STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTATION & MANAGING CHANGE

1. STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTATION & MANAGING CHANGE Prof.dr.dr.dr.h.c. Constantin Bratianu Faculty of Business Administration Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest

2. PLANNED CHANGE • The basic idea of this theory is that change can be planned and managed as a controlled process. • Since change has been considered at the organization level, all research focused on Organizational Development (OD). • Kurt Lewin founded in 1945 the Research Centerfor Group Dynamics, with a huge influence.

3. MODELS OF PLANNED CHANGE • The action research model • The three-steps model • The phases of planned change model

4. THE ACTION RESEARCH MODEL • Action Research has been designed to solve social and organizational problems. • It is research on action to make that action more effective. Action refers to programs and interventions designed to solve a problem or improve a condition. • The main idea is that effective solving of organizational problems must involve a rational, and systematic analysis of the issues in question.

5. THE ACTION RESEARCH (I) • The Action research comprises 3 components: - the organization (top management) - the subject (people where change is done) - the change agent • The 3 entities must agree to form a group, under mutually acceptable and constructed terms of reference.

6. THE ACTION RESEARCH (II) • The main difficulty is to gain the commitment of both the organization and the subject of the change. • The strategy was to use top-down change implementation based on top managers authority. • This approach is not working well in large organizations and where the distance to power is relatively small.

7. THE 3-STEP MODEL • The basic idea was that change toward a higher level of group performance is frequently short lived. After some time, group behaviour may revert to the previous pattern. • This indicates that it is not enough to define change as a target and to stop. It is important to include also the group performance in the new state of change.

8. How can you transform an ice cube into a cylinder ?

9. Kurt Lewin’s Change Model Proposed by K. Lewin (1958) for implementing change in an organization through 3 stages: Change Re-freezing Organizational culture Unfreezing Organizational culture

10. PHASES OF PLANNED CHANGE • The concept of planned change implies that an organization exists in different states at different times and that planned movement can occur from one state to another. • For planned change it is important to understand not only the change but also the states through which the organization must pass.

11. THE 4-PHASE MODEL • Bullock and Batten (1985) developed an integrated four-phase model for planned change: 1.Exploration phase 2.Planning phase 3.Action phase 4.Integration phase

12. EXPLORATION PHASE • Becoming aware of the need for change • Searching for outside assistance (a consultant/ facilitator) to assist with planning and implementing the change • Establishing a contract with the consultant which defines each party’s responsibility

13. PLANNING PHASE • Analysis and diagnosis of the problem to be solved • Establishing change goals and designing the appropriate actions to achieve these goals • Establishing priorities and sequence requirements for change implementation • Allocation of tangible and intangible resources for each change sequence

14. ACTION PHASE • Identify all possible resistances to change and their nature • Evaluate the inertial forces of each resistance • Choose adequate approaches to overcome each resistance • Evaluate the progress of change implementation • Perform corrections to the initial plan if necessary

15. INTEGRATION PHASE • This phase begins when the changes have been successfully implemented • It is concerned with consolidating and stabilising the changes • Reinforcing the new behaviours through feedback and reward systems • Diffusing the successful aspects of the change process through the organization • Train managers and employees to monitor the changes and seek to improve upon them

16. LIMITATIONS (I) • The basic hypothesis that an organization exists in different states at different times and that planned change is a transition from one state to another • The dynamics of business environment imposes organizational change to be more a continuous and open-ended process, than a set of discrete and self-contained events

17. LIMITATIONS (II) • Its emphasis on incremental change and its inability to incorporate radical, transformational change • It assumes that one type of approach to change is suitable for all organizations, all situations and all times • Turbulent times demand different responses in varied circumstance

18. THE EMERGENT CHANGE APPROACH • It is a new approach which lacks agreed methods and techniques • This approach stresses the developing and unpredictable nature of change • Change is viewed as a process that unfolds through the interplay of multiple variables within the organization • There is no single prescription for managing organizational transitions successfully

19. BOTTOM-UP APPROACH • Planned change is implemented more likely through a top-down approach • Emergent change is implemented more likely through a bottom-up approach • The bottom-up approach requires a major change in the role played by senior managers. Instead of planning, directing and controlling change they must create adequate conditions for supporting change

20. IMPORTANT FEATURES • Though the concept of universally applicable rules for change are rejected, supporters of emergent change stress 4 necessary organizational features: - organizational structure - organizational culture - organizational learning - managerial behaviour

21. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE • This is seen as playing a crucial role in defining how people relate to each other and in influencing the momentum for change • The more flexible and flatter organizational structure to increase the responsiveness to change, by developing authority of all managers and responsibility • Organizational structure based on teams and networks

22. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE • If change is developing in concordance with the cultural values, organizational culture will support the change • If change is developing against the cultural values, organizational culture must be changed along with change implementation • Creating a culture for change means that change has to be part of the way we do things around here

23. ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING • Change is an excellent opportunity to learn new things and then to adapt the organization to the new external business environment requirements • Organizational learning is based on the double loop model (single loop model = solving problems in a programmed way) • Organizational learning creates a pro-active approach to change

24. MANAGERIAL BEHAVIOUR(I) • The role of managers is not to plan and to control, but to create an internal environment able to accept and to support change • The key organizational elements are: - Information gathering - Communication - Learning

25. MANAGERIAL BEHAVIOUR (II) • For supporters of the emergent approach, the essence of change is to move from the known to the unknown • In this situation, it is essential for managers to be able to tolerate risk and cope with ambiguity • Managers must develop the skills of making decisions in situations with high levels of uncertainty

26. ENVIRONMENT Stable Turbulent Planned Emergent APPROACHES TO CHANGE