Unit 1 - Exploring Management - Chapter 3 Flashcards
What did Kanter say about change?
Change is disturbing when it is done to us, exhilerating when it is done by us.
What three circumstances did Zajac suggest where change can become excessive?
1) A company changes despite suggestions that it might not be required.
2) One element is changed rightly, but other affected parts are changed badly.
3) Change for the sake of change.
How did Strange distinguish types of change?
1) By rate of occurence
2) By scale
3) By how change happens
What categories did By identify in the “rate of occurence” characteristic?
1) Discontinuous Change
Large changes separated by periods of stability
2) Incremental Change
The ability to adapt strategies to meet demands of internal and external market
3) Bumpy Incremental Change
Periods of relative quiet followed by acceleration in pace of change at org level
4) Continuous Change
Ability at dept/org level to constantly react to internal/external pressure to change
Kaizen
Continuous Improvement
5) Bumpy Continuous Change
Periods of relative quiet followed by acceleration in pace of continual change
What categories for “change characterised by scale” did Dunphy and Stace propose?
1) Fine-tuning
Ongoing process
Change takes place at dept level to adapt to orgs overall strategy
2) Incremental change
Occurs on gradual, predictable basis
Can include distinct changes to process
Does not include radical change at org level.
3) Modular Transformation
Major shift if one or more depts
4) Corporate Transformation.
Radical change to corporate business strategy.
How is “how change occurs” split out?
1) Planned
2) Unplanned
Sketch Lewins Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze model
What are the criticisms of Lewin’s model?
Adopts a static view of how organisations operate.
Weick and Quinn suggested it should be relabelled “freeze, rebalance, unfreeeze” due to modern continuous change.
Balogun & Hope Haily recommended removing ideas of organisations ever being frozen.
Sketch Balogun and Hope Haily’s iterative model of change.
Describe how Balogun & Hope Haily’s model moves on from Lewin’s unfreeze-change-refreeze model.
the linear and unidirectional idea is replaced showing the stages as an iterative process rather than linear or sequential
What are common critiques of all change models?
They assume change is required
They assume that all stakeholders are committed to making change happen
They close down conversation about whether the change is required
They assume all members of an org are working towards the same outcome
What three general factors should we consider when choosing an approach for change?
1) Scale
2) Speed
3) Direction
…of proposed changes.
What are the three parts of Beer & Noriah’s model?
Theory E - hard
Theory O - Soft
Combined E&O
What are the dimensions of change considered in Beer & Noriah?
Goals
Leadership
Focus
Process
Reward System
Use of Consultants
What did Theories E, O and Combined say about Goals in Beer & Noriah?
Theory E
- Maximise Shareholder value
Theory O
- Develop organisational capabilities
Combined
- Explicity embrace the paradox beteeen economic value and organisational capability.
What did theories E, O and combined say about “Leadership” in Beer and Noriah’s model?
Theory E
- Manage change from top down
Theory O
- Encourage participation from bottom up
Combined
- Set direction from the top and engage the people below.
What did Theories E, O and Combined from Beer and Noriah’s model say about “Focus”?
Theory E
- Emphasise structure and systems
Theory O
- Build up corporate culture: employee’s behaviour/attitudes
Combined
- Focus simultaniously on the hard (structure and systems) and soft (corporate culture)
What did Theories E, O and Combined from Beer and Noriah’s model say about “Process”?
Theory E
- Plan/establish programs
Theory O
- Experiment and evolve
Combined
- Plan for spontaneity
What did Theories E, O and Combined from Beer and Noriah’s model say about “Reward System”?
Theory E
- Motivate through financial incentives
Theory O
- Motivate through commitment (pay as faiar exchange)
Combined
- Use incentives to reinforce change but not drive it
What did Theories E, O and Combined from Beer and Noriah’s model say about “Use of consultants”?
Theory E
- Consultants analyse problems/shape solutions
Theory O
- Consultants support management in shaping solutions
Combined
- Consultants are resources who may empower employees
What does ‘E’ stand for in Theory E?
Economic Power
What does ‘O’ stand for in Theory ‘O’?
Organisational Capability
What do Beer and Noriah claim is increasingly the only legitimate measure of corporate success
Shareholder value
What are the main criticisms of Theory E/O?
Dualistic - it assumes either/or approach.
Orgs may have good reasons for choosing one approach over another - contradictions/tensions involved in decisions, sometimes a combinatory approach appears impossible.
