CHAPTER 18: Organizational Change and Stress Management

IV. ACTIVITY

1.

In college, there are changes that we all encounter either it’s about academic
aspects or personal lives. The school I am currently attending is undergoing some sort of change
to adopt more closely with its environment. There are external forces and internal drivers that
exist. External forces are those factors which are not under the control of management and
affect plans outside the organization. Internal forces are those which affect the routines from
within the organization, associated with the decisions and actions taken by it.

Nowadays, COVID-19 pandemic really gives massive changes in different aspects

of our lives especially our education. The external forces are the government’s rules and
protocols. The Department of Education (DepEd) delayed the opening of the school year and
offered Self-Learning Modules to students at home. Internal drives are authorities pledged to
provide distance learning access for all students, whether through radio, television, modular, or
online tools. Online classes are now implemented despite of having multiple problems. Not all
students are privileged enough to attend online classes. There are a huge number of students
who do not have enough gadgets and materials. Hence, many are experiencing weak internet
connections during the classes that hinder them to understand the lessons. On the other hand,
teachers are having a hard time too. It is difficult to share knowledge in front of a laptop. They
experience struggles and hardships but they always do their best to do their works.

Hence, students have to change their study habits because in college, cramming
is not the best thing to do. We all know that high school’s schedule of classes, paper works, or
assignments are not complicated. Moreover, we should accept the fact the we should improve
our lifestyles, attitude, personality, etc. to handle the stress that we encounter in college.
External forces include the advancement of technology, competition for scholarships, college
pressures, and grade consciousness. These changes occur every year because the old tradition
must be substituted with more advance and improved school tradition. Internal forces for
change mainly come from such things as leadership, physical structures, student and faculty
coalitions.

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 2.
Any form of resistance is a symptom, not a problem, in the change process.
However, there are some of the real problems that may underlie resistance. Resistance to
change can be understood from a perceptual perspective called “cognitive framing” which refers
to the idea that people actively construct their environments. They make sense by knowing the
affect in organizing, remembering new information and filling the missing information along
with the form mental models of the way things operated in those environments.

Employees resist change because they have to learn something new and get a
fear of the unknown future and about their ability to adapt to the new change away from the
one they are familiar with. They resist to change as they have resentment for perceived
mistreatment. Ignorance is a problem facing the employees, this results from poor self-
motivation, which in turn affects the employees’ performance negatively. This is the reason why
he will develop resistance to change since he has no positive mindset towards the job.
Moreover, poor management tends to streamlined the projections of their rules towards
performance margin, therefore this will encourage the workers resist to the change around their
work area.

Hence, these real problems may underlie resistance because of the fear of
losing their jobs. There is a fear of new management and practices. It also affects the comfort
level that an employee feels with the current state of the business.

V. ASSESSMENT

1.

There are many forces that stimulate change including the nature of the
workforce, technology, economic shocks, competition, social trends, and world politics. All
these things can create change in a workplace.

Nature of the workforce is about how the cultural diversity, aging population,
increased immigration and outsourcing take place. Technology talks about faster, cheaper, and

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more mobile computers and handheld devices; emergence and growth of social networking
sites. Economic shocks talk about the rise and fall of global housing market, financial sector
collapse, global recession. Competition is when global competitors, mergers and consolidations,
increased governmental regulation of commerce exist. Social Trends is the increased
environmental awareness, liberalization of attitudes toward gay, lesbian, and transgender
employees, more multitasking and connectivity. World politics is the rising health care costs,
negative social attitudes toward business and executives, opening of markets.

These are the forces that trigger changes in the workplace. It can influence the
behavior of the employees. Hence, there are good and bad effects caused by these forces.

2.

The sources of resistance to change can be individual and organizational

sources. Under the individual sources are habit, security, economic factors, fear of the
unknown, selective information processing. On the other hand, organizational sources are
structural inertia, limited focus of change, group inertia, threat to expertise, threat to
established power relationships, and threat to established resource allocations.

To cope with life's complexities, we rely on habit or programmed responses; but

when confronted with change, this tendency to respond in our accustomed ways becomes a
source of resistance. People with a high need for security are likely to resist change because it
threatens their feelings of safety. Economic factors are changes in job tasks or established work
routines that can arouse economic fears if people are concerned that they won't be able to
perform the new tasks or routines to their previous standards, especially when pay is closely
tied to productivity. Change substitutes ambiguity and uncertainty for the fear of the unknown.
Individuals are guilty of selective information processing in order to keep their perceptions
intact; they hear what they want to hear, and they ignore information that challenges the world
they've created.

Organizations have built-in mechanisms to produce stability; when an

organization is confronted with change, this structural inertia acts as a counterbalance to sustain
stability. Limited focus of change is about organizations that consist of a number of
interdependent subsystems; one can't be changed without affecting the others, so limited

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changes in subsystems tend to be nullified by the larger system. Group inertia is about even if
individuals want to change their behavior, group norms may act as a constraint. Threats to
expertise are changes in organizational patterns may threaten the expertise of specialized
groups. Threat to established power relationships talks about any redistribution of decision-
making authority can threaten long-established power relationships within the organization.

3.

The Lewin’s Three-Step Model of Change consists of Unfreezing, Movement,

and Refreezing. This first stage of change, which is unfreezing, involves preparing the
organization to accept that change is necessary, which involves breaking down the existing
status quo before you can build up a new way of operating. Key to this is developing a
compelling message showing why the existing way of doing things cannot continue. This is
easiest to frame when you can point to declining sales figures, poor financial results, worrying
customer satisfaction surveys, or suchlike. These show that things have to change in a way that
everyone can understand. To prepare the organization successfully, you need to start at its core.
You need to challenge the beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors that currently define it.

