10.1 Managing change (Kotter & Shlesinger & types of contracts) Flashcards
What can change be?
- Internal & external
- Rapid & unexpected - sudden bad weather
- Long term - shift in economic power towards economies in India and China or ageing populations in the UK and Japan
- Incremental (step by step change) - improvements over time
- Disruptive - game changing developments in an industry - Netflix, Spotify, Dropbox
What can Lewins force field analysis be used to do?
- Investigate the balance of power involved in an issue
- Identify the key stakeholders on the issue
- Identify opponents and allies
- Identify how to influence the target groups
Lewins force field analysis
What may be the forces pushing for change (internal)?
- The need to keep up with competitors.
- An increasing number of customer complaints.
- New owners wanting higher returns.
- Poor performance.
- A general sense that the business could “do better”
- Desire to increase profitability and other performance measures.
- The need to reorganise to increase efficiency and competitiveness.
- Natural ageing and decline in a business (e.g. machinery, products)
- Conflict between departments
- The need for greater flexibility in organisational structures.
- Concerns about ineffective communication, de-motivation or poor business relationships
What are the external pushes for change?
- Increased demands for higher quality & levels of customer service
- Uncertain economic conditions
- Greater competition
- Higher cost of inputs
- Legislation & taxes
- Political interests
- Ethics & social values
- Technological change
- Globalisation
- Scarcity of natural resources
- Changing nature and composition of the workforce
What may the forces resisting change include?
- Lack of finance for investment.
- Reluctance on behalf of existing staff to change the way to do things.
- Resistance from certain stakeholder groups that might be worse off following the change.
What are some examples of internal change for a business & how may they have been identified?
Employee attitudes
Change of leadership
Restructuring
SWOT analysis!
What are types of external change?
- Changing consumer tastes & fashions.
- Political changes.
- Government Action
- Economic influences- e.g. changes in the business cycle/ exchange rates.
- Competition- due to globalisation.
- Technological changes- greater use of digital technologies.
What is Disruptive change?
Involves radical change, often rethinking or redesigning a business or project.
What is incramental change?
- Involves introducing many small, gradual changes in a business or project.
- They are unlikely to challenge existing assumptions & culture & will use existing structures and processes & cause little distruption.
- Therefore- incramental change is relatively low risk.
What is the value of change for a business?
Flexability: A business that embraces a culture of change- likely to have a more engaged workforce that actively seeks to instigate changes- therefore business is more likely to be flexible & adaptable to new ideas- allowing to maintain a competitive edge.
Progress: Without change- businesses wouldnt be able to take advantage of new technologies.
Opportunities: Change provides opportunities for business growth, not only in new markets or new products- but also in the skills & abilities of the workforce.
Customer needs: Over time- they change and grow- creating demand for new types of products & services. Businesses that embrace change are more able to meet these needs.
Challenging the current situation: Businesses that challenge their current practises are more likely to develop new products & processes & gain a competitive advantage.
What is the value of a flexible organisation?
Competitiveness: Able to repond more easily to change as it recognises it as inevitable & uses it to maximise competitiveness.
Efficiency: New approaches are likely to be developed- even when old ones are working fine- therefore over time efficiency improves.
Teambuilding: Where a culture of change exists, the workforce is more likely to be engaged & motivated- which in turn leads to better quality job applicants.
What does restructuring involve?
Involves a fundamental internal organisational change that alters the roles & relationships of those involved.
What is delayering?
The removal of levels in the hierachal structure in order to create a leaner and more efficient business.
What are the benefits of delayering?
- Likely to reduce costs & improve motivation & will imrpove flexability.
- This is because decision making will be quicker & the business as a whole will be better able to respond to changing market conditions because of delegation, a better understanding of customer needs & a generation of ideas.
What are some flexible employment contracts?
Part time
Temporary
Zero hours
Flexible hours contracts
What are the proposed benefits of flexible contracts?
- Designed to improve the work life balance of employees to improve their motivation.
- Other measures- designed to improve flexability of organisation & make it more adaptable to change- e.g. zero hour contracts, flexible locations & flexibility in terms of skills- all lead to an organisation that is more adaptable to changing demand & needs of the consumer.
What is an organic structure?
- Decentralised
- Wider spans of control- info flows seamlessly between functional areas & departments.
- Likely to be more flexible & suited to organisations that operate in unstable dynamic environments & need to adapt quickly to change.
What is a mechanistic structure?
- Its bureucratic & based on a formal centralised network within a well defined hierachy.
- Narrow spans of control & communication.
- Decisions flowing from top down.
- Its easy to maintain & rarely needs to be changed when an organisation operates in a stable environment.
What is the difference between knowledge & information management?
Information management- focuses on retrieving, organising & analysing data & information.
Knowledge management- focuses on knowledge, understanding & wisdom, and is the process of making effective decisions & taking effective actions
What are some examples of barriers to change?
Employee resistance- change means different way of doing things, taking workers out of comfort zone & potentially threatening job security.
Management behaviour- sometimes managament can be resistant to change or there may be lack of clear objectives set.
Inadequate resources- This might be financial in terms of budget or involve human & physical resources such as machinery & equipement.
Organisational culture- The culture may be that it doens’t embrace change easily.
Kotter & Schlesingers four reasons for resistance to change
What are they & when can they occur?
Parochial self-interest: People feel they will lose something & focus on their own self interest than the organisations interest.
Misunderstanding & lack of trust: Occur when people don’t fully inderstand the implications of change & perceive it may cost them more than they would gain. Likely to happen if there is poor communication& lack of trust between initiator of change & employees.
Different assessments: Occur when people assess the situation differently to managers & see more costs than benefits, not just to themselves but to the organisation.
Low tolerance of change: Occurs when people feel they will not be able to develop the new skills & behaviour required of them- there is a limit to how much people can change& sometimes it might demand too much of them.
What are the 6 ways that Kotter & Schlesinger believed would overcome resistance to change?
Education & communciation.
Facilitation & support
Participation & involvement
Manipulation & co-option
Negotiation & bargaining
Explicit & implicit coercion.
Kotter & Schlesinger
What happens in education & communication?
- If resistors to change are told/ educated about it beforehand- it can help them see the logic or need for change.
- This may be good if resistors have a lack of or inadequate info- but it requires a good working relationship between the initiators of change & resistors.
What happens within facilitation & support?
- If resistors are given help to cope with change- e.g. training in new skills/ having their problems listened to, they ay be more accpting of it.
- This may be time-consuming & expensive but it works well if fear of change or anxiety are the main barriers.
Kotter & Schlesinger
What happens within participation & involvement?
- This is where initiators of change involve the resistors in the process of change, seeking & often acting on their advice.
- Although this method can be time-consuming & sometimes lead to poor decisions, there is no doubt that if it leads to the whole hearted commitment of the workforce, the process of change will be easier.
Kotter & Schlesinger
What happens in Manipulation & co-option?
- Manipulation involves selective use of information & careful structuring of events- while co-option is giving a leading member(s) of the resistors a key role in implementing change.
- When co-opting, endorsement not advice is sought in the hope that other resistors can be convinced of the benefits of change. Although manipulation & co-option and relatively inexpensive, they require good relationships & trust as resistors may feel they are being tricked.
Kotter & Schlesinger
What is negotiation & bargaining?
Where incentives such as higher pay rates for productivity are offered to resistors. It is a relatively easy but expensive method.
Kotter & Schlesinger
What is explicit & implicit coercion?
- If change is always unpopular & if it needs to be implemented quickly, coercion may be the only answer.
- With coercion, the worforce if forced to accept the changes because of threats of e.g. job losses, transfers or actual dismissal.
