How Does Kurt Lewin Used To Promote Change

Duke University Children's Hospital was facing a financial crisis in 1996 that required turnaround and transformation in order for the hospital to survive (Spector, 2013). On top of the financial crisis, caused by decreased Medicaid allowances and an increase in capitated reimbursement patients, patient and staff satisfaction had reached an all-time low (Spector, 2013). The hospital's chief medical director, Jon Meliones, understood that the hospital could only do so much to control their financial outcomes and a united front would be needed to bring about effective and impactful change (Spector, 2013).

First of all, I recognized that I was dealing with humans, and not just dealing with a disease process and application of the nursing process in the aspect of restoring patient health. I was dealing with emotions, and families, and cultural beliefs that influenced individual’s aspects of care. I started to see that health did not just incorporate healing the disease, but also recognized the importance of making sure patient’s felt that their

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,

Lewin’s change theory involved applied behavioral science, action research and planned change each of which is necessary to examine during the implementation of change programs (Burnes & Cooke, 2012). Lewin’s field theory involves a number of concepts that can be used as a guide to help understand the forces that comprise group dynamics within their life space or environment. Lewin’s framework also explains the totality and complexity of people’s behavior within a social setting that can be modified to bring about successful change.

Lippitt’s Phases of Change is an extension of Lewin’s Three-Step Theory. The focus on Lippitt’s change theory is on the change agent rather than the change itself.

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:

The significance of Lewin’s change theory lay not in the formality of the theory itself but rather on his ability to conceptualize real situations and as a result come up with models that reflect ideal situations. Kurt Lewin cut a niche for himself as one of the pioneers of the applied, organizational and social psychology. Born Kurt Zadek Lewin in September 9 1890, he is acknowledged as the founder of social psychology and among the first people to study organizational development and group dynamics. He lays claim to the term action research which he coined in 1944 to try and explain the effect of social action and the factors that lead to the same. A spiral circle

Vincent Nayar, in my opinion, followed the models presented by Lewin and Kotter quite closely. The process to ensure the changes needed for success were understood by Nayar to be difficult and lengthy. Based on the information gathered from the case study many of the steps necessary to complete the changes can be seen in the both of these change model examples.

According to Burnes, Kurt Lewin’s theory of change management has stayed relevant for over forty plus years, however as of recently, lewin’s approach was met with major scrutiny with critics often pointing out that change management theory applies to to work in situations where the work environment or project is small in nature and applies heavily on the fact that the organisation is stable and ignored instrumental politics in the business and furthermore was criticized for focusing too heaviliy on management driven tactics (Burnes, 2004). Burnes has specifically stated that the intention of the article is to reevaluate and to test the claims against the greater benefits that has been gained. It is very evident from the article that Burnes specifically talks about the social challenges that Lewin has faced and how that has in turn driven Lewin to create the Planned Approach to change and the elements of the change, which are Field Theory, Group Dynamics, Action Research and finally, the

In addition, Lewin recognized that change is almost always met with resistance. More importantly, he identified the behaviors and environments that stimulate resistance. Thus, careful consideration of behavioral and environmental impacts must occur in the Unfreezing stage of Lewin’s Unfreezing-Changing-Refreezing Model prior to implementing the change. This will prepare the leaders of the organization to meet the resistance with the correct leadership and management style.

In the 3-step model for successful organizational change, Kurt Lewin argues that successful change in organizations follows 3 steps:

The model represents a very simple and practical model for understanding the change process. For Lewin, the process of change entails creating the perception that a change is needed, then moving toward the new, desired level of behavior and finally, solidifying that new behavior as the norm. The model is still widely used and serves as the basis for many modern change models.

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.

When changes are inevitable, the leaders usually design some adequate steps to make the change go smooth, effective and permanently. Kurt Lewin argued that successful change in organizations should follow three steps:

The process of bringing in the change was a difficult one, John Flannery admitted. The three change management processes dubbed Lewin's Change Management Model