Session 4

The change process

Planning and preparation for
change
 Once a manager or a group of managers has
been convinced that change is necessary
and that accurate diagnosis has been made
of the cause requiring change, preparation for
the changes can begin.
Planning and preparation for
change
The change process

Planning Implementation Evaluation

and preparation

Dealing with resistance

to change
Planning and preparation for change
 Such planning calls for attention to several
issues:

 Timing
 Building support
 Communication
 Participation
 Incentives
Timing
 Managers are often tempted to initiate something
quickly, especially if the need for change seems
exceptionally strong.

 Acting too quickly can lead to changes that are not

well planned and that fail because they lack
sufficient support.

 On the other hand, waiting too long time to make

necessary changes can also be a recipe for failure.

 Right timing is crucial and critical to success.

Building Support
 One of the most quarantees for successful implementation is to
build support for change in advance.

 Requires especially careful consideration of who will be affected

by the changes and how they will likely react.

 This means that managers need to have a clear understanding of

the situation and circumstances in which the changes will take
place if they are to increase the probability of success.

 It also means that this kind of analysis, in turn, must be followed

with support-building activities by the manager.

 How? Through …
 Communication
 Participation
 Incentives
Communication
 A key step in building support for major
changes is to communicate about them in
advance to those who will be affected.

 Cooperation is likely to be enhanced and

more people understand:

 The reasons for the changes

 The ways those changes are likely to impact
them.
Communication
Examples of communication such as:

 Explained the proposed change to all

employees
 Required hours of training in problem solving
 Goal setting
 Conflict management
 Set up scheduled meetings both individual
groups and with the entire workforce.
Communication
 In contrast if the reasons for changes cannot
be clearly communicated, they may not have
high probability of success.

 Seldom do change fail because of too much

communication

 But likely to encounter difficulty when too little

information is provided.
Communication
 Particularly important in using communication
to build support for proposed changes is to
provide a compelling rationale for changes.

 Those affected need to know the specific

objectives of the changes and how those
relate to the larger goals and values of the
unit or total organization.
Communication
 Also important in communication is to focus
special attention on those who are likely to be
influenced in shaping the attitudes of their
colleagues.

 In other words, extra effort spent on

communication with opinion leaders (those who
knows) can be good investment.
Participation
 During the planning stage, obtaining the
participation of those to be affected by
changes can help build later support for those
changes.

 Participation can build trust because those

initiating the changes, in effect, are allowing
themselves to be influenced about how and
when to make the changes.
Participation
 Use of participation is not cost free.

 It takes time and effort on the manager’s part.

 Participation may backfire if participants’

suggestions and requests are diverge widely from
managers’ goal.

 Furthermore, if those asked to participate sense that

their input is not really wanted and that management
is only ‘going through the motion,’ this can quickly
lead to feeling of being “manipulated.”
 In such cases participation has eroded rather than support
for change.
Participation
 Nevertheless, participation should be least be
considered as a viable approach.

 The real issue is whether the failure to use

participation creates more problems for the
changes than will the use of participation.
 The answer is often “yes.”
Incentives
 Other factor that can help build support for change
is to emphasize incentives for those who will be
affected.

 Simply communicating how the change itself will

directly affect them in a positive way can often
increase support.

 Examples are:
 Installation of new equipment to make work easier.
 Or reorganization to provide clearer direction.
 Or additional training to add to an employee’s skills.
Incentives
 Providing incentives may involve conferring
benefits directly to those affected.

 This could include either non-monetary

incentives such as:

 A better accessed facilities.

 a more desirable working conditions.
 Or the use of some form of monetary incentives
such as increased compensation for increased
responsibilities.
Incentive
 Managers should consider some important cautions
when using incentives to generate change.

 One is that providing incentives to those likely to be

affected may make them feel they are being “bought
over.”

 Thus use if incentives for change, especially

monetary incentive, can potentially create
skepticism and cynicism of managers’ motives and
thus, increase resistance to changes.
Incentive
 Furthermore, offering explicit incentives one
time for a change may increase the
probability that those affected will expect
incentives any time a new change is made in
the future.

 Therefore, introducing incentives as a way for

building support for change is not something
that should be done lightly and without
consideration of possible serious, though
unintended, side effects.
Implementation Choices
 Where planning for change leaves off and
implementation of change begins, it is often difficult
to specify because the process is more or less
continuous.

