1.

Changes in nature and society

Change = a natural or societal process of alteration the initial state of a given entity, produced in a spontaneous or controlled way. Any entity will continue to operate in the same functional and structural state until a driving force will change some of its core characteristics. An organizational change is an alteration of an organizations environment, structure, technology, or people Any change is developing as a dynamic process under driving and inertial forces.

Types of change Time

Evolutionary/ Continuous changes - continuous process of change in time, without discontinuities - usually, they involve small change - usually, they involve a dynamic equilibrium (if there are perturbations, they do not change the basic state of the system) Examples: - in nature: growing trees, ageing people, weather warming, snow melting - in society: business development, team work, education in schools and universities Revolutionary/discontinuous/disruptive changes - discontinuous process of change in time - usually, they involve a big change - usually, they involve a conflicting situation Examples: - in nature: earthquakes, floods, tornadoes - in society: a revolution, a strike, starting up a new company, taking-over of a company, an invention, a discovery

Types of change Quantity

Small changes - continuous improvement, TQM, innovations - temperature variation during a day Big changes - reengineering a company, changing the Constitution of a country - temperature variation between day and night in desert - changing seasons

Cultural change Cultural change means change in organizational culture That means changes of beliefs, values, symbols, rituals, traditions etc. Changing cultural values is very difficult and it takes time Changing cultural values is very important for transnational companies. Many mergers failed due to difficulties in changing organizational cultures Conflicts may appear when top management comes from a different culture than most of employees Change agents roles and relationships Changes within an organization need a catalyst. People who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility for managing the change process are called change agents. Any manager can be a change agent. Also, any other person from inside or outside the organization (i.e. a consultant). Change agents play the role of the driving forces for the change process

Organizational dynamics complexity and change Within any organization there is a field of forces representing people, processes and technologies These forces are interrelated and any change induced by any of them will be propagated throughout organization Complexity makes change more difficult, such that complexity will slow down the propagation of any change Large companies are more complex than small ones. Thus, in large companies managing change is much more difficult than in small companies

2. ANATOMY OF CHANGE
1. Changes that have a negative impact on peoples status should be avoided True higher resistance False The negative impact on people status is irrelevant to the overall change process ...The change process is done for the greater good of the company, the small inconvenience should not affect the implementation We cannot speak of change at a certain level, as it is supposed that all activities generating value in the company are more or less interrelated Priority to the interest of the company; useful learning experience for future decision-making

Status damaged - low motivation

despite negative impact on some individuals status, there might be a positive effect on a group level Change should always have a positive impact and bring positive results People should not be used as a means to achieve financial goals but be involved in the change process and be an important part in the decision-making process The effect of change should be forecasted People should not be personally affected by the co-workers decision in a negative way

2. Changes must usually be made in a top down direction or nothing will get done

True

False

Top management has authority and power to implement change; change has to be planned

The creative ideas for effective decisions come from the lowlevel management because they have a more accurate view over the companys activities Changes from low level management are more on hand and can be easier to conduct and direct

Agree on Changes must usually be made in a top down direction: top management initiates change, observes the needs, etc. Disagree on nothing will get done: bottom level of the organization does the implementation and may come up with initiatives for change and may provide better solutions than top management

If you want to change the motivation or the mentality of the employees, there is no reason to implement ideas in a top down direction

The majority of employees involuntarily dictate the way things are implemented as they are directly involved

People are reluctant to change and should be forced

3. Decisions are often made on the basis of whether they benefit departments or individuals rather than the organizations False:

All departments should work for a common goal Conflicting interests Losing the vision of the company,focus on objectives The decision comprises the needs of all departments If the decision taken at the level of the department does not benefit the company as a whole, it wil not be accepted by top ma nagement Organization itself is represented by departments and individuals, therefore it is difficult to make a distinction between organization and departments/individuals

Change characteristics Trigger Critical mass Direction Speed & Acceleration Destination / No-destination Driving forces Inertial forces Residual stress

Trigger is that part of a gun that you press in order to fire it of

In our view, the trigger is that mechanism able to start a change process This trigger may differ as a function of the nature of the change process: spontaneous change planned change

In spontaneous change the trigger is usually unknown, but it could be helpful for management to identify it. In planned change the trigger is designed by the management.

