Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE PAPER
Organizational Change Paper
Andrea Daisley
Western Washington University
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Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE PAPER
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“Rebound believes that true personal change occurs best in the context of close
mentoring relationships built on trust, support and accountability” (Rebound of whatcom county,
2009). As a faith-based, local 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Rebound of Whatcom County
does a great deal of good in the greater Bellingham community. Rebound’s goal is to bring
“hope and healing” to children and families in difficult situations. Whether it be children in and
out of foster care, children with abusive or absent parents, or families with little to no financial
stability, Rebound’s programming includes support groups, educational classes, tutoring and
childcare where their staff and volunteers provide a place for people to be themselves and heal
from the struggles in their lives. When it comes to creating positive change in the lives of
clients, Rebound has become expert. Another concept to which this agency is no stranger is that
of organizational change. In order to analyze the organizational changes that have taken place
over time at Rebound, one must first note how the concept of open systems and its ten
characteristics apply to this agency. “An organization is open because of its dependence on and
continual interaction with the environment in which it resides” (Burke, 2008, p. 49). Basically,
an organization cannot exist as a self-sufficient or “closed” system. Without outside interaction
and resources, agencies like Rebound simply could not and would not flourish.
The first characteristic of open systems is the importation of energy, or “drawing energy
from [the] outside to ensure survival” (Burke, 2008, p. 51). At Rebound, this energy consists of
the clients themselves, community donations, volunteers, facilities and overall resources that
make the organization thrive and progress. Without these essentials, there would be no
foundation on which to cast a vision and build programs. The second characteristic of open
systems is throughput, or what an organization does with the raw energy it receives from the
environment (Burke, 2008, p. 51). At Rebound, examples of throughputs include the hard work
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of volunteers, the development and implementations of programs, program curriculum and
materials, etc. All the elements and materials that go into support groups, tutoring sessions,
classes, childcare and all of Rebound’s programs are included in the “throughput” category.
Whereas the output category – or the “final product” – reflects the progress and outcomes that
have taken place as a result of throughputs. For Rebound, outputs include educated parents,
better-adjusted children and teens, reduced academic and behavioral issues among previously
struggling children, and a restored sense of hope and faith in families. The next characteristic of
open systems is the idea that systems are cycles of events. To explain, “An organization’s
building does not suffice as the identifying feature of structure and boundary […] Events, for the
most part, rather than things, provide identity” (Burke, 2008, p. 51). In essence, it is the inputthroughput-output cycle that keeps an organization sustained. Thus, for Rebound, the cycles of
events that keep it running consist of welcoming both new and existing clients into its programs
every year and helping them work through their trials and struggles by way of each program and
its curriculum. Each year there are new students to be tutored, new parents to be educated, and
new lives to be supported. It is not the facilities in which these opportunities are offered that
make the agency what it is, but rather what happens within the walls.
Another characteristic of open systems is negative entropy. This concept is best
described by Burke (2008) when he states, “Constant effort must be expended not only for the
maintenance of an organization, but for its very survival” (p. 52). Basically, an organization
must (in a sense) build up reserves of stored energy – known as negative entropy – in order to
avoid problems and potential death. Negative entropy for Rebound includes the positive
experiences of clients, consistent new client referrals from past clients and other agencies,
partnerships with churches, a well-intentioned and determined Board of Directors and staff, and
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a fairly large and consistent donor base. Each and every one of these elements keeps the
organization “afloat” by perpetuating a positive image and encouraging the community to
support Rebound’s services. The next characteristic(s) of open systems are information input,
negative feedback and the coding process. This grouping of characteristics – when taken
together – lends itself to the idea that “If an organization obtains feedback on how well its output
is being received, it can respond to its customers or clients more effectively in the future”
(Burke, 2008, p. 52). Though Rebound does not have much in the way of actual formal
paperwork regarding client or volunteer feedback, they most definitely have an open-door policy.
