CHAPTER 18 – ACTIVITIES/ EXERCISES

Critical thinking questions:

1. The school you are currently attending is currently undergoing some sort of change to
adopt more closely with its environment. Discuss the external forces that are driving the
change. What internal drivers for change also exist?
Many changes were done by my school to adapt to the new curriculum. The external
forces driving the change I can say is the pandemic. Due to strict rules and
implementation of home quarantine by the government, they had to change the learning
modes of students. While the internal forces are the decisions and memorandums issued
by department heads and DepEd itself. And the responsibility to provide and address the
students’ concerns and needs.
2. Any form of resistance is a symptom, not a problem, in the change process. What are
some of the real problems that may underlie resistance?
It is said that some changes are not positively good. Therefore, there should still be
caution or resistance before making decisions. But the real problem that may underlie
resistance is the failure to actually realize and accept the need for change. When matters
are already obvious, and there are already forces that pushes for a change, then resistance
to this is a real problem. There will be no progress at all. Other than this, the real
problems are the root of resistance. It can be the lack of confidence or the fear to risk
because of future possibilities.
3. Change is often not a welcomed reality and we often say that individuals, like
organizations, do not like change. For example, who wants to change from a recently that
individuals (perhaps like organizations) are embracing change. Please give several
concrete examples of this phenomenon and suggest reasons as to why this might be the
case.

 “It’s natural to conclude that people simply don’t like to change, and that’s the
reason they resist it,” says Bard Papegaaij, research director at Gartner.
“Unfortunately, things aren’t that simple.”

Resistance to change is often based on emotional tension between conflicting

commitments and beliefs — not on rational arguments. To simply put, resistance is a way
for people to protect themselves against changes in their job tasks, work behaviors,
performance measures, power and/or status. The more the targets of a change believe
their current habits and patterns will be impacted, the more resistance you will see.

 Overheard in the break room, “We tried this years ago and it didn’t work."

Another example of this is when cumulative trial and errors have been previously done
and unsuccessful, organizations now become resistant to change. Therefore, it has
become a culture and a norm that has a long-term impact.

ASSESSMENT
Answer the following
1. Describe forces that act as stimulants to change.
Forces that are highly stimulant to change are those that are motivating or drives the
person to want to achieve something. Often, these forces can be harsh or factful that it’s
like an eye opener to a person’s reality. But other factors can also be enticing or
promising to one’s needs and wants. Like for example is influence, it can also be a
stimulant to change. It creates feeling of wanting to be belong or to simply have what
others have. But organizationally speaking, things that forces change in an organization
can be the nature of the workforce, economic forces, technology, competition, social
trends, and world politics.

2. Describe the sources of resistance to change.

Sources of resistance to change can be mistrust and lack of confidence, emotional
responses, fear of failure, poor communication and unrealistic timelines. Most often, a
person chooses to be stagnant because of them wanting to stay on their comfort zones.
So, it can also root to the difference in personalities. While outside sources are those that
affects them emotionally and mentally within the environment.

3. Summarize Lewin's three-step change model.

The three stages to Lewin’s model are the unfreezing, changing and refreezing.
Unfreezing is where we break the status quo and accept that there is a need for change.
Next is the changing step that marks the transition wherein we acquire the necessary
things significant for change like learning new habits, behaviors, or thinking process.
Lastly, is the refreezing step or the reinforcement stage to stabilize the new norm and
consistently maintain the changes made.

4. Explain the relationship between Lewin's change model and Kotter’s plan for
implementing change.
Kotter’s plans and Lewin’s change model are interconnected. It’s almost like Lewin’s
change model is the shorter and simpler version of Kotter’s. Both models offer excellent
insights into how successful change management happens. In my opinion, both can
actually work as one. Kotter’s 8-step model will act as the detailed guide throughout the
process while Lewin’s will be the mind concept to keep. Because both incorporates a
single goal which is to implement effective change.

5. Explain the values underlying most organizational development (OD) efforts.

- Respect for People
People are the purpose of organization and they are responsible for creating opportunities
for growth. They must, therefore, be treated with respect and dignified manners.
- Trust and Support
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.
- 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.
- Power Equalization
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.

6. Describe potential sources of, and ways of managing, work stress.

Sources of stress include long hours, work overload, time pressure, difficult or complex
tasks, lack of breaks, lack of variety, and poor physical work conditions. Others can be
socially induced like peer pressure, short-tempered boss, and strict supervisors. Ways of
management to stress personally can be seeking psychological counsels, learning coping
and relaxation skills and a changed lifestyle. But the most important is the awareness of
the build-up of stress. This way, you can handle it more and prevent further difficulty in
managing it. Best way is always finding ways to counter the stress you receive. Having
an outlet and keeping yourself from aggravating the stress coming from different sources.