Week 4: Why do

transformations fail?
Controlling approach to
change
21926 Managing Change
17 March 2022

UTS CRICOS 00099F

Subject structure
M1: Understanding M2: The good, the bad,
organisational change and the ugly of
organisational change
1. Change management 4. Why do transformations
under the microscope. fail? Controlling approach
2. Why Change? to change
Understanding pressures 5. Changing, fast and slow –
and drivers. shaping approach to
3. What to change? Pursuing change
organisational diagnosis. 6. Resisting change and how
to prevent anger, blame
and anxiety
M3: Effective M4: Change
facilitation of management in
organisational change practice
7. Organisational culture 10. Organisational change
change and how to make across borders
it stick 11. Change manager – a
8. Leading change changemaker?
management and how to 12. Art of continuous change -
become a positive change taking stock and moving
agent forward
9. Communicating change
and how to make people
listen
Overview
1. Organisational change approaches and why we need them
2. Manager as director
• Checklist models
• Stage models
3. Manager as navigator
• Contingency approaches
• Processual approaches
1. Organisational change approaches and why
we need them
 UNFREEZE (before change) CHANGE UNFREEZE (after change)

Challenge If people aren’t ready to If people can’t practice If people can’t see the
change, they won’t change change, they will fail benefits of changes, they
will revert
Change Help people embrace Help people through initial, Help embedding the
models change (force-field frightening and stressful changes to that they
analysis) stage of trying new things sustain in the future

…“human behaviour is complicated” (Robert Sapolsky, American neuroscientist)

Reference: Lewin, K (1951) Field Theory in Social Science: Selected Theoretical Papers (ed. Cartwright, D ). New York: Harper & Row.
1. Manager as director
Sample Model Steps Focus
DICE - Boston 1. Duration Calculation of scores
checklist Consulting Group 2.
3.
Integrity
Commitment
for each element

models/action 4. Effort

models ADKAR - Prosci 1. Awareness of the need for change

2. Desire to support and participate in
Individual
perceptions,
change motivations and
3. Knowledge of how to change capabilities
4. Ability to apply new skills and
behaviours
5. Reinforcement to sustain change
Checklist for 1. Goals: Progressive change with Focus on leadership,
successful “stretch” goals management and
transformational 2. Structures: Logical program organisational
change - McKinsey 3. Involvement: Ownership and properties
engagement
4. Leadership: Exercising strong
leadership
Image: thespruceeats.com
 A D K A R
Awareness of the Desire to support and Knowledge of Ability to apply new Reinforcement
need of change participate in change how to change skills and behaviours to sustain change

Enabler zone Engagement zone

…can be combined with team-level ‘agile methodologies’ - Scrum

ADKAR in checklist or stage-model?

Unfreeze Change Refreeze

1. Awareness 4. Ability 5. Reinforcement
2. Desire
3. Knowledge
Checklist models – pros and cons

Simplicity – reducing the task Atheoretical (not technical)

of change into simple steps

“High level” guides Not detailed “best practice”

road maps

Reassurance that change can No instructions how to

be manage (reduces anxiety actually cook the dish (only
of managers) provide ingredients)
Checklist models Stage models

Image: thespruceeats.com Image: jocooks.com

Stage models
• Treat change as best managed by
taking action in a specific
sequence of stages/steps

Image: jocooks.com
Kotter’s (2007) widely used eight-step model
Kotter’s (2007) widely used eight-step model

Unfreeze Change Refreeze

1. Establish the need for 4. Communicate the 8. Embed the change in
urgency vision the culture
2. Ensure there is a powerful 5. Empower the staff
change group to guide the 6. Ensure there are short-
change term wins
3. Develop a vision 7. Consolidate gains
 Outlining change
management steps
(Stage models)

- Change (8x)
- Implementation
- Analysis, assessment,
matrices
- Measurement

Outlining change
management
‘elements’:
- Assessment
- Planning
- Implementation
- Embedding
3. Manager as navigator
Navigator approaches

Processual perspective Contingency perspective

• SIMILARITIES: recognises the complexity of change, including the multiple

factors that interact to produce an outcome
• From ‘do this’ to ‘be aware of this’ • From ‘do this’ to ‘it depends’
• Focus on different stages of process • Focus on different situations
influencing change
(1) Processual perspective
• What is different?
• From ‘do this’ to ‘be aware of this’
• Elements
1. Context (in time)
2. Substance of the change (e.g., new
technology)
3. Politics (within and outside the organization)
4. Transition process – tasks, activities,
decisions, timing, sequencing
5. Interactions between these factors
• Limitations
• Change looks complex and unmanageable
• Strong contextual social forces
• Too generic
Image: compoundchem.com
 Conception Commercialisation Growth
University spin-offs: Finance Grant Venture capitalists; Institutional
entrepreneurial providers administrators;
researchers
angel investors investors
(shareholders,
lifecycle financial
institutions)
Technology Advance Generate medium- Generate short-
ventures knowledge, term profit and term financial
benefit society advance the returns and
reputation and balance an
career of financers. investment
portfolio.
Success Technological Technological Exploitation of
based on… plausibility of progress and technological
proposed innovativeness concept (scaling)
concept

Reference: Adapted from Fisher, G., Kotha, S., & Lahiri, A. 2016. Changing with the Times: An Integrated View of Identity, Legitimacy, and New
Venture Life Cycles. Academy of Management Review, 41(3): 383–409.
(2) Contingency perspective
• What’s different:
• From ‘do this’ to ‘it depends’
• Elements (e.g., Stace-Dunphy contingency
matrix)
• Style of change (collaborative vs coercive)
• Scale of change (incremental vs
transformative)
• Limitations
• Differing perceptions of the conditions
• Difficult to move between different styles
• Managers can be seen as inconsistent
Image: oola.com
 Hope Hailey-Balogun
Commercialisation of university spin-offs
Change Kaleidoscope

Timing First apply for patent licensing – do it

University spin-offs:
quickly
Scope Attract potential venture capitalists,

commercialisation Preservation
change of mindset and resource providers
Need for continuity in the area of
technological plausibility
Diversity of attitudes Academic (openness, collaboration) versus
entrepreneurial mindset (firm value
creation)
Capacity of those Need for entrepreneurial mindset
involved
Capacity of the Need to assure medium- to long-term
organisation financial returns
Readiness for change Academics versus entrepreneurs

Power of the change Strong power of resource providers

manager (venture capitalists and angel investors)

Reference: Adapted from Fisher, G., Kotha, S., & Lahiri, A. 2016. Changing with the Times: An Integrated View of Identity, Legitimacy, and New
Venture Life Cycles. Academy of Management Review, 41(3): 383–409.
Summary
Director approach Navigator approach
Checklist models Stage models Process perspective Contingency perspective
Next
steps

• Read topic page on Canvas (Module 2/Week 5)

• Study learning materials
• Prepare for tutorial – read the handout
• Assessments:
• Schedule your first meeting and fill out your Team Contract (by 28 March)
• Select your company for Assignment 1 – identify pressures and drivers,
select the diagnostic tool