ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Change is inevitable. Change is a continuous phenomenon. Change refers to any variation

which occurs in over all work environment of an organization. It can be in technology,
organizational structure, working processes, work environment, organizational policy or the
roles people play. Inducing change in one part of an organization forces change in other
part. If the change is beneficial people accept it willingly. If it is not desirable, there is
great resistance. If they consider the change detrimental to their growth and prosperity,
they may resist through counter pressure. The change therefore should be sufficiently
strong enough to overcome the counter pressure. Due to advancement of technology and
social environment, change has become a necessity. If the change takes place, a balance or
equilibrium is achieved by the organization. When people accept change, they learn
adaptation. This process carries on and is never ending because change takes place
continuously.

Organizational change is the process by which organizations move from their present state to
the desired state to increase their effectiveness.
Change has following characteristics:
1. It is critical for a company if it wants to survive and avoid stagnation;
2. It is a continuous process not just an event;
3. It is fast and is likely to increase further in the present competitive business scenario;
4. It has two terms associated with it, directive (implementation by top down
management) and participative (involvement of those parties of organization which
are impacted by change);
5. It is natural, evolutionary and hence adaptive in nature. It is in response to changes
in external environmental pressures;
6. It can be incremental (gradual small changes) or step (radical shift from current
processes to newer owns);
7. It is dependent on organization culture/environment.

FORCES OF CHANGE
An organization is an open system constantly interacting with external environment. Any
change in environment makes it essential for the organization to incorporate change in the
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internal systems, sub-systems and processes. There are two forces that induce change:
External Forces: These forces are change in environment external to the company.
Globalization, technology, governmental policies, legal implications, economic scenario,
socio- cultural trends, workforce diversity, scarcity of resources, managing ethical behavior
etc. are major external forces demanding change.
Internal Forces: Change of process, modification to human behavior, training and
development of work force based on new technology and adopting new polices, job
redesign; providing facilities like child care, frequent rest periods, flextime due changing
composition of workforce ; issues relating to industrial relations, strikes, layoffs etc are some
of the internal forces.

LEVELS OF CHANGE:
Change can take place at three levels; individual, group and organizational level
• Individual level change: At this level, change is reflected in job assignment, change
of location of work, level of maturity etc. Significant changes at individual levels have
its repercussions on the group, which might influence the whole of the organization.
• Group level change: Changes at group level affect work flow, job design, social
organization, influence and status system and communication pattern. Informal
groups can pose a major barrier to change because of inherent strength they
possess. Formal groups can also resist change. As group have powerful influence
over individuals, effective implementation of change at group level, can overcome the
resistance to change.
• Organization level changes: change at organizational level is referred as
„organization development‟. These are long term changes and affect everyone in the
organization. These are designed at the top management level. These changes include
reorganization of organizational structure and responsibilities, revamping of
remuneration system, changes in vision, mission and strategy etc.

FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS:

Kurt Lewin developed the Force Field Theory, which explains that when a decision to
implement change is taken, it becomes important to identify as to what forces are likely to
push the change and what forces are likely to restrain it. The process of identifying the
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number and strength of driving and restraining force is called the force field analysis. If the
analysis indicates that the restraining force is strong, steps may be required to reduce their
strength or increase the strength of the driving force. This may be carried out by briefing
sessions, meetings and conveying a point informally.
This is an important action to overcome resistance to change exhibited by people.

• Change process
Kurt Lewin proposed Three Stage Model of the change process for moving the organization
from present position to the changed position. This is done by unfreezing the current
situation, bringing the desired change and then refreezing the system so that it continues
to stay in desired state.
Unfreezing:
1. It involves encouraging employees to discard old behavior by shaking equilibrium
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 state.
2. A proactive problem is presented so that people recognize the need for change.
3. Practice of elimination of rewards for current practices is followed. This
encourages people to adopt new ways.
Moving:
1. Alter the behavior of individuals of the department in which the changes are to occur.
2. Moving employees developing new behaviors through structural changes
or organizational development.
Refreezing:
1. Change becomes permanent, new behaviors are established as new status quo.
2. The new ways of operating are cemented and reinforced.
3. Manager, at this stage ensure that organizational culture and reward system
encourage new behavior and stabilize it rather than falling back on old practices.
This model can be extended further into six stages of change process:
1. Becoming aware of the pressure of the change
2. Recognizing the need for change
3. Diagnosing the problem
4. Planning the change
5. Implementing the change
6. Follow up on the change

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
Individual sources of resistance towards a change exist in the basic human tenets or
characteristics and are influenced by the differences in perception, personal background,
needs or personality-related differences.

It is important to understand those triggering factors or issues which refrain individuals from
endorsing change or extending their support and cooperation towards any change initiatives
at an organizational level.

