Organizational Change
Part the First
Steven E. Phelan
July 2006
Images of Managing
• Controlling…
 Top-down view of management
 Fayol’s theory of management: planning,
organizing, commanding, coordinating and
controlling.
• Shaping…
 Participative style of management
 Improving the capabilities of people within the
organization
Images of Change Outcomes
• Intended Change:
 Change is a result of planned action
• Partially Intended Change:
 Change may need to be re-modified
after it is initially implemented
• Unintended Change:
 Forces beyond the control of the change
manager
Images of Change Managers
Images of Managing
Controlling . . . Shaping . . .
(activities)
(capabilities)
Images of
Change
Outcomes
Intended
DIRECTOR
COACH
Partially Intended
NAVIGATOR
INTERPRETER
Unintended
CARETAKER
NURTURER
Images of Change Managers
Director
• Based on an image of
management as control
and of change outcomes
as being achievable.
• Supported by the n-step
models and contingency
theory.
Coach
• Relies upon building in
the right set of values,
skills and “drills” that are
deemed to be the best
ones that organizational
members will be able to
draw on in order to
achieve desired
organizational outcomes.
• Related to organizational
development approaches.
Images of Change Managers
Navigator
• Control is still seen as at the
heart of management
action, although a variety of
factors external to
managers mean that while
they may achieve some
intended change outcomes,
others will occur over which
they have little control.
• Supported by the
contextualist and
processual theories of
change.
Interpreter
• The manager creates
meaning for other
organizational members,
helping them to make sense
of various organizational
events and actions.
• Supported by the sensemaking theory of
organizational change
Images of Change Managers
Caretaker
• The change manager’s
ability to control is
severely impeded by a
variety of internal and
external forces beyond
the scope of the
manager. The caretaker
is seen as shepherding
their organizations along
as best they can.
• Supported by life-cycle,
population-ecology and
institutional theories.
Nurturer
• Even small changes may
have a large impact on
organizations and
managers are not able to
control the outcome of
these changes. However,
they may nurture their
organizations, facilitating
organizational qualities
that enable positive selforganizing to occur.
• Related to chaos and
Confucian/Taoist theories.
Questions
• To what extent are you more comfortable with one or
other of the six images?
 Why is this the case?
• What are the strengths and limitations of the images
that you have identified as most relevant to you?
• What skills do you think are associated with each
image?
 Are there areas of personal skill development that are needed
for you to feel more comfortable in using other images?
• Have you ever been in an organization that was
dominated by particular images?
 What barriers to alternative images existed in this
organization? What strategies could overcome these
barriers?
Green Mountain Case
• An example of a problem that has been dis-solved
 Which frame does it fit?
 How does it look through another frame?
Why change?
• Change is a risky activity
 Many organizational changes fail or do not
realize their intended outcomes.
 This raises the question of why change is so
prevalent?
• Pressure to change comes from:
 External, environmental pressures
 Internal, organizational pressures
External, environmental pressures
Pressure
Fashion
pressures
Mandated
pressures
Geopolitical
pressures
Examples
Description
Boeing Co.
This is based on mimetic isomorphism –
imitating companies that are legitimate
and successful
Chevron Texaco
This is based on coercive isomorphism –
when change is demanded by outside
sources.
3M
This is when global crises greatly impact
an organization and change is necessary
for survival.
External, environmental pressures
Pressure
Market decline
pressures
Hypercompetitio
n pressures
Reputation and
credibility
pressures
Examples
Description
AOL Time
Warner
When current markets that the
organization operates in begin to decline
there is pressure to find newer, more
viable markets.
Gateway
This affects the way organizations
respond to their consumers and their
competitors to cater for the increasingly
rapid pace of business.
Walt Disney
Company
In light of recent corporate governance
scandals in organizations, the pressure to
maintain a good reputation and high level
of credibility has increased.
Internal organizational
pressures
Pressure
Growth pressures
Integration and
collaboration
pressures
Identity pressures
Examples
Description
Microsoft
Existing systems and processes in a
smaller organization may no longer be
applicable when the size of the organization
increases.
EDS
Integration and creating economies of scale
can lead to pressure for change in
organizations.
Forte Hotel
A common organizational identity and the
unified commitment of staff in different
areas/departments of an organization can
be difficult to manage and may encourage
change.
Internal organizational
pressures
Pressure
Examples
Description
New broom
pressures
Bank of
America
New authority figures in an organization can
herald a new era and often signal significant
changes an organization in an organization.
Morgan
Stanley
Power relationships and politicking can
change internal processes and decision
making. This has significant flow on effects
within the organization.
Power and
political
pressures
Change Problems – Five Frictions
• Distorted perceptions
 Hubris, cognitive biases etc.
• Dulled motivation
 Costs of change, cannibalization costs, cross subsidy
comforts
• Failed creative response
 Speed or complexity or vision is lacking
• Political deadlocks
 Departmental politics creates blockages
• Action disconnects
 Leadership inaction
 Embedded routines are sticky
 Cultural values resist change
Questions
• To what extent can you identify environmental
pressures propelling your organization toward
change?
 To what extent do you have influence over whether
and how to change?
• Which of the reasons to avoid change have
you experienced or seen?
 How easy is it to raise issues in your organization
about the rationale for engaging in specific
changes? Is there a dominant rationale? Why?
 What personal criteria might you adopt for initiating
a specific change “for the right reasons”?
Bob Galvin
• Questions:
 What are the issues that worry Galvin in the spring
of 1983?
 What grade would you give Galvin’s speech for its
effectiveness in stimulating change?
• What would you have done differently?
 What would you recommend Galvin and the others
do next?
 Is Galvin’s leadership philosophy and practice a
model for “Visionary Leadership”
Diagnostic tools
• The image of the change manager
impacts the types of tools that may be
used.
• The different images highlight the range of
reasons why tools like these may be
utilized – they illustrate the numerous
ways change can be interpreted.
Advantages of using diagnostic tools1
• Simplifies a complex situation.
• Identifies priorities for attention.
• Highlights interconnectedness of various
organizational properties (e.g., strategy
and structure).
• Provides a common “language” with which
to discuss organizational characteristics.
• Provides a guide to the sequence of
actions to take in a change situation.
1
Source: Burke (2002)
Diagnostic models
• Six-box organizational
model
• 7-S framework
• Star model
• Congruence model
• Burke-Litwin model
• Four frame model
• Diagnosis by image
• PESTEL framework
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Scenario analysis
Gap analysis
Elements of strategy
Strategic inventory
Newsflash exercise
Cultural web
Stakeholder analysis
Forcefield analysis
Questions
• Have you improved your knowledge of
available diagnostic tools and models by
reading this chapter?
 Do you feel that you could apply them when
necessary?
 If you were to select two or three favourite
tools/models, which would they be and why?
• To what extent do your images of change
influence which diagnostic tools you are most
comfortable using or see as most relevant?
Charlotte Beers
• Questions:
 Why was Ogilvy and Mather (O & M) having problems when
Beers took over? (i.e. Why did the organization need to
change?)
• What was Beers trying to accomplish as CEO of O & M?
 What were the biggest challenges that she faced? What was
her change strategy? How would you assess her vision?
• What is your assessment of the process Beers and her team
went through to create this vision?
 What are the key challenges facing Beers at the end of the
case?
• What would you recommend she do next?
• What are the key lessons from this case with respect to
managing change?