Unit 8: Change Management

originate outside the organization:
1. demographic characteristics
2. technological advancements
3. shareholder, customer, and market changes
4. social and political pressures

come from inside the organization; might be subtle such as low job satisfaction
1. human resource problems or prospects
2. Managerial behaviors and decisions

1. communicate
2. identify the CEO’s strengths and compensate for the weaknesses
3. don’t be an obstacle or resister. embrace the change

the least complex, costly, and uncertain. involves reimplementation of a change in the same organizational unit at a later time or imitation of a similar change by a different unit

falls midway on the continuum of complexity, cost, and uncertainty

at the high end of the continuum of complexity, cost and uncertainty

1. unfreezing: focus is to create the motivation to change. individuals are encouraged to replace old behaviors and attitudes with new ones
2. changing: providing employees with new information, new behavioral models, and new processes or ways of getting the job done
3. refreezing: support and reinforce the change

represent the reason organizations exist

compelling future state for an organization

defined as beliefs, attitudes, and intions regarding the extent to which changes are needed and the capacity available to successfully implement those changes

components of the org that may be changed; they represent change levers managers can push and pull to influence various aspects of an org

1. establish a sense of urgency
2. create the guiding coalition
3. develop a vision and strategy
4. communicate the change vision
5. empower the broad-based action
6. generate short-term wins
7. consolidate gains and produce more change
8. anchor new approaches in the culture

emotion, thought, behavior that does not align with real or potential changes to existing routines

someone who is a catalyst in helping organizations to deal with old problems in new ways

less likely to voluntarily initiate changes and more likely to form negative attitudes toward the changes they encounter
1. routine seeking
2. emotional reaction
3. short-term focus
4. cognitive rigidity

-dispositional resistance to change
-surprise and fear of the unknown
-fear of failure
-loss of status and or job security
-peer pressure
-past success

-decisions that disrupt cultural traditions or group relationships
-personality conflicts
-lack of tact or poor timing
-leadership style
-failing to legitimize change

adaptive response to environmental demands, referred to as stressors that produce adaptive responses that include physical, emotional, and behavioral reactions that are influenced by individual differences

stress that is associated with positive emotions and outcomes

factors that produce stress

when employees show up but are sick or otherwise in no condition to work productively

1. staffing
2. scheduling
3. environment
4. eduction

are perceptions of whether a stressor is irrelevant, positive, or negative

perceptions of how able you are to deal or cope with a given demand

using behaviors and cognitions to directly anticipate or solve problems

those which you avoid or ignore stressors

focus on reducing the symptoms of stress

employees are more likely to resist when they perceive that the personal costs of change outweigh the benefits, so managers should do this:
1. provide as much info as possible to employees about the change
2. inform employees about the reasons/rationale for the change
3. conduct meetings to address employees’ questions regarding the change
4. provide employees the opportunity to discuss how the proposed change might affect them

A- name the event or problem
B- list your beliefs about the event or problem
C- identify the consequences of your beliefs
D- formulate a counterargument to your initial thoughts and beliefs. it is important to remember that pessimistic thoughts are generally overreactions so the first step is to correct inaccurate or distorted thoughts
E- describe how energized and empowered you feel at the moment

-the potentially many forces for change can be categorized as external and internal
-external forces are demographic, technological, shareholder and market, and social and political
-internal forces often pertain to human resources and managerial behavior and decisions

-the many kinds of change are often described in terms of three general types: adaptive, innovative, and radically innovative– based on their relative complexity, cost, and uncertainty
-Lewin’s change model is a popular ad often applied model and involves three stages: unfreezing, changing, and refreezing
-a systems model of change is similar to the integrative framework of OB in that it includes inputs, strategic plans, target elements of change, and outputs
-an organizational development (OD) approach to change involves diagnosing, intervening, evaluating, and feeding this information back into assess change effectiveness

-resistance to change is any thought (cognitive), emotion, or behavior that does not align with real or potential changes to existing routines
-dynamic perspectives of resistance describe causes as an interplay of change recipient characteristics, change agent characteristics, and the relationship between the two

-stress is an adaptive response to environmental demands that can be physical, emotional, and or behavioral
-the occupational stress process has four basic elements: stressors, cognitive appraisal, coping strategies, and outcomes
-stressors can occur at multiple levels: individual, group, organizational, and extra-organizational
-primary and secondary are the two common forms of cognitive appraisal
-common coping strategies are control, escape, and symptom management

-the systems model of change provides multiple targets for effective change management, such as change recipient characteristics, change agent characteristics, and their relationship
-education and communication, involvement, negotiation, and coercion are among the many means for overcoming resistance to change
-many stress reduction techniques are supported by research: muscle relaxation, biofeedback, meditation, cognitive restructuring, and hollistic wellness

The cognitive component of attitude towards organizational change focuses on the degree to which a person believes that organizational change tends to produce positive effects for the organization, for co-workers, and for him/herself. Those with the highest scores on this aspect of attitude toward organizational change generally believe that organizational change produces positive results

The affective component of attitude towards organizational change focuses on the personal feelings that a person has about organizational change. A person with a high score on this aspect of attitude toward organizational change is a person who looks
forward to change and who tends to enjoy change more than others do. This is a person who, when faced with significant change in an organization, expects a positive experience even if it is a challenging one.

This component of attitude towards organizational change is often referred to as the “change agency” component of the attitude. This is the degree to which a person is likely to support change when given the opportunity to do so and/or to initiate change when possible. A person with a high score on this aspect of attitude toward organizational change is the kind of person often referred to as a change agent. Those with low scores prefer to avoid being involved in organizational change when it is possible to do so.