Criticizing the individuals or the teams for not being supportive in the stages of transition or
compelling them cannot be an effective solution for implementing change smoothly or in a
hassle free manner.

The resistance towards change at an individual level can be due to various reasons:

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 ▪ How satisfied they are with the existing state of affairs
▪ Whether they appreciate the overall end product of change and it’s outcome on them
▪ How much practical or realistic the change is
▪ What will be the possible cost change on the individual in terms of potential risks
involved, pressure to develop new competencies and disruptions

The following factors explain why individuals may pose resistance towards change:

▪ Habits: We individuals are influenced by our habits in our ways of working and accept
or reject a change depending upon the effect which a change may have on the existing
habits of the individuals.

For example, change in the office location might be subjected to resistance from the
individuals as this might compel them to change their existing life routine and create
a lot of difficulties in adjustment or coping with the schedule. The individuals might
have to drive a longer way for reaching their office, or start early from home for reaching
their office in time, etc.

▪ Lack of Acceptability or Tolerance for the Change: Some individuals endorse

change and welcome a change initiative happily while few individuals fear the impact
of change. Over a period of time change fatigue also builds up.
▪ Fear of a Negative Impact Economically or on the Income: During the process of
organizational restructuring or introduction of organization-wide change as a strategic
move on the part of the management, several inhibitions, and fear rule the thought
process of the individuals. Fear of possible loss of a job as a result of change or a
change in their income structure or may be a change in their work hours could be one
amongst the possible reasons.
▪ Fear of the Unseen and Unknown Future: Individuals develop inertia towards the
change due to the fear of unknown or uncertainties in the future. This can be tackled
through effective communication with the participants of change and making people
aware of the positives of change and the course of action which individuals are expected
to follow to cope with the changing requirements successfully.
▪ Fear of Losing Something Really Valuable: Any form of threat to personal security
or financial security or threat to the health of the individuals may lead to fear of losing
something precious as a result of the implementation of change.
▪ Selective Processing of Information: It can be considered as a filtering process in
which the individuals perceive or make judgments by gathering selective information
which is greatly influenced by their personal background, attitude, personal biases or
prejudices, etc.

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 If an individual maintains a negative attitude towards any kind of change, then they
are having a usual tendency of looking at the negativities associated with the change
and involve all the positive aspects of it.

▪ A Rigid Belief that change cannot bring about any facilitating change in the
organization and it only involves the pain and threats to the individuals.

Now, we will look into the organizational factors which result in resistance to change.

▪ Resistance Due to the Structural Rigidities or Limitations: Structural resistance

is a characteristic feature of bureaucracies, which focus more on stability, control, set
methodologies or routine.
▪ Ignoring all the interconnected factors which require change or lack of clarity in
understanding the ground realities.
▪ Inertia from the Groups: Groups may resist change because just like individuals,
groups equally follow set behavioural patterns, norms or culture and as a result of
change the groups might have to change their existing ways of conduct or behaviour.
▪ Possible threats to Power, Resources or Expertise can also result in resistance towards
an organization level change. Any kind of devolution of power or transfer of resources
from some agency or group to some other agency or a group will definitely lead to a
feeling of fear or inertia towards a change initiative.

In the end, it can be concluded that any kind of change will surely involve heavy resistance
at the individual as well as organizational level. But through effective communication during
all stages and consulting, desirable outcomes can be ensured by breaking all the possible
barriers or resistances towards a change.

What is more important is identifying the main source of resistance and accordingly
developing action plans for dealing with it.

Successful change in an organization will require strong commitment and involvement on

the part of the top management, focused and an integrated approach, strong and a stable
leadership, effective and open communication from the internal change agent for making
people sensitive and more aware of the realities and the ultimate need for change.

For minimizing the resistance towards the change employee participation and involvement in
the overall process plays a crucial role in building acceptability and seeking the cooperation of
the employees towards the change.

Hence proper planning, coordinated approach and complete involvement of all the
stakeholders, play a decisive role in implementing strategic decisions and determining the
success of change.

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According to Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) proposed six crucial techniques for overcoming
the resistance to change. These are given below:

1. Widespread Education and Improving Communication

2. Facilitating Participation and involvement
3. Support and Facilitation
4. Agreement & Negotiation
5. Co-optation & Manipulation
6. Coercion-Both Explicit and Implicit

1. Education and Effective Communication: This is one of the commonest techniques

for minimizing resistance to change by educating people and promoting awareness
through effective communication regarding the benefits of a planned change.

By explaining the need for change and the objectives of change, the management can
gain the much-needed support from the team members and facilitate its smoother
implementation.

