organizational change management essay

Managing Organizational Change Essay

Organizational change is carried out to enhance the functioning of the organization or a section of the organization. Change should not just be done without reason but should be done to improve the organization’s performance. Thus, thorough research is required before embarking on it.

This paper studies the need for change in organizations. It first examines the external and internal environments that affect change. It examines the driving forces of change by focusing on stakeholder analysis, SWOT analysis, and Kotter’s vision on organizational change. It studies the types of change and the major elements of change, resistance to change, and the assessment of change.

Organizational change takes place, especially when an institution changes its general success policy, gets rid of or adds an important practice or department or intends to change its way of operation. It also takes place when an institution advances through various life stages. For development to take place in an organization, it has to go through several changes at various stages in growth (Coghlan, 1994). Managers often strive to achieve success as required by their jobs.

Need for a strategy

Big performing organizations successfully influence their companies more efficiently than competitors and get more than 64% on profit from each worker than next-level performers. Fewer organizations; however view their companies strategically as they should – which is shocking looking at the degree to which institutions potentials and performance steer today’s business importance. Today’s businesses are not well equipped to give the expected business results of tomorrow (Tushman & O’Reilly, 1996).

Various changes are necessary to ensure that strategic objective is totally accomplished. Unfortunately, many organizations change their business strategies into specific and workable plans, but the same extent of rigor is seldom given to the institutional allegations of the strategy (Ford & Ford, 2009).

Efficient organizational strategy allows an organization to grow into a company that can convey its strategy. Organizational strategy shows the importance of change in an organization and gives the strategy of the business plus a workable plan to execute the change.

Causes of Organizational Change

The technology used in organizations is often replaced over time. This implies that an organization requires to be open to innovation in technology. The skills of employees also need to be improved with the improvement in technology. Organizations which are not ready for change are less likely to exist in the coming years (Laurie et al., 2006). Organizations that want to be successful must be ready to embrace change and adapt to new environments.

Organizations undergo transformation times that can lead to stress and reluctance. Organizations must advance in production technologies, make new products demanded in the market, improve the skills of its workers and instigate new systems of administration. Organizations that successfully adjust are always profitable and respected. Managers are supposed to compete with every aspect that has an effect on their organizations (Tushman, Reilly & Charles, 1996).

Factors that affect the environment are clustered into external factors and internal factors. External factors include social/cultural, political/legal, physical/natural technological, competitive, and global market factors. Internal factors include the company’s stability, people, attention to detail, innovation, and risk-taking (Kvernbekk, 2011).

External Analysis

No organization can exist without the influence of other organizations. It has to interact with others over time, including the customers, stakeholders, the government, suppliers, and unions (Coghlan, 1994). Every organization has responsibilities and objectives connected to each other in the business environment.

External factors manipulating change as mentioned above include social-cultural, political, natural, technological, competitive, and international market factors. Changes in these forces can lead to organizational changes like economic control, relations in the management of labor, production process, and the environment of competition (Isaksen, 2007).

Technology changes over time because of globalization. When a slight change is experienced in technology, organizations reduce their efficiency in costs and their competitive positions are weakened. These companies have to comply with the change and accept the new technology. This means that new software should be purchased affecting the running of the organization.

Given that all organizations export their products, they have to encounter competition in the global market. There are various forces that may influence the competitive place of an organization – these are other companies supplying the same outputs, and consumers that are not purchasing the output.

Any alterations in these forces needs appropriate changes in the organization. With a liberalized economy, there are very many international organizations in the market. This implies that organizations should have to restructure themselves to comply with the new situation (Paton, Beranek & Smith, 2008).

Buyers have constant changing demands on the products and services offered in the market. Organizations will therefore need to change their products to meet the requirements of the buyers (Petrescu, 2011).

Socio-cultural changes are evident in the daily lives of people in terms of their methods of working, needs and objectives. They affect the behavior of the workers in organizations and are as a result of different educational backgrounds, urbanization, self-governance and globalization. Adjustments are therefore necessary to tone with people.

Legal and political factors majorly describe the activities that can be undertaken by an organization and techniques that will be pursued by it in reaching those interests (Kereber & Buono, 2005). Any changes in these factors may influence the running of the organization.

Internal analysis

Any alteration in the internal factors of an organization may demand change. Such changes are needed due to changes in management personnel and insufficiency in present organizational customs. There is always a change in managerial positions within organizations due to retirement, dismissal, promotion or transfers.

Every leader works in whatever way they know best. When a new leader is appointed, he brings in his own ideas with him (Maurer, 2011). Employee – management relationship often changes due to new management. To add on that, the personnel will change their outlook on operations even though there are no changes thereby forcing the organization to change.

The nature of the personnel changes with time. Employees who are above 50 years are loyal and respect their employers. Employees between 30 and 40 years are only loyal to themselves. Employees below 30 years only respect their careers and are loyal to them. The personnel profile is rapidly changing too (Tushman, Reilly & Charles, 1996).

The new generation of employees is well educated and concentrates on personal value and even query the authority of the management. They have a very complex behavior, thus driving them to achieve organizational success which is difficult for the managers.

The stability of an organization is a major internal factor of change. When an organization has financial problems, the management will have to look at every possible alternative for the business to survive. These alternatives may include reducing operations, doing away with programs, which are not profitable and cutting operating costs.

Cutting costs may even mean reducing the number of employees. Downsizing of employees often brings numerous problems caused by overworking, which may lead to employee strikes (Isaksen, 2007). The management usually faces hard times as they are confused on what measure to take. It is important that they consult different constituents to come up with the best solution that will not greatly affect the running of the organization.

Stakeholder Analysis and Management (Kotter)

Stakeholder analysis is not a very simple task to perform. The leader has to come up with decisions that may affect or be affected by needs of stakeholders. Stakeholders have the capacity to oppose changes made in an organization or influence them (Kotter, 1990). Stakeholders’ interest is not only in the financial benefits of an organization but also on its management.

The importance of analyzing the various interests of stakeholders in an organization is to invent a plan that can get the biggest support. This involves doing away with barriers that could hinder the change from taking place.

Stakeholder analysis entails involving stakeholders at every stage of the organizational change to enhance the efficiency of programs and services.

The process of solicitating interests, priorities, and concerns of stakeholders in the initial stages of monitoring and evaluation, helps in addressing the needs of stakeholders and also assists in behavioral change. Involving stakeholders and putting their opinions to account gives prospects to inquire on assumptions and investigate other explanations and add to innovation and learning. It also enhances the acceptance of change (Kotter, 1990).

Identification of Customers, Suppliers, and Competitors (Porter’s 5-Forces Model)

Rivalries usually develop among organizations competing for the same market. Competitors employ methods of advertising, warranties, and competitions of prices to improve their market share in specific industries. Rivalry may sometimes cause slow growth in industries and price cutting and investments of high-stake. Changes that may be introduced in any organization should be positive to give it a competitive edge.

The strength of suppliers is enhanced when a group of companies run them because there will be no substitute products. The organization has no control over these effects. Organizational changes should always be strategized to modify the power of suppliers (Stonehouse & Snowdon, 2007).

The power of buyers is vital. Buyers are capable of pushing prices down and demanding better quality products and services. Buyers are more powerful when they are in large numbers, the products and services are important aspects of the buyer, switching costs are minimal, and the buyer has complete disclosure on supply, costs, demand, and prices. The bargaining power of buyers varies with time and the competitive strategy of an organization.

The threat of new entrants relies on an industry’s economies of scale, switching costs, product differentiation, government regulations, and requirements of capital for entry (Potter, 1998). New organizations can anticipate barriers like technology, labor forces, and strategic planning in the business.

Driving and restraining forces

Driving forces encourage the process of change to have effect. They easen the process of change as they push people toward the direction of change, and cause a move in equilibrium towards change. Restraining forces oppose driving forces. They prevent change as they make people go against change. They therefore influence a shift in equilibrium, which counters the effort of change (Humphreys, 2005).

Passive resistance

This is a method of protest that does not involve any violence against laws so as to force a change. It involves acts like strikes, demonstrations, and boycotts. Passive resistance has characteristics like worrying and complaining about the strategy of change management. Passive resistance is a serious case and needs to be reviewed. It is a distraction that can reduce the pace of the whole organization’s rate of learning and acceptance of the strategy of change management.

Aggressive resistance

Aggressive resistance is expressed in hostile behaviors that show aggression. It can be defined as a personality disorder expressed by negative attitudes and resistance in work-related situations. This type of resistance is manifested in procrastination, stubbornness, and deliberate failures in completing tasks that one is assigned (Ford & Ford, 2009).

Embracing change

For the continued existence of organizations, it is necessary to adapt to new environmental and market demands. Employees and organizations that embrace change are more successful, unlike the resistors who eventually accept change. Sometimes change is so difficult that it is sometimes resisted. The process of change needs determination and vision. During the process of change, motivators, and trainings are necessary. The environment should be conducive enough to allow change.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT signifies the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of an organization. SWOT analysis evaluates the internal weaknesses and strengths of a company with threats and opportunities in its external surroundings. It is an important planning tool when evaluating an organization.

It is founded on the notion that managers can use it to choose the perfect strategy to ensure the success of an organization. An organization’s strength is very important as it grants a competitive advantage over other similar companies. It gives an organization a good position in the market. Organizations should ensure that they do not affect their strengths while implementing changes (Tushman, Reilly & Charles, 1996).

A weakness on the other hand, puts an organization at risk. It is a disadvantage of the company, and it makes it viable to competitive forces (Paton, Beranek & Smith, 2008). Weaknesses need to be scrutinized closely as they can cause the downfall of organizations. Weaknesses may include lack of a clear vision, poor image, poor technology and facilities, and low employee motivation.

An organization should ensure that implementation of any change is aimed at reducing the weaknesses in the organization and not enhancing them. Change should always do away with the weaknesses if not reduce them.

Opportunities are conditions that favor the organization and can be employed for constructive reasons. Opportunities are usually presented by the outside environment, and it is up to the company to maximize on them (Kereber & Buono, 2005).

These opportunities may be brought about by a conducive change in the environment or by the government in making the external environment suitable for them. Examples of opportunities may include new improved technologies, vertical integration, and powerful economies. Leaders should ensure that any change implemented will maximize all the organization’s opportunities.

Not all changes have a positive impact in the organization. External changes may also be a threat to the organizations. Leaders should be able to foresee such probable threats and impact changes that will neutralize the threat. New regulations, economic recession, and cheaper technology are examples of threats. Organizational changes should help in the reducing the effects of these threats and not enhance them.

Kotter’s view on change

Sense of urgency.

For change to take place, it is easier if the whole organization needs the change. A sense of urgency on the need for change needs to be created. This assists in enhancing the initial plan of making things happen (Kotter, 1990). It should be a very convincing talk on the current status of the market and what the organization’s competitors are doing that has necessitated change. If employees start discussing the change, it is as good as done.

This talk should include the identification of possible threats to organizations and demonstrate what could take place in the future. The leader should look at the opportunities that can be exploited by the organization should the change be implemented. Initiate a powerful discussion that will convince the employees and get them thinking.

Consultation to support the argument can be sought from stakeholders and customers that are not directly linked to the organization. Kotter stresses that change cannot be effective if three-quarters of the organization are not for the idea. Therefore, the need for change should be stressed to employees for them to understand and buy into the change (Kerber & Buono, 2005).

Formation of a strong Coalition

People need to be convinced that they need the proposed change. This requires powerful leadership and evident support from the top management in the organization. Change should not just be managed but sustained. A coalition is therefore important to persuade the employees who have different sources of power like political significance, status, and skills.

When the coalition is organized, it should move together as a team and continue to develop the urgency and force surrounding the need for change (Humpreys & Langford, 2008). For a coalition to be formed; the leaders need to be identified and emotional support sought from them. Team building also has to be reinforced in the coalition. Weak areas in the team need to be discovered and filled. The team should also have various employees from different sections and levels of the organization.

Develop a vision for change

Before a vision is developed the organization needs to know its current state and what it intends to achieve from the change. When a vision is clear, employees get to understand the importance of change and why they should embrace it. When employees get the picture of what the change will do for them and for the organization, they will see the reason for change and accept it.

