AFRICAN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS IECON

NAME : NYIRENDA BENNY

COMP NO# :

COURSE : ENTREPRENEURSHIP ENTRP

COURSE COORDINATOR :

TASK : ASSIGMENT 02
 1. Discuss briefly the following terminologies that people suffer from 15

through during the transiting change process:

i. Personality and change

ii. Anxiety and change

iii. Change or transition curve

iv. Bridges three Zones

2. Discuss why change is often resisted and outline how you could overcome 15

these resistances to change process.

3. What do you understand by the change Kaleidoscope 10

1. Discuss characteristics of Leadership and their tasks role and styles as they 10

lead the change process. Show each idea separately.

Total 50

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 1. Discuss briefly the following terminologies that people suffer from through
during the transiting change process:

Personality and change

Personality, a characteristic way of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It embraces moods, attitudes,
and opinions and is most clearly expressed in interactions with other people. It includes
behavioral characteristics, both inherent and acquired, that distinguish one person from another
and that can be observed in people’s relations to the environment and to the social group.
Personality is, in part, about how one typically tend to behave for example, whether we are most
often talkative or are usually quiet, or whether we are likely to jump at the opportunity to explore
new ideas and new ways of doing things or, instead, are more prone to stick to the tried-and-true
approach we've used many times before (Nelis, 2011).
However, personality is not just about how we are likely to behave or to act. It is also about how
we generally tend to feel; for example, are we usually upbeat, hopeful, and optimistic, or not, and
how stable our feelings typically are, or how volatile. Personality is also about what we usually
find pleasant, fun and rewarding (or not), and what motivates us, keeping us going and trying
again and again. Personality change comprises different forms of change in different aspects of
personality. Changing personalities explores how people define thoughts, emotions, and
behaviors and how they may or may not be dynamic (Roberts, 2017).

Anxiety and change

Change can be a frightening thing for anyone. For those with anxiety disorders, who build
coping skills around routine and predictability, change can lead to utter panic. Anxiety is
triggered by several things like when things move outside the circle of predictability. It is like
moving to a foreign country where the language is unknown, walking around lost and unable to
communicate to find your way. It is extremely scary. Change is inevitable. Through the darkest
corners of the universe, in the brightest places on earth, change is always right around the corner.
While it may seem easier to stay in the comfort of a well-kept routine, the tides of change will
eventually prevail.

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There is no easy way to deal with change. A lot of the time, change comes at the most
unexpected times. It can be a simple aspect, such as a small change in your work schedule, or a
major change, like going to a new school (Martin, 2020).

Change or transition curve

The new beginnings stage of the transition curve is that time when people are ready to commit to
the new direction and the change. They feel secure in the new organization and are ready to
function as a significant contributor. This typically occurs as the initiative starts to achieve some
of its desired goals. A transition or easement curve is a curve of varying radius introduced
between a Straight and a circular curve or between two branches of a compound curve or reverse
curve (Derya and Gökhan, 2013).

The Three Stages of Transition According to Bridges

Bridges' Model highlights three stages of transition that people go through when they are faced
with change. These are: Ending, Losing, and Letting Go, the Neutral Zone and the New
Beginning. Bridges says that people will go through each stage at their own pace. For example,
those who are comfortable with the change will likely move ahead to stage three more quickly,
while others will linger at stages one or two (Bridges, 2017).

Bridges' Transition Stage 1: Ending, Losing, and Letting Go

People enter this initial stage of transition when you first present them with change. This stage is
often marked with resistance and emotional upheaval, because people are being forced to let go
of something that they are comfortable with or value highly. At this stage, people may
experience these emotions: fear, denial, anger, frustration and a sense of loss. Your team will
need to accept that something is ending before they can begin to accept the new idea. If you don't
acknowledge and address the emotions that people are going through, you will likely encounter
resistance throughout the entire change process (Wrzus, 2017).

