Dr. Ihssan Bouhtiauy, PhD, FCACB, FACB, MBA
Moncton, June 14th, 2015
« It is not the strongest or the most
intelligent who will survive but those
who can best adapt to change »
Charles Darwin
Change
 Important enemy?
 Essential in our life:
 Communication (computers, cell phones, internet, etc.)
 Production
 Security
 Micro-waves
 Change can be imposed on
Change
 Is there a « good » change and a « bad » change?
 There is a good way of bringing change and a less
certain way of bringing change.
 Need to change to stay the same
 Need to change to keep balance
 Need to change because it is destiny
 Change is part of life
Introduction
 Change is an event increasingly present in
organizations
 Organizations change to respond to an external
environment that is turbulent and demanding
 Change has become a necessity for an organization to
survive
Examples
 University teaching:
 Lecture courses
 Presentations with overheads
 PowerPoint
 Videoconference
 Internet
Causes of change
 Until early 80’s:
 Internal pressure to change
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Low job satisfaction
Low productivity
Workforce composition
 From late 80’s:
 External pressure to change




Demographic characteristics
Technological advancements
Shareholder, customer and market change
Social and political pressures
Importance of organizational
change
 Change is constant in a dynamic environment
 Competitive advantage do not last
 Managing diversity
 Managers must quickly and properly react to
unexpected events
What if an organization refuse to
change?
 Downward path
 Talented employees may leave for growing
organizations
 Resources become difficult to find
Types of change
 Planned change vs unplanned change
 Organization-wide vs change primary to one part of
the organization
 Incremental (slow, gradual) vs transformational
(radical)
Target of change
 Organizational structure
 Human resources
 Methods
 Social factors
Organizational structure
 Role
 Policies
 Procedures
 Physical setting
Human resources
 Knowledge
 Attitudes
 Ability
 Motivation
 Behavior
Methods
 Processes
 Work flow
 Job description
 Technology
Social factors
 Culture
 Communication
 Interpersonal interactions
 Leadership
Reactions to change
 Victims
 Feel threatened
 Panic
 Become fatalistic
 Complain about everything
 Become pessimistic and cynical
Reactions to change
 Survivors
 Believe they are at the mercy of circumstances
 Believe they can survive the change if they simply
become competitive with other employees
 Respond with anticipation to what is coming
 Convince themselves that clinging is necessary for self
protection
Reactions to change
 Navigators
 Take a proactive approach
 Gather pertinent information
 Manage the stress of change
 Believe in being the cause rather than a victim
How to navigate
 Be positive and calm (able to see a potential benefit)
 Stay focused (align your goals with the organization’s
priorities)
 Remain flexible (let go the old way and adopt the new
one)
 Be organized (take time to organize what you need to
do)
 Be proactive (participate in the process)
Planning the change
 Good planning is essential to a successful planned
change:
 Good planning allows to:
 Define the problem
 Identify individuals involved in the change
 Propose solutions
 Identify obstacles
 Take measures to address resistance
 Implement the change
 Evaluate changes
Obstacles
 Financial constraints
 Weak support from senior management
 Lack of pressure from the environment
 Deep-rooted traditions
 Lack of credibility from the change promoter
 Unsuccessful previous experiences
 Lack of staff training
 Negative reactions from opinion leaders
Resistance
 Generally, 20% of employees support change, 60% are
neutral and 20% are against
 A lot of energy is required to convince 80% of
employees on the relevance of change
 Resistance is present at all hierarchical levels
Resistance
 Change prompts opposition when the consequences
are negatively perceived
 Individuals who are privileged in status quo will be the
most resistant to change
How resistance manifests itself
 Confrontation
 Negotiation
 Recovery
 Diversion
 Fighting back
 Withdrawal
Common sources of resistance
 Fear of the unknown
 Fear of failure
 Loss of control, loss of status (job security)
 Loss of confidence
 Work overload
Strategies to reduce resistance
 Education and communication
 Participation
 Support
 Negotiation and agreement
 Manipulation
 Explicit and implicit coercion
Recipient’s standpoint on change
 Active supporter
 Passive supporter
 Ambivalent
 Passive opponent
 Active opponent
 Indifferent
Change management
 Change management is not like any other
management task.
 Managers tend to tackle change by little pieces an then
put everything together. This method is doomed to
failure, because global vision is necessary in change
management.
Change management
 The majority of companies are engaged in different
projects: total quality, quality circle, responsibility
transfer, etc.
 The key to change is not to treat one mobile element at
a time but to find a balance between them.
 The difficulty is to know how to modify one element
while considering the whole set of elements.
Change management
 Some managers think they know how to manage
change but in reality, they limit themselves to decision
making and to prepare change
 Organizations are usually competent in elaborating
action plans
 Change management starts when decisions taken are
implemented
Difficulties in the transition phase
 Increased fatigue
 State of confusion
 Feeling useless
 Decline in efficiency
Trust during times of change
 During times of change, trust is based on
predictability and capacity
 Predictability:
 People want to know what to expect
 People want to be able to anticipate
 Capacity:
 Define what each one can contribute
 Create a greater inter-dependence
Evaluation
 Selection of a management strategy to carry on the
evaluation
 Selection of indicators
 Perform the evaluation
 Selection of follow up to give
The best change programs
Programs based on action
 Not linked to specific results
 Too extensive and numerous
 Effect is noticeable only in long term
 Effect evaluation is unrealistic
 Need specialists and consultants
 Not empirical so the process is unorthodox
Programs based on results
 Companies introduce innovation only when needed
 Empirical tests show what works and what doesn’t
 Frequent encouragements brings dynamics in the
process
 Lessons learned from past initiatives facilitate a
continuous learning
Some advice to succeed with
programs based on results
 Ask each unit to define and meet a small number of
ambitious and short-term objectives
 Monitor regularly progress and reformulate the
strategy if necessary
 Institutionalize solutions that work and eliminate
those that doesn’t
 Create the context and identify critical challenges
Conditions to ensure success
 Take into account any reluctance
 Produce scenarios of beneficial change
 Make though full interventions
 Solicit a commitment towards objectivity and
rationality
 Train managers to implement change
Mistakes to avoid
 Not stimulate enough the felling of urgency
 Not create a participant core
 Lack of vision
 Minimize communication efforts
 Not addressing obstacles
 Not having short-term milestones
 Declare victory too early
 Not anchor change into the organization’s culture
Thank you
Process
Step 1: Understanding the problem
 Identify the problem, not its consequences
 Determine the relevance and the urgency of the
change
 Determine if change is compatible sith the
organization’s mission and vision
 Collect data
Step 2: Determine what needs to
change
 Identify the solution
 Determine the objectives that are measurable in short
and long term
 Identify required resources
Step 3: Get previous approval
 Determine if anticipated results justify the change
 Evaluate project cost
Step 4: Form a committee
 Identify committee members (multidisciplinary)
 Clarify committee’s terms of reference and
role/responsibility of members
Step 5: Get project approval
 Identify with more details project cost
 Determine length of project
 Determine required resources
Step 6: Implement change and
manage transition
 Identify resistance /irritants
 Classify resistance/irritants by priority and reduce
them
 Manage trasition
 Identify individuals who need assistance and provide
help
Step 7: Evaluate and stabilize
 Determine if results are in line with expectation. If
not, make necessary corrections.
 Determine if other improvements/adjustments are
required
 Publicize the inofrmation concerning project success
Step 8: Follow up
 Ensure that chenge is implemented and that the new
way of doing things is THE way of doing things.
 Counter tendancies to go back to the old way
 Continuously think about improvement