The most important values need to be sought first followed by a statement of the expectations of the change in future. The vision should be executed by creating a strategy that can execute it. The coalition formed should understand the vision and practice it most of the time (Mathews, 2009).

Communicating the vision

Conveying the vision after its formation is very important. The vision needs to be communicated regularly and powerfully to make it more effective. It should also be inclined with everything that happens in the organization. The vision should not just be communicated in meetings but all the time. It should also be employed in the handling of issues in the organization and making of decisions. It should be top of the mind in every employee’s mind and demonstrated by the leaders (Isaksen, 2007).

Do away with obstacles

The above steps done, it is assumed that the employees will concentrate on the changes. Although all this is taking place, the management should ensure that there are no barriers disrupting the process of change. Doing away with obstacles can help in empowering of employees implement the vision and assist the process of change forge ahead.

Types of change

There are three types of change that are interrelated. These are guided, planned, and directed change. Directed change is propelled from top management and depends on authority, conformity, and persuasion. Leaders develop and state the change and try to convince the employees to embrace it, according to the importance of the business, emotional pleas, and logical reasons. Directed change exposes a quick, important approach to initiating change in an institution.

Planned change, which is very common, originates from any point in the organization although it is supported by the top. Leaders of change and initiators look for involvement in and loyalty to change by employing the use of particular actions, categorized through experience and investigations, which moderate the normal opposition and productivity damages linked with directed change (Coghlan, 1994).

Rather than developing and proclaiming a change, planned change gives an approach to the process of change. It tries make people participate in the process of change, recognizing, and supporting major stakeholders to take part in the outline and execution of the change.

Guided change is a completely different type of change. It originates at any level in the organization. It is founded on the loyalty of the employees and their input to the objective of the organization. In the competitive environment of today, this is the best method as it maximizes the skills and creativity of employees, as natural changes surface and develop, reorganizing current models and practices, and analyzing new concepts and perspectives (Paton, Beranek & Smith, 2008).

Guided change is a process of interaction of previous understanding and design, execution, and improvisation, gaining knowledge from the sharing the knowledge with others, bringing about constant re-interpretation and restoration of change as required. This learning contributes to constant enhancement of existing efforts of change and the capacity to produce new changes and resolutions. Each of the above types of changes has their positive and negative effects.

When directed change is not properly utilized, employees are forced to adjust to the reactions of the receivers to whom the change is imparted. These reactions include anger, loss, denial, bargaining, and sadness. Likewise, even as planned change develops a significant potential in the organizations of today when not well used it can lead to major drops in productivity, overcome the employees with its density, and isolate major stakeholders as a consequence of partial participation and good impact in the process.

Planned change has a similar shortcoming when there is no flexibility in the conditions of change. Efforts of planned change many a times restrain the capability of the company to reach its set goals.

To add on that the trouble for commencing and maintaining the change is still put directly on the management, from recognizing the importance of change and developing an image of aspired results to determining which changes are finally feasible (Petrescu, 2011). Guided change if not well employed can play a part in organizational problems, as constant changes and evolutions complicate and frustrate instead of enlightening employees and other major stakeholders.

Driving Forces of change and resistors to change

For change to occur, the driving forces should be more powerful than the preventive forces. A number of employees resist about any type of change. The leaders and managers should be able to handle the opposers of change and pay attention to their fears and remarks. When the opposers realize that their concerns are listened to, they will also give in to other opinions. In some situations, however, resistors of change need to be done away with regardless of their opinions.

Leadership role is very important in the execution of a major change. The leader is required to have a plan that focuses on the launching event, training, and orientation, monitoring, reward, progress report, and institutionalization. The launching event is very important as it gives the leader a chance to state the change with reasons for, and how the employees will gain from it.

The leader is also required to state the major challenges that will come with the change and explain the execution program. This event is supposed to be exciting and inspiring. This can be done by issuing of t-shirts, and souvenirs connected to the change program (Lewis, Schmisseur, Stephens & Weir, 2006).

Change needs employees to act in new ways. It is good to give employees the training and skills that they require for the change. A needs assessment is therefore important to know exactly what is missing and what is needed. Acquiring the correct training program is the next step (Laurie et al 2006). At this point, just-in-time training is advisable.

Monitoring and measuring of the change is important. The results of the change need to measured to know just how good or bad the change is. The leader is mandated to monitor the whole practice and keep the employees up to date with the progress. Execution of any big change needs course rectifications and adjustments.

Rewarding and recognizing the efforts made by the management, and the employees is very important (Maurer, 2011). It builds momentum and motivates people to continue working and embrace the change the more.

Progress reports keep people updated with the process of change. This should be done via the organization newsletters, memos, meetings, videos, and e-mails. The leader should hold meetings regularly with the management to state pressing matters.

Institutionalization needs the absorption of change into the strategies, job descriptions, and the organization’s practices. The company infrastructure should be able to sustain the new changes for the change to be permanent. Revising the manuals and procedures to incorporate the change makes it more permanent (Isasken, 2007).

Implementing an organizational change is not an easy task. The leadership role at this point is very crucial, and the leader must understand the functions and responsibilities of the project manager and employees and his own role in implementing the change.

Cost of change

When a change is very costly, the chances of executing it are very slim. Cheap changes are easily implemented that major changes. Change involves training. Education is not cheap, especially for the entire organization as they may need a week’s training or training until change has been fully executed. Labor changes are also very expensive. Conducting of interviews and employment of new staff is also very costly (Tushman, Reilly & Charles, 1996).

Resistance to change

There are numerous ways in which resistance to change can be conquered. Education and communication assists in realizing the need for change. This can be done by presentations, discussions, reports or journals. For this to work there has to be trust between the leaders and the employees. Employees have to trust their leaders in order to listen to them and follow their orders.

Participation and involvement entails the whole organization. When employees take part in the process of change there is a very small chance that they will resist it. Participation makes the employees committed to the change and enhances the reason for change.

Facilitation and support from the leaders is very important when implementing change. This includes being open-minded, letting the employees share their views, and using their ideas (Kereber & Buono, 2005). They should ensure that the work environment is accommodative and pleasant for workers. Training where necessary is recommended.

Negotiation and appreciation requires the leaders to offset resistance by giving incentives to the employees who cooperate. This may include increasing of salaries and giving of bonuses.

Manipulation takes place when the leaders are choosy on the employees who get news, how much news they give, the accuracy of the news, and when to circulate the news to improve the possibility that the change will be triumphant. Cooptation entails a major role in the process of change (Humpreys & Langford, 2008). The advice of leaders is required to get their support. Manipulation and cooptation ways are not costly, and they manipulate probable resistors of change to embrace change. However, these methods can fail if the employees get to know that they are being deceived, thus destroying the reliability of the leaders.

Benchmarking entails setting up measures of performance by use of relative data on major operations of the organization from competitor organizations in the industry. Management can push organizational change by employing insights obtained from benchmarking on the practices of the industry and the perceptions of customers (Michelman, 2007).

Before going into benchmarking, it is important to ascertain the target customers who describe their particular needs. It also helps in widening the potential industries and customers lying within the benchmarking scope of the company. Classify the drivers of business present for each product and service given by the organization. These can be the major drivers of business capable of managing costs of operation. Statistics about the competitor companies should also be accessed.

This can be derived from government sources, publications or the Internet. The organization’s performance should be compared with that of the selected company. The operation should be on internal, financial, and production matters as compared to the benchmark position of the organization.

The benchmark research should be used to initiate change. The benchmark research assists the leaders in implementing organizational change as it gives explanation for change. On the other hand, business intelligence derived through benchmark research can force internal changes and help organizations in responsibility of its destiny (Tushman, Reilly & Charles, 1996).

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Organizational Change Management Essay

Managing organizational change.

Change is an ever-present feature that has become a constant in organizational life. This is because change is inevitable for companies that wish to stay competitive and profitable in a shifting environment. However, in employees, organizational change often induces fear and resistance which can have serious damaging organizational consequences. Therefore, it is important to discuss all the ways of how changing work conditions can impact workers and develop coping strategies.

Reactions to organizational change vary from resistance to compliance and the enthusiastic support of the change, though the latter is rather an exception. There are two types of resistance distinguished, active, and passive (Palmer, Dunford, & Buchanan, 2017). Employees engaged in active resistance may sabotage the change efforts, start rumors, undermine the work process, arguing the need for change, and being overly critical about it.

In turn, employees who resist passively seem to agree in person but do not follow what they are told to do. These workers may procrastinate, feign ignorance, and do nothing allowing change to fail. Such passive resistors dislike the change quietly and can even seek a new job without expressing their concerns about the change. Another way of how workers can be impacted by changing work conditions is to become apathetic. In such a case, employees do not resist change but also do not support it; they just serve their time.

However, some workers may show grudging or formal compliance, which means that they do not fully embrace the change but do enough of what is asked of them. Workers who show genuine compliance not only do what they are asked to but also understand the benefits of the change. Employees who show enrollment devote their time and energy to the change implementation and are enthusiastic about it.

Special attention should be paid to individual reactions which have to be considered by change management when implementing change. For some people, the organizational change can appear to be rather traumatic, and they need to go through several stages before accepting it. These stages are denial (a person does not perceive new information), resistance (a person actively or passively resists as the stress increases), and exploration (a person reflects on the benefits of the change). The last stage is a commitment when an individual fully embraces change. However, it should be mentioned that while some employees can go through all these stages, others may become stuck at a certain one.

A suitable plan of action is a key thing in managing change. Change implementation and management is an ongoing process that takes not only time but also the dedication and a high level of expertise. Choosing a change management approach is an important step in successful change implementation. The most widely used models are the DICE model, the ADKAR change model, and the model offered by McKinsey.

The DICE model is used to determine whether a change program will succeed or fail by identifying four factors, which are “duration, integrity, commitment, and effort” (Palmer et al., 2017, p. 321). If the duration is short with frequent reviews, duration scores highly. If an organization has a skillful leader and employees are enthusiastic, integrity and commitment score highly. The factor of effort considers the actual effort the staff needs to exert apart from the current workload. The evaluation results are divided into different categories, which are win zone, worry zone, and woe zone, depending on potential risks (Palmer et al., 2017). The DICE framework allows a change manager to create a plan of action based on identified weaknesses.

The ADKAR model is based on five components, which are awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement (Palmer et al., 2017). This framework is a diagnostic and planning change management tool that can be used for several purposes, in particular, to identify why change is difficult and develop communication strategies. This model pays specific attention to individual perceptions of employees whose enthusiasm and support are key to successful organizational change.

The McKinsey checklist includes several tactics that contribute to the success of the change. These tactics are goals, structures, involvement, and leadership, which allows for saying that the model is concentrated mainly on organizational, management, and leadership properties. By evaluating each of the tactics, a change manager can identify weaknesses of the change and gain insight into what should be improved. The checklist highlights that a successful change is possible only when these four powerful components are combined.

However, all three models are only theoretical guidelines that determine factors that should be addressed rather than explaining how. Organizations must always improve their performance to get a competitive advantage and produce greater profits (Anderson, 2017). An indispensable part of all the above-discussed models is the establishment of the need for change with further communication of this need to all the staff. Clear and timely identification of the need for change contributes to the successful process of transformation.

As a system, an organization depends on several factors that influence its functioning. These factors can be both internal and external and act as reasons for the organizational change. Among external factors, there are geopolitics, hyper-competition, reputation, mandate, demography, and fashion (Palmer et al., 2017). Fashion means following trends in organizational change with a low perspective of achieving benefit. Demographic changes are related to the aging of the workforce and the change in its composition. Geopolitical driving forces are associated with the intensification of global business relationships, technological innovations, and international trade.

Among internal organizational drivers, there is growth, new chief executive, integration and coordination, power and politics, and corporate identity (Palmer et al., 2017). Growth generates problems of a required increase in scope and complexity. Integration and coordination are common problems for larger organizations requiring better communication between different departments. A new chief executive can set a new direction and bring new ideas. Corporate identity provides for a shared goal, which is a valuable asset for any kind of organization. Power and politics drive organizational change and depend on the interests of stakeholders.