Leaders and staff are open to and encourage feedback, and clients are always welcome to share
their opinions and/or beliefs regarding the way Rebound programs are run. One example of this
is the debriefing session that takes place each week after Rebound’s Compass support group. All
the volunteer group leaders get together and discuss what went well in the night’s events as well
as what could be improved. When negative feedback is received, the staff take it seriously and
collectively decide how they will code and respond to the grievance.
An additional characteristic of open systems is the concept of steady-state and dynamic
homeostasis. Burke (2008) describes this as, “An organization’s apparent equilibrium is
actually up at one moment (during one event in the cycle) and down at another, but the overall
averaging of these ups and downs gives the appearance of a stationary or steady-state situation”
(p. 53). One example of this at Rebound is the fact that even though they have the same (or close
to the same) number of staff members right now as they did at this time last year, there was a
short period of time in the middle during which their staff numbers decreased by over half. Not
to mention the fact that each summer, the Rebound staff grows greatly to support their Ray of
Hope summer camp. If someone were to run an annual agency report each fall, the organization
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would seem fairly steady and unchanging. However – given the many changes that took place
last spring and summer – this is simply not the case. It is merely an “averaging of the ups and
downs.” Another characteristic of open systems that directly applies to Rebound is
differentiation. Burke (2008) explains it as, “As an organization continues to offset the entropic
process and therefore grows […] differentiation and elaboration occur; that is, specialization and
division of labor evolve” (p. 53). At Rebound, differentiation occurs by way of the varying
forms of service delivery and fund raising. For instance, as client base grows, so too must
facilities, staff and programming. Differentiation occurs based on demand. One of the agency’s
main goals is to create “off spins” of their programming in other communities. Ideally labor
would be concentrated and divided between stakeholders in order to expand services, provide
greater opportunities, and “offset the entropic process”.
On the other side of differentiation is the concept of integration and coordination –
another characteristic of open systems. If and when an organization experiences too much
differentiation in its quest for stability, it must utilize integration and coordination to come back
together as a team, reconnect via shared norms and values, and reevaluate its service delivery
process (Burke, 2008, p. 53). This is another idea that Rebound takes very seriously. While they
wish to delegate and expand their services to other communities and populations, they are also
very much dedicated to teamwork and unification. They achieve this by taking part in regular
staff and volunteer meetings, maintaining regular and consistent contact with community
partners such as churches, and making sure not to “bite off more than they can chew” in terms of
transplanting programs to other communities by remaining actively involved until they become
sustainable on their own. The tenth and final characteristic of open systems is equifinality. This
is the concept that, “An organization can attain the same goal from different starting points and
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by a variety of paths” (Burke, 2008, p. 53). For Rebound, this concept leads back to their main
goal: bringing hope and healing. There are many ways to bring hope and healing to Rebound’s
clients, as demonstrated by the wide variety of the agency’s available programs. Each one
makes a positive difference in the lives of the clients it serves, perfectly illustrating the concept
of equifinality. Another aspect of the agency that demonstrates this point is the variety of ways
clients find their way to Rebound. They come via state-agency referrals, word-of-mouth among
existing clients, advertisements throughout the community, etc. The end result – obtaining much
needed services and reaching goals – is the same no matter what the starting point. Rebound
most certainly exemplifies an open system, as demonstrated by its myriad applications to the ten
characteristics listed above. As an open system, it remains and dependent on continuous
connection to the community and local resources.
An inevitable component in any open system – one with which Rebound has recently
become very familiar – is the experience of organizational change. According to Burke (2008),
organizational change takes on two forms: evolutionary change and revolutionary change.
“[Revolutionary change] can be seen as a jolt (perturbation) to the system. As a result, nothing
will ever be the same again” (p. 68). Whereas evolutionary change “consists of improvements,
incremental steps to fix a problem or change a part of the larger system […] If [change] does not
affect the whole and the deep structure of the organization is not fundamentally modified, then
the change is evolutionary” (Burke, 2008, p. 69). Rebound has experienced its fair share of both
evolutionary and revolutionary changes. One evolutionary change that has made an impact at
the organization was in the curriculum of the Compass support group program. When in the
initial development stages, all Compass curriculum was brand new and basically considered a
pilot version. However now that the program has been in existence for a number of years, the
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curriculum has become cyclical and more conducive to sharing with other communities in the
future (E. Oldis, personal communication, November 14, 2010). This change is evolutionary
because it represented an “improvement and incremental step” for the program, but did not
completely change the organization as a whole. Individuals were impacted by this because this
new method of curriculum made it easier for leaders to teach, therefore enhancing the experience
of the client. This also impacted the Compass group and larger Rebound system as a whole
because with the new cyclical pattern of curriculum, the Compass program became more
sustainable and valuable to the organization.