With the help of two-way communication, the employee’s queries and oppositions
related to various aspects of change can be quickly addressed and thereby, minimize
the objections or hassles which may come across in the path of implementation of
change.

Given below are the important principles which are related to the communication of
change and require a lot of attention while implementation a planned change:

▪ A large-scale planned change can be effective and yield successful outcomes only
if it involves two-way communication efforts. Only top down communication or
one-way communication will fail to attract the desired commitment from the staff
members.
▪ The staff members do have a preference for being communicated about the
change on face to face basis from their immediate supervisors.
▪ According to Beckhard & Pritchard 1992; Robbins et al. 1998; Ivancevich &
Matteson 1996, employees prefer a consultation and involvement in the change.

Few important things which should be essentially followed while implementing an

organization-wide change are:

▪ Avoid sending emails or memo for informing the employees regarding a change
initiative and expect that the employees will be able to understand and accept it
readily.

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 ▪ Invite the suggestions and feedback from the staff members, involve them in the
process and encourage their participation for effective results.
▪ Communicate with people regularly by engaging in face to face interactions with
them both individually and in groups and provide them opportunities for
discussion.
2. Facilitating Participation and Involvement: This technique gives a lot of importance
to involving the resistors in the change process by setting up a collaborative
environment and implementing the change in consultation with the staff. It is a
constructive strategy and can be beneficial in minimizing the resistance to change by
involving the employees and seeking their participation in the entire process.
3. Support and Facilitation: Employees fear or resist change due to a number of reasons
as a result of which they pose a resistance or oppose any kind of transformation in the
existing ways of work or methods.

The employees look for complete emotional support and facilitation for being able to
cope up with the challenges resulting from the change and should be allowed to express
their fear, resentment or anger in connection with the change and the challenges of
change.

4. Agreement & Negotiation: This technique involves negotiating or bargaining with the
resistors on various aspects related to the change and making tradeoffs so that the
concerns of the resistors and the management are both being given due consideration
and importance.
5. Co-optation & Manipulation: This technique involves getting the support, persuading
or influencing the employees in favor of the change.

Manipulation involves covert attempts from the managers by withholding painful

information, twisting or distortion of the information for making it more appealing for
the staff members or spreading false rumors across the organization in order to compel
the employees to accept the change manipulatively.

Alternately, the managers can depend on staff polling strategy and make an attempt
towards persuading the resistors to join the rest of the group. The management may
even co-opt an individual and assign certain important responsibilities in connection
with the implementation of change.

6. Coercion: Implicit and Explicit: Coercion involves exercising force or threat for making
the change accepted and followed by the employees.

This strategy emphasizes more on the use of fear by way of direct or indirect threats
and involves harassment, bullying or compels the employees to act in accordance with
the expected ways or else resign. This strategy is illegal, ineffective and in the long-run,
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 will result in mass resentment, dissatisfaction, high rate of absenteeism, low
productivity and ultimately high employee turnover.

Selecting the Right Technique and the Relative Benefits of Each Technique

1. Education and Effective Communication: This technique is useful when there is an

absence of availability of ample information with the employees, or they have
inaccurate or partial information on various aspects of change. Once the employees
are convinced about the change, then they will help in the successful implementation
of change as change partners.
2. Facilitating Participation and Involvement: This technique can be useful when the
initiators lack substantial information for designing and implementing the change, or
the employees have tremendous power to resist the change.

The involvement of the employees can increase their commitment level and motivation
for supporting the change initiatives, reduce resistance and improve the quality of the
decision in connection with the change.

3. Support and Facilitation: This technique is useful when there is resistance towards
change from the people due to certain adjustment or adaptability issues. This is the
best technique as it involves employee facilitation, training & various supportive efforts
for reducing the resistance. However, this technique is very time consuming, expensive
and does not necessarily assure a successful outcome.
4. Agreement & Negotiation: This technique is effective when it involves exchanging
something valuable for reducing the resistance towards the change. This is one of the
most convenient techniques for avoiding any kind of major resistance.
5. Co-optation & Manipulation: This technique can be adopted only when the other
techniques fail to provide the desired results or are too expensive. This technique can
be relatively inexpensive and quick in terms of results.
6. Coercion (Explicit & Implicit): This technique should be avoided till the end and can
be used only as the last possible resort.

