Concept of Change Management
Question:
Discuss about the Change Management for Journal of Management Development.
Change is the only constant in a person’s life. The concept is not only observable in the personal lives of individuals but also in their professional front. The understanding of change is not there in every individual. The concept of dealing with change takes a lot of time and maturity, efforts and training in the right direction. There have been examples where several individuals have come up with suitably structured and defined models related to the management of change. The aim of this particular study is to focus on the idea behind change management and the several well-known models of change management which have been successfully and effectively been applied to the businesses as well as to industries. This has been done in order to deal with the concept of transition and change. Change management as a discipline has grown tremendously in the last five years and is a concept of importance among the people (Hayes 2014).
Change management is the particular discipline which is responsible for guiding the way in which individuals prepare, equip and support the individuals thereby helping them in the achievement of organisational change and also the outcomes. Change management is responsible for providing a structured approach for supporting the transition from the present state to the future state in the context of change. There are different natures, categories and the complexity of changes which are observed across industries and organisations which result in the different types of changes. There might be change saturation and collision which can lead to disengagement, anxiety, confusion, stress and fatigue. At the organisational level, the consequences imply the lack of focus and the low turnover and morale (Doppelt 2017).
The term change management is the term which is used to refer to the change or the transitioning of the people, groups, organisations and projects which can include the procedures of transitioning the scope of the project in a way which can meet the changing requirements and objectives. The issue which takes place is that there might be certain changes which need to be introduced with respect to the other functions of the business to assist in reaching the goals. Change management is concerned with the application of the structured methods as well as a pre-planned framework for starting the business from the present to the desired state (Goetsch and Davis 2014).
The major benefit or the advantage of the application of change management is in the fact that it helps to increase the chances of a business which states that the budget or the schedule can lead to the realisation of a certain section of the benefits. Amidst the existent level of competition and the fast paced world, it is important for every organisation to go ahead by the constant change with reference to the new and innovative technologies as well as the methods for meeting the demands of the customers (Matos Marques Simoes and Esposito 2014).
Benefits of Change Management
For properly managing change and helping in the implementation of change strategies, it is crucial to avoid the implementation of irrelevant or inapplicable methods and try to focus regarding a suitable plan of action. Change management in this connection can be considered to be an ongoing procedure which is time consuming and takes expertise dedication and proper channelized efforts in order to bring about the results which are desired. Before the adoption of the different effective and popular change management approaches as well as the models, it is specifically necessary for organisations to understand the way in which the changes can benefit the implementation.
This section aims to discuss the different models of change management and helps in the understanding of the model which according to its idea and implementation is the most suitable for the purpose of leading to the best management of change.
The Lewin’s Change Management Model is one of the most effective and well known methods of change management which helps in the understanding of organisational and structured change. This particular model was developed by Kurt Lewin in the 1950s and the suitability of the model is such that it is valid even today. This model aims to explain the concept of organisational change and this is done by a comparison to the changing states of a block of ice. The model consists of three major stages which are named as that of unfreeze, change and refreeze (Cummings, Bridgman and Brown 2016).
- Unfreeze: This is the first state of the procedure of change as is explained by the model. This stage involves the preparation for the concept of change. This is supposed to mean that it is necessary for the organisation to be prepared for the change and in addition to this it needs to be denoted that the concept of change is crucial and important. The importance of this state lies in the fact that majority of people around the world try to resist change and therefore it is necessary to break the status quo. The main focus is to explain to the people why the existing way needs to be changed and the way in which this change can bring about the concept of profit. This step also involves an organisation looking in depth at the basis and also re-examining the factors which affect it (Shirey 2013).
- Change: this stage focuses on the real nature of the transition. There is a chance that the procedure takes a sufficient amount of time to embrace new happenings and changes along with the crucial developments. This stage requires good leadership and reassurance as these help in steering the organisation in the right direction and therefore the process is also made easier for the individuals who are involved in the procedure. This stage comprises of time and communication as the most crucial.
- Refreeze: after the acceptance of change, as also its embracing and implementation by the people, the company or organisation starts to become stable again. This is because the state is referred to as the refreeze state. This particular stage requires certain amount of help from the people and this is to ensure that the changes are all utilized and implemented even after a certain objective has been achieved (Hechanova and Cementina-Olpoc 2013).
This particular model was developed by consultants with the same name in the late 1980s and comprise of seven crucial steps for the management of change. These stages are that of strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, and skills. This model is beneficial, in the sense that the organisation is assisted in getting an insight into the way in which the organisation works (Singh 2013). The model is responsible for the integration of the emotional as well as the practical components of change which is crucial for the creation of ways by which the employees deals with transition in a very easy way. This model considers all the parts to be equally important and suitable enough for addressing and does not leave out those aspects which are crucial. This model is also crucial in providing a directional factor to the issue of organisational change (Alshaher 2013).
This model is disadvantageous in the sense that all the other factors are interrelated and interdependent on one another. This model is extremely complex and major factors are not clearly explained in it. Organisations have utilized this model and have experienced several cases of failure, which a huge negative (Abdukadirov 2016).