Assumes change is always good - Sturdy and Grey disagree. change is often carried out in the interests of management rather than other stakeholders.
What are the 6-step, Kanter et al’s 10 commandments, Kotter’s 8 stage process for organisational transformation and Lueke’s Seven steps collectively known as?
The N*Step models.
Who compared Kanter’s, Kotter’s and Lueke’s models?
R.T. By
What was Kanter’s model called?
Ten Commandments for Executing Change
What was Kotter’s model called?
Eight-Stage Process for Successful Organisational Transformation
What was Lueke’s model called?
Seven Steps
What are Kanter’s Ten Commandments?
- Analyse the organisation and it’s need to change
- Create a vision and common direction
- Separate from the past
- Create a sense of urgency
- Support a strong leader role
- Line up political sponsorship
- Craft an implementation plan
- Develop enabling structures
- Communicatie, involve people and be honest
- Reinforce and institutionalise
What are Kotter’s eight stages?
- Establishing a sense of urgency
- Createng a guiding coalition
- Developing a vision and strategy
- Communicating the change vision
- Empowering broad based action
- Generating short term wins
- Consolidating gains and producing more chang
- Anchoring new approaches in the culture
What are Lueke’s seven steps?
- Mobilise energy and commitment through joint identification of business problems and their solutions
- Develop a shared ision of how to organise and manage for competitiveness
- Identify the leadership
- Focus on results, not activities
- Start change at the periphery, then let it spread to other units without pushing it from the top
- Institutionalise success through formal policies, systems, and structures
- Monitor and adjust strategies in response to problems in the change process
What is the six step model outlined in the course text?
- Establish a sense of urgency
- Create a guiding coalition
- Develop a vision and strategy
- Address cultural issues
- Manage the transition
- Sustain momentum
rinse & repeat.
Six-step model: Why might a sense of urgency be required?
Complacency because:
- Poor feedback mechanisms from customers, users and suppliers
- Bad news covered up
- Excellent past record
- Fear of rocking the boat
- Decision makers isolated from the grass roots
- ‘happy talk’ among senior managers
- top team unable to confront realities
- aversion to risk/too comfortable
- knowledge/skills that have dated and aren’t applicable to new reality
What are the key tactics for organisations responding to pressure for change?
- Change projects and skill requirements are linked to existing busines planning processes. More likely to get buyin from a senior level.
- The need for investment is put in language that is understandable by and persuasive of those unfamiliar with the focus of the change.
- Pay-offs of previous change initiatives can be used to build support for this one.
List external triggers for change
- Economy - eg collapse of currency
- Suppliers
- Government policies
- Competitors
- Funders
- Customers
- Shareholders
- Financial community franchisees
- Media
- The public
- Technology
- Regulation
List internal triggers for change.
- New staff
- Conflict
- Lost sales
- Drop in profit
- Demotivation
- Overstocks
- Skills gaps
- Loss of key staff
- A fire/flood
- Product and or process innovation
- Acquisition or merger
What are the vision, mission and values questions that Weiss identified?
- Vision - what are we? Who shall we become?
- Mission - What is our strategic purpose for operating?
- Values - What do we stand for and believe? What standards can be used to evaluate and judge us?
Six-step model: What is creating a guiding coalition about?
Gain the support of key power groupings.
Take account of org structure - how hierachical or flat is the structure - which layers need to be involved? Will mgt want to impose change or will they feel threatened by change from below?
Also partly about identifying who opposes the change and deciding how to respond to them. Don’t assume that resistance is to be overcome - they may be right or the cost of overcoming the resistance may be too great.
Appeal to the interests of key stakeholders.
Use stakeholder analysis to assist this stage, make sure the right people are involved.
What key questions should an organisation be asking regularly?
- What business are we in?
- Who is our customer?
- What are our core competencies?
- What is our product/service?
Six-step model: why is it important to develop a vision and strategy?
Need to engage people with the change so that it has a chance of success.
Needs to inspire.
Six-step model: What can be barriers to individuals identifying with the strategic vision and intent of a change project?
- Insufficent personal benefit
- Implication of personal loss
- Scepticism of success
- It fails to connect with everyday activities and roles
- Heavy commitment to past history and traditions
- It fails to inspire or secure involvement
- Change imposed without adequate consultation
- Staff may disagree with direction and objectives
Six-steps model: What questions might you consider to develop a vision and strategy?
- Does the vision grab the attention of everyone involved? Will it stretch them to the limit?
