Chapter 11 - Change management: The role of the leader in managing change Flashcards
What is a change leader?
Key figure within the organisation who takes overall responsibility and control for the proposed change within the organisation
What does the change leader do?
Responsible for articulating what change is needed and why, acting as a figurehead for the change process, as well as helping to deal with any problems or conflicts that arise during the change process
What is the 8 step process of change leadership according to Kotter?
Establish a sense of urgency
Creating the guiding coalition
Developing a change vision
Communicating the vision
Empowering broad-based action
Generating short-term wins
Never letting up
Incorporating changes into the culture
What is a team?
Set of individuals who must work together in order to accomplish shared objectives
Team building exercises tend to be based around developing the team in what areas?
Improved communication
Building trust
Social Interaction
What are the benefits of a team?
Mixture of skills and abilities within the team
Better control, with opportunities for individual performance to be reviewed and controlled by other team members
Improved communication
What are the problems of a team?
Slower decision making
Decisions may be compromises
Group pressure to conform can lead to people agreeing to decisions they know are wrong
Teams may a lack of individual responsibility
What change approaches can be used to deal with resistance according to Kotter and Schlesinger?
Participation
Education and communication
Power/coercion
Facilitation and support
Manipulation an co-optation
Negotiation
What things should we consider when deciding upon a leadership style?
Speed at which change must be introduced
Strength of the pressure for change
Level of resistance expected
Amount of power you hold
How much information you need before you can implement the change and how long it will take to get that information
What is Lewin’s three-stage (‘ice cube’) model?
Unfreeze existing behaviour
Change behaviour/attitudes
Refreeze new behaviour
What is involved in the unfreezing in Lewin’s three stage model?
Managers need to make the need for change so obvious that most people can easily understand and accept it.
Involves creating the initial motivation to change by convincing staff of the undesirability of the present situation.
What is involved in the change process of Lewin’s three stage model?
Identifying what the new behaviour or norm should be.
Often involve:
Establish new patterns of behaviour
Setting up new reporting relationships
Creating new reward/incentive schemes
Introducing a new style of management
What is included in the refreezing process of Lewin’s three stage model?
Involves ensuring that people do not slip back into old ways.
What ways should managers consider any change situation according to Lewin?
Factors encouraging and facilitating the change (driving forces)
Factors that hinder change (restraining forces)
When will change be successful?
If driving forces are large that restraining forces
If we want to bring about change how do we change the equilibrium?
Strengthening the driving forces
Weakining the restraning forces
or both
What are some examples of restraining forces when looking at Lewin’s force field analysis?
Anxiety about job security
Change seems less stimulating
Fear of loss of power, status
What are some examples of driving forces?
Fresh challenge in job
Improved rewards
Increased job discretion
According to Beer and Nohria what two strategies does every organisational change either conform to?
Theory E Strategies
Theorgy O Strategies
What are theory E strategies?
Based on measures where shareholder value is main concern
What are theory O strategies?
‘Softer’ approaches to change, often involving cultural adjustment or enhancing employee capabilities through individual and organisational learning
How do change agents help the organisation?
Define problem and its cause
Diagnose solutions and select appropriate courses of action
Implement change
Transmit the learning process to others and the organisation overall
What skills and attributes of a change agent be included?
Goals
Roles
Communication
Negotiation
Managing up
What are the seven power skills that change agents require according to Kanter?
Ability to work idependently
Ability to collaborate effectively
Ability to develop relationships based on trust
Self-confidence
Being respectful of the process of change
Ability to work across different business functions and units
Willingness to stake personal rewards on results
What are the advantages of using external consultants as change agents?
Bring fresh perspective to the problem
May have state-of-the-art knowledge of the required change
Being a dedicated resource they may be able to give it more time and energy
They may have more experience
Greater objectivity as they have no personal stake
What is mentoring?
Process where a manager offers help, guidance, advices and support to facilitate learning and development of another
What is a mentor typically?
Skilled, senior member who:
Offers practical advice and support
Can give technical and general guidance
Can help with the development of key work skills
Can act as a role model
What are the key features of mentoring?
No specific period
Does not have to be a formal process
Seeks to build wisdom
What is coaching?
Developing a person’s skills and knowledge so that their job performance improves, hopefully leading to the achievement of organisational objectives
What are the key features of coaching?
Tends to take place on a one-to-one basis
Has a very specific purpose and tends to have a planned programme that is followed over a set period of time
What are the similarities between coaching and mentoring?
Neither is about teaching, instruction or telling someone what to do
Both are flexible and evolutionary approaches
They requires similar skills from the individual acting as the coach or mentor
What are the manager’s strategic priorities when attempting to help a business recover from a period of decline?
Reducing costs to improve efficiency
Improving competitiveness in order to increase revenue
What business strategies could a manager consider when going through a period of decline?
Retrenchment - do same as before but cutting costs
Turnaround - reposition organisation within the market
Divestment
Liquidation
What ethical dilemmas may need managing within any change process?
Whether change is justified
Management approach used
Some managers may seek to exploit change to ensure they benefit personally from new power structures and reward schemes
Some may resist change to protect own interests
Extent to which plans are made available
Whether ‘misinformation’ is used to drive certain phases of the change process
Accountants may be asked to manipulate figures to exaggerate the case for change
What are the three attributes of companies that manage change successfully according to Kanter?
Imagination to innovate
Professionalism to perform
Openness to collaborate
What are the seven key skills for leader in an change-adept organisation according to Kanter?
Communicating a compelling aspiration
Building coalitions
Transferring ownership to the work team
Making everyone a hero
Learning to persevere
Challenging the prevailing organisational wisdom
Tuning in to the environment
What is Tom Peter’s idea relating to management theory?
Thriving on chaos
What did Tom Peters suggest?
Incremental change is the enemy of true innovation
Excellent firms don’t believe in excellence
Constantly changing environment does not necessarily mean chaos
What are the advantage of having a climate of change according to Peters?
Innovation and the introduction of new products and new methods are actively sought and welcomed
People who are used to change tend to accept it without resistance
Employees develop an external viewpoint, and are less insular and defensive in their outlook
What are the disadvantages of having a climate of change according to Peters?
With a climate of change morale might be damaged
Staff might become involved in office politics
When is change most likely to succeed?
Clearly understandable goals
Realistic time frames
Clear guidance as to how each individual’s behaviour needs to change
Clear, unified leadership with no conflict between managers
Management support for training and other necessary investment