It is important to accept people's resistance, and to understand their emotions. Allow them time
to reflect on the current situation rather than simply demanding that they let go of it. Encourage
everyone to talk about their memories, to express what they will miss, and what they are proud
of having achieved. In these conversations, make sure that you listen empathically and

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communicate openly (Bridges, 2017). Emphasize how people will be able to apply their
accumulated skills, experience, and knowledge once you've implemented the change. Explain
how the best parts of the past will be remembered and celebrated, but equally how you'll give
people what they need (training and resources, for example) in the new environment (Emerald
Works Limited, 2022).

Bridges' Transition Stage 2: The Neutral Zone

In this stage, people affected by the change are often confused, uncertain, and impatient.
Depending on how well you're managing the change, they may also experience a higher
workload as they get used to new systems and new ways of working. Think of this phase as the
bridge between the old and the new people may still be attached to the old, and it probably will
not be clear what the new is (Bridges, 2017).

Bridges' Transition Stage 3: The New Beginning

The last transition stage is a time of acceptance and energy. People have begun to embrace the
change initiative. They're building the skills they need to work successfully in the new way, and
they're starting to see early wins from their efforts. At this stage, people are likely to experience:
High energy. Openness to learning, renewed commitment to the group or their role, guiding
people through stage three. As people begin to adopt the change, it's essential that you help them
sustain it (Emerald Works Limited, 2022).

2. Discuss why change is often resisted and outline how you could overcome these
resistances to change process.

Although change management decisions are normally made at the level, it is still very important
to have the rest of the employees bought in to the change. Having employees who are opposed to
what is going to be changing from the start is a major setback and one that needs to be dealt with
carefully in order to be successful with the change management. The following are reason for
resisting change (Sosnowska, 2019).

Job Loss

Job loss is a major reason that employees resist change in the workplace. In any business, there
are constantly going to be things moving and changing, whether it is due to the need for more

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efficiency, better turnaround times, or the need for the employees to work smarter. With all these
needs comes the opportunity for the company to downsize or create new jobs, and this is where
the fear of job loss comes into play (Nelis, 2011).

Poor Communication and Engagement

Communication solves all ills. But a lack of it creates more of them. This is another crucial
reason why employees oppose change. How the change process itself is communicated to the
employees is very important because it determines how they react. If the process of what needs
to be changed, how it needs to be changed and what success would look like cannot be
communicated, then resistance should be expected. Employees need to understand why there is a
need for change, because if they are just thrown the notion that what they have been used to for a
long time is going to be completely renovated, with that will come much backlash (Hope and
Balogun, 2002).

Lack of Trust

Trust is a vital tool to have when running a successful business. In organizations where there is a
lot of trust in management, there is lower resistance to change. Mutual mistrust between
management and employees will lead to the company going into a downward spiral, so trust is a
must (Sosnowska, 2019).

The Unknown

We already mentioned communication and a lack of it causes employees to feel like they don not
know what’s going on. If companies are constantly experiencing times where the future is
unknown, there is also a good possibility that employees will not respond to change well. When
the thought of change is brought up in this case, it would come as a surprise, leading to
employees being caught off guard, which makes the situation much worse ((Sosnowska, 2019).

Poor Timing

Timing is one of the biggest problems when it comes to change. A lot of the time, it’s not the act
itself that creates the resistance, but how and when it is delivered.

How to Overcome Resistance and Effectively Implement Change

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Regardless of how well companies manage a change, there is always going to be resistance.
Companies should engage those who are opposed to a change. By doing this, they can actively
see what their concerns are and possibly alleviate the problem in a timely manner. By allowing
employees time to give their input, it assures them that they are part of a team that actually cares
about its employees (Derya and Gökhan, 2013).

Communicating both early and often is necessary when trying to convey anything to employees.
There should be a constant conversation between the Change Suite and the general employees on
what is happening day to day, and for what is to come in the future. The best piece of advice that
a company can take in this regard is to be truthful, straightforward, and timely with big changes
in the workplace. Company-wide emails and intranets are great tools to utilize and this allows for
employees to ask questions and stay informed (Burke, 2008).

An explanation for why the change is needed is always a good idea. By helping employees better
understand why a change is important for the company, it’s easier to get them on board with the
change, and it can also encourage them to become an advocate for change. With this, an
explanation of “what’s in it for me?” helps employees see the big picture and the benefits of the
change, instead of only giving them a narrow view of what is to happen in the near future
(Francis, 2020).