Critical mass = the minimum mass of fissionable material that can sustain a nuclear
chain reaction Critical mass = the minimum amount of people in an organization able to start and to sustain a change. Thus, critical mass is related to the chain change process which is irreversible When the change process is bottom-up, the critical mass is considered to represent approx. 30% of the total number of employees Examples: Implementing strategic management and quality assurance in our university system

Direction
Managing change can be done only if we know the direction of the change process and the target Usually the direction is given by the target When the change is spontaneous we must identify this direction A change process can have only one direction, that means to converge towards the target, or two directions at a certain moment When there are two directions at a certain moment we call this change a bifurcation process

Destination vs. No-destination

A change process may have an initial state and a final (destination) state Such a process we call a transition Transition = a change process characterized by an initial state, a final state and a time duration Both initial state and the final state must be well known. This is the case of the planned change When there is just a change process without any destination we consider the process to be open Examples: transition any planned change Open process the weather, our transition

Speed & Acceleration

Any organization has a given capacity of accepting change This capacity may be called changeability How much change can be absorbed? This absorption is done in time Speed = Variation of change/ Time Acceleration = Variation of speed / Time

Residual stress
Residual stress is the integrated result of all fields of forces after the change process It is the stress resulted from all frustrations of people who lost some privileges during the change process It is also due to the extra effort some people may have made for the change success Residual stress is very dangerous since it represents by definition a strong inertial force, for any future change

Organizational Change Management Life Cycle methodology Phase 1: Identify the Change
someone within an organizationtypically a senior executive provides an initiative to change a current process This need is then presented to the organization with a general description of the current state of affairs, offset by a high-level vision of the desired future state.

Techniques
Get Their Attention: Getting people out of their daily routinesat an off-site location, if possible helps them create a shared sense of urgency for change and concentrate on the change message, thereby internalizing it more deeply. Align Their Disturbances: create agreement between the gap that people have between their individual current mental model and the mental model needed to operate in a changed state. The best way for leaders to make a compelling case for change is to consider the need for change at every level in the organization, not just at the top tier. The top-level need for change is almost always driven by bottom-line goals, and does not touch the day-to-day work experience of the organizations staff.

Phase 2: Engage the People

Top-down and bottom-up dialogue on need for change and areas for adoption

Techniques
encourage peoples adoption of a change is to conduct organizationwide response/adoption alignment workshops. The implementation strategy for responding to the change is then developed at a high level. important for aligning and clarifying the intent of the change, as well as for establishing a direction that the change implementation will take. Needs to be flexible

Phase 3: Implement the Change

change strategies developed during the Identify and Engage phases are translated into tactics, or actions, for moving toward the desired future organizational state change leaders should continually remind people, using multiple media (formal emails, progress celebrations, informal conversations) what the change is and why it is so important.

Jane Dysart, the 10 Principles of Change

1. Address the human side systematically formal approach for managing change, adapted often as change moves through the organization:data collection and analysis, planning, and implementation 2. Start at the top Leaders themselves must embrace the new approaches first, both to challenge and to motivate the rest of the institution. They must speak with one voice and model the desired behaviors 3. Involve every layer: As transformation programs progress from defining strategy and setting targets to design and implementation, they affect different levels of the organization. 4. Make the case: confront reality and articulate a convincing need for change. demonstrate faith that the company has a viable future and the leadership to get there. Finally, provide a road map to guide behavior and decision making 5. Create ownership: involving people in identifying problems and crafting solutions 6. Communicate the message: The best change programs reinforce core messages through regular, timely advice that is both inspirational and practicable. Communications flow in from the bottom and out from the top, and are targeted to provide employees the right information at the right time and to solicit their input and feedback. Often this will require overcommunication through multiple, redundant channels. 7. Assess the cultural landscape: assess organizational readiness to change, bring major problems to the surface, identify conflicts, and define factors that can recognize and influence sources of leadership and resistance. 8. Address culture explicitly:Change programs can involve creating a culture (in new companies or those built through multiple acquisitions), combining cultures (in mergers or acquisitions of large companies), or reinforcing cultures (in, say, long-established consumer goods or manufacturing companies) 9. Prepare for the unexpected: continual reassessment of its impact and the organizations willingness and ability to adopt the next wave of transformation. 10. Speak to the individual: Individuals (or teams of individuals) need to know how their work will change, what is expected of them during and after the change program, how they will be measured, and what success or failure will mean for them and those around them.

