Organizational Change and Development Dr. Fred Mugambi Mwirigi JKUAT

Introduction  More and more organisations are today facing very dynamic and changing environments.  This is requiring organisations to change and to adopt unique change management techniques  While some firms have huge capacity to pre- empt and plan for change others are forced to respond to change when it happens  Change can be positive or negative. It depends on how it is handled. 2

Areas of change 1. Workforce 2. Technology 3. Competition 4. Social trends 5. Economic trends 6. Political trends 3

Managing Planned Change  Planned change is a deliberate effort to make things different to the benefit of the organization  Change can also be random or unplanned  Planned change is easier to manage- we respond to unplanned change but we plan how to meet ‘planned change’  The activities for planned change must be proactive, purposeful, intentional and goal ‑ oriented. 4

Change Agents/levels of change  Directors  Managers  Employees of the organisation  Outside consultants.  Senior executives  External agents 5

Resistance To Change People resist change because:  It provides a degree of stability and predictability to behaviour and can be a source of functional conflict.  Change presents risks There is a definite downside to resistance to change. It hinders adaptation and progress. 6

Causes of resistance?  The change itself  How the change is triggered  How the change is managed  Perceptions regarding the change  External factors that influence the change 7

Types of resistance to change  Overt (open)  Implicit (suppressed)  Immediate  Deferred (built up) 8

Overcoming Resistance to Change The following can be used to ease resistance: 1. Education and communication 2. Encouraging participation 3. Building support and commitment 4. Negotiation 5. Manipulation and cooptation 6. Selecting people who accept change 7. Coercion (last result) 9

The Politics Of Change  Because change involves a change to the status quo, organisational politics is inevitably activated.  The impetus for change is more likely to come from those individuals who are new to the organisation and are not yet entrenched in the political culture.  Senior management may also be involved in change politics as they are often removed from the main power structure. 10

Contd.  Quite often the brunt of change falls on long term mid level employees, and they are the major resistors to change.  Power struggles within the organisation will determine, to a large degree, the speed and quantity of change. long-time career executives are likely be sources of resistance. 11

Approaches to Managing Organisational Change 1. Lewin’s Three-Step Model 2. Action Research 3. Organisational Development Approach 12

1. Kurt Lewin’s Change Model 13 Unfreeze Change Refreeze

Lewin’s Model Explained The Unfreeze Stage:  When a structure has been in place for a while, habits and routine have naturally settled in.  The organization as a whole is going in the right direction, but people or processes may have strayed off course.  Tasks that are not relevant or useful anymore are still being performed by force of habit, without anyone questioning their legitimacy. 14

Contd.  Similarly, people might have learned to do things one way, without considering other, more efficient methods.  Unfreezing means getting people to gain perspective on their day-to-day activities, unlearn their bad habits, and open up to new ways of reaching their objectives. 15

Change stage:  Once team members have opened up their minds, change can start.  The change process can be a very dynamic one and, if it is to be effective, it will probably take some time and involve a transition period.  In order to gain efficiency, people will have to take on new tasks and responsibilities, which entails a learning curve that will at first slow the organization down. 16

Contd.  A change process has to be viewed as an investment, both in terms of time and the allocation of resources  After the new organization and processes have been rolled out, a certain chaos might ensue, but that is the price to pay in order to attain enhanced effectiveness within the structure. 17

Refreeze Stage:  Change will only reach its full effect if it’s made permanent.  Once the organizational changes have been made and the structure has regained its effectiveness, every effort must be made to cement them and make sure the new organization becomes the standard  Further changes will be made down the line, but once the structure has found a way to improve the way it conducts its operations, “re-freezing” will give the people the opportunity to thrive in the new organization and take full advantage of the change. 18

2. Action Research  Action research is “a change process based on the systematic collection of data and then selection of a change action based on what the analysed data indicate.” Its stages are: 1. diagnosis 2. analysis 3. feedback 4. Action 5. evaluation. 19

The process…. 1. Diagnosis begins by gathering information about problems, concerns, and needed changes from members of the organisation. 2. Analysis of information is synthesised into primary concerns, problem areas, and possible actions. Action research includes extensive involvement of the people who will be involved in the change program. 3. Feedback requires sharing with employees what has been found from steps one and two and the development of a plan for the change. 20

Contd. 4. Action is the step where the change agent and employees set into motion the specific actions to correct the problems that were identified. 5. Evaluation is the final step to assess the action plan’s effectiveness. Using the initial data gathered as a benchmark, any subsequent changes can be compared and evaluated. 21

3. Organisational Development Approach  Organisational development (OD) is a term used to encompass a collection of planned-change interventions built on humanistic-democratic values that seek to improve organisational effectiveness and employee well-being.  The OD paradigm values human and organisational growth, collaborative and participative processes, and a spirit of inquiry. 22

Contd.  The underlying values in most OD efforts are: Respect for people Trust and support Power equalisation Reduced confrontation Participation 23

Techniques of OD 1. Sensitivity training- Participants discuss themselves and their interactive processes, loosely directed by a professional behavioural scientist. 2. Survey feedback:- identifying discrepancies among members perceptions, and solving these differences through a feedback process. 3. Process consultation- an outside consultant assists a manager, “to perceive, understand, and act upon process events” that might include work flow, informal relationships among unit members, and formal communication channels. 24

Contd. 4. Team building- It utilises high-interaction group activities to increase trust and openness among team members. 5.Inter-group development- It seeks to change the attitudes, stereotypes, and perceptions that groups have of each other- Each group meets independently to develop lists of its perception of itself, the other group, and how it believes the other group perceives it. The groups then share their lists, after which similarities and differences are discussed. 25

Modern trends in the management of resistance to change  Continuous Improvement Processes- technology based. E.g. use of decision games  Process Reengineering. The three key elements of process reengineering are Identifying an organisation’s distinctive competencies Assessing core processes Reorganising horizontally by process 26

Creating a Learning Organisation  A learning organisation is an organisation that has developed the continuous capacity to adapt and change.  All organisations learn—whether they consciously choose to or not; it is a fundamental requirement for their sustained existence.  Most organisations engage in single-loop learning. I.e. When errors are detected, the correction process relies on past routines and present policies. 27

Creating a Learning Organisation  Learning organisations use double-loop learning. When an error is detected, it is corrected in ways that involve the modification of the organisation’s objectives, policies, and standard routines.  Double-loop learning challenges deep-rooted assumptions and norms within an organisation.  It provides opportunities for radically different solutions to problems and dramatic jumps in improvement. 28

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