15. Strategies for change Flashcards
What factors could cause the need for an organisation to change?
• Changes in the environment
• Changes in the products the organisation makes, or the services it provides
• Changes in technology and changes in working methods
• Changes in management and working relationships
• Changes in organisation structure or size
• Post–acquisition
What are the levels at which change efforts may focus?
• Individual level
• Organisation structure and systems level
• Organisational climate and interpersonal style levels
What is the change process?
• Step 1 Determine need or desire for change in a particular area.
• Step 2 Prepare a tentative plan.
• Step 3 Analyse probable reactions to the change.
• Step 4 Make a final decision from the choice of alternative options.
• Step 5 Establish a timetable for change.
• Step 6 Communicate the plan for change.
• Step 7 Implement the change.
• Step 8 Review the change.
Describe the stages in the three-stage approach (iceberg model).
• Unfreeze existing behaviour.
• Move: Attitude/behaviour change.
• Refreeze: New behaviour
Unfreezing processes require four things:
• A trigger
• Someone to challenge and expose the existing behaviour pattern
• The involvement of outsiders
• Alterations to power structure
Describe the adaptive change approach.
Change implemented in little stages
Describe the coercive change approach.
Coercive change is enforced without participation.
What are the problems associated with the coercive approach?
• Underestimation of the forces of resistance
• Failure to muster forces in favour
• Failure to attack root causes of resistance
• Management shift their attention too quickly elsewhere
• Failure to ensure implementation
What are change agents?
A change agent is an individual (sometimes called a Champion of Change), a group or external consultancy with the responsibility for driving and ‘selling’ the change.
What are the roles of change agents?
• Defining the problem
• Suggesting possible solutions
• Selecting and implementing a solution
• Gaining support from all involved
What skills and attributes does a change agent need to have to be effective?
• Communication skills
• Negotiation and ‘selling’ skills
• An awareness of organisational ‘politics’
• An understanding of the relevant processes
What are the steps in the Champion of Change model?
Step 1 : Senior management are the change strategists and decide in broad terms what is to be done.
Step 2: They appoint a change agent to drive it through.
Step 3: The change agent has to win the support of functional and operational managers
Step 4: The change agent galvanises managers into action and gives them any necessary support.
Describe the Gemini 4Rs framework for planned strategic change.
Reframing involves fundamental questions about what the organisation is and what it is for:
• Achieve mobilisation: create the will and desire to change.
• Create the vision of where the organisation is going.
• Build a measurement system that will set targets and measure progress.
Restructuring is about the organisation’s structure, but is also likely to involve cultural changes:
• Construct an economic model to show in detail how value is created and where resources should be deployed.
• Align the physical infrastructure with the overall plan.
• Redesign the work architecture so that processes interact to create value.
Revitalising is the process of securing a good fit with the environment:
• Achieve market focus.
• Invent new businesses.
• Change the rules of competition by exploiting technology.
Renewal ensures that the people in the organisation support the change process and acquire the necessary skills to contribute to it:
• Create a reward system to motivate.
• Build individual learning.
• Develop the organisation and its adaptive capability.
How does change affect individuals?
• Physiological changes: pattern of shift-working, location of place of work
• Circumstantial changes: unlearning previous knowledge and learning new ways of doing things
• Psychological changes: feelings of disorientation, insecurity, changing relationships etc
What are some barriers to change?
Cultural barriers
Personnel barriers
The psychological contract - pressure points are 1) Lack of appropriate skill levels and 2) Declining staff morale
What are three factors to consider when dealing with resistance to change?
• The pace of change
• The manner of change
• The scope of change