 Implementing change involves several critical

choices for managers:

 Choices of approach
 Choices of amount
 Choices of rate
Implementation of choices
Choice of approaches (we discussed that
earlier) involves these options:

 Technology
 Structure
 Culture
 Strategy
 Process
 People
Choice of approach
 To initiate the change process, one or more
of these focuses need to be selected.

 The choice depends in large part on the

objectives to be accomplished, which in turn
are linked to the problems identified in the
assessment of the need to change.

 For e.g. if the major problems is outdated

equipment, then obviously changing the
technology will be the approach of choice.
Choice of approach
 However if the problem is one sluggish
growth in sales compared with competitors,
then choice of approach is not so self-
evident.

 It could be that the organization is not sufficiently

market-oriented, which could indicate a need for
change in the culture of the organization.
Choice of amount

 Either :

 Small
 Moderate
 Major
Choice of amount
 Even after managers have decided what
approaches to take and have started to
implement those choices, they must also
confront another set of issues:

 How much change should take place?

 That is, how comprehensive should the change

be affected?
 When change is too little, the benefits are not
likely to outweigh the costs involved.
Choice of amount
 Changes can be too massive or too small

 Although managers may be tempted to make big

changes, once they decide to make change, they
often overlook the potential costs.

 Very large changes are sometimes what is called

for, especially when major changes are occurring in
the unit’s or organization’s environment.

 Studies showed that companies that engaged in burst of

very large changes rather than a series of small,
incremental changes were better able to cope with an
extremely volatile environment.
Choice of amount
 Any change can cause resistance and big
changes can cause immense resistance.

 Thus too great a change, in effect, can create

more chaos and more problems.

 When this happen, no change at all would have

been better than change that was made.
Choice of amount
 Another aspect of the amount of change that
needs to be considered is the frequency of
changes.

 In these times of competitive pressure and

relative turbulence in many organizational
environments, change must be implemented
much more often than in the past.
 In some sense, change is a more or less constant
condition
Choice of amount
 If specific changes, especially those of at least moderate
size, are made continually, organization members can
get mentally exhausted.

 Imagine, for example, that you are a member of a sales

department in a large, geographically dispersed
company:

 First management decides that sales department data

should be centralized and install a new data
information system linking all geographic region.

 Next, management institutes a team structure linking

sales with marketing and R & D personnel for new
projects.
Choice of amount
 Each of these changes, by itself, may improve
customer satisfaction and employee performance.

 However, if they all occur with a short space of time,

you might not have time to adjust to any one change
before finding yourself in the midst of a new change.

 Therefore, the frequency of changes must be

considered along with their size to gauge the effects
on those who will have to respond.
Choice of amount
 The lessons for managers is that great care
must be taken in deciding how much change
should be implemented.

 Potential problems exist in making too small

or not enough change.

 Similarly, there can be potential dangers in

making too large or too many changes.
Choice of amount
 In particular instances, however, one of these
extremes may in fact be the best alternatives.

 The general guideline, therefore, is that the

amount of change should fit the severity of
the problems.

 This should be determined by sound analysis

of the strength of the need for change.
Choice of rate
 Just as the amount and frequency of change represent important
choices in making changes, so does the rate of change.

 If the pace of change is too slow, conditions that created the

need for it in the first place may again shift significantly.

 Diverted back to square one

 Also change that is too slow can frustrate many people, who
want to see at least some early and tangible results for their
efforts.

 See e.g … that follows …

Choice of rate
 For e.g. suppose a company spent several months
putting together new work teams and training
employees in decision-making techniques, group
processes, conflict resolution techniques and use of
computerized performance tracking.

 Then, however, suppose it delayed installing the

new equipment and software.

 Employees would likely be frustrated by not being able to

put their new knowledge and skills to immediate use.
Choice of rate
 Change that is too rapid can also cause major problems.

 Whether the change is primary technological, structural,

procedural or some other focus, people need to adapt to
the rate.

 Rate that are excessively fast can exceed the typical

person’s ability to cope and thus, increase resentment
and resistance.

 It has been suggested that in situation of rapid change,

the work experience may be so stressful and so
damaging to a person’s self-identity as to trigger violent
behavior.
Choice of rate
 Just as the rate of speed of a car can be
increased or decreased depending on the
road conditions, so can the rate of change in
organizational settings.

 Just as in a car, if the rate is changed too

often or too drastic, it can be very
uncomfortable for those required to adapt.

 This in turn can reduce confidence in the

person responsible for the changes.
Resistance to change
 Although almost any change carries with it a
seed of resistance, managers are often
surprised, and frequently disappointed by it.

