry, S. (1994). The origin of medical terms: Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Becker, L. K. (2003). Related Risk of injury and death in ambulances and other emergency vehicles. Cambridge: Cambridge University press, 231-233. Phillip, J. (2004). Ford to gasoline ambulance in 2010. Read More