3. CHANGE DYNAMICS
1. Any conflict is a sign of bad change management A conflict may lead to discovery/development of a better idea Can bring future benefits: an organization has a good change management in the moment when its dealing with the conflict, not when avoiding it It can be seen as a trigger for change The conflict itself is not a bad thinggood change management implies solving the conflicts

2. Once the logic of change has been explained, intelligent people will understand and accept it Understanding the reason for change is not enough, there are other inertial forces that oppose change habits,routine,etc. Even if people understand change they might not accept it as it is, add something new and bring a change to a change Understanding and accepting change relates to personal experience, beliefs, opinions and how people are affected by change and not to intelligence Smart people may grasp the grounds of a certain change, but still contradict it as the change might not suit their ideas or beliefs 3. It may be a good sign if, occasionally, a change process fails It is debatabledepends at what level the change process fails Take it as a learning experience learning from mistakes Occasionally is not the right word it should be once sometimes failure teaches the managers and employees how to deal and accept an unsuccessful event Opportunity for improvement It is a good sign if the change process of other companies fails and you get to learn from it CHANGE AGENT Any individual who assumes the responsibility for managing the change process is called a change agent. Any manager can be a change agent. Also, a group of people can assume this role of change agent. A change process can be accelerated if there is a help from other people, able to contribute with their knowledge to change. They are called catalysts. A change process can be de-accelerated by people who oppose the change. They are called inhibitors. Catalysts and inhibitors can be from within or from outside organization. They contribute to change, but they do not assume the responsibility of change.

INERTIAL FORCES In any change process there are inertial forces that oppose the driving forced. Inertial forces generate resistances. There are internal resistances and external resistances, with respect to any organization. There are individual resistances and organizational resistances. INDIVIDUAL INTERNAL RESISTANCES Fear of unknown. This fear is a natural reaction at individual level. Regardless of the state today, any individual thinks that unknown may bring a worse situation. Murphys law: Smile! Tomorrow can be worse. The pessimist says: It is so badly today that it cannot be worse. The optimist says: It can! Lack of vision for the final state. Any change has an initial state and a final state. Initial state is generally known, or it can be described. Final state might be unknown because of lack of any vision from the change agents. There is no leadership able to describe the future state and its advantages. Actually, there is no answer to the question: Why to change? Avoiding risks. Our culture developed deterministic thinking, i.e. thinking based on certainty. That means that our minds works very well when events are certain and their associated risks are zero. Uncertainty avoidance index Geert Hofstede index for Romania is 90 (USA UAI=46; UK- UAI=35) Any change is associated with different risks. Perception of these risks generates individual resistances. Fear of loosing some privileges . Any change is advantageous for some people, and disadvantageous for some others. Any individual who thinks that a change will have as a consequence loosing some privileges will oppose change with all his/her forces For example, in any change of a tall organization into a flat one middle managerial positions disappear. Envy. Envy is a natural feeling. However, sometimes it is such a strong feeling that it generates resistance. Envy is generated by the privileges associated with the promoters of change. Even if an individual did nothing for change implementation, he may have a huge envy for those who are successful in the change process

ORGANIZATIONAL RESISTANCES Organizational culture. It is the most important resistance since it contains values, symbols, traditions and believes which are the essence of organizational life. Values and symbols can be changed if there is a new vision for organization Traditions conserve the past. They cannot be changed, but they can be stopped. Eventually, new traditions can be created. Organizational and functional structure. Organizational structure is important in supporting a large scale change process, and functional structure is important in creating the critical mass. Critical mass for change means number of people and their associated power of decision in organization. A stiff and very complicated organizational structure will make any change very difficult Trade unions. The presence of trade unions in organizations is according to legislation and history of organizations Also, the power of trade unions depends on their leaders and support from outside similar organizations However, when they are powerful, they generally oppose any change leading to restructuring, externalization and downsizing the organization Organizational communications. Any change means a clear explanation of: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, HOW, WHERE, COSTS, RISKS Lack of such a vital knowledge generates fear of unknown and increases the perception of risks associated to change Lack of formal communication always increases the informal communication as gossip and intrigues Previous successes Any success is a reward for the risks taken and a confirmation of the right decision made Any success is interpreted as a guarantee of something done in the right way. Then, WHY to change? However, the solutions of yesterday cannot be the solutions for tomorrow. Even if there are same problems, the environmental forces might be different ENVIRONMENTAL RESISTANCES Environmental forces may constitute important resistances to change, by imposing limitations Legislation is the most important limiting factor Cultural values feed the organizational culture Outside stakeholders may oppose change if they feel the risks of loosing any privileges Economic, scientific and educational levels