A comprehensive leadership model should include the following steps:

• Identification of the need for change based on both internal and external driving factors.
• A clear understanding of the type of driving factors and pressures that trigger organizational change.
• The rationale for what a leader wants to achieve as the result of the change.
• A clear view of the expected effects of a leader’s actions.
• Choosing an appropriate strategy for promoting change.

Depending on the type of change, in particular, the type of pressures driving it, there are different images of a leader. A leader has to act as a director if the change is a result of strategic pressure or low internal efficiency (Anderson, 2017). A leader has to act as a navigator if there are strategic threats. A leader has to act as a caretaker if there is a great number of pressures to an organization that cannot be managed at a time. In such a case, a leader has to care for an organization while it is subject to threats. A leader has to act as a coach if there is a need for coordinated teamwork aimed towards a common purpose. A leader has to act as an interpreter when an organization faces many internal and external pressures and they have to be communicated to the staff.

Any organizational change must be aligned with a clear vision and business idea. In such a case, it will be easier for a change manager to ensure that all the subsequent activities and interventions are coordinated and consistent. Visions help the personnel identify with an organization by motivating people to achieve corporate and personal goals. Whether vision describes a future scenario, the mission is focused on what a company is and what it does (Palmer et al., 2017). Therefore, before reporting a change initiative, it is crucial to do a “revisioning” exercise to determine how well an organization follows its vision and mission.

The plan of an organization’s change initiative thus includes the following components:

• Setting the direction (analyzing mission, vision, and strategy).
• Establishing a sense of urgency. This step involves the examination of market conditions and competitive realities with the identification of weaknesses and possibilities for improvement.
• Applying the opportunities to the vision and mission identified. Developing strategies to achieve that vision by an organization’s resources and capacities.
• Forming a powerful team. The members of the team should have the power and dedication to lead the change among employees.
• Communicating the vision and mission to employees.
• Empowering others to act on the vision. Identifying obstacles to acting on the vision and changing organizational structures that undermine the vision.
• Aiming to achieve short-term wins and motivating employees with monetary rewards.
• Consolidating gains. This step involves the change of policies and structures that do not correspond to the vision of an organization as well as choosing appropriate employees who can implement the vision.
• Shaping the corporate culture following the new vision and mission. Institutionalizing new approaches and linking the behaviors with corporate success.

Speaking of the cultural implications of the proposed plan, it should be mentioned that it includes reshaping corporate culture by the defined vision and mission of an organization. This may entail changes in both the social and cultural values of employees which should be promoted by leaders. If employees lack cultural identity, another component should be added to a plan of organizational change, which is a cultural change program. It should be established to enhance the commitment of staff, improve customer service, and strengthen the identity of an organization.

The selected organization is GE Capital, which is the financial services unit of General Electric. The causes of the organizational change are the following ones: slow decision making, lack of competitive advantage and, as a result, lower than expected profitability of the business, and, finally, lack of internal processes coordination. All the causes should be addressed by planning and implementing a deep organizational change.

The suggested change management model that can be used for summarizing a plan of action is the 7-S framework which considers that successful change depends on several factors (Palmer et al., 2017). They are the structure, strategy, systems, style, staff, skills, and subordinate goals.

In terms of the 7-S framework, the following components of organizational change should be addressed. Speaking of strategy, the product range should be expanded by acquisition. Speaking of structure, there is a need to provide decentralized decision making to give the departments more freedom as well as responsibility for the production processes (Palmer et al., 2017). Speaking of systems, a system of monetary rewards should be established to motivate employees to achieve short-term wins concerning change and thus orient them towards strategic objectives. Speaking of style, a new clear vision has to be created by a change strategy. This vision has to be delivered to employees to promote a performance-oriented focus.

Speaking of staff, the commitment of the personnel should be built to ensure that customers get only the highest-quality services and products. Communication strategies should be elaborated to educate the staff about the importance of quality and efficiency in building the company’s reputation (Palmer et al., 2017). Speaking of skills, special attention should be paid to the training and development of human resources, which is a direct responsibility of the human resources department.

Organization Change Management Essay Conclusion

In some cases, the senior management of the organization should consider hiring specific HR managers to address this component of the 7-S framework. Speaking of subordinate goals, the approach is vision-driven, which means that the organization’s vision has to be regularly communicated to the staff. The expected outcome of the implementation of the given change management model is an increase in profits, a faster decision-making process, improvement of internal processes, and boosted employee morale.

Anderson, D. L. (2017). Organization development: The process of leading organizational change (4th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

Palmer, I., Dunford, R., & Buchanan, D. A. (2017). Managing organizational change: A multiple perspectives approach (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill Education.

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Change Management: From Theory to Practice

• Original Paper
• Published: 09 September 2022
• Volume 67 , pages 189–197, ( 2023 )

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• Jeffrey Phillips   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0708-6460 1 &
• James D. Klein 2  

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This article presents a set of change management strategies found across several models and frameworks and identifies how frequently change management practitioners implement these strategies in practice. We searched the literature to identify 15 common strategies found in 16 different change management models and frameworks. We also created a questionnaire based on the literature and distributed it to change management practitioners. Findings suggest that strategies related to communication, stakeholder involvement, encouragement, organizational culture, vision, and mission should be used when implementing organizational change.

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Organizations must change to survive. There are many approaches to influence change; these differences require change managers to consider various strategies that increase acceptance and reduce barriers. A change manager is responsible for planning, developing, leading, evaluating, assessing, supporting, and sustaining a change implementation. Change management consists of models and strategies to help employees accept new organizational developments.

Change management practitioners and academic researchers view organizational change differently (Hughes, 2007 ; Pollack & Pollack, 2015 ). Saka ( 2003 ) states, “there is a gap between what the rational-linear change management approach prescribes and what change agents do” (p. 483). This disconnect may make it difficult to determine the suitability and appropriateness of using different techniques to promote change (Pollack & Pollack, 2015 ). Hughes ( 2007 ) thinks that practitioners and academics may have trouble communicating because they use different terms. Whereas academics use the terms, models, theories, and concepts, practitioners use tools and techniques. A tool is a stand-alone application, and a technique is an integrated approach (Dale & McQuater, 1998 ). Hughes ( 2007 ) expresses that classifying change management tools and techniques can help academics identify what practitioners do in the field and evaluate the effectiveness of practitioners’ implementations.

There is little empirical evidence that supports a preferred change management model (Hallencreutz & Turner, 2011 ). However, there are many similar strategies found across change management models (Raineri, 2011 ). Bamford and Forrester’s ( 2003 ) case study showed that “[change] managers in a company generally ignored the popular change literature” (p. 560). The authors followed Pettigrew’s ( 1987 ) suggestions that change managers should not use abstract theories; instead, they should relate change theories to the context of the change. Neves’ ( 2009 ) exploratory factor analysis of employees experiencing the implementation of a new performance appraisal system at a public university suggested that (a) change appropriateness (if the employee felt the change was beneficial to the organization) was positively related with affective commitment (how much the employee liked their job), and (b) affective commitment mediated the relationship between change appropriateness and individual change (how much the employee shifted to the new system). It is unlikely that there is a universal change management approach that works in all settings (Saka, 2003 ). Because change is chaotic, one specific model or framework may not be useful in multiple contexts (Buchanan & Boddy, 1992 ; Pettigrew & Whipp, 1991 ). This requires change managers to consider various approaches for different implementations (Pettigrew, 1987 ). Change managers may face uncertainties that cannot be addressed by a planned sequence of steps (Carnall, 2007 ; Pettigrew & Whipp, 1991 ). Different stakeholders within an organization may complete steps at different times (Pollack & Pollack, 2015 ). Although there may not be one perspective change management approach, many models and frameworks consist of similar change management strategies.

Anderson and Ackerman Anderson ( 2001 ) discuss the differences between change frameworks and change process models. They state that a change framework identifies topics that are relevant to the change and explains the procedures that organizations should acknowledge during the change. However, the framework does not provide details about how to accomplish the steps of the change or the sequence in which the change manager should perform the steps. Additionally, Anderson and Ackerman Anderson ( 2001 ) explain that change process models describe what actions are necessary to accomplish the change and the order in which to facilitate the actions. Whereas frameworks may identify variables or theories required to promote change, models focus on the specific processes that lead to change. Based on the literature, we define a change strategy as a process or action from a model or framework. Multiple models and frameworks contain similar strategies. Change managers use models and frameworks contextually; some change management strategies may be used across numerous models and frameworks.

The purpose of this article is to present a common set of change management strategies found across numerous models and frameworks and identify how frequently change management practitioners implement these common strategies in practice. We also compare current practice with models and frameworks from the literature. Some change management models and frameworks have been around for decades and others are more recent. This comparison may assist practitioners and theorists to consider different strategies that fall outside a specific model.

Common Strategies in the Change Management Literature

We examined highly-cited publications ( n  > 1000 citations) from the last 20 years, business websites, and university websites to select organizational change management models and frameworks. First, we searched two indexes—Google Scholar and Web of Science’s Social Science Citation Index. We used the following keywords in both indexes: “change management” OR “organizational change” OR “organizational development” AND (models or frameworks). Additionally, we used the same search terms in a Google search to identify models mentioned on university and business websites. This helped us identify change management models that had less presence in popular research. We only included models and frameworks from our search results that were mentioned on multiple websites. We reached saturation when multiple publications stopped identifying new models and frameworks.

After we identified the models and frameworks, we analyzed the original publications by the authors to identify observable strategies included in the models and frameworks. We coded the strategies by comparing new strategies with our previously coded strategies, and we combined similar strategies or created a new strategy. Our list of strategies was not exhaustive, but we included the most common strategies found in the publications. Finally, we omitted publications that did not provide details about the change management strategies. Although many of these publications were highly cited and identified change implementation processes or phases, the authors did not identify a specific strategy.

Table 1 shows the 16 models and frameworks that we analyzed and the 15 common strategies that we identified from this analysis. Ackerman-Anderson and Anderson ( 2001 ) believe that it is important for process models to consider organizational imperatives as well as human dynamics and needs. Therefore, the list of strategies considers organizational imperatives such as create a vision for the change that aligns with the organization’s mission and strategies regarding human dynamics and needs such as listen to employees’ concerns about the change. We have presented the strategies in order of how frequently the strategies appear in the models and frameworks. Table 1 only includes strategies found in at least six of the models or frameworks.

Strategies Used by Change Managers

We developed an online questionnaire to determine how frequently change managers used the strategies identified in our review of the literature. The Qualtrics-hosted survey consisted of 28 questions including sliding-scale, multiple-choice, and Likert-type items. Demographic questions focused on (a) how long the participant had been involved in the practice of change management, (b) how many change projects the participant had led, (c) the types of industries in which the participant led change implementations, (d) what percentage of job responsibilities involved working as a change manager and a project manager, and (e) where the participant learned to conduct change management. Twenty-one Likert-type items asked how often the participant used the strategies identified by our review of common change management models and frameworks. Participants could select never, sometimes, most of the time, and always. The Cronbach’s Alpha of the Likert-scale questions was 0.86.

The procedures for the questionnaire followed the steps suggested by Gall et al. ( 2003 ). The first steps were to define the research objectives, select the sample, and design the questionnaire format. The fourth step was to pretest the questionnaire. We conducted cognitive laboratory interviews by sending the questionnaire and interview questions to one person who was in the field of change management, one person who was in the field of performance improvement, and one person who was in the field of survey development (Fowler, 2014 ). We met with the reviewers through Zoom to evaluate the questionnaire by asking them to read the directions and each item for clarity. Then, reviewers were directed to point out mistakes or areas of confusion. Having multiple people review the survey instruments improved the reliability of the responses (Fowler, 2014 ).

We used purposeful sampling to distribute the online questionnaire throughout the following organizations: the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Change Management Institute (CMI), and the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). We also launched a call for participation to department chairs of United States universities who had Instructional Systems Design graduate programs with a focus on Performance Improvement. We used snowball sampling to gain participants by requesting that the department chairs forward the questionnaire to practitioners who had led at least one organizational change.

Table 2 provides a summary of the characteristics of the 49 participants who completed the questionnaire. Most had over ten years of experience practicing change management ( n  = 37) and had completed over ten change projects ( n  = 32). The participants learned how to conduct change management on-the-job ( n  = 47), through books ( n  = 31), through academic journal articles ( n  = 22), and from college or university courses ( n  = 20). The participants had worked in 13 different industries.