After the uncertainty created in the unfreeze stage, the movement stage is
where people begin to resolve their uncertainty and look for new ways to do things. People start
to believe and act in ways that support the new direction. The transition from unfreeze to
movement does not happen overnight. People take time to embrace the new direction and
participate proactively in the change. In order to accept the change and contribute to making it
successful, people need to understand how it will benefit them. Not everyone will fall in line just
because the change is necessary and will benefit the company. This is a common assumption
and a pitfall that should be avoided.

When the changes are taking shape and people have embraced the new ways of
working, the organization is ready to refreeze. The outward signs of the refreeze are a stable
organization chart, consistent job descriptions, and so on. The refreeze stage also needs to help
people and the organization internalize or institutionalize the changes. This means making sure
that the changes are used all the time, and that they are incorporated into everyday business.

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With a new sense of stability, employees feel confident and comfortable with the new ways of
working.

4.

Kurt Lewin developed a change model involving three steps: unfreezing,

changing and refreezing. For Lewin, the process of change entails creating the perception that a
change is needed, then moving toward the new, desired level of behavior and, finally, solidifying
that new behavior as the norm.

Kotter´s model causes change to become a campaign. Employees buy into the
change after leaders convince them of the urgent need for change to occur. There are 8 steps
are involved in this model; create urgency, form a powerful coalition, create a vision for change,
communicate for the vision, empower action, create quick wins, build on the change, and make
it stick.

The models of management that Lewin and Kotter have made into models of
management change effectively to deal with acceptance and controlling of change. These are
models of change that helps to implement changes into the organization effectively. Both models
discuss change in the organization in steps. While Lewin takes three steps to describe the change
within the organization Kotter does it in 8 steps. Both may take more or less steps than the other
model both they both end at the same point which is implementing change effectively. These
models are great in the sense that in today’s world organizations are constantly changing and in
order to stay within the business environment where change has to be sustained in order to have
success and existence. Lewin and Kotter’s model’s for change through each step will help
businesses survive in the changing environment of business today.

5.

 Respect People:
People are the heart, limbs, and brains of the organization. They are responsible
for creating opportunities for growth. They must, therefore, be treated with respect and
dignified manners.

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  Confidence and Support:
Organizations are made up of people and they are to be believed and supported
in order to have effective organization. The healthy environment prevails when people are
trusted and taken into confidence and a necessary support is extended to them as and when
needed.

 Confrontation:

Any conflict on any issue should not be suppressed. It should be dealt with
openness. Suppression leads to dampening of morale. Identifying the problem and its causes,
discussing it openly and finding out feasible solution leads to boosting up morale of the
employees and creating good environment.

 Employee Participation:
The participation of employees who will be affected by the OD should be sought
in decision-making.

 Expression:
Human beings differ in experience, maturity, ideas, opinions, and outlook. The
organization is at the receiving end. It gains from the differences in quality, ideas, opinions and
experiences of its people. Human beings are social animals; they have feelings, emotions, anger
and sentiments etc. They should be allowed to express their feelings and sentiments. This will
result in building up high morale and the people will be motivated towards hard work ultimately
resulting in increased efficiency.

 Seeking Cooperation:
Managers should learn to seek cooperation from each of the employees
working under him in his department. This will develop in creating the atmosphere of
cooperation leading to organizational effectiveness and willingness to accept change in the
event of organization development process.

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6.

Work-related stress is a growing problem around the world that affects not only
the health and well-being of employees, but also the productivity of organizations. Work-related
stress arises where work demands of various types and combinations exceed the person’s
capacity and capability to cope. 

Work-related stress can be caused by various events. For example, a person

might feel under pressure if the demands of their job (such as hours or responsibilities) are
greater than they can comfortably manage. Other sources of work-related stress include conflict
with co-workers or bosses, constant change, and threats to job security, such as potential
redundancy. Moreover, long hours, heavy workload, changes within the organization, tight
deadlines, changes to duties, job insecurity, lack of autonomy, boring work, insufficient skills for
the job, over-supervision, inadequate working environment, lack of proper resources, lack of
equipment, few promotional opportunities, harassment, discrimination, poor relationships with
colleagues or bosses, crisis incidents, such as an armed hold-up or workplace death can be
potential sources too.

Hence, there are many ways to handle and manage work stress. Think about the
changes you need to make at work in order to reduce your stress levels and then, take actions.
Some changes you can manage yourself, while others will need the cooperation of others. Talk
over your concerns with your employer or human resources manager. Make sure you are well
organized. List your tasks in order of priority. Schedule the most difficult tasks of each day for
times when you are fresh, such as first thing in the morning. Take care of yourself. Eat a healthy
diet and exercise regularly. Consider the benefits of regular relaxation. You could try meditation
or yoga. Make sure you have enough free time to yourself every week. Don’t take out your
stress on loved ones. Instead, tell them about your work problems and ask for their support and
suggestions. Drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco, won’t alleviate stress and can cause additional
health problems. Avoid excessive drinking and smoking. If work-related stress continues to be a
problem, despite your efforts, you may need to consider another job or a career change. Seek
advice from a career counsellor or psychologist.

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References:

CLIMB Professional Development and Training. (2016). Why do people hate change?. Retrieved
from https://climb.pcc.edu/blog/why-do-people-hate-change

Lewin's Change Management Model. (2020). Understanding the Three Stages of Change.
Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htm