Rules for stifling innovation (Rosabeth Moss Kanter) Regard any new idea from below with suspicion because its new, and its from below. Insist that people who need your approval to act, first go through several other levels of management to get their signature. Ask departments or individuals to challenge and criticize each others proposals (That saves you the job of deciding). Express your criticisms freely and withhold your praise. Let them know they can be fired at any time. Treat identification of problems as signs of failure, to discourage people from letting you know when something in their area isnt working. Control everything carefully. Make sure people count anything that can be counted, frequently. Make decisions to reorganize or change policies in secret, and spring them on people unexpectedly. Make sure that requests for information are fully justified, and make sure that it is not given out to managers freely. Assign to lower-level managers, in the name of delegation and participation, responsibility for figuring out how to cut back, lay off, move people around, or otherwise implement threatening decisions you have made, and get them to do it quickly. Above all, never forget that you, already know everything important about business.

REDUCING RESISTANCES Education The best method to reduce any kind of change resistance is through education That means to design training programs for all employees concerning change and need of implementing change at organizational level Organizational change is everybodys business and thus each employee must understand the need for change Employees must learn about incremental change and disruptive change Employees must understand the risks of change and the risks of no change Communication The essence of change is the move from the KNOWN to the UNKNOWM Ambiguity and uncertainty of change and of the final state of organization make that communication to be essential in any change process Even if the change process is not very well known and many surprises may happen, communication is very important across the whole organization Through communication the UNKNOWN is reduced continuously, and people feel they are together Communicate the first results to convince people that the change process will reach its objectives Communication must be redundant, i.e. information can be overlapping or replicated

Participation Participation is an excellent technique to transform a potential resistance into a driver for change Some individuals oppose change due to lack of information or vision concerning the final state Providing enough information and helping them understand the benefits of change, these individuals can become active participants in the change process Sometimes, these individuals may bring in valuable experience Negotiation This technique is used when there is a strong resistance, especially coming from a group of people Trade unions constitute usually such kind of resistances The purpose of negotiation is to find solutions for those who will lose their privileges or their jobs For those who lose some privileges there should be some new benefits when change will be completed For those who lose their jobs there should be some compensations in money or ways for professional conversion to new jobs In order to reduce the residual stress of change it is important to negotiate win-win solutions Coercion Coercion is typically used in top-down change Employees have to execute orders coming from the top management without any chance of opposing them If they oppose these orders, they may lose their jobs Thus, coercion is based on force and fear It is a method that generates a high level of residual stress It is a method that can be useful in time of crisis Developing a dynamic culture Organizational culture can be an important resistance to change due to the fact that it contains values, beliefs, symbols and traditions Developing a dynamic organizational culture means to change the values such that they support new ideas and visions Also, new traditions can be developed to open the organization to new opportunities A new dynamic organizational culture can be developed only with the contribution of the top management Leadership plays an important role in changing the organizational culture Manipulation This is a negative technique used by some managers to get quick results Manipulation means to create a state of confusion concerning the final state and then to define false targets Manipulation also means to offer some privileges to some individuals in exchange of their cooperation to change However, manipulation generates a high level of residual stress

effective change leadership: monitoring change, making the necessary mid-course corrections, and knowing when to initiate a new vision.