 Some degree of resistance may be inevitable

in organizational changes but overcoming
that resistance is not easy.

 In this section, we examine some of the

reasons for resistance and some general
approaches for dealing with it.
Reasons for Resistance

 Change embodies potential risks and threats

for those affected.

 They think they know how to size up those

risks and threats in their present situation, but
they are uncertain what they will be in the
changed situation.
Reasons for resistance
 Within the overall context, some more specific
reasons for resisting change can be identified:

 Inertia (feeling of unwillingness to do anything)

 People in organization get comfortable with their present
ways of doing things.

 Even if they perceive no increase in risk, people simply find

it easier to do things the way they always have rather than
to operate or behave differently.

 Ingrained and over-learned habit die hard.

Reasons for resistance
 Mistrust

 Even if those proposing change emphasize

positive future consequences, people often
doubt that they will actually occur.

 Such skepticism is especially magnified if

change occurs in an existing climate of
mistrust or if previous change effort have
failed.
Reasons for resistance
 Lack of information

 A third contributing factor to resistance to

change can be a lack of adequate information
about both the need for the change and what
its effects are likely to be.

 Even a seemingly small change such as a minor

reorganization of a specific unit can produce
opposition, often of a subtle nature, simply
because basic information was not provided.
Reasons for resistance
 Anticipate Consequences

 Another reason for resistance can be straight

forward assessment of expected gains and losses
by those affected.

 In other words, employees determine what is best for

protection of their self-interests.

 Those affected by the change may consider

possible loss of status or influenced, which may be
ignored or underestimates by the managers who are
instigating the change.
Dealing with resistance to change
 There are no “quick fix” to reduce or eliminate
resistance.

 However, that does not mean that nothing

can be done and therefore, having a
framework for analyzing the resistance can
be helpful.
Dealing with resistance to change
Force Field Analysis

 One very useful way of looking at the

problem of resistance is what is called a
“force field analysis” as proposed by
psychologist Kurt Lewin.

 The uses of the concept of equilibrium, a condition

that occurs when the forces for change , the
“driving forces,” are roughly balanced by forces
opposing change , the “restraining forces,”. (please
see hand-out material for description)
Force field analysis
 If we apply this analysis to typical
organizational changes, we see that
managers basically have two choices:

 Add more force for change, such as putting more

pressure on subordinates to conform to new
procedures OR

 Reduce the resistance forces, such as convincing

informal leaders that they will benefit from change.
Force field analysis
 The basic problem with increasing the driving
forces is that this often results in increasing
the opposing forces.

 Therefore, Lewin analysis suggests that

weakening restraining may be the more
effective way to bring about change.
Kurt Lewin’s force field theory

 According to Kurt Lewin’s theory, every

behavior is the result of an equilibrium
between driving forces, which push for
change and restraining forces, which resist
change and strive to maintain the status quo.

 Forces of resistance include the existing

organization culture, individual employees’
self-interests and differing perceptions of
organization goals and strategies.
Force field theory
 In Lewin’s view, people find it difficult, if not
impossible, to change long-established attitudes and
behavior.

 Even if they do make changes, they will soon return to their

old ways if the new ways are not reinforced.

 To prevent this, Lewin suggest a three-step process:

 Unfreezing existing behavior patterns

 Using a change agent to help employees identify with and
internalize new attitudes, values and behavior
 Refreezing to lock in the new behavior patterns.
Force field theory
 Unfreezing – making the need for change so
obvious that the individual, group or organization
can readily see and accept that change must occur.

 Change agent – the individual leading or guiding the

process of change in an organization situation.

 Refreezing – transforming a new behavioral pattern

into the norm through reinforcement and support
mechanisms.
Dealing with resistance to change
Negotiation

 Negotiating too early with those who may

resist could be wasted effort because the
issues to be negotiated or the degree of
resistance may not yet be clear.

 If resistance is primary due to lack of

information, entering into negotiations too
may only increase resistance, thus
strengthening a restraining force.
Negotiation
 People may resist managers’ negotiation
efforts since they feel they cannot make
intelligent decisions about offers or
counteroffers because they lack sufficient
information.

 Information is crucial under the negotiation table.

 Managers should have sufficient and reliable

information.
Participation
 Participation may be very effective in
defusing some resistance, or even identifying
valid reasons why the change might not work,
but it can be a costly use of everyone’s time
and can be risky for managers because the
outcomes are hard to predict.