Innovation and improvement are two things that are occurring on a daily basis. With new ideas
and suggestions there are always ways to improve as a company, whether it be changing the
outlook on an assignment, or changing the way the office dynamic is on a day-to-day basis.
Regardless of what it is, there are always ways to improve, and this could really affect how
employees look at change management in the workplace (Burke, 2008).

Effectively engage employees

Listen, listen and listen. If there is another piece advice that a company should take, it’s to
receive and respond to the feedback that is provided by the employees. They are the ones making
sure that all the clients are happy and that all the work gets done, so keeping them in the loop is
vital. Ask employees probing questions: Is the change working? What can we do to make it work
better? Do employees have any questions or concerns? These are all great questions to ask, but if
feedback is going to be collected, it actually needs to be read and utilized. Leveraging an

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employee engagement survey is a great first step. These answers can be used to change the plan
accordingly, and show employees that their ideas and concerns are being heard. Understanding
that no two employees are the same is another important tactic to use when trying to understand
the employee’s concern. Being able to realize that there are going to be many different reasons
for opposition depending on the person is pertinent, because then managers can tailor ways to
work out these problems (Derya and Gökhan, 2013).

Implement change in several stages

Change doesn’t happen all at once. Companies should first prepare for the change, then take
action on the change and make a plan for managing the change, and third, support the change
and assure that all is going as planned (Hope and Balogun, 2002).

Communicate change effectively

The best way that you as an employer can communicate change is to explicitly tell employees
what is going on. Using a blend of formal and informal communication allows you to ensure that
all employees receive the news about the change in some way or another. With all the
communication outlets such as email, company intranets, town halls, and face-to-face meetings,
the message is going to get across the company. Employing several different ways to
communicate change helps explain the vision, goals and expectations for what needs to happen
and why (Burke, 2008).

3. What do you understand by the change Kaleidoscope

Change Kaleidoscope is a method for pulling together and arranging the extensive variety of
logical highlights and usage choices that require thought amid change. Due to growing of
globalization, advance technology, and organizational consolidation, change is nowadays
become a crucial part of every organization in order to survive in changing business
environment. To handle the change, change management is required in transitioning for both
organizational and individual level to attain future desired change. Change at organizational level
is related to strategy which will indicate organizational direction and activities. In developing
effective organization strategy, both internal and external environments have to be taken into
consideration. When the strategy has been changed as adapting to changing internal and external
environments, strategic change is necessity to be utilized in change management in order to align

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change with developed strategy. As individual change is a pivotal part of organizational change,
change management need to be adopted at individual level in order to initiate the change and
consequently obtain successful organization change (Wilt and Revelle, 2015).

Change Kaleidoscope was produced by Hope Hailey & Balogun (2002) to be a method for
pulling together and arranging the extensive variety of logical highlights and usage choices that
require thought amid change. In this sense Change kaleidoscope is even more a model than a
strategy, however it is usable instrument for conceptualizing the way of progress. By its plan, the
model speaks to an exhaustive system which manages the greater part of the variables that the
creators regarded noteworthy by the writing. The change kaleidoscope model was utilized
interestingly to reflectively investigate a change project embraced in a first pharmaceutical
organization. The change kaleidoscope contains an external ring which is concerned with the
highlights of the change setting that can either empower or oblige change, and an inward ring
that contains the menu of usage choices open to change specialists. Comprehension of the
context oriented highlights empowers change specialists to judge the fittingness of any
methodology for their specific setting.

What do you understand by the change Kaleidoscope?

Change Kaleidoscope composes of outer ring and inner ring. The outer ring indicates
organization contextual features which are time, scope, preservation, diversity, capability,
capacity, readiness, and power. Whereas inner ring provides design or implementing choices
which are change path, change start point, change style, change target, change levers and change
roles. The details of organization contextual features and implementing choices will be as
followings (Confidence, 2020).