Table 3 shows how frequently participants indicated that they used the change management strategies included on the questionnaire. Forty or more participants said they used the following strategies most often or always: (1) Asked members of senior leadership to support the change; (2) Listened to managers’ concerns about the change; (3) Aligned an intended change with an organization’s mission; (4) Listened to employees’ concerns about the change; (5) Aligned an intended change with an organization’s vision; (6) Created measurable short-term goals; (7) Asked managers for feedback to improve the change, and (8) Focused on organizational culture.

Table 4 identifies how frequently the strategies appeared in the models and frameworks and the rate at which practitioners indicated they used the strategies most often or always. The strategies found in the top 25% of both ( n  > 36 for practitioner use and n  > 11 in models and frameworks) focused on communication, including senior leadership and the employees in change decisions, aligning the change with the vision and mission of the organization, and focusing on organizational culture. Practitioners used several strategies more commonly than the literature suggested, especially concerning the topic of middle management. Practitioners focused on listening to middle managers’ concerns about the change, asking managers for feedback to improve the change, and ensuring that managers were trained to promote the change. Meanwhile, practitioners did not engage in the following strategies as often as the models and frameworks suggested that they should: provide all members of the organization with clear communication about the change, distinguish the differences between leadership and management, reward new behavior, and include employees in change decisions.

Common Strategies Used by Practitioners and Found in the Literature

The purpose of this article was to present a common set of change management strategies found across numerous models and frameworks and to identify how frequently change management practitioners implement these common strategies in practice. The five common change management strategies were the following: communicate about the change, involve stakeholders at all levels of the organization, focus on organizational culture, consider the organization’s mission and vision, and provide encouragement and incentives to change. Below we discuss our findings with an eye toward presenting a few key recommendations for change management.

Communicate About the Change

Communication is an umbrella term that can include messaging, networking, and negotiating (Buchanan & Boddy, 1992 ). Our findings revealed that communication is essential for change management. All the models and frameworks we examined suggested that change managers should provide members of the organization with clear communication about the change. It is interesting that approximately 33% of questionnaire respondents indicated that they sometimes, rather than always or most of the time, notified all members of the organization about the change. This may be the result of change managers communicating through organizational leaders. Instead of communicating directly with everyone in the organization, some participants may have used senior leadership, middle management, or subgroups to communicate the change. Messages sent to employees from leaders can effectively promote change. Regardless of who is responsible for communication, someone in the organization should explain why the change is happening (Connor et al., 2003 ; Doyle & Brady, 2018 ; Hiatt, 2006 ; Kotter, 2012 ) and provide clear communication throughout the entire change implementation (McKinsey & Company, 2008 ; Mento et al., 2002 ).

Involve Stakeholders at All Levels of the Organization

Our results indicate that change managers should involve senior leaders, managers, as well as employees during a change initiative. The items on the questionnaire were based on a review of common change management models and frameworks and many related to some form of stakeholder involvement. Of these strategies, over half were used often by 50% or more respondents. They focused on actions like gaining support from leaders, listening to and getting feedback from managers and employees, and adjusting strategies based on stakeholder input.

Whereas the models and frameworks often identified strategies regarding senior leadership and employees, it is interesting that questionnaire respondents indicated that they often implemented strategies involving middle management in a change implementation. This aligns with Bamford and Forrester’s ( 2003 ) research describing how middle managers are important communicators of change and provide an organization with the direction for the change. However, the participants did not develop managers into leaders as often as the literature proposed. Burnes and By ( 2012 ) expressed that leadership is essential to promote change and mention how the change management field has failed to focus on leadership as much as it should.

Focus on Organizational Culture

All but one of the models and frameworks we analyzed indicated that change managers should focus on changing the culture of an organization and more than 75% of questionnaire respondents revealed that they implemented this strategy always or most of the time. Organizational culture affects the acceptance of change. Changing the organizational culture can prevent employees from returning to the previous status quo (Bullock & Batten, 1985 ; Kotter, 2012 ; Mento et al., 2002 ). Some authors have different views on how to change an organization’s culture. For example, Burnes ( 2000 ) thinks that change managers should focus on employees who were resistant to the change while Hiatt ( 2006 ) suggests that change managers should replicate what strategies they used in the past to change the culture. Change managers require open support and commitment from managers to lead a culture change (Phillips, 2021 ).

In addition, Pless and Maak ( 2004 ) describe the importance of creating a culture of inclusion where diverse viewpoints help an organization reach its organizational objectives. Yet less than half of the participants indicated that they often focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Change managers should consider diverse viewpoints when implementing change, especially for organizations whose vision promotes a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Consider the Organization’s Mission and Vision

Several of the models and frameworks we examined mentioned that change managers should consider the mission and vision of the organization (Cummings & Worley, 1993 ; Hiatt, 2006 ; Kotter, 2012 ; Polk, 2011 ). Furthermore, aligning the change with the organization’s mission and vision were among the strategies most often implemented by participants. This was the second most common strategy both used by participants and found in the models and frameworks. A mission of an organization may include its beliefs, values, priorities, strengths, and desired public image (Cummings & Worley, 1993 ). Leaders are expected to adhere to a company’s values and mission (Strebel, 1996 ).

Provide Encouragement and Incentives to Change

Most of the change management models and frameworks suggested that organizations should reward new behavior, yet most respondents said they did not provide incentives to change. About 75% of participants did indicate that they frequently gave encouragement to employees about the change. The questionnaire may have confused participants by suggesting that they provide incentives before the change occurs. Additionally, respondents may have associated incentives with monetary compensation. Employee training can be considered an incentive, and many participants confirmed that they provided employees and managers with training. More information is needed to determine why the participants did not provide incentives and what the participants defined as rewards.

Future Conversations Between Practitioners and Researchers

Table 4 identified five strategies that practitioners used more often than the models and frameworks suggested and four strategies that were suggested more often by the models and frameworks than used by practitioners. One strategy that showed the largest difference was provided employees with incentives to implement the change. Although 81% of the selected models and frameworks suggested that practitioners should provide employees with incentives, only 25% of the practitioners identified that they provided incentives always and most of the time. Conversations between theorists and practitioners could determine if these differences occur because each group uses different terms (Hughes, 2007 ) or if practitioners just implement change differently than theorists suggest (Saka, 2003 ).

Additionally, conversations between theorists and practitioners may help promote improvements in the field of change management. For example, practitioners were split on how often they promoted DEI, and the selected models and frameworks did not focus on DEI in change implementations. Conversations between the two groups would help theorists understand what practitioners are doing to advance the field of change management. These conversations may encourage theorists to modify their models and frameworks to include modern approaches to change.

Limitations

The models and frameworks included in this systematic review were found through academic research and websites on the topic of change management. We did not include strategies contained on websites from change management organizations. Therefore, the identified strategies could skew towards approaches favored by theorists instead of practitioners. Additionally, we used specific publications to identify the strategies found in the models and frameworks. Any amendments to the cited models or frameworks found in future publications could not be included in this research.

We distributed this questionnaire in August 2020. Several participants mentioned that they were not currently conducting change management implementations because of global lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because it can take years to complete a change management implementation (Phillips, 2021 ), this research does not describe how COVID-19 altered the strategies used by the participants. Furthermore, participants were not provided with definitions of the strategies. Their interpretations of the strategies may differ from the definitions found in the academic literature.

Future Research

Future research should expand upon what strategies the practitioners use to determine (a) how the practitioners use the strategies, and (b) the reasons why practitioners use certain strategies. Participants identified several strategies that they did not use as often as the literature suggested (e.g., provide employees with incentives and adjust the change implementation because of reactions from employees). Future research should investigate why practitioners are not implementing these strategies often.

Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic may have changed how practitioners implemented change management strategies. Future research should investigate if practitioners have added new strategies or changed the frequency in which they identified using the strategies found in this research.

Our aim was to identify a common set of change management strategies found across several models and frameworks and to identify how frequently change management practitioners implement these strategies in practice. While our findings relate to specific models, frameworks, and strategies, we caution readers to consider the environment and situation where the change will occur. Therefore, strategies should not be selected for implementation based on their inclusion in highly cited models and frameworks. Our study identified strategies found in the literature and used by change managers, but it does not predict that specific strategies are more likely to promote a successful organizational change. Although we have presented several strategies, we do not suggest combining these strategies to create a new framework. Instead, these strategies should be used to promote conversation between practitioners and theorists. Additionally, we do not suggest that one model or framework is superior to others because it contains more strategies currently used by practitioners. Evaluating the effectiveness of a model or framework by how many common strategies it contains gives an advantage to models and frameworks that contain the most strategies. Instead, this research identifies what practitioners are doing in the field to steer change management literature towards the strategies that are most used to promote change.

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Phillips, J., Klein, J.D. Change Management: From Theory to Practice. TechTrends 67 , 189–197 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-022-00775-0

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Essay: Organisational change

