ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

1. Forces for Change

2. Resistance to Change
3. Lewin’s Three-Step Model
 FORCES FOR CHANGE
Force Examples
More cultural diversity
Nature of the workforce Aging population
Many new entrants with inadequate skills
Faster, cheaper and mobile computers
Technology Online music sharing
Deciphering of human genetic codes
Rise and fall of dot-com stocks
Economic Shocks 2000-2002 stock market collapse
Record low interest rates
Global competition
Competition Mergers and consolidations
Growth of e-commerce
Internet chat rooms
Social trends Retirement of baby boomers
Rise in discount and “big-box” retailers
Iraq-U.S. war
World politics Opening of markets in China
War on terrorism following 9/11/01
 RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

SOURCES OF RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

Individual Sources

Habit When change opposes habits, one responds in his accustomed way

Security Change threatens the feelings of safety of people who possess high need
for security

Economic factors Changes in job/work can cause economic fears if they worry
they wont be able to perform new task well

Fear of the unknown Change substitutes uncertainty of the unknown

Selective information processing People ignore information that brings

challenges
Organizational Sources

Structural inertia When an organization is confronted with change in built-in

mechanisms-like selection processes and formalized regulations, structural
inertia acts as a counterbalance to sustain stability

Limited focus of change Organization comprises of interdependent

subsystems and change in one, affects the others

Group inertia If individuals want to change their behavior, group norms

become constraint
Threat to expertise Change in organizational patterns may threaten the
expertise of specialized groups

Threat to established power relationships Redistribution of decision-making

authority can threaten long-established power relationships within the
organization
TACTICS TO OVERCOME RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

Tactic Role
Education and Communication 1. Fight effects of misinformation and poor
communication 2. “sell” the need for change
Participation 1. Employees can be brought into decision process
2. Involvement obtain commitment, increase the
quality of change decision
Building support and Adjustment through employee counseling and
commitment therapy and new-skills training
Implementing Changes Fairly Procedural fairness- sharing the reason for the
change and implement change consistently and fairly
Selecting People who Accept People with flexibility and positive attitude towards
Change change, willing to take risks and open to experience
may be chosen
Coercion Direct threats or force on the resisters such as threats
of transfer, loss of promotions and negative
performance.
 LEWIN’S THREE-STEP MODEL
by Kurt Lewin

 Successful change in organizations should follow

three steps-
• Unfreezing the status quo
• Movement to a desired end state
• Refreezing the new change to make it lasting

Lewin’s Three-Step Change Model

Unfreezing Movement Refreezing

 Unfreezing the Status Quo

Desired state
Restraining forces

Status quo

Driving forces
Time
 The status quo can be considered to be equilibrium
state
 The driving forces, which direct behavior away from
the status quo, can be increased
 The restraining forces, which hinder movement from
the existing equilibrium, can be decreased
Suggested Readings:

 Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A., & Vohra, N. (2017). Organizational

Behavior (14th ed.). New Delhi: Pearson Education Limited.

 Pareek, U. (2007). Understanding Organizational Behaviour (2nd

ed.). New Delhi: Oxford University Press

 Luthans, F. (2010). Organizational Behavior (12th ed.). New Delhi:

McGraw-Hill Higher Education