To apply change successfully, organization context needs to be analyzed in order to select

appropriate implementing options. Change kaleidoscope can be utilized effectively as it provides
both available range of implementing options and contextual features analysis. Change
awareness from organization aspect is encouraged by using this tool. Organization need to
examine contextual constraints and enablers to change in order to evaluate its change ability and
consider implementing choices of path, start point, style, target, interventions and roles (Roberts,
2017).

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Using change kaleidoscope allows organization to understand the reason why design choice is
appropriate or inappropriate to particular context. Change kaleidoscope is normally used by
change agent group to solve change problem through three steps which are assessing contextual
enablers and constraints, determining change path, and selecting other change choices (Roberts,
2017).

However, to achieve complete change design, other tools such as cultural web need to be
implemented together with change kaleidoscope. Although change kaleidoscope establishes well
structure for transition state, challenges of this tool is occurred from interventions of other
changes during processing which need to be synchronized over the time. Due to complexity and
resource consuming in transitioning, competencies of analytical, judgmental, and implementation
skills cannot be deficient for change agent. In addition, even though change kaleidoscope can be
implemented in different change circumstance, it is most appropriate to planned change which
aims to achieve particular goal (Nelis, 2011).

4. Discuss characteristics of Leadership and their tasks role and styles as they lead the
change process

Although there is no a single right way to effectively lead a team, there are several
characteristics common among successful leaders and managers which you should consider
when developing your leadership skills. Ineffective leadership can cost companies more than
just morale. According to research, 24 percent of employees are actively disengaged as a result
of poor management, leading to teams that are less productive, less profitable, and more likely
to cause turnover. And that turnover adds up quick: translating into nearly two times the annual
salary of every employee who quits. That is why effective leadership is so important. In order to
retain employees, satisfy customers, and improve company productivity, you need people who
can effectively communicate the company’s vision, guide teams, and influence change
(Coghlan, 1993).

Characteristics of an Effective Leader

1. Ability to Influence Others

Leadership is all about influencing people. For example, early in your career, you might exercise
authority by being the go-to person on a certain subject within your organization, or by actively

8
listening and building consensus among your team. As you advance, you may exert influence by
knowing how to articulate the direction you think the company should head in next. Influencing
others requires building trust with your colleagues. Focus on understanding their motivations and
encourage them to share their opinions. You can then use that knowledge to make change and
show that their voice matters (Carnall, 1986).

2. Transparency—to an Extent

Part of building trust is being transparent. The more open you are about the organization’s goals
and challenges, the easier it is for employees to understand their role and how they can
individually contribute to the company’s overall success. That sense of value and purpose then
translates into higher levels of employee engagement. While transparency is often intended to
promote collaboration, knowledge sharing, and accountability, too much of it can have the
opposite effect and this encourages balancing transparency with privacy and setting different
types of boundaries to still foster experimentation and collaboration (Hasan, 2019).

3. Encourage Risk-Taking and Innovation

Experimentation is critical to establishing and maintaining your company’s competitive

advantage. Great leaders recognize this and encourage risk-taking and innovation within their
organization. By creating a culture that embraces failure, employees are more emboldened to test
theories or propose new ideas, because they see that creativity is valued. For some companies,
that might mean rewarding experimentation: Google’s innovation lab, X, offers bonuses to each
team member who worked on a project the company ultimately decided to kill as soon as
evidence suggested it wouldn’t scale, in an effort to make it safe to fail. After all, big
breakthroughs don’t happen when companies play it safe. If well-intentioned, failures often
become valuable business lessons (Burke, 2008).

4. Value Ethics and Integrity

A leader with high ethical standards conveys a commitment to fairness, instilling confidence that
both they and their employees will honor the rules of the game. Similarly, when leaders clearly
communicate their expectations, they avoid blindsiding people and ensure that everyone is on the
same page. Employees want to feel safe in their environment and know that their manager will
advocate for them, treat them fairly, and, ultimately, do what’s right for the business. As a leader,

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it’s important to act with integrity, both to build trust within your team and to create model
behavior for others in the organization (Hasan, 2019).