 For e.g. in a setting in which past change efforts

have failed or have hurt employees (e.g., through
layoffs), asking people’s participation may not
seem legitimate.
Communication
 Communication can be relatively inexpensive
but if it comes too late, it may not have much
effect.

 For e.g. communicating and emphasizing to

employees that a firm’s profit have dropped
sharply, after layoffs have already been
announced, may seem like an after-the-fact
attempt to justify the layoffs action

 may only result in increased levels of mistrust

and resistance in the future.
Facilitation
 Facilitation and support would be welcomed by those
who might not want to go along with the changes but the
costs can be substantial.

 For e.g GE hires consultants to help with its “workout”

program, a series of “town meetings” in which managers
and employees meet for frank discussions of the
business and to find solution to key problems

 These consultants cost about $5000 to $10000 per day

in fees plus expenses.

 At that rate, it doesn’t take many days to rack up sizable

bill.
Coercion
 Coercion, such as threatening transfer or denying future
promotions, is risky and not design to lessen resistance
but it may overcome resistance in short term.

 For this to work, management must have the power to

follow through with threats and the threats must be of
sufficient magnitude to motivate compliance on the
part of employees.

 In extreme situations, managers have no other choice

but if this option is chosen, managers need to
recognize that it will be highly likely to increase
mistrust and resistance to change effort in the future.
Coercion (means compel or force)
 A final point to be made about dealing with resistance to change
is that managers should recognize that the amount and nature of
resistance may be very useful diagnostic tools to gauge whether
the change is appropriate and will actually bring about desired
results if implemented.

 To put this another way, managers need to listen to resistance

and determine whether they have accurately assessed the need
for change and the process of implementation.

 Just because resistance arises certainly does not mean that the
proposed change must be abandoned or postponed.

 Thus understanding the need for change is important.

Evaluation of change outcomes
 Once change has been carried out, whether the entire
organization or within one unit, managers need to evaluate the
outcomes.

 If the effect of changes are not appraised in some manner,

managers have no way of knowing whether additional changes
are needed and also whether the particular approaches
implemented should be use again in similar circumstances.

 To carry out the evaluation process, three steps are required:

 Data collection.
 Comparison of outcomes against goals.
 Feedback of results.
Data collection
 Data must be collected to evaluate the
outcomes of change essentially come in two
forms:

 Objective or quantitative data

 Subjective or attitude data

 Both types can be useful to the manager who

has implemented change.
Data collection
 For e.g after introducing major new information technology, a
manager could evaluate by measuring changes in output per
employee, speed of respond to customers, accuracy in reports,
attitudes of employees users within the organization, and attitudes
of clients who deal with employees using the new technology.

 It is important to keep in mind that the

collection of different sets of data to measure
change outcomes may well require significant
costs.

 Therefore, not every type of data that could be

collected should be collected.
Data collection
 But the point is that significant sources of data
should not be overlooked.

 The more types of data that can be collected,

the more likely the analysis of the effects will be
informative.

 Date should be collected at periodical intervals

to measure the lasting power of the change.
Comparisons of outcomes against
goals
 Collection of data is only a first step in
evaluating outcomes.

 The crucial next step is the comparison of

those outcomes against goals and various
benchmarks or standards set in advance of
the change.

 Without those goals and standards,

interpretation of the data will be almost
meaningless.
Comparisons of outcomes against
goals
 To know that sales increased by 3% is interesting
but lack meaning unless it can be compared with
some explicit objective, such as 5%.

 Likewise, to know that employees’ job satisfaction

after the change averages 3.5 on a 5-point scale
doesn’t tell a manager much unless that can be
measured against a goal of “at least 3.0”.

 Goals and benchmarks that have been specified in

advance of change efforts provide the basis for
making meaningful relative comparisons.
Feedback of results
 A final step in evaluating outcomes is communication of the finding
to those who are involved with or affected by the change.

 Failure to provide feedback can leave subordinates and other

employees with a sense of frustration.

 They may even question a manager’s motives for not supplying it.

 It can also produce an element of distrust, making it even harder to

carry out successfully changes in future.

 Managers can provide feedback to both superiors and subordinates

in a variety of ways:

 Written report
 Direct oral reports
 Briefings
 Discussion with small groups
Feedback of results

 No one method is more effective than others.

 The key point is that in nearly all cases, some

feedback about the effects of changes is
better than no communication at all.
End of lecture.