- If not, ….. business as usual
- Is it feasible? Can it be done with the time, resources and people available?
- If not, people may give up.
- Is it specific enough?
- If the project is not focused, you may not get the required commitment
- Is it flexible? Is there room to manoeuvre if key players, corporate goalposts or circumstances change?
- If no, people may well feel cheated and thwarted.
- Is it memorable?
- If not misperceptions, misinterpretations, wooliness and confusion may creep in
- Is it stimulating?
- People don’t want to do boring things
Six-step model: What might need to be considered as part of addressing cultural issues?
Changes to visible culture - eg clocking in/out and phasing out separate canteens for different ranks.
Changes to less visible aspects of the org. These require investment in education, comms, training etc.
If culture doesn’t change, the change will be cosmetic and behaviour will return to “normal”.
Six-step model: Why might organisational culture be resistant to change?
- Culture is a major factor in past/current success
- It has taken a long time to form currrent culture
- It is taken for granted
- It is genuinly unique and importing methods from elsewhere will not work
- It is rarely spelled out and therefore difficult to argue with
- It takes courage to question past heroes, who are part of cultural folklore
- It goes deep
What approaches to cultural change did Bate identify?
- Aggressive
- Conciliative
- Indoctrinative
- Corrosive
In Bate’s model of approaches to cultural change, how did he describe “aggressive”?
Characteristics:
- Rapid change
- Dismantles traditional values
- New culture is non-complex
- Top-down and monitored
- Detailed plans/actions
It can:
- Lead to a strong integrated culture
- Suite a situation where there is a simple source of authority
But it usually:
- Mobilises dissent
- Is politically naive
- Lacks skills or breadth of support and leads to crisis or change
In Bate’s model of approaches to cultural change, how did he describe “Conciliative”?
Characteristics:
- Reasonable and quiet
- Slow grafting onto new values
- Deals with means not ends
- Collusion not confontation
- Continuous development
- Perceived lack of power
It can:
- Lead to a ‘common sense’ welcoming of the new culture
- Disarm opposition
But it usually:
- Loses sight of its radical intent
- Gets seduced back to the status quo
In Bate’s model of approaches to cultural change, how did he describe “Indoctrinative”?
Characteristics:
- Eplicit learning process
- Socialising
- Unified logical framework
- Advocates one world view
It can:
- Lead to wide-scale changes at an informational-technical level
But it usually:
- Does not suceeed in bringing about fundamental cultural change
In Bate’s model of approaches to cultural change, how did he describe “Corrosive”?
Characteristics:
- Uses informal networks
- Unseen manipulation
- High participation
- Act first, legitimise later
- Planned and programmed
It can:
- Lead to genuine and large-scale change initiated by small-scale network
But it usually:
- Is used to defend existing order and oppose unwanted change initiators.
When does Bates suggest using the “aggressive” approach?
- As an unfreezing device - to kick-start things.
- Re-structuring responsibilities
- Introducing new performance reviews/reward systems
When does Bates suggest using the “Conciliative” approach?
To facilitate a period of consultation and ownership.
And then….
At the end to give enduring form and shape to new order.
When does Bates suggest using the “Indoctrinative” approach?
- Pulling emerging ideas together
- Emphasis is to be on learning rather than teaching
When does Bates suggest using the “corrosive” approach?
Once the change parameters have been set, use the networking and alliance building of the corrosive approach.
Best achieved by on-the-job reinforcement.
What route through the approaches to cultural change does Bates suggest?
Aggressive -> Conciliative -> Indoctrinative -> Corrosive -> Conciliative
What is the aim of Bate’s model of approaches to cultural change?
Uncover assumptions that are embedded in the part of the org being changed in order to uncover potential issues.
Six-step model: manage the transition, what are the typical problems?
1) Confusion abuot roles, responsibilities and decision making channels
2) Unavoidable tendancy for people to hold onto the past
3) Special resources required to plan, measure and control standards of performance.
Six-step model: Manage the transition, what must you ensure?
1) Carry out audit of work-groups participating
2) Understand groups for and against change - eg force-field analysis
3) Position is maintained and behaviour doesn’t revert back to pre-change
Siz-step model: sustain momentum, list important points
1) Sometimes it is advisable to cut losses and stop a change program
2) Measure impact because:
a) Positive feedback maintains momentum
b) Early success stories help build expectancy
c) May indicate need to revisit earlier steps
3) Change sponsor will need to be kept informed
Critiques of N*-Step models
1) Over-simplified
2) Acontextual and apolitical - assume that change takes place in a bubble
3) Don’t reflect the messy reality of organisations
4) Often weak as they rely on description and prescription
5) “One best way” approach is flawed because reality isn’t that simple
What should we consider when critiquing an N*-Step model?
