Analysis Of Kurt Lewin 's Change Management Model And John Kotter 's Eight Step Change Model

Fincham and Rhodes (2005, p525) define change management as ‘the leadership and direction of the process of organisational transformation – especially with regard to human aspects and overcoming resistance to change’.

No matter how easy is may seem on the surface, the unfreezing, moving and refreezing stages of Lewin’s 3-Step model must be taken (Lewin, 1946). These stages are difficult and persistence by the organization in sticking to its objectives for growth and improvement must remain a top priority. In reality no matter how many positives a new idea is there will always be resistance when it is introduced. Change management is therefore central to the process of making the transition from the old system to the new and change management practices should be employed throughout the transition (ITIL,

Choosing a change model can be difficult for an organization. The company must ensure that the model it chooses will help them make the smoothest transition possible for everyone involved. The chosen change model must also help the company reach its goal within the time frame the company needs to have changes made.

The author will employ a combination of two change theories. Kurt Lewis’ Unfreeze-Change-refreeze theory and John Kotter’s 8 Steps of leading change. A summary of the steps is attached below (Taner, R. 2015).

Leading and managing change require a solid theoretical foundation. This assignment will research the theoretical elements of change and change management. Addressed will be the following: Organic Evolution of Change, Formulating Strategic Development Approaches, Leadership and Management Skills and Gathering and Analyze Data. As societies continue to evolve and changing demand creates the need for new products and services, businesses often are forced to make changes to stay competitive. The businesses that continue to survive and even thrive are usually the ones that most readily adapt to change. A variety of factors can cause a business to reevaluate its methods of operation. According to literature from the past two

Introducing organisational change is often hard, the main reasons for that can be variation in perceptions of the employees, fear of disruption or failure and underlining the right approach to apply change. Then even if the change in a specific organisation is projected successfully there is still lot to be done to manage it in an appropriate way (Oakland, 2007).

The models of change that I have chosen to describe are the ADKAR model and Kotter’s 8 step change model. The ADKAR model is mainly used to help identify and drive change as well as a tool to understand any gaps that are needed to strengthen along the change process. It is also a useful framework for planning change within an organization, before implementation, and in the execution phase of the change management process. This process begins with five key goals that are the basis of the model; awareness of the need to change, desire to participate and support the change, knowledge of how to change, ability to implement the change on a daily basis, and reinforcement to keep the change in place. Each step in the ADKAR model

As Niccolo Machiavelli once stated "There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things" (Burtonshaw-Gunn 2008 p 21). Change is as influential as it is necessary. Adopting effective change can also be a difficult endeavor. That is why this research is examining particular change models as a way to better understand methods which can be transposed into real practice. Here, the work of Palmer & Dunford (2009) is examined, in particular the concepts of change images found in chapter two of the work Managing Organizational Change: A Multiple Perspectives Approach. Change model images essentially prepare a foundation of structure and leadership for managers, which can be decided upon based on the specific environmental factors involved in the change itself. Managers can choose particular management styles based on the specificities of the situation and the desired results.

The aim of this report is to provide a critical analysis of the concept of change in the business industry. The concept of change can be tracked back to Lewin’s Model of Change therefore the intitial introduction of this report focuses on the relevance of the Model of Change and its importance to giving precedence to other relevant change management theories and how Kurt Lewin’s work on heavioral science and planned change during World War II gave rrise to prominence of experimental leadership and planned change processes which also in turn launched a new generation of research that lead to group dynamics and how change programs are implemented into an organisation (Burnes, 2004). This is important because today’s basic elements or factors

Over 60 years have passed since Kurt Lewin introduced his Unfreezing-Changing-Refreezing Model. His model is often considered invalid due to the specific beginning, middle, and end of his model. Today, change is continuous and fluid which critics have argued is not recognized by Lewin’s model. However, the following paragraphs will examine how Lewin’s Model is still applicable in today’s change management world.

Change happens in all aspects of life. Leaders view change as being good most of the time. An organization can’t move forward without change. This paper will discuss how leaders can use levels of change and the steps of Kotter’s change model to implement change. It will also give a Christian worldview as it pertains to the topics. Leader must learn the language to effectively communicate change. This will give managers an advantage and help demonstrate the vision for the future.

1.1 Change management is described by Armstrong (1) as “the process of achieving the smooth implementation of change by planning and introducing it systematically taking into account the likelihood of it being resisted”. Change, the fundamental constant in any successful organisation, can be adaptive, reconstructive, revolutionary or evolutionary and can happen for a number of diverse reasons:

Kurt Lewin developed a model of the change process that has stood the test of time and continues to influence the way organizations manage planned change. Lewin’s change model is a three-step process. The process begins with unfreezing, which is a critical first obstacle in the change process. Unfreezing involves encouraging individuals to shed old behaviors by changing the status quo. The second step in the change process is moving. In the moving stage, new attitudes, values, and behaviors are substituted for old ones. Organizations accomplish moving by initiating new options and explaining the rationale for the change, as well as by providing training to help employees develop the new skills they need. The last step in the change process is Refreezing. In this step, new attitudes, values, and behaviors are established as the new normal. The new ways of operating are concrete and reinforced. Managers should ensure

According to Kurt Lewin’s change model (1947), there are three aspects of managing organizational change: unfreezing, change intervention and refreezing. By observing the change model, all four characters are seen to go through the freezing stage when they found the first cheese station.

Change is a common thing that happens all around us on a daily basis sometimes even without us noticing. It can range from family level to international levels, likewise in time frame it can happen on a daily basis, a monthly, yearly or even a decade. In the words of Senior & Fleming (6) Change can be simply defined as process of moving from one state to another. It is this transition that creates distress to the people due to fear of the unknown. We can not stop change but rather we can only manage it. So then what is change management?