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Introduction: In modern era economy, organisational change is necessary in order to cope and to remain exist in the business, it happens continuously due to rapid change in business environment either internal or external. It is considered very important for an organisation perspective in terms of success, for better customer satisfaction and creating new competitive advantages, eliminating those activities which does add value to organisation operation. Change is not always easy and people organisation may resist if their voice suppressed and as a result a resistance is created. Body: Change, Resistance and importance Change in any organisation occurs either internally when an organisation changes it vision and mission from present state to desired one or externally when it is facing issues related to PESTEL (Political, Economical, Social, Technology, Ecological and Legal) in order to cope with change in the way organisation do business (Fiona GRAETZ, 2011). A change can also occur when business organisation is facing downsizing, rapid or unexpected growth or when an organisation is in growing phase (tolerosolutions.com, 2012). It is a basic conception and usual perception that there will be resistance to change despite a positive outcomes from people within business organisation as it will directly effects them, they will try to oppose or resist the change and it will impact an organisation in attaining those desired vision and mission objectives. There can be many reasons for the resistance of change as given below: ‘ Organisational Politics Where personal agenda and self interest are given priority rather than organisational long term increase in shareholder wealth, also people playing for retaining and gaining power within organisation (Businessdictionary, N.P). ‘ Inappropriate Use of Power Where employee having some power trying to manipulate minds about the pros and cons of change and create artificial forceful resistance or unwanted resistance within organisation to remain with the power they have. ‘ Lack of Understanding of change Nathaniel Branden said “The first toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance”. Employees want justification over the change (Berube, 2014), and this is one of main reason for the resistance that they are unaware of area of change and their benefits and that is the reason they are prone to manipulation. ‘ Fear Fear that there will be redundancies, fear that their routine will be change, fear that there will be change in reporting hierarchy, fear that change will not go successful. ‘ Management failure Management failure to provide reasonable information for a change like why change is necessary, discussion for change so that employee feel that their voices will be heard, also by providing or involving employees in change might lead management of change to win their trust, confidence and support for change (Riley, 2012). ‘ Other include organisational culture impact, lack of cooperation…. If management of change fail to properly manage change, it might result in huge loss like loss of human capital which may lead in loss competitive advantage, loss of financial and resources or may even in worst cases lead to bankruptcy. For an effective and successful change management, management of change need to plan strategically to manage and reduces those forces of resistance and increase forces in favour for change . Sometimes resistance to change can play crucial positive role in the effective change by taking resistants opinion and advice on change. It is considered as one of the pre-requisite of any successful change (Fiona GRAETZ, 2011). Power and Resistance In any organisation, power is considered as ability of an employee to make things done from other employee(s) and that they will have to do without any resistance or objection (Fiona GRAETZ, 2011). Employee having power can use influence, pressure or manipulate situation to get things done but exerting pressuring may lead to resistance. In other words resistance is overcome by the use of power. For a change to be successful and complete the desired changes, there has to be someone in an organisation who has power to do so, who has power to manage everything, has ability to lead from the front. In all what power does the change leader have to impose change? Power can be seen from social theory and organisational theory perspective. In social perspective Karl marx viewed power as intentional misuse of power and continuous use of exploitation to employees of an organisation who are powerless in capitalist system and it provide unequal power distribution which is opening doors for resistance to those who are powerless, which further Max Weber acknowledges. In organisational theory, power is used to beat powerless employees and he also provided the relationship between power and resistance that resistance could be overcome through use of hard, direct and confrontational intervention (Fiona GRAETZ, 2011). Employees resistance can help organisations to generate good ideas for change and prevention of bad ideas, it will make senior management to stop and think for better (Berube, 2014). But use of hard, direct and confrontational intervention the explicit use power should last option, and it is not a desirable way to overcome resistance, however it depend on the circumstances like when co is facing any bankruptcy than it may be the best and suitable option to use explicit power them realise that why change it necessity for organisation. But use of power over changes in PESTEL can be dangerous for organisation and there will be chances that best people (best in the business) can leave organisation (opentuition.com, N.P, pp. 71 – 74). Ethics of Managerial and Resistance positions Every organisation has clear constitution and policies about how organisation wants its employees to behave. As a manager and in the top management it is their responsibility to make sure that these codes of conduct, policies and constitution followed by every employee within organisation. As every situation cannot be part of constitution and policies than ethics play vital role in organisation, which is based on moral principles (basic thinking of what is right and wrong). Managers and employees are encouraged to follow their personal values as well as values of an organisation but use of power and politics for decision for personal benefit is considered unethical approach (Jr., 2014) Every employee in organisation have right to stand for his/her rights and it is management ethical responsibility to hear those voices and try to reach at a conclusion, management’s manipulating minds of resistant position and obtaining commitment and participation is unethical. Therefore it is management’s responsibility to identify resistance position (all related parties in the change process) and its root cause to ensure that no unethical decision is imposed or taken, respect their position of resistants, hear their voices and make sure that they are given free hand to bring whatever they feel for change. Management and resistance position should try to avoid dirty politics which may lead to unethical decision for other party, management make sure that they provide such environment which create openness and honest commitment and participation from resistant and they can trust each other. It is possible to make deals with other parties as being in charge of managing change management should ensure that deal does not affect other parties position (Jr., 2014). Change management should target in a way that they bring change that is effective and ethical, therefore management should create an environment where the process of change should provide fair treatment to all stakeholder and resistance position, respect each other’s values, behaviour and ideas and resistance (Jr., 2014). Effective Change Management Managing change will be more successful if management and resistant act in the best interest of organisation as whole (rather prevailing their own interest) and respecting each other’s ethical position. Change can be effective in both parties eyes if it is realistic, achievable and measurable and comes through proper planning and sensitive implementation, this can only be achieved with the consultation and involvement of employees who are being affected by it (businessballs.com, N.P). Initial big task for management is to identify all the resistance position and its root cause, once management of organisation find reasons for resistance than management should try to reduce those forces of resistance and increase forces in favour for resistance. This can be achieved in various ways as given below: ‘ Through communication, one of the major reason for resistance is that employee don’t know anything about change as a result their fear grows and they resist change. It is therefore managements responsibility to communicate, that why change is being necessary for their organisation and their impacts on employee and also impacts on business if they don’t change the organisation the way it is now. ‘ Through participation, in this management needs to explain those reasons for the change and its importance and then collect suggestion and ideas from employees for better implementation of change. ‘ Intervention where management delegates power to various individual within organisation for change. ‘ In extreme situation use of power and threat for survival. Lewin suggest change can be manage through his three step process; step 1 Unfreezing: management should unfreeze all its current operation or situation and then explain its importance to the people of organisation and prepare them for a change, step 2 Changing: it is step where change is in transition and implementation process, step 3 Refreezing: this is the final stage and it is a stage where change is become the norm and form policy within organisation (education-portal.com, N.P). Once change is implemented, the next step is to monitor the effectiveness of change and this can be achieved in Conventional way comparing movements of share price (any positive change in share price in stock market), market share (whether change resulted in increase in market share of an organisation), though profitability (increase in sales, increases in profit margins, reduction in cost), cash flow (what are the major causes of cash out flow previously as compared to current one, any changes in cash in hand) and overall organisations budgets (whether budgets and targets of an organisation are achieved and what are their positive or negative result as compared to before change operation). Monitoring through Strategy-driven measures meeting those critical success factor and key performance indicators for vision, mission, strategy and implementation phase. Monitoring through Benchmarking and it involve comparison with internal previous benchmarking, industry or competitive benchmarking and process benchmarking (Fiona GRAETZ, 2011). Conclusion: Nowadays, change is a necessity for almost every organisation for its survival, competition, growth and it is critical for an organisation. Without change it will be hard for an organisation to grab new opportunities, may result in losing competitive staff, far away from meeting business objectives, losing productivity. Therefore its management and leadership who will have to decide what, when and how to change organisation to meet those objectives and missions and how they respond to any resistance in organisation. Organisation who can handle resistance and have the ability to manage can lead to not only organisation success but also increase shareholder wealth and as well employees or organisation.

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How to Implement Organizational Change Successfully

• 16 Mar 2023

Change is inevitable in business. To remain viable, organizations must adapt to internal and external shifts.

Business leaders have a responsibility to be catalysts for positive organizational change. That change can’t occur without proper implementation.

To help you transition to a new leadership role, here's an overview of organizational change and how to implement it successfully.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Organizational Change?

Organizational change involves altering one or more of a company’s major components, such as its culture, infrastructure, and internal processes. To guide your organization toward success, you must be proficient at navigating change.

Change can be difficult to manage. It can be predictable or unexpected and occur gradually or all at once.

“The reality is that companies won’t keep perfect pace with all the change that’s evolving in their industry, or in consumer needs and preferences, or in technological advances,” says Harvard Business School Professor Joshua Margolis in the online course Organizational Leadership . “That's why periodic leaps in how organizations function are required to catch up after lots of small contextual shifts accumulate.”

According to Organizational Leadership , you can categorize organizational change by its:

• Degree of difficulty: How difficult the change will be to implement within your organization, including how much effort it requires, how easy it'll be to modify existing practices, how simple it is to understand, and how much of your organization will be involved
• Nature of the upgrade: The type of upgrade needed to repair your organization’s broken components or pursue new opportunities

Within these categories, you can measure organizational change's magnitude using a spectrum from adaptive to transformational change.

• Adaptive changes are small, incremental, and occur gradually over an extended period.
• Transformational changes have a much larger impact and typically occur dramatically and suddenly rather than incrementally.

Most changes won’t be solely adaptive or transformational but instead occur between the two. To be an effective leader , it's vital to learn how to implement changes on both sides of the spectrum—and everywhere in between.

6 Steps to Implement Organizational Change

Organizational Leadership breaks the change implementation process into six steps, known as the CHANGE model.

• C onceptualize: Distill your organization’s complex issues into a clear picture of root causes and potential solutions.
• H ear: Gather perspectives from different team members to learn what you do and don't understand.
• A genda: Craft a plan based on the issues you identify and perspectives you gather that establishes the direction your organization should go and how to get there.
• N exus: Identify the features within each component of your organization’s architecture that will drive change.
• G uide and govern: Use yourself to implement change within your organization.
• E ngage and execute: Encourage others to participate in change implementation.

This model illustrates the various teams within your organization that must participate for change to be successful. To break this down even further, you can separate these steps into three groups.

Conceptualize and Hear

When compiling information, it's crucial to consider multiple perspectives.

“ Conceptualize and hear work in a paired cycle,” says HBS Professor Anthony Mayo in Organizational Leadership . “As you listen in hear, you refine your conceptualization of the challenges and opportunities facing the organization and the root causes.”

Avoid jumping to conclusions during this stage. It can be easy to judge a situation quickly based on initial observations, but doing so can cause you to overlook critical data.

Successful implementation requires gathering all relevant data, observing the internal and external environment, examining change’s potential impacts, and considering feedback.

Agenda and Nexus

Once you’ve thoroughly researched the situation, your next step is shifting from analysis to action. This requires a clear blueprint for how and where change is needed.

“ Agenda and nexus go together,” Margolis says in Organizational Leadership . “Nexus—meaning intersection—specifies where the change needs to occur within the organization and which architectural elements to start with to execute on the agenda.”

To succeed at this stage, ensure your agenda is compelling. If others in your organization don't understand or aren't excited about it, it'll be more difficult to implement.

Guide and Govern/Engage and Execute

The CHANGE model’s last two components are critical to putting your plan into action.

“ Guide and govern —together with engage and execute— are about implementation," Margolis says in Organizational Leadership . “How can leaders use themselves to mobilize people, communicate in all directions, review progress, and correct course?”

Since change often requires modifying how to accomplish tasks, implementation can be arduous. Effective communication is key to reducing resistance.

Here are four tips for communicating change to your team:

• Share a vision: Confirm your team knows how the change benefits them and the company.
• Tell a story: Get creative in how you communicate the change. Whether portraying it as a heroic tale or using graphics to convey its benefits, telling a story can help get employees on board.
• Make your team the heroes: Verify that others understand their role in the change so they feel like heroes rather than victims of it.
• Chart the path: Organizational change can be difficult, making it critical to ensure your team knows how it helps them and the organization over the long term.

In this stage, leading by example can be the difference between succeeding and failing.

“Leaders don’t just guide and govern change,” Margolis says in Organizational Leadership . “They themselves change as they lead their organizations.”

Be approachable and open to feedback. You should also set an example for others. When influencing others , actions speak louder than words.

Leading Successful Organizational Change

Depending on the change’s nature, strong internal resistance is likely. Your change initiative could be perceived as disruptive to your company’s culture or intimidating because it’s unfamiliar.

“Although familiar practices may have outlived their usefulness—or soon fail to work as well as they once did—those comfortable habits and reflexes remain because they’re how your company achieved success in the past,” Mayo says in Organizational Leadership .

The mentality of “it worked before, so it'll work now” can hinder innovation , which requires open-endedly exploring novel ideas. Overcoming that mindset requires intention.

“As a catalyst, you, the leader, must ignite change,” Margolis says in Organizational Leadership , “acting as the spark that inspires, encourages, enables, and reassures your team so that they can adapt in both small and large ways to deliver value continuously.”

Preparing to Lead Your Team to Success

If you're ready to improve your leadership skills , taking a training course , such as Organizational Leadership , can enable you to reap several benefits and gain the skills to lead and implement change.

Whether you’re already a leader or working toward becoming one, a leadership certificate course can help you develop your professional network , communicate effectively, and build a strong corporate culture.

While change is inevitable, you can successfully navigate it with the right skill set.

Are you ready to develop the skills to implement change? Enroll in Organizational Leadership —one of our online leadership and management courses —and discover how to lead your company to long-term success. To learn more about what it takes to be an effective leader, download our free leadership e-book .

About the Author

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By Colin Baker Leaders Staff

Colin Baker

Leadership and Business Writer

Colin Baker is a business writer for Leaders Media. He has a background in as a television journalism, working as...

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Updated Dec 16, 2022

Reviewed by Rachel Dalrymple

Rachel Dalrymple

Wealth and Real Estate Writer

Rachel Dalrymple, MBA is a wealth and real estate writer for Leaders Media. Rachel writes research-based content on real estate,...

What is Organizational Change and Why Does it Matter?

What is organizational change, what leads to organizational change, the two types of organizational change, a closer look at the organizational change management model, common challenges to organizational change, how to handle organizational change, be ready for organizational change.

As the saying goes, the only thing constant is change. Businesses have to change to meet new demands and an evolving marketplace. A company that gets stuck in its ways may quickly find itself falling behind. Organizations resistant to change can’t react fast enough, and before long, people speak about them in the past tense. Most companies understand the need for organizational change. According to a  KPMG Global Transformation Study , 96 percent of companies say they’re in the middle of a business transformation. That’s a good thing, but the study did find a downside. Less than half of those organizations thought they wouldn’t see any sustainable value from their change effort.

Businesses need effective organizational change management to keep up with an ever-changing world. However, the obstacles to change can often prove formidable and intimidating. To survive in the business world, companies have to learn how to handle these challenges and enact constructive organizational change that prepares them for the future. 

In this article, learn about the basics of organizational change, some of its leading causes, the most common obstacles companies face, and how you can handle all of the changes.

Key Takeaways

• New technology, leadership, business models, or structures can drive organizational change.
• The two types of organizational change include adaptive change and transformational change.
• Executives must have change management skills to successfully enact a change. These include delegation, organization, communication, and decision-making.