Another evolutionary change Rebound has recently experienced is with their Ray of
Hope summer camp. Previously, the camp was held at local churches. However this last
summer was the first in which the program was approved to run out of a public elementary
school. This change did not act as a jolt to the overall system but it did create a not-commonlyseen partnership between a private religious organization and the public educational sector,
which gave Rebound new opportunities. Individuals were impacted because clients and staff
alike were allowed much better and more accessible facilities, and the group and larger system as
a whole were impacted because this is a brand new partnership for Rebound and allows them yet
another means of spreading the word about the organization and the services it offers. One
revolutionary change that Rebound has experienced is losing consistent and much-needed
funding from a local church approximately three years ago (J. Curry, personal communication,
November 16, 2010). For a long time, Rebound received a significant monthly donation from
this aforementioned church. Then, when it became too difficult for the church to provide these
funds, the donations ceased. This most certainly did act as a jolt to the system of the
organization, and individuals, groups and the larger system were all impacted by the change.
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Opportunities were diminished, plans had to be put on hold, and the organization could no longer
exist as it once had. Another revolutionary change that dramatically changed Rebound was
when their Flying Colors tutoring program shifted from a one-on-one, individual tutoring service
provider to an every day, state-funded after school childcare center (E. Oldis, personal
communication, November 14, 2010). This change provided much needed funding for Rebound
and Flying Colors, and simultaneously made services more accessible to clients. Thus, a larger
client base and greater referrals from other state agencies. Furthermore, current and retired
teachers alike were able to learn about the program and offer their services to the children as
well. This permanently impacted Rebound’s reputations with the community for the better as
well as opened up more opportunities to serve children and families. Individual children
received higher quality care, the larger system received more funding, and the organization will
never be the same. Clearly, Rebound has experienced a great many changes. They have come in
numerous forms and impacted a wide variety of individuals, groups and the larger organizational
system as a whole. Each change requires transitional processes – some perhaps more difficult
than others – but results in revitalization, progress and greater problem-solving strategies.
One inevitable element and result of change is resistance. Resistance, like change, can
take place in a variety of forms. Whether it is blind resistance: simply being afraid of and
resistant to all change, political resistance: believing one will “lose something of value if the
change is implemented” (Burke, 2008, p. 92), or ideological resistance: believing that “the
planned change is ill fated […] or in violation of deeply held values” (Burke, 2008, p. 93), all
people experience both feeling resistant and being met with resistance when it comes to the
implementation of change. The important thing to remember when undergoing organizational
change is to acknowledge those feelings. Often, to experience change is to experience grief and
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loss, which must be dealt with by way of a step-by-step process: Shock and denial  anger 
bargaining (or “attempts to postpone the inevitable”)  depression  acceptance (Burke, 2008,
p. 91). The open organizational system that is Rebound of Whatcom County, like any other
agency, encounters resistance to organizational changes. No matter the changes are evolutionary
or revolutionary, seen as big or small, or appear to be impacting individuals, groups or the larger
system as a whole, any and all can be difficult to face and accept. It is hard for both clients and
staff members alike to lose or change an environment to which they have grown accustomed or a
system that has become familiar. However all organizational changes – losing funding, gaining
partnerships, developing strategies, etc. – present opportunities for new environments and
systems with which to grow familiar, and with time and openness to community resources can be
effectively implemented into organizational systems.
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References
Burke, W. W. (2008). Organization change: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publishing.
Rebound of whatcom county. (2009). Retrieved from http://reboundwc.org/index.php?page=
about_us