People are often quite uncomfortable with change, for all sorts of understandable reasons.

This can lead

them to resist it and oppose it. This is why it's important to understand how people are feeling as
change proceeds, so that you can guide them through it and so that – in the end – they can accept it and
support it. The Transition Model was created by change consultant, William Bridges, and was published
in his 1991 book "Managing Transitions."

The main strength of the model is that it focuses on transition, not change. The difference between
these is subtle but important. Change is something that happens to people, even if they don't agree with
it. Transition, on the other hand, is internal: it's what happens in people's minds as they go through
change. Change can happen very quickly, while transition usually occurs more slowly.

The model highlights three stages of transition that people go through when they experience change.
These are:

1. Ending - People enter this initial stage of transition when you first present them with change.
This stage is often marked with resistance and emotional upheaval, because people are being
forced to let go of something that they are comfortable with.
At this stage, people may experience these emotions:
Fear. Denial. Anger. Sadness. Disorientation. Frustration. Uncertainty. A sense of loss.
2. Wilderness (Neutral Zone) - In this stage, people affected by the change are often confused,
uncertain, and impatient. Depending on how well you're managing the change, they may also
experience a higher workload as they get used to new systems and new ways of working. Here,
people might experience: Resentment towards the change initiative. Low morale and low
productivity. Anxiety about their role, status or identity. Skepticism about the change initiative.
3. New Beginning - The last transition stage is a time of acceptance and energy. People have begun
to embrace the change initiative. They're building the skills they need to work successfully in the
new way, and they're starting to see early wins from their efforts. At this stage, people are likely
to experience: High energy. Openness to learning. Renewed commitment to the group or their
role.

Behavioral View

Readiness for change has been identified with a “cognitive precursor to behaviors of either
resistance or support for change efforts”. It has been highly associated with the individual’s
attitude towards change as well as her perceptions, feelings, and beliefs surrounding her
organization’s change readiness
Burke-Litwin

The Performance and Change Model, developed in 1992 by two organisational change consultants, is a
tool used to understand an organisation’s component parts and how they relate to each other in a time
of change. A common reason for a change initiative failing is all areas of the organisation affected by the
change are not accounted for. Therefore, using this model can reveal what areas of the business are
affected and how they are interrelated. The model also demonstrates the hierarchy of factors within an
organisation and hence the flow of influence from one factor to the next. The model is an example of
‘open systems theory’, which suggests change comes from external influences.
The authors describe the model as a mechanism that portrays “…the primary variables that need to be
considered in any attempt to predict and explain the total behaviour output of an organisation, the most
important interactions between these variables, and how they affect change”. There are four groups of
elements within an organisation; the external environment, transformational factors, transactional
factors and performance. Each group then contains various elements of the organisation. The diagram
demonstrates which elements belong in which group, how they interact with each other and the overall
hierarchy of an organisation.

The beginning and end of the process (yellow blocks) represent the input to the organisation, the
external environment, and the organisation’s output, individual and organisational performance.

External Environment – This factor represents any forces or conditions outside of the organisation that
will affect its processes. An example could be consumer behaviour or marketplace conditions.

Individual and Organisational Performance – This factor is the overall output of the organisation. This
can be represented in many different ways, commonly turnover, productivity, customer satisfaction etc.

Transformational factors (purple blocks) are deeply embedded processes and characteristics of the
organisation. Any change that occurs to these factors will have substantial consequences to the rest of
the organisation. It is also true that any other change will require these factors’ input and hence the
arrows go in both directions. Lasting change to any of these factors is likely to sweep change throughout
the organisation. These factors will be most strongly affected by the external environment and will also
have the strongest influence on transactional factors.

Leadership – The authors state this factor ‘provides direction’ to the rest of the organisation. Individuals
in leadership positions are responsible for developing a vision and motivating the rest of the
organisation to achieving it.
Mission and Strategy – This factor describes the purpose of the organisation and also the processes for
how it will be achieved.

Organisation Culture – The norms and values of the organisation. They will be less formal than the
‘mission and strategy’, but will still exist implicitly throughout the organisation.

Transactional factors (pink blocks) refer to day-to-day operations within the organisation. The authors
argue these factors are strongly affected by management, rather than leadership. Change in these
factors is only likely to lead to lasting change if, in turn, the transformational factors are also affected.

Management Practices – Behaviours and activities of managers, usually aligned to carrying out the
overall strategy.

Structure – The breakdown of the organisation i.e. hierarchy, departments, reporting channels.

Systems (Policies and Procedures) – These are the mechanisms put in place to help and support
employees. This may be legal systems or reward systems, for example.

Work Unit Climate – The team’s working environment. For example, how well team members
cooperate, how comfortable individuals feel expressing themselves or how well goals are set and
rewarded.

Motivation – The setting of goals to inspire and direct employees.

Task Requirements and Individual Skills/Abilities – Matching the job description with the expertise of an
employee. An experienced, high-level employee may still struggle to adopt new technologies, for
example.

Individual Needs and Values – Employees will expect certain demands, such as pay, work/life balance,
responsibility etc. to be met in their role.
The two main uses of the model are to either diagnose a problem within the organisation or create an
action plan (often for a change initiative). Firstly, the group should be identified where either the change
is coming from or being planned for. Then within that group the specific element should be identified.
Once this has occurred, all affected elements can also be identified.

An example would be a change in legal working requirements (external environment). This would cause
leadership to alter management practices, which in turn would affect the work unit climate and systems.
Through motivation and individual needs and values, we would then see a change to individual and
organisational performance.

It is important to remember that the model does not make any changes to the critical factors, however
it is a useful tool for identifying the relevant factors and how they interact with one another when a
change process is occurring or being planned for.

Innovation Diffusion Theory

Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory, developed by E.M. Rogers in 1962, is one of the oldest
social science theories. It originated in communication to explain how, over time, an idea or
product gains momentum and diffuses (or spreads) through a specific population or social
system. The end result of this diffusion is that people, as part of a social system, adopt a new
idea, behavior, or product. Adoption means that a person does something differently than what
they had previously (i.e., purchase or use a new product, acquire and perform a new behavior,
etc.).

Innovators

When a product is put on the market the first individuals to buy the product
are the ‘innovators’. This small group of people wants to be the first to try
the product and they are willing to take risks. These exclusive users in this
group are therefore trend setters. Subsequently, the product will become
increasingly popular and sales will increase.
Early adapters

Just like the innovators, the early adapters like to try out new things and
they are not afraid to invest in new products. This group is significantly
larger than the ‘innovators’ group and often they already know much about
the new product. Because of this knowledge they play an important role in
word- of- mouth advertising with respect to the new product as a result of
which sales will increase strongly.

Early majority

The early majority group loves trends, but prefers to wait and see before
making a purchase. The product will be bought in droves by this group of
people. The product will become extremely popular and this will cause a
landslide in demand.

Late majority

The late majority group actually lags behind and will only buy the product
after many other people have bought it and its popularity is already
decreasing. The reason why this group does not buy the product from the
start has to do with confidence in the product. This group has to be
absolutely certain that they are not making a bad buy. The product is also
sold frequently in this ‘late majority’ stage.

Laggards

The laggards group lags behind (consciously or unconsciously) in the trend

and does not like innovation or change. It is not until the product is not
much in demand any more and is about to leave the market that this group
decides to buy the product after all. The most obvious reason is that this
group waits until the sales price is lowered.