Organizational change is the process of shifting a company’s structure or other significant elements to improve operations and meet new challenges. A key component of this process is organizational change management, which is the strategy the company uses to enact these alterations effectively. Effective change cannot happen without organizational change management.

Change doesn’t just happen on its own. Like any chemical reaction, it takes a catalyst to get the reaction going. This instigating incident can set the course for a company, exciting a desire to overturn the status quo and enact a substantive change in the organizational structure. Catalysts can come in many forms, including the following ones listed below.

New Technologies

The introduction of new technology can drastically change the landscape of the business world. Think of what a monumental event the rise of the internet was and how it transformed the way businesses operate. A company slow to adopt the advantages that the internet provides would have found itself playing catch-up for years. For example, a clothing store that didn’t engage in e-commerce might find its customers shopping at other businesses offering more convenient options. Therefore, businesses need to keep up-to-date with new technologies and understand the impact they have on their organizations.

New Leadership

A common event that brings about a change in organization is the introduction of new leadership. For example, a recently hired CEO will often have new ideas on how to run the company. Because of this, they may choose to place more focus on customer service or create ambitious new sales goals to reach. This push to fulfill new objectives usually leads to significant organizational changes and shake-ups in personnel.

For more on the different ways people can lead, check out the various  leadership styles .

New Business Models

Leadership may also enact organizational change through the use of new business models. Modern companies don’t operate the same as companies did in the 1950s. Business experts often come up with new models for organizations to follow. They share these models through conferences, white papers, and even new books. Depending on leadership, they may adopt these business models, which would require changes to the organization.

New Team Structures

On a smaller scale, companies may experience changes on the team level. As some employees move to different companies and new employees move in, teams often have to adjust their structures to manage disruptions like these. Because of this, leaders must think about how they will accommodate new skill sets and talents. While this type of change doesn’t always necessitate a transformation in the organization, companies may have to shift their priorities when enough of them happen.

Once a company has decided an effective change needs to happen at the organizational level, they have another important choice. There are two types of organizational change businesses can use to move forward. Choosing one of the following strategies will help put companies on the right path for carrying out their adjustments.

Adaptive Change

• The adaptive change strategy is a more subtle approach to organizational change management. While still focused on the long-term impact, companies that use this try to make minor changes to the organization. The process is slower and requires various, smaller adjustments inside the business that are refined over a more extended period. Some examples of adaptive change include upgrading a piece of software or introducing a new training program. They’re not revolutionary, but they serve the purpose of introducing necessary changes to the company.

Transformational Change

• This strategy features much larger changes involving multiple areas of the company. Companies choosing this approach usually have bigger goals and introduce these changes more abruptly than with the adaptive strategy. In many cases, successful change is a reaction to forces outside the company’s control, such as a dramatic shift in the economy or a competitor’s new product gaining immense popularity.  Transformational leadership  often favors this approach, leading to large-scale disruptions in the business’s structure.

When companies know they need to make a change and have identified which strategy to follow, the next step is forming a plan. Organizational change management can follow many different models. The one a business chooses will depend on its unique needs and goals. A typical model creating the necessary changes will usually feature the following steps.

Companies need to set realistic expectations regarding the coming changes along with what they hope to accomplish.

Organizations will then design the overall plan, factoring in its impact on the company as a whole along with individual departments and employees.

3. Implement

This step represents the execution of the plan and requires the cooperation and coordination of top-level executives, department leaders, managers, and all team members in the organization.

After implementing the plan, managers should monitor reactions and measure results. This is an ongoing step to ensure that the changes benefit the company and will endure well into the future.

Even when leaders know they want to adopt changes, it’s not always smooth sailing. Business leadership will often run into significant challenges along the way. Understanding what these obstacles are can help you prepare for them.

Insufficient Training

Employees may need new skills to deal with the changes management wants to implement. If leaders don’t provide training programs, employees don’t know how to gain these skills, which leaves them fending for themselves. Training includes the programs and also the time needed to attend. If leaders don’t set time apart for training, employees likely won’t see it as a priority.

Workforce Resistance

The employees themselves might show resistance to change. Indeed, people get comfortable in their workflow. When leaders disrupt it, employees might treat new initiatives with suspicion.  Research  from Gartner found that almost half of CIOs indicated that workplace culture was the most significant barrier they encountered to making changes. Teams need to prepare for initial resistance to any new organizational adjustment. That resistance can take many forms, such as doubt, hesitation, indifference, or outright hostility.

Sometimes an organizational change will cost more than executives initially thought. Adopting new software or merging departments can lead to consequences that are difficult to prepare for, no matter how detailed leadership plans are. As costs mount, management can become anxious, which can worry many in the business, making them wonder if the changes are even worth it.

Technology Adjustments

Whenever leaders introduce new technology, they expect some hiccups along the way. Consequently, sometimes those hiccups can turn into significant problems, causing delays and added costs. Even after getting new technology up and running, it can malfunction later, creating even more problems down the line.

Communication Difficulties

Leadership should strive to communicate with all members of an organization, but at times that communication can break down.  Poor communication  means messages aren’t getting through to the people who need to hear them the most. Even if messages get through, they might not have a clear meaning. As a result, managers may end up communicating way too much information, or they might provide too little information. Therefore, all leadership teams should be aware of how workers may interpret their communications and make adjustments as necessary.

Market Evolution

One area primarily outside of a company’s control is the market. As leaders try to enact organizational change, sudden shifts or downturns in the economy could create obstacles. Changes of this nature can cause confusion and chaos, prompting overreactions and even abandonment of organizational plans. Additionally, managers may decide they don’t need to adapt to market evolution, leaving people unprepared for what lies ahead.

Challenges to organizational change will come up eventually. Just like change itself, they are inevitable. Leaders need to prepare for these eventual problems before changes even occur. Here are several tips which can help.

1. Work on Your Communication Skills

Just as poor communication can contribute to organizational change problems, excellent  communication skills  can make the process go smoothly. For example, a  study  from Towers Watson found that organizations practicing good communication notably outperformed other companies which did not feature effective communication or change management. As you work on your skills, you’ll often catch issues before they grow into significant long-term problems. You can also address employee resistance. Clearly explain what the changes are, why they’re happening, and how to implement them.

To improve your communication skills:

• Hold one-on-one meetings with workers to get their thoughts on the changes.
• Listen closely outside of meetings to people’s comments.
• Review what you’ve communicated to ensure the messages you want to relay are clear.
• Pay close attention to nonverbal cues.

2. Practice Problem Solving and Decision Making

In addition to communicating, all leaders should work on their  problem solving  and  decision making  skills. As organizational change happens, leaders sometimes need to react quickly and make crucial decisions that often affect people’s jobs. They also need to be ready with a solution once problems arise. Many team members will look to you for help and guidance. As such, you must have the confidence to handle the pressure.

To improve your problem solving and decision making abilities:

• Don’t be afraid to test out new ideas and solutions found through  innovative leadership .
• Look for guidance and advice from mentors.
• Gain leadership skills by reading material from a variety of leaders who have different perspectives.
• Prepare ahead of time for what might go wrong and have backup plans in place.
• Feel free to get suggestions from people at all levels of the organization.

3. Gain Greater Emotional Intelligence

Change can have a powerful effect on people, especially when it concerns what they do for their jobs. As you work with people to adapt to organizational change, work to improve your emotional intelligence . This involves becoming aware of your emotions and developing empathy for others. Emotional intelligence essentially means regulating your emotions and understanding what others may be going through as a way to connect to them. During periods of dramatic change, showing emotional intelligence can make a big difference.

To show more emotional intelligence:

• Influence others by serving them, which helps show servant leadership .
• Show optimism and a positive attitude around others.
• Encourage people and avoid negative criticism when they make mistakes.
• Get to know your team members by building bonds with them.

4. Delegate Responsibilities

Enacting organizational change can turn into a massive task, even for individual teams. Taking on everything yourself comes with increased pressure and stress, which results in a higher chance of making mistakes. In response to these challenges, don’t be afraid to delegate some of the responsibilities to other team members.  Delegation   shows you trust others with some of the most important tasks to accomplish these changes. It also helps you manage the time it takes for completion. By delegating responsibilities, you allow others to practice leadership and provide them with a sense of ownership over all the changes happening at the company.

5. Develop Your Organizational Skills

With so many changes happening, you’ll need to develop your organizational skills to get things done. Successful change management requires team leaders to be exceptionally organized and ready to deal with the complexities of significant change. Otherwise, without the right organizational skills, tasks won’t be completed in a timely fashion and whole teams will act disorganized and directionless.

To improve your organizational skills:

• Plan out your day, week, and month in advance to ensure you stay on top of everything.
• Limit distractions while you work, including non-work-related messages on your phone.
• Create to-do lists where you can check off each task once finished.
• Do your most difficult tasks at the time of day when you’re most productive.

When executives enact changes, many people within the company may feel uneasy about the future. Change is necessary for businesses to survive and thrive in a volatile world, but the road can certainly be a bumpy one. Indeed, with a deeper knowledge of the challenges that lie ahead, you’ll know what skills you need to work on for you and your team to succeed. Look at each of the types of organizational change as a way for you to grow and reach a new level of performance.

As Walt Disney once said, “Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future.” As you prepare for change, you’ll be ready for what the future holds.

Looking for more resources on developing your skills?  Check out the articles below:

Top Leadership Skills Those in a Leadership Role Need

How to Create and Follow a Professional Development Plan

How Long Does It Take to Form a Habit?

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Tim York is the Chief Growth Officer of leading accounting and consulting firm FORVIS .

Several years ago, a blue-chip tech company switched CEOs, and that leader quickly discovered that its salespeople were vying with each other for client business. Clients were called, and even nagged, repeatedly by competing forces within the same company.

While the CEO rightly put a stop to that sales behavior, it was far from smooth. Company leaders failed to articulate why a new change was critical for the organization, the client and—most importantly—the sales team.

The net result: It took nearly a decade (yes, you read that right) for the company to right the ship and become unified.

In today’s world, most companies don’t have a decade to pivot and correct mistakes, and in some cases, some may have only a couple of quarters to effectively deal with change.

Change in the workplace is a virtual inevitability. Personnel changes, new service offerings, various disruptors, company strategy shifts, and mergers and acquisitions can all bring about anxiety or uncertainty for employees, customers, vendors and more. That sense of unease can be exacerbated through a company merger or acquisition where the combined workforce often wonders—and worries—about their futures. Furthermore, the speed of a transaction and the immediacy of something different can drive difficulties.

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Through all the uncertainty, those organizations that adhere to a four-pronged change management structure and related processes are more apt to weather change and thrive in their new environment. Those four steps focus on explaining the purpose of the change, articulating how the change will be designed, testing or piloting the idea, and deploying and measuring the effectiveness of the new workplace structure.

Plan With Purpose (The Why)

Purpose involves building the business case for the change and answering not only what you want to do but why it is important. Executives who focus on the impact on the various stakeholders and end users enable the creation of a compelling vision complete with “What’s in it for me?” statements geared specifically to the constituents being addressed.

It is during this critical first phase that you look at change from a systemic lens and determine the cadence and pace of change in the context of what else is taking place in the organization. By focusing on the impacts of change across your organization, you can make intelligent and purposeful decisions regarding timing. Prioritizing change initiatives in this way helps avoid change fatigue and allows your organization to maximize the benefits of the change.

Careful Design (The How)

Design is where you answer the question of how you will pull off the change. Change, from our company’s perspective, is a team sport. That means we want many fingerprints on the plan for how we roll out the change. Collaboration is the name of the game here.

It builds buy-in, fosters a feeling of ownership in the change and, perhaps most importantly, allows for a stronger, more robust plan execution by including the input and insights of those most impacted by the change. In particular, you need to create an environment where people feel empowered to participate, provide feedback, ask tough questions and feel ownership for the successful execution of the change initiative.

Pilot Your Plan

The third element of the change management process is to pilot your plan. It is important to test change/solutions before fully deploying to discover those so-called “bugs” and to create what we like to call a “closed loop learning environment.” Those who are involved in the testing process often become early adopters and, in fact, change champions for the rollout.