The theory of change management developed by Kotter is one of the most popular and adopted ones in the world. This theory was formulated by Kotter and his theory of change management was divided into eight stages where each stage focuses on a key principle related to the response of the people towards the concept of change. This theory of change management is most popular and comprises of eight stages (Appelbaum et al. 2012). These are discussed as follows:
- Increase of urgency: this stage involves the creation of a sense of urgency among the people for their motivation.
- Team building: this stage is associated with arranging for the right people on the team based on the level of skills and commitment
- Getting the vision correct: this stage involves formulation of the correct vision
- Communication: discussing with people regarding the possible connotations of change is important
- Getting things moving: there needs to be proper support, removal of roadblocks and implementation of proper feedback
- Focussing on short term goals: dividing ultimate goals into small achievable ones is a great method of achieving desired results
- Not giving up: persistence is a crucial aspect of this specific stage
- Incorporating change: besides effective change management, it is importance for reinforcement of the work culture
Popular Models of Change Management
This model is beneficial in the sense that the step by step nature is easy to follow and incorporate. The idea is to accept the change and prepare for the change. The disadvantage of the model is that no particular step can be skipped and they need to be followed in sequence. The entire procedure of following all the necessary steps can be extremely strenuous and time consuming (Hornstein 2015)..
The nudge theory or the nudge concept is a theory which finds its use in the behavioural sciences, political theory along with economics. This theory is applicable in the case of change management in the organisations and businesses as well. Nudging a particular person or encouraging and inspiring them is a great way in understanding the existent influences for the elimination of change so that the positives from any situation can be derived (Van der Heijden and Kosters 2015).
In this connection it can be stated that there are many negative nudges which are possible that can be deliberate or purely accidental. This particular theory mainly aims at working upon the management and also understanding different influences on the human behaviour leading to the change of people. Compared to other theories, this particular theory is rather sophisticated in its approach and is radically different from the other existent methods of transitioning. Traditional methods like punishment enforcement and direct instructions are eliminated in this particular theory. The major benefit of this theory is the importance given to the change in feelings opinions as well as the knowledge of the people. This model is extremely suitable for the concept of change management and is applicable in case of several industries (Worley and Mohrman 2014).
The ADKAR model or the theory of change is basically a goal-oriented tool or model which is responsible for the change management teams to focus on the specific steps or activities which are directly related to the goals which they want to reach. The goals which are reached at and derived in this particular model are cumulative and sequential. This implies that the use of this model allows an individual to get each of the outcomes in a certain orderly fashion. This model helps in providing help and support to the employees by means of change or transitioning (Van der Voet 2014).
Conclusion:
Change management is capable of increasing the success of the organisation and projects by the application of structured tools, implementation of several methods and designing of precise procedures. Organisational managers are a crucial part of the successful implementation of the change programmes. There are chances of both resisting or supporting the change program of the organisation which they might work for. Because of this there is need for the top management to ensure that the involvement of managers in the change management is productive. It can be mentioned in this connection that the positive impact of leadership on the behaviour of the employees needs to be ensured for a suitable and proper implementation. It should be the aim of the top management to allow change implementation in a way that every stakeholder of the organisation feels positively about the change which is going to come about. Only then can change truly be brought about and benefit the business in the process.
References:
Abdukadirov, S. ed., 2016. Nudge Theory in Action: behavioral design in policy and markets. Springer.
Alshaher, A.A.F., 2013. The McKinsey 7S model framework for e-learning system readiness assessment. International Journal of Advances in Engineering & Technology, 6(5), p.1948.
Appelbaum, S.H., Habashy, S., Malo, J.L. and Shafiq, H., 2012. Back to the future: revisiting Kotter’s 1996 change model. Journal of Management Development, 31(8), pp.764-782.
Cummings, S., Bridgman, T. and Brown, K.G., 2016. Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. human relations, 69(1), pp.33-60.
Doppelt, B., 2017. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Routledge.
Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Hamraz, B., Caldwell, N.H. and Clarkson, P.J., 2013. A holistic categorization framework for literature on engineering change management. Systems Engineering, 16(4), pp.473-505.
Hayes, J., 2014. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hechanova, R.M. and Cementina-Olpoc, R., 2013. Transformational leadership, change management, and commitment to change: A comparison of academic and business organizations. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 22(1), pp.11-19.
Hornstein, H.A., 2015. The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), pp.291-298.
Matos Marques Simoes, P. and Esposito, M., 2014. Improving change management: How communication nature influences resistance to change. Journal of Management Development, 33(4), pp.324-341.
Shirey, M.R., 2013. Lewin’s theory of planned change as a strategic resource. Journal of Nursing Administration, 43(2), pp.69-72.
Singh, A., 2013. A study of role of McKinsey’s 7S framework in achieving organizational excellence. Organization Development Journal, 31(3), p.39.
Van der Heijden, J. and Kosters, M., 2015. From mechanism to virtue: Evaluating Nudge-theory. Nudge-theory, and more particularly, nudging may be considered an additional strategy providing some novel instruments to the already rich governance toolbox. But what is its value.
Van der Voet, J., 2014. The effectiveness and specificity of change management in a public organization: Transformational leadership and a bureaucratic organizational structure. European Management Journal, 32(3), pp.373-382.
Worley, C.G. and Mohrman, S.A., 2014. Is change management obsolete?. Organizational Dynamics, 43(3), pp.214-224.
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