Module 8
Managing Change in Organizations
PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
Organizational Change
• Over past two decades, most organizations have
undergone change initiatives
• Success rate of change initiatives has been
startlingly low; according to European execs:
 20% of change initiatives were successful
 63% produced some change that was not sustained
 17% had no result at all
Class Note: Organizational Change
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–2
Why Is Organizational Change Difficult?
• Human nature’s resistance to change
• Organizational inertia
• Unanticipated consequences of organizational
change initiatives
Class Note: Organizational Change
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–3
Why Is Change Difficult? (cont’d)
• Meanings of organizational change:
 Change in organization design

Organization chart, integration mechanisms, systems for
motivating people
 Change in power structure

Changes in who makes decisions, which individuals and
groups influence decisions, what interests are served
 Change in culture

Change in norms, values, mental models, shared assumptions
about the organization and its environment
Class Note: Organizational Change
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–4
Stage Models of Change Processes
• Kurt Lewin’s model of organizational change:
 Three-stage sequence: unfreezing–change–refreezing
• Lewin saw organizations as social systems highly
resistant to change because of:
 Human nature
 Organizational inertia
• Lewin’s work laid foundations of field of
organizational development (OD) and other stage
models
Class Note: Organizational Change
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–5
Stage Models of Organizational Change
Class Note: Organizational Change
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
Figure 8.1
8–6
Dimensions of Change
• Scope of change—radical or incremental
• Pacing of change—punctuated or continuous
• Source of change—top-down or bottom-up
• Process of change—planned or emergent
Class Note: Organizational Change
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–7
Dimensions of Organizational Change
Radical
Incremental
Top-down
Bottom-up
Punctuated
Continuous
Planned
Emergent
Class Note: Organizational Change
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
Figure 8.2
8–8
Being a More Effective Change Agent
• Expand your repertoire of actions
• Avoid mistakes
• Work with temporal sequencing
• Become a sophisticated consumer of advice on
change
Class Note: Organizational Change
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–9
The Life Cycle of a
Typical Change Initiative
Readings: The Life Cycle of Typical Change Initiatives
Source: From The Dance of Change by Peter M. Senge, Kleiner, Roberts and Ross,
copyright © 1999 by Peter Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts and Richard Ross.
Used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–10
The Five “Learning Disciplines”
of The Fifth Discipline
• Personal mastery
• Shared vision (aspiration)
• Mental models
• Team learning (reflection and inquiry)
• Systems thinking
Readings: The Life Cycle of Typical Change Initiatives
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–11
The Myth of the Hero-CEO
• “Significant change only occurs when it is driven
from the top”
• “There is no point in going forward unless the
CEO is on board”
• “Nothing will happen without top management
buy-in”
Readings: The Leadership of Profound Change
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–12
A Different View of Executive Leadership
• “Little significant change can occur if it is driven
only from the top”
• “CEO proclamations and programs rolled out
from corporate headquarters are a great way to
foster cynicism and distract everyone from real
efforts to change”
• “Top management buy-in is a poor substitute for
genuine commitment and learning capabilities at
all levels in an organization”
Readings: The Leadership of Profound Change
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–13
Stages in the Change Process
at General Electric
Readings: Culture Change at General Electric
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–14
Payoff Matrix
Readings: Culture Change at General Electric
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–15
The Integrated Learning Process
• Involve and engage all your employees, as well
as customers, partners, and suppliers
• Identify and transfer best practices from inside
and outside the company
• Integrate these initiatives with key human
resource practices
• Set “stretch goals”
Readings: Culture Change at General Electric
Copyright © 2005 South-Western. All rights reserved.
8–16