Deployment Requires A Road Map

Deployment is the final element of our change management process. To deploy successfully, you need a clear road map, complete with measurable milestones along the way. This allows individuals to see the progress being made. It also leaves room for the all-important celebrations throughout the process.

In addition, your company needs to develop a solid training plan designed to give end users the knowledge, skills and tools necessary to be successful. A strategic communications plan will help bring people along as the information needed to be successful is shared in a just-in-time fashion.

It doesn’t end there. You need to ensure there is a robust support system in place for employees when they have questions, experience anxiety or need reassurance.

Finally, measuring and monitoring the change closely allows for the inevitable tweaks and pivots that will be required. That will also provide opportunities to celebrate “wins” early and often.

Final Thoughts: Evaluating Next Steps, Considering ROI

Companies sometimes struggle with understanding whether they should hire a change management officer. I believe that our strong commitment to managing “white water change”—as we did with our 2022 merger between DHG and BKD to create FORVIS—helps to accelerate adoption and build what we call “change muscle” across the organization.

But I also recognize that not every organization will hire someone for that role. So, unless your organization has the capacity to hire a chief change officer—as we have done with Jeff Outten leading our team—my advice would be to make change management a priority of your organization’s senior leadership.

There are some clear benefits, as well. For our company, purposeful, intentional change management has allowed us to accelerate positive and effective change together. That has led to enhanced employee experiences, a culture of engagement, retaining our pre-merger client experience metrics and more.

In the end, I believe that is what every company is striving for.

Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?

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Change Management: From Theory to Practice

Jeffrey phillips.

1 University Libraries, Florida State University, 116 Honors Way, Tallahassee, FL 32306 USA

James D. Klein

2 Department of Educational Psychology & Learning Systems, College of Education, Florida State University, Stone Building-3205F, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4453 USA

This article presents a set of change management strategies found across several models and frameworks and identifies how frequently change management practitioners implement these strategies in practice. We searched the literature to identify 15 common strategies found in 16 different change management models and frameworks. We also created a questionnaire based on the literature and distributed it to change management practitioners. Findings suggest that strategies related to communication, stakeholder involvement, encouragement, organizational culture, vision, and mission should be used when implementing organizational change.

Organizations must change to survive. There are many approaches to influence change; these differences require change managers to consider various strategies that increase acceptance and reduce barriers. A change manager is responsible for planning, developing, leading, evaluating, assessing, supporting, and sustaining a change implementation. Change management consists of models and strategies to help employees accept new organizational developments.

Change management practitioners and academic researchers view organizational change differently (Hughes, 2007 ; Pollack & Pollack, 2015 ). Saka ( 2003 ) states, “there is a gap between what the rational-linear change management approach prescribes and what change agents do” (p. 483). This disconnect may make it difficult to determine the suitability and appropriateness of using different techniques to promote change (Pollack & Pollack, 2015 ). Hughes ( 2007 ) thinks that practitioners and academics may have trouble communicating because they use different terms. Whereas academics use the terms, models, theories, and concepts, practitioners use tools and techniques. A tool is a stand-alone application, and a technique is an integrated approach (Dale & McQuater, 1998 ). Hughes ( 2007 ) expresses that classifying change management tools and techniques can help academics identify what practitioners do in the field and evaluate the effectiveness of practitioners’ implementations.

There is little empirical evidence that supports a preferred change management model (Hallencreutz & Turner, 2011 ). However, there are many similar strategies found across change management models (Raineri, 2011 ). Bamford and Forrester’s ( 2003 ) case study showed that “[change] managers in a company generally ignored the popular change literature” (p. 560). The authors followed Pettigrew’s ( 1987 ) suggestions that change managers should not use abstract theories; instead, they should relate change theories to the context of the change. Neves’ ( 2009 ) exploratory factor analysis of employees experiencing the implementation of a new performance appraisal system at a public university suggested that (a) change appropriateness (if the employee felt the change was beneficial to the organization) was positively related with affective commitment (how much the employee liked their job), and (b) affective commitment mediated the relationship between change appropriateness and individual change (how much the employee shifted to the new system). It is unlikely that there is a universal change management approach that works in all settings (Saka, 2003 ). Because change is chaotic, one specific model or framework may not be useful in multiple contexts (Buchanan & Boddy, 1992 ; Pettigrew & Whipp, 1991 ). This requires change managers to consider various approaches for different implementations (Pettigrew, 1987 ). Change managers may face uncertainties that cannot be addressed by a planned sequence of steps (Carnall, 2007 ; Pettigrew & Whipp, 1991 ). Different stakeholders within an organization may complete steps at different times (Pollack & Pollack, 2015 ). Although there may not be one perspective change management approach, many models and frameworks consist of similar change management strategies.

Anderson and Ackerman Anderson ( 2001 ) discuss the differences between change frameworks and change process models. They state that a change framework identifies topics that are relevant to the change and explains the procedures that organizations should acknowledge during the change. However, the framework does not provide details about how to accomplish the steps of the change or the sequence in which the change manager should perform the steps. Additionally, Anderson and Ackerman Anderson ( 2001 ) explain that change process models describe what actions are necessary to accomplish the change and the order in which to facilitate the actions. Whereas frameworks may identify variables or theories required to promote change, models focus on the specific processes that lead to change. Based on the literature, we define a change strategy as a process or action from a model or framework. Multiple models and frameworks contain similar strategies. Change managers use models and frameworks contextually; some change management strategies may be used across numerous models and frameworks.

The purpose of this article is to present a common set of change management strategies found across numerous models and frameworks and identify how frequently change management practitioners implement these common strategies in practice. We also compare current practice with models and frameworks from the literature. Some change management models and frameworks have been around for decades and others are more recent. This comparison may assist practitioners and theorists to consider different strategies that fall outside a specific model.

Common Strategies in the Change Management Literature

We examined highly-cited publications ( n  > 1000 citations) from the last 20 years, business websites, and university websites to select organizational change management models and frameworks. First, we searched two indexes—Google Scholar and Web of Science’s Social Science Citation Index. We used the following keywords in both indexes: “change management” OR “organizational change” OR “organizational development” AND (models or frameworks). Additionally, we used the same search terms in a Google search to identify models mentioned on university and business websites. This helped us identify change management models that had less presence in popular research. We only included models and frameworks from our search results that were mentioned on multiple websites. We reached saturation when multiple publications stopped identifying new models and frameworks.

After we identified the models and frameworks, we analyzed the original publications by the authors to identify observable strategies included in the models and frameworks. We coded the strategies by comparing new strategies with our previously coded strategies, and we combined similar strategies or created a new strategy. Our list of strategies was not exhaustive, but we included the most common strategies found in the publications. Finally, we omitted publications that did not provide details about the change management strategies. Although many of these publications were highly cited and identified change implementation processes or phases, the authors did not identify a specific strategy.

Table ​ Table1 1 shows the 16 models and frameworks that we analyzed and the 15 common strategies that we identified from this analysis. Ackerman-Anderson and Anderson ( 2001 ) believe that it is important for process models to consider organizational imperatives as well as human dynamics and needs. Therefore, the list of strategies considers organizational imperatives such as create a vision for the change that aligns with the organization’s mission and strategies regarding human dynamics and needs such as listen to employees’ concerns about the change. We have presented the strategies in order of how frequently the strategies appear in the models and frameworks. Table ​ Table1 1 only includes strategies found in at least six of the models or frameworks.

Common strategies in the change management literature

A = ADKAR (Hiatt, 2006 ); AA = Ackerman Anderson and Anderson ( 2001 ); B = Bridges ( 1991 ); BB = Buchanan and Boddy ( 1992 ); BH = Beckhard and Harris ( 1987 ); C = Carnall ( 2007 ); CW = Cummings and Worley ( 1993 ); FB = French and Bell ( 1999 ); GE = GE CAP model (Neri et al., 2008 ; Polk, 2011 ); K = Kotter ( 2012 ); KSJ = Kanter et al. ( 1992 ); L = Lewin’s Three-step model (Bakari et al., 2017 ; Lewin, 1951 ); LK = Luecke ( 2003 ); M = McKinsey’s 7-S framework (Cox et al., 2019 ; Waterman et al., 1980 ); N = Nadler and Tushman ( 1997 ); PW = Pettigrew and Whipp (1993)

Strategies Used by Change Managers

We developed an online questionnaire to determine how frequently change managers used the strategies identified in our review of the literature. The Qualtrics-hosted survey consisted of 28 questions including sliding-scale, multiple-choice, and Likert-type items. Demographic questions focused on (a) how long the participant had been involved in the practice of change management, (b) how many change projects the participant had led, (c) the types of industries in which the participant led change implementations, (d) what percentage of job responsibilities involved working as a change manager and a project manager, and (e) where the participant learned to conduct change management. Twenty-one Likert-type items asked how often the participant used the strategies identified by our review of common change management models and frameworks. Participants could select never, sometimes, most of the time, and always. The Cronbach’s Alpha of the Likert-scale questions was 0.86.

The procedures for the questionnaire followed the steps suggested by Gall et al. ( 2003 ). The first steps were to define the research objectives, select the sample, and design the questionnaire format. The fourth step was to pretest the questionnaire. We conducted cognitive laboratory interviews by sending the questionnaire and interview questions to one person who was in the field of change management, one person who was in the field of performance improvement, and one person who was in the field of survey development (Fowler, 2014 ). We met with the reviewers through Zoom to evaluate the questionnaire by asking them to read the directions and each item for clarity. Then, reviewers were directed to point out mistakes or areas of confusion. Having multiple people review the survey instruments improved the reliability of the responses (Fowler, 2014 ).

We used purposeful sampling to distribute the online questionnaire throughout the following organizations: the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Change Management Institute (CMI), and the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). We also launched a call for participation to department chairs of United States universities who had Instructional Systems Design graduate programs with a focus on Performance Improvement. We used snowball sampling to gain participants by requesting that the department chairs forward the questionnaire to practitioners who had led at least one organizational change.

Table ​ Table2 2 provides a summary of the characteristics of the 49 participants who completed the questionnaire. Most had over ten years of experience practicing change management ( n  = 37) and had completed over ten change projects ( n  = 32). The participants learned how to conduct change management on-the-job ( n  = 47), through books ( n  = 31), through academic journal articles ( n  = 22), and from college or university courses ( n  = 20). The participants had worked in 13 different industries.

Characteristics of participants

( n  = 49)

Table ​ Table3 3 shows how frequently participants indicated that they used the change management strategies included on the questionnaire. Forty or more participants said they used the following strategies most often or always: (1) Asked members of senior leadership to support the change; (2) Listened to managers’ concerns about the change; (3) Aligned an intended change with an organization’s mission; (4) Listened to employees’ concerns about the change; (5) Aligned an intended change with an organization’s vision; (6) Created measurable short-term goals; (7) Asked managers for feedback to improve the change, and (8) Focused on organizational culture.

Strategies used by change managers

Table ​ Table4 4 identifies how frequently the strategies appeared in the models and frameworks and the rate at which practitioners indicated they used the strategies most often or always. The strategies found in the top 25% of both ( n  > 36 for practitioner use and n  > 11 in models and frameworks) focused on communication, including senior leadership and the employees in change decisions, aligning the change with the vision and mission of the organization, and focusing on organizational culture. Practitioners used several strategies more commonly than the literature suggested, especially concerning the topic of middle management. Practitioners focused on listening to middle managers’ concerns about the change, asking managers for feedback to improve the change, and ensuring that managers were trained to promote the change. Meanwhile, practitioners did not engage in the following strategies as often as the models and frameworks suggested that they should: provide all members of the organization with clear communication about the change, distinguish the differences between leadership and management, reward new behavior, and include employees in change decisions.

A comparison of the strategies used by practitioners to the strategies found in the literature

Common Strategies Used by Practitioners and Found in the Literature

The purpose of this article was to present a common set of change management strategies found across numerous models and frameworks and to identify how frequently change management practitioners implement these common strategies in practice. The five common change management strategies were the following: communicate about the change, involve stakeholders at all levels of the organization, focus on organizational culture, consider the organization’s mission and vision, and provide encouragement and incentives to change. Below we discuss our findings with an eye toward presenting a few key recommendations for change management.

