Change Management - Theories of Changes

The first stage of change is the pre-contemplation stage. During this stage people have no plans

Lippitt’s Phases of Change Theory Lippitt, Watson, and Westley (1958) extend Lewin’s Three-Step Change Theory. Lippitt, Watson, and Westley created a seven-step theory that focuses more on the role and responsibility of the change agent than on the evolution of the change itself. Information is continuously exchanged throughout the process. The seven steps are:

By studying the change management theories, techniques, and leadership styles to make managing changes successfully, it is necessary to attend to the wider impacts of the change.

Significant organizational change occurs when an organization changes its overall strategy for success, adds or removes a major section or practice, and/or wants to change the very nature by which it operates. It also occurs when an organization evolves through various life cycles, just like people must successfully evolve through life cycles. For organizations to develop, they often must undergo significant change at various points in their development; hence the topic of organizational change and development has become widespread in communications about business, organizations, leadership and management.

The final stage of the model is the refreezing phase, where the new approach is implemented stabilized and established. It will be accepted as the new norm or status quo, ensuring that people do not revert back to the old ways of thinking or doing. All of the three phases are important for successful change.

Change management has been studied and researched for years with many definitions; it has been defined by Moran and Brightman as “the process of continually renewing an organization’s direction, structure and capabilities to serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customer.” (Moran and Brightman, 2001:111) It is clear that “management of change is complex, dynamic and challenging process.” (Mabey, 1993) Many theories, models and techniques have been created and aim to deliver maintainable change, but success is not guaranteed, as no model is perfect. A high demand still exists for change literature that will identify and create a perfect change management methodology, as the current rate of failure can be as high as 70%. (Balogen and Hope Hailey, 2004) In organizations where change has been successful, those who were responsible for the change management have clear, shared ideas and visions of exactly where they wanted to go and linked this closely to implementation strategies in order to achieve the results they needed. Change is always going to exist; there is always going to be change, regardless of industry, and it has become routine to expect change. Many organizations are often judged on their ability to handle this change effectively and efficiently, and since the creation and use of the World Wide Web the rate of change has increased dramatically. This essay will identify the various types of change, reasons for resistance, and models on

Within behavior change, one is always in one definitive stage within the Stages of Change model (Glanz, 2008) and moving from one to the next, a person will need to display certain behaviors at each

The next stage in the model is change intervention, this is where the actual behaviour and work practice is changed. Sniff and Scurry changed their behaviour as well as their work practice as a natural cause of the unfreezing stage (McWilliams & Williams, 2014). Haws process is longer, and he goes through seven different phases of change, shown by his written wall notes.

Stage 2 – Unfrozen: Changing to a new state (Lewin 1951). Once an individual has accepted they are dissatisfied with their situation, a desire to change will exist. It is at this time the identification of what needs to change occurs. When the unfrozen state exists, new information and concepts are

The third stage in Lewin’s change model is known as “refreezing”. It is also known as the act of reinforcing and or stabilizing after a new change has been implemented. This stage is very important because this is where an organization makes sure that the people don’t go back to doing things the old way.

Once people conclude that the benefits of change outweigh the inconveniences, they are likely to progress to the preparation stage. People in this position believe global warming is real, for instance, and will begin to feel deeply about their own contributory actions. Individuals in this stage are ready to work out the logistics of incorporating ethical eating into their day-to-day lives. Abstaining from fast-food, buying only organic

Phases of Emergent Versus Planned Change (1) Fine tuning and incremental change are usually also seen as emergent, ‘unfolding as it happens’. The organisation, an open system, engages ‘naturally’ in emergent change as it tries to maintain equilibrium with its changing environment.

An Organizations ability to survive and manage change has become increasingly important in an environment where globalization and competition are more intensifying. In the mid-20th century there has been increased attempts that apply to an organizational’s theories of change within human organizations. The first theory is concerned only with stability and equilibrium and the control of negativity or feedback. Cao and Mchugh’s (2005) system views many organizations as interacting within the environment. The orgazational environment is set up of relationships that relate to stakeholders or agents that factor beyond an organizations control. In dealing with a phenomena comples, the syaste no longer sees the concept adequate.

In order to effectively adapt to the ever changing culture of multinational corporations (MNC) continuous change is inevitable for success. Whether the change is extensive or minute, employee resistance is common. To combat resistance it is important to understand that changes arouse feelings of fear in many. This fear can stem from a number of uncertainties; employees might see the perceived change as a threat to their job security or they may fear change strictly out of habit. Therefore, the goal when initiating change is to help employees accept the change, while consequently addressing the nature of resistance. To accomplish this, mangers need to establish proper communication, accurate timing and be emotionally sensitive to employee concerns. In addition, providing incentives and training will encourage a smooth change transition within the workplace. Thus, with proper implementation one can combat the effects of change resistance within an MNC.

In the second stage, where you see preconditions for take-off, the economy is changing. Rostow noted that “these changes in society and the economy had to be of fundamental nature in the