Change management

Conflict management
 Reasons for change
Changes are adjustments to direct action and indirect
action environments
 Internal environment

 New objectives
 New policies
 Organizational rearrangements
 Leadership styles
 Organization culture
 External environment
 Use of computers requires computer literate
 Requirement of knowledge workers over skilled workers
 Transfer from manufacturing to service industry
 Types of change
 Routine changes
 React to crisis
 Planned change
 Deliberate design and implementation of a structural
innovation, a new policy or goal, or change in operating
philosophy, climate or style
 Systematic attempt to redesign to adapt to the changes
in the external environment or to achieve new goals
 Field force theory
Opposing forces act to keep an organization in a
state of equilibrium and support stability or
status quo
 Driving forces

 Restraining forces

Every behavior is a result of an equilibrium

Performance is a reconciliation of the two forces
 Change can take place
 By increasing driving forces
 An increase in the driving force might increase
performance but it might also increase the restraining
forces
 Eliminating the restraining forces (participation)

 Program of change based on Lewin’s ideas are

directed first towards removing or weakening
the restraining forces and then on creating or
strengthening the driving forces
 Sources of resistance
 Organizational culture
 Employees stay with an organization because the work helps them
meet their individual goals and their personalities, attitudes, and
beliefs fit into the organization culture .......they feel threatened by the
effort to change the culture and the way they do things
 Individuals self interest
 New org. structure or a redesign job may require change of working
condition, pay scale, job security, power
 Individuals perception of organizational goals and strategies
 Mission statements can guide the employees action in the absence of
formal policies and procedures. Sometimes, employees do not
understand the need for a new goal as they do not have enough
information
 Change process
 Unfreezing
 when people are uncomfortable with the present
situation, that creates motivation for change
 Changing
 Change may occur through assimilation of new
information, exposure to new concepts and or
development of a different perspective
 Refreezing
 Stabilizes the change. To be effective change has to be
congruent with the attitudes and behaviors of others in
the organization, reinforcement of new behavior is
essential
 Aspects that require change
 Change in people
 Redesign of skill, attitude, expectations and perception
Employee Behavior
 Change in technology
 Redesign of work operation and production technology
 Change in structure
 Organization redesign
 Decentralization
 Modification of work flow
Organizational performance and work situation
 Organizational design:
 Classical OD focuses on defining job responsibilities
and creating appropriate division of labor and lines of
performance
 Flat structure: middle layers of management are
eliminated to streamline the interaction of top
managers with non-management employees
 Decentralization:
 creating smaller, self contained org. units to increase
the motivation and performance of unit members
 Modified work flow:
 careful grouping of specialties to improve productivity
and morale
 A combination of any/all of these

 techno-structural attempt to improve performance

by simultaneously changing aspects of an
organization’s structure and its technology
 Examples of techno-structural approaches to change
are job enlargement and job enrichment (e.g.
training and development)
 Organizational Conflict

 Conflict is part of organizational life and it

may occur:
 within individuals
 Between individuals
 Between individual and the group
 Conflicts are mostly dysfunctional but can
also be beneficial as without conflict an issue
cannot be sufficiently analyzed
 Sources of conflict
 Resource: a production manager may wish to
streamline the product line whereas a sales
manager may desire a broad product line that
will satisfy diverse customer needs and an
engineer may want to design the best product
regardless of cost and market demand
considerations
 Conflict between line and staff
 Autocratic leaders
 Lack of communication
 Educational background
 Managing Conflict: Conflicts can be managed by
focusing interpersonal relationships or by
focusing on structural changes

Focusing on interpersonal relationships

 Avoidance of conflict situation
 Smoothing
 Emphasizing the areas of agreements and common goals
 Forcing
 Pushing a view point on others (cause resistance)
 Compromise
 Agreeing in part with other person’s view or demand
 Attempts to change behavior
 Interference by higher level managers
 Problem solving: differences are openly
confronted and issues are analyzed as objectively
as possible
Focusing on structural changes
 Modifying and integrating the objectives of the
group
 Organization structure may have to be changed and
authority responsibility relationships clarified
 New ways of coordinating activities
 Tasks and work locations can be rearranged
Organizational performance and
organizational development