Communicate About the Change

Communication is an umbrella term that can include messaging, networking, and negotiating (Buchanan & Boddy, 1992 ). Our findings revealed that communication is essential for change management. All the models and frameworks we examined suggested that change managers should provide members of the organization with clear communication about the change. It is interesting that approximately 33% of questionnaire respondents indicated that they sometimes, rather than always or most of the time, notified all members of the organization about the change. This may be the result of change managers communicating through organizational leaders. Instead of communicating directly with everyone in the organization, some participants may have used senior leadership, middle management, or subgroups to communicate the change. Messages sent to employees from leaders can effectively promote change. Regardless of who is responsible for communication, someone in the organization should explain why the change is happening (Connor et al., 2003 ; Doyle & Brady, 2018 ; Hiatt, 2006 ; Kotter, 2012 ) and provide clear communication throughout the entire change implementation (McKinsey & Company, 2008 ; Mento et al., 2002 ).

Involve Stakeholders at All Levels of the Organization

Our results indicate that change managers should involve senior leaders, managers, as well as employees during a change initiative. The items on the questionnaire were based on a review of common change management models and frameworks and many related to some form of stakeholder involvement. Of these strategies, over half were used often by 50% or more respondents. They focused on actions like gaining support from leaders, listening to and getting feedback from managers and employees, and adjusting strategies based on stakeholder input.

Whereas the models and frameworks often identified strategies regarding senior leadership and employees, it is interesting that questionnaire respondents indicated that they often implemented strategies involving middle management in a change implementation. This aligns with Bamford and Forrester’s ( 2003 ) research describing how middle managers are important communicators of change and provide an organization with the direction for the change. However, the participants did not develop managers into leaders as often as the literature proposed. Burnes and By ( 2012 ) expressed that leadership is essential to promote change and mention how the change management field has failed to focus on leadership as much as it should.

Focus on Organizational Culture

All but one of the models and frameworks we analyzed indicated that change managers should focus on changing the culture of an organization and more than 75% of questionnaire respondents revealed that they implemented this strategy always or most of the time. Organizational culture affects the acceptance of change. Changing the organizational culture can prevent employees from returning to the previous status quo (Bullock & Batten, 1985 ; Kotter, 2012 ; Mento et al., 2002 ). Some authors have different views on how to change an organization’s culture. For example, Burnes ( 2000 ) thinks that change managers should focus on employees who were resistant to the change while Hiatt ( 2006 ) suggests that change managers should replicate what strategies they used in the past to change the culture. Change managers require open support and commitment from managers to lead a culture change (Phillips, 2021 ).

In addition, Pless and Maak ( 2004 ) describe the importance of creating a culture of inclusion where diverse viewpoints help an organization reach its organizational objectives. Yet less than half of the participants indicated that they often focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Change managers should consider diverse viewpoints when implementing change, especially for organizations whose vision promotes a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Consider the Organization’s Mission and Vision

Several of the models and frameworks we examined mentioned that change managers should consider the mission and vision of the organization (Cummings & Worley, 1993 ; Hiatt, 2006 ; Kotter, 2012 ; Polk, 2011 ). Furthermore, aligning the change with the organization’s mission and vision were among the strategies most often implemented by participants. This was the second most common strategy both used by participants and found in the models and frameworks. A mission of an organization may include its beliefs, values, priorities, strengths, and desired public image (Cummings & Worley, 1993 ). Leaders are expected to adhere to a company’s values and mission (Strebel, 1996 ).

Provide Encouragement and Incentives to Change

Most of the change management models and frameworks suggested that organizations should reward new behavior, yet most respondents said they did not provide incentives to change. About 75% of participants did indicate that they frequently gave encouragement to employees about the change. The questionnaire may have confused participants by suggesting that they provide incentives before the change occurs. Additionally, respondents may have associated incentives with monetary compensation. Employee training can be considered an incentive, and many participants confirmed that they provided employees and managers with training. More information is needed to determine why the participants did not provide incentives and what the participants defined as rewards.

Future Conversations Between Practitioners and Researchers

Table ​ Table4 4 identified five strategies that practitioners used more often than the models and frameworks suggested and four strategies that were suggested more often by the models and frameworks than used by practitioners. One strategy that showed the largest difference was provided employees with incentives to implement the change. Although 81% of the selected models and frameworks suggested that practitioners should provide employees with incentives, only 25% of the practitioners identified that they provided incentives always and most of the time. Conversations between theorists and practitioners could determine if these differences occur because each group uses different terms (Hughes, 2007 ) or if practitioners just implement change differently than theorists suggest (Saka, 2003 ).

Additionally, conversations between theorists and practitioners may help promote improvements in the field of change management. For example, practitioners were split on how often they promoted DEI, and the selected models and frameworks did not focus on DEI in change implementations. Conversations between the two groups would help theorists understand what practitioners are doing to advance the field of change management. These conversations may encourage theorists to modify their models and frameworks to include modern approaches to change.

Limitations

The models and frameworks included in this systematic review were found through academic research and websites on the topic of change management. We did not include strategies contained on websites from change management organizations. Therefore, the identified strategies could skew towards approaches favored by theorists instead of practitioners. Additionally, we used specific publications to identify the strategies found in the models and frameworks. Any amendments to the cited models or frameworks found in future publications could not be included in this research.

We distributed this questionnaire in August 2020. Several participants mentioned that they were not currently conducting change management implementations because of global lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because it can take years to complete a change management implementation (Phillips, 2021 ), this research does not describe how COVID-19 altered the strategies used by the participants. Furthermore, participants were not provided with definitions of the strategies. Their interpretations of the strategies may differ from the definitions found in the academic literature.

Future Research

Future research should expand upon what strategies the practitioners use to determine (a) how the practitioners use the strategies, and (b) the reasons why practitioners use certain strategies. Participants identified several strategies that they did not use as often as the literature suggested (e.g., provide employees with incentives and adjust the change implementation because of reactions from employees). Future research should investigate why practitioners are not implementing these strategies often.

Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic may have changed how practitioners implemented change management strategies. Future research should investigate if practitioners have added new strategies or changed the frequency in which they identified using the strategies found in this research.

Our aim was to identify a common set of change management strategies found across several models and frameworks and to identify how frequently change management practitioners implement these strategies in practice. While our findings relate to specific models, frameworks, and strategies, we caution readers to consider the environment and situation where the change will occur. Therefore, strategies should not be selected for implementation based on their inclusion in highly cited models and frameworks. Our study identified strategies found in the literature and used by change managers, but it does not predict that specific strategies are more likely to promote a successful organizational change. Although we have presented several strategies, we do not suggest combining these strategies to create a new framework. Instead, these strategies should be used to promote conversation between practitioners and theorists. Additionally, we do not suggest that one model or framework is superior to others because it contains more strategies currently used by practitioners. Evaluating the effectiveness of a model or framework by how many common strategies it contains gives an advantage to models and frameworks that contain the most strategies. Instead, this research identifies what practitioners are doing in the field to steer change management literature towards the strategies that are most used to promote change.

Declarations

This research does not represent conflicting interests or competing interests. The research was not funded by an outside agency and does not represent the interests of an outside party.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Contributor Information

Jeffrey Phillips, Email: ude.usf@spillihpbj .

James D. Klein, Email: ude.usf@nielkj .

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Organizational change

• Business management
• Organizational development
• Organizational learning

How the Fire Department of New York Changed After 9/11

• Gregory P. Shea
• Andre Kotze
• September 10, 2021

Firing James Damore Could Be a Setback for Google's Diversity Goals

• Avivah Wittenberg-Cox
• August 10, 2017

Conquering a Culture of Indecision (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)

• March 01, 2002

10 Pitfalls That Destroy Organizational Trust

• Frances X. Frei
• Anne Morriss
• October 03, 2023

Giving Mergers a Head Start

• Randy Croyle
• Patrick Kager
• From the October 2002 Issue

You Don’t Need a Grand Strategy to Achieve Organizational Change

• Greg Satell
• March 10, 2020

Setting the Stage for Change

• Amy C. Edmondson
• March 07, 2011

Leveraging Processes for Strategic Advantage: A Roundtable with Allaire, Herres, Leschly, and Weatherup

• David A. Garvin
• From the September–October 1995 Issue

Home Depot's Blueprint for Culture Change

• From the April 2006 Issue

Waking Up IBM: How a Gang of Unlikely Rebels Transformed Big Blue (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)

• April 01, 2001

Don't Let Distractions Derail Your Company's Strategy

• David Lancefield
• April 28, 2023

10 Beliefs That Get in the Way of Organizational Change

• October 24, 2023

Why Good Companies Go Bad (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)

• Donald N. Sull
• February 01, 2000

Designing a Seamless Digital Experience for Customers

• Christian Terwiesch
• Nicolaj Siggelkow
• December 02, 2021

The Future of Human Work Is Imagination, Creativity, and Strategy

• Joseph Pistrui
• January 18, 2018

Who Goes, Who Stays? (HBR Case Study)

• David A. Light
• January 01, 2001

Change Management in Government

• Frank Ostroff
• From the May 2006 Issue

How to Be a Mental Health Ally

• Katherine Ponte
• May 09, 2022

Live the Vision

• Neil Gaydon

The Power of Stories in Corporate Culture

• Peter Bregman
• June 30, 2012

Elsie Y. Cross Associates, Inc. and CoreStates Financial Corp.

• Rosabeth Moss Kanter
• Thomas D. Dretler
• January 08, 1997

SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (A)

• Michael Beer
• Michael L. Tushman
• May 10, 2000

Analog Devices, Inc.: The Half-Life System

• Robert S. Kaplan
• March 16, 1990

Royal DSM: From Continuous Transformation to Organic Growth

• William W. George
• Carin-Isabel Knoop
• Amram Migdal
• January 30, 2017

Madison Avenue: Digital Media Services (B)

• Steven J. Spear
• Anne D. Karshis
• June 22, 2001

Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A)

• David Kiron
• September 26, 2011

BMW AG: The Digital Auto Project (B)

• Stefan Thomke
• Ashok Nimgade
• November 19, 1998

Deaconess-Glover Hospital (A)

• John Kenagy
• July 19, 2000

Mirvac (A): Building Balance

• Felicia A. Henderson
• February 24, 2020

Stanley O'Neal at Merrill Lynch (B)

• David A. Thomas
• Ayesha Kanji
• August 25, 2004

Untangling Spaghetti: How Innovation Changed at Oticon (C)

• Soren Stranne
• Paul Strebel
• January 01, 2014

Campbell Soup Co.: A Leader in Continuous Replenishment Innovations

• James L. McKenney
• Theodore H. Clark
• October 14, 1994

Executing Change: Seven Key Considerations

• Nitin Nohria
• Rakesh Khurana
• August 24, 1993

Sesame Workshop (B): Celebrating 50 Years of Helping Kids Grow Smarter, Stronger, and Kinder

• Joyce J. Kim
• July 20, 2020
• C. Roland Christensen
• David C. Rikert
• October 16, 1984

Trian Partners and DuPont (A)

• Luis M. Viceira
• Dhruva Kaul
• May 28, 2016
• John R. Wells
• Gabriel Ellsworth
• September 13, 2017

Ferran Adrià and elBulli's Transformation

• Marcel Planellas
• Silviya Svejenova
• August 28, 2014

The Tools of Cooperation

• Howard H. Stevenson
• Clayton M. Christensen
• Jeremy B. Dann
• December 31, 1999

OpenIDEO (B)

• Karim R. Lakhani
• Anne-Laure Fayard
• Manos Gkeredakis
• Jin Hyun Paik
• October 05, 2020

The AIDS Support Organization of Uganda, Teaching Note

• Andrew Ellner
• Julie Rosenberg
• April 29, 2011

Building the Agile Workforce

• Sarah Green Carmichael
• Jeffrey A. Joerres
• January 23, 2014

Change Management Simulation: Power and Influence V3, Teaching Note

• William Q. Judge
• Linda A. Hill
• July 15, 2021

Transformation at Eli Lilly & Co. (A), (B), & (C), Teaching Note

• William R. Kerr
• Alexis Brownell
• August 08, 2017

Case Flash Forward: lululemon athletica

• Baker Library
• May 01, 2015

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