Project Readiness Healthcheck Map the predominant culture (or cultures depending on the size of the organisation, theres probably more than one). For example, the level of knowledge sharing, silo working, alignment... Assess the maturity of their capability to manage process weakness here can spell disaster when it comes to bringing in new systems. Measure the level of distrust and lack of respect in relationships between people the higher the high level of distrust, the harder it will be to achieve integration and the more time and effort you will need to overcome the barriers. Establish where the project lies on an Exponential Complexity scale, from Simple to Too Complex, where the components include the scope, number of stakeholders and timescales. Step 1: Undertake an INPACT Project Readiness Assessment (1) Ensure clear strategy and shared objectives (2) Baseline the organisational culture and process capability (3) Assess project complexity and ROI impact (4) Gain ownership of the risks Step 2. Support the Change Project (5) Help people invent their own route to the (6) Make the business processes visible future (7) Strengthen project and programme management capability (8) Build an infrastructure for change (9) Focus on personal development and leadership (10) Manage external partners Step 3: Track Progress to a Successful Project Outcome spot issues and barriers that will hinder take-up and realisation of the project benefits and maintain focus on the organisational culture changes

4. MODELS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Organizational change is a complex process that alters the functional state of the whole organization Changes can be initiated in people, technologies, processes or structures, but they will propagate across the whole organization The driving forces for such complex changes can be determined by the need of survival, adaptation to a dynamic business environment, reengineering process, shifting to a new vision Organizational change imply the presence of all management levels (top management, middle management and executive management) ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES Incremental/ Developmental change It is a continuous process of change with small steps/ increments in time. It is a directional change. A typical incremental change process is TQM By the end of each year there is an evaluation of the progress made, and then a new step is decided This is also a method used in continuous adaptation to the environmental dynamics It is a preferable method since risks associated to each change step are rather small Also, investments in incremental change are small Training programs to increase the capability of some departments or the whole organization in some new fields of business Process improvements, products and services improvements TQM Team building to increase the team management capacity Problem solving Increasing sales or production Expanding existing markets Training programs to increase the capability of some departments or the whole organization in some new fields of business Process improvements, products and services improvements TQM Team building to increase the team management capacity Problem solving Increasing sales or production Expanding existing markets

Transitional change Rather than simply improve what is, transitional change replaces what is with something entirely different It is a transition from an initial state toward a final state Both states must be known and well defined Leaders perceive transitional change as projects that can be managed, and have computable costs and assumed risks Project management can be useful in transitional change Reorganizations which imply changing the organizational and functional structure of the company Mergers or consolidations of the company Changing computers and software that do not require changes in the mindset or behavior of people

Transformational change It is the most complex type of change from one state into a completely new state Transformational change means a radical shift from one state of being to another, that requires a shift in culture, behavior, and mindset to implement successfully and sustain over time In developmental change, simply improving current operations is adequate In transitional change, replacing current operations with new, clearly defined suffices In transformational change, the environmental and marketplace changes are so significant that a profound breakthrough in peoples worldview is required

PLANNED CHANGE The basic idea of this theory is that change can be planned and managed as a controlled process. Since change has been considered at the organization level, all research focused on Organizational Development (OD). Kurt Lewin founded in 1945 the Research Center for Group Dynamics, with a huge influence. MODELS OF PLANNED CHANGE The action research model The three-steps change model Kurt Lewins change model The eight-steps change model John Kotters change model

Kotters change model

1.Establishing a greater sense of urgency Examining seriously the market and competitive realities Identifying and discussing crises, potential crises or major opportunities 2.Creating the guiding coalition Putting together a group with enough power to lead the change Getting the group to work together like a team 3.Developing a vision and a strategy Creating a vision to help direct the change effort Developing strategies for achieving that vision 4.Communicating the change vision Using every vehicle possible to constantly communicate the new vision and strategies Role modeling needed behavior by the guiding coalition 5.Empowering others to act Getting rid of blockers Changing systems or structures that seriously undermine the change vision Encouraging risk taking and nontraditional ideas, activities, and actions 6.Creating short-term wins Planning for some visible performance improvements Creating those wins Visibly recognizing and rewarding people who made the wins possible

7.Consolidating gains and producing even more change Using increased credibility to change all systems, structures, and policies that dont fit together and dont fit the transformation vision Hiring, promoting, and developing people who can implement the change vision Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change agents Not declaring victory too soon 8.Institutionalizing changes in the culture Creating better performance through customer and productivity oriented behavior, more and better leadership, and more effective management Articulating the connections between new behaviors and firm success Developing means to ensure leadership development and succession