5. Act Decisively

In today’s fast-changing, complex business environment, effective leaders need to make strategic
decisions quickly even before any definitive information is available because it enables you to
balance emerging opportunities with long-term goals and objectives. Once you make a decision,
stick with it, unless there’s a compelling reason to shift focus. Your goal is to move the
organization forward, but that will not happen if you can’t make a decision without wavering
(Carnall, 1999).

6. Balance Hard Truths with Optimism

Every decision you make will result in success. There will be times when you’re met with
failure; it’s your job as a leader to exercise resiliency. Enduring setbacks while maintaining the
ability to show others the way to go forward is a true test of leadership. Effective leaders don’t
avoid the hard truths. Instead, they take responsibility for their decisions, maintain optimism, and
focus on charting a new course of action. They also help others cope with organizational change
and address issues quickly, so that problems don’t fester and escalate (Carnall, 1986).

The Importance of Change Leadership their tasks role and styles as they lead the change
process. Show each idea separately.

The optimal change leadership model is to have the change management team communicate and
coach the leadership through change, and then those leaders will coach the employees they lead
through the change. This provides the best chain of communication when it comes to leadership
and change because employees are likely to be most receptive to the manager they work with
every day. But, while leadership and organizational change both require similar skill sets, change
management includes certain soft skills that not all leaders will have. They also may not be
familiar with how change management works and terms like “resistance management” and
change agents (Burke, 2008).

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The role of the organizational change leadership team is taught by the change manager and
change management team. So, it’s important to know how strategic leadership and change
management work together and how to properly set up leadership coaching as part of your
change management plan. For example, if you have a transformational leader that prizes
innovation and challenges the employees that they lead to always think outside the box, the
organization will most likely be one that’s continuously optimizing and improving efficiency. If
you have a leader that believes in going by-the-book and treasures structure and routine, then
most likely those that work under that leader will be very rules oriented, but may not dare to
“color outside the lines” for innovative problem-solving (Vojta, 2020).

When talking about leadership and change management, it is important to distinguish between
those who are part of the change management team and are leading the change effort and
leadership in an organization that is tapped to help support the change. The type of leadership
and organizational change that’s the focus of this article are leaders in an organization that are
coached to help support a change within their departments. For a change management project to
be successful, those on the change team (the change management leadership) will need to coach
the above leadership positions on the role of leadership in organizational change (Hasan, 2019).

What is the Role of Leadership in Organizational Change?

Leadership plays an important role when it comes to change. The role of leadership in change
can either be a positive or negative one. Leaders have a lot of influence over those they lead,
which is why a change manager wants to have them on the side of change support. Leadership
through change is essential because processes are being upended, and users are being required to
adopt a new way of doing things. In some cases, they may be losing colleagues or changing
departments. Strategic leadership and change management best practices go a long way towards
guiding people through change, addressing their concerns, and helping them accept and support
the change (Vojta, 2020).

Not every leader will have the same change management leadership skills, which is why the
change management team makes leadership coaching one of its primary activities. It will give
more guidance to those with less change experience and use more of a “touch base” approach
with leaders well versed in the role of leadership in change. The ideal role of leadership in
change management is to be coached by the change management team on the change and change

11
leadership skills. Then, the leaders are the ones to coach the employees that report to them
(Hasan, 2019).

During a time of transition, employees will be looking to their managers and supervisors, whom
they trust, for direction. This allows the change management team to focus efforts on other parts
of the change project using this “one-to-many” approach. For example, you may have 300
employees in an organization and 30 leaders at various levels. If the change manager had to
individually coach each employee through the change, while it could be done, it would not be the
most effective method (Francis, 2020).

Coaching requires mentoring, check-ins, and managing resistance feelings, which can mean a lot
of additional time for someone that is not directly working with an employee during the day. The
role of leaders in change management is to take that message and training and use it to coach,
mentor, and guide their team through the change, with the help of the change management team.
When leadership communication is done well during this coaching process, it helps resolve
resistance and improve the results of the change project. The change leadership model is so vital
because of the influence leadership has on an organization and the employees within that
organization (Carnall, 1999).

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Coghlan, D. (1993). A Person-Centred Approach to Dealing with Resistance to Change.

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