How do organizations cope
with change?
Introduction:
The first presentation considers change
within a broad context, and adopts a
critical perspective on change
management.
The second presentation will build upon
some of the questions raised in the first
presentation and apply change
interventions to a practical setting.
Introduction (cont):
The broad areas covered now are:
• The nature of organisational change
• Approaches to change management
• Coping Strategies
• Further developments on change
The nature of organisational change:
Change defined as:
”Making things different” (Robbins 2005:629)
Types of change – strategic, tactical,
operational, radical, bumpy incremental,
smooth incremental, discontinuous, reactive,
proactive, emergent, planned, single, parallel,
transformational and more….
Assumptions about organisational change:
• Is there a template for change
interventions?
• Can one size fit all?
• Can change be managed?
• Are change interventions the prerogative
of management?
Classical approaches to change management
Arguably
rational in nature
process-driven
task-oriented
reliant upon planning and
control.
May revolve around context, process and content
factors. Often conceptual/ theoretical and typically
address a single change intervention. Perhaps more
comfortable with bounded, measurable factors.
But the problem with process driven theory and
practice....
Theory is where you know everything and
nothing works;
Practice is where everything works but
nobody knows why;
Here we combine theory and practice:
Nothing works and nobody knows why.
(Grint 1997:1)
Change perspective:
single or multiple
interventions?
Change Interventions: (process models)
Range of options available, but typically 2
broad types:
Systems Change approaches, for example,
Systems Intervention Strategy
Organisational Development
Return to
Steady state
Steady State
Implementation
Phase 3
Diagnosis Phase 1
System
description
Implement
Identify options
& constraints
PROBLEM
OWNERS
Design
Implementation
strategies
Evaluate
against
measures
Formulate measures
For objectives
Model
options
(selectively)
Generate
options
SIS (Ref 1)
Design Phase 2
Alternative approaches to change:
“Innovative” approaches:
•The creation of confusion
(“scaring people helps”)
•Allow change to emerge
•The “explosive” approach
•Covert agendas
Change as a managerial prerogative:
•Taking responsibility for the change
and consequences of change
•Duty of care as an employer
•Will the change(s) affect the reputation
of the organisation, brand etc?
•How much change can an organisation
take? Organisational Burnout?
The coping element:
Various definitions of coping (relating to
organisational change), but needs to include
a combination of:
•performance outputs and
•behavioural (psychological and physical)
well being.
Coping Strategies:
Levels of consideration –
Organisation wide (strategic)
Divisional (tactical)
Operational (team and individual level)
However, greater emphasis now on the
leadership/ownership of change.
Coping strategies for individuals:
Employees constantly appraise their
situation at work (what is in it for me?) and
consider their coping responses.
Two strategies are commonly found in the
literature: Problem-focussed coping and
Emotion-focussed coping.
Problem-focussed - essentially dealing
with the problem that has arisen,
For example, arranging to meet with a boss to discuss
work overload resulting from changes.
Emotion focussed - regulating associated
emotions
For example, talking to a friend about the amount of
excess work that the organisational change is bringing
about.
But, what is in place if the change goes
wrong or needs redirection/reformulation
of plans?
How will resistance to change be dealt
with?
To what extent will the organisational
culture determine how individuals cope
with change?
What level of trust is there in the change
management team and processes?
Research findings on organisational
coping:
Successful organizations are better at coping
Highest correlated factors include:
Optimism
Adaptability
0.47 (attitude towards change)
0.44 (responding to external
Flexibility
environment)
0.36 (internal adjustments)
(Tan &Tiong 2005:63)
Key issues emerging from the literature:
Size, resource availability, duration, amount of
change and company track record in change
Communication strategy, approach to change,
organisational culture and support mechanisms
Individual concerns, commitment to change,
employee engagement, positive attitude towards
change and competence with carrying out the
change.
The future of change management?
• Greater emphasis upon leading change
• Further development of change agent
competences/OD function
• Managerial expectation of greater
compliance from key employees
• Avoidance of falling foul to current
and future employment legislation
• Learning from and capitalising from
change
References:
Reference 1 on Systems Intervention Strategy, in Managing Change, (1993)
Mabey, C. and Mayon-White, B. (Eds), page 136. Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd.
Grint, K. (1997) Fuzzy Management, Oxford University Press.
Robbins, S. (2005) Organizational Behaviour, 8th Ed. page 629. Prentice-Hall
Tan, V. and Tiong, T.N. (2005) Change Management in Times of Economic
Uncertainty, Singapore Management Review, volume 27, no.1 pp 49 – 68.