1) The sequence of the steps
2) The number of steps
3) The timing of steps
4) Resourcing of steps
5) Whether all steps are possible or desirable.
Describe Dunphy and Stace’s contingency model of leadership and change
What is the main value of Dunphy and Stace’s contingency model of change and leadership?
It converys dyamic interdependence, an understanding of the importance of incorporating more than one dimension and how it offers a potential diagnosis for planning, implementing and evaluating change.
What are weaknesses of Dunphy and Stace’s contingency model of change and leadership?
Prescriptiveness may be unrealistically mechanical and linear, assuming all situations fit into a 2x2 matrix - assuming a “one best way” within each segment.
Privileges leadership style over other factors such as history.
Use of different change styles at different times may raise questions about credibility of change leaders.
Change leaders have to be able to change their style
Contingency models assume a great deal about the capacity of those leading change to plan, control and predict the outcomes of change strategies.
What are Stacey’s eight basic assumptions about manager’s ability to be in control?
What do the “Processual” models of change need to consider?
- All contexts (past, present and future) in which the organisation functions and to take into account all factors which are both internal and external to the organisation
- The process associated with the transition –decisions, timings, order,tasks
- The substance of the change
- Political activity within and external to the organisation
- How all of the above interact.
What 3 separate components of change did Pettigrew and Whipp’s three components of change model say you should pay attention to?
Context
Content
Process
Sketch Pettigrew and Whipp’s three-component processual model of change
What success factors in change procgrams did Oakland and Tanner identify?
The agenda for change was driven by external events
- External driver makes change more likely to be successful
Leaders set a clear direction and manage risks
- Critical that leaders assessed alternatives, were clear about direction selected and didn’t switch direction
The need for change should be aligned to the operational issues
- Enables people to understand what change is required from them.
A process approach is central
- Processes involved need to be properly understood, managed and adjusted for change to be successful
Performance measurement has a key role in supporting change
- Need to measure performance before and after change to understand the impact
A project based approach increases chance of success
- Need to identify clear objectives and keep focus throughout the process to ensure main benefits are delivered
External support adds value in managing change and the transfer of knowledge
- Use of external consultants in controversial when resources are tight
- External perspective could be invaluable
- Essential that consultants skills are passed on to the org
Aligning the culture to support changes in people’s behaviour
- People need to act differently
- change found to be most effective when aligned with existing culture
Continuous review
- Change more successful when those leading the change continually review progress and assumptions about the change process.
Sketch Oakland and Tanner’s organisational change framework
State some weaknesses of Oakland and Tanner’s model
- It implies an order to be gone through to achieve successful change
- Prescriptive
- Assumes members’ objectives are aligned with those of the organisation
- Assumption that change can be managed, controlled and predicted
- Assumes external events impinge on an org - orgs don’t exist in a vaccum waiting to be impinged on
Why might people resist change?
- Dislike of change
- Discomfort with uncertainty
- Perceived negative effects of interests
- Attachment to the organisational culture/identity
- Perceived breach of psychological contract
- Lack of conviction that change is required
- Lack of clarity as to what change is required
- Belief that the specific change being proposed is inappropriate
- Belief that the timing is wrong
- Excessive change
- Cumulative effects of other changes in one’s life
- Perceived clash with ethics
- Reaction to the experience of previous changes
- Disagreement with the way the change is being managed
Sketch the basic model of force field analysis
What is the basic idea behind Lewin’s force field analysis?
By exploring driving and resisting forces for a particular change, we are better able to overcome resistance.
Sketch Lewin’s force field analysis
What is the strength of Lewin’s force field analysis?
It gives you a useful, clear pictoral view of the forces pushing for and against a change.
What are difficulties of Lewin’s force field analysis?
- It provides a snapshot at a point in time and is not dynamic
- Change is more dynamic
- Constrainsts can also be drivers
- eg an org with long history can be less receptive to change but belief in the orgs survival can be a driver for change, so both a driver and constraint
- Assumes that the desired state is shared by all
- One person’s drivers might be another person’s constraints
What did Fleming and Spice suggest about power relations?
They ought to be viewed as ongoing and mutually implicated interplay between subordinates and superordinates.
What three types of struggle did Fleming