Change no matter how beneficial, is generally resented and is always difficult to implement.
Change brings with it new challenges, new experiences, and associated rewards, therefore
it should be welcomed and implemented with positivity and full support. However, following
factors resist change;
1. Job Security: people fear losing their jobs due to change. This is especially true in
the recent times when downsizing the organization as a measure of cost cutting is
the trend. Introduction of modern technology and systems gives doubts in the minds
of employees rather than the growth in productivity of the organization
2. Lack of Communication: Different people will see perceive proposed change in
different ways and resist it. Therefore, management must communicate in advance
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 the need for change, process to adopt for implementation of change. Employees
should be the participants right from the beginning of change process.
3. Rapidity and Extent of Change: If the change is of a minor nature and involves
routine operations, the resistance would be minimal. If on the contrary the change
is major and involves large number of employees there could be tremendous
resistance to it.
4. Group Phenomenon: Individual resist change because group wants it that way.
Importance of group cohesion, group norms, code of conduct and the group security
play a dominant role in individual behavior that makes them to resist change.
5. Emotions: If the experience of a past change has been pleasant, the resistance would
be negligible. Technical change is accepted willingly if it does not have adverse effect
on social fiber of the group. Resistance may be faced if the change ignores already
established institutions in the group with particular reference to customs and group
norms.
6. Loss of Power: Downsizing of department or posting of an executive to different
department, where there is a reduction of power base will be resisted by the affected
individuals.
7. Technology: Introduction of technology that causes economic loss and disturbs
social relationship is generally resisted.
8. New Practices: Certain practices like women domination at the top and strategy of
acquisitions and mergers is also resisted by the employees.

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Organizational development is a planned process of change in an organization‟s culture
through utilization of behavioral science technologies. According to French and Bell,
“Organizational development is a long term efforts, led and supported by top management
to improve an organization‟s visioning, empowerment, learning and problem solving
processes, through an ongoing, collaborative management or organization culture – with
special emphasis on the culture of intact work teams and other team configurations –
utilizing the consultant – facilitator role and the theory and technology of applied behavioral
science, including action research”.
OD is needed for (i) to provide training to employees to adjust with the change being
implemented, (ii) OD helps in making the organizational culture more responsive to
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dynamic environment and changes taking place. This helps to stabilize the change.

Features of Organizational Development (OD)

• It is a planned change.
• It is a long term effort because it takes several years/ decades to achieve a
change (sometimes done in stages)
• Organization development must be initiated, led and supported by top management.
They must encourage subordinates to introduce change leading to development.
• OD is a visioning process involving creation of a picture of the desired future of
the organization and working together to make that picture a reality.
• OD has a system orientation. It is concerned with various subsystems in the
organization and their interaction with each other.
• OD is always facilitated by an external change agent.
• OD is a learning process as it is interaction of individuals, teams and groups
functioning within the parameter of various systems and organization processes with
the aim of sharing knowledge and achieving growth.

• OD is a problem solving process

• It is a collaborative process because it stresses on collaboration among different
hierarchical levels.
• An ideal culture is mandatory for OD to be successful. A common and enriching
culture helps cope with change.
• OD is about team building and group processes. It is based on feedback and
corrective action.
• OD is flexible and pragmatic in approach.

Benefits of OD
• It provides opportunities to people to act as human beings, rather than mere
resources in the organization.
• Each individual gets an opportunity to develop to his full potential.
• It seeks to make organization more effective in meeting all its goals.
• It strives to create an environment in which exciting and challenging work
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 opportunities exist.
• It proved employees a chance to influence work and work environment
• It treats each human as a person with a complex set of needs.

Assumptions of OD
• Individuals are motivated by personal growth and development. The work habits
of a person will change positively only if the work environment is changed to suit his
needs.
• Highest productivity can be achieved by effective integration of individual goals
with organizational goals.
• OD assumes that cooperation is more effective than conflict.
• Free expression of feelings is an important ingredient for commitment to work.
• The level of inter personal trust; support and cooperation should be as high as
possible.
• There should be sense of commitment among the employees in the organization.
• OD cannot be implemented in isolation. It must be reinforced by organization‟s
human resource system.

Limitations of OD
OD suffers from following limitations:
• As OD is based on behavioral science concepts, all limitations associated with
behavioral sciences are passed on to OD.
• OD requires the services of diligent and highly motivated individuals who can take
initiative to bring change. In the absence of such people, OD cannot be fully
implemented.
• OD cannot be applied without giving due consideration to circumstances existing
within the organization. The local circumstances may pose a problem to OD.
Characteristics of employees of the organization also put limitations on OD.

Process of OD
A typical OD programme consists of following steps:

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 1. Diagnosis of the problem: Top management meets the consultant and discuss
issues being faced by the organization.
2. Collection of data: Consultant gathers data with the help of various tools like
interviews, surveys, existing records and documents etc. to find out roots of issues at
different levels of the organization.

3. Data feedback and confrontation: Findings of data gathered are shared by

consultant with top management and other work groups. These are discussed,
feedback is shared and common issues of concern are arrived at.
4. Planning Strategy for change: Consultant prepares rough draft of „change strategy‟
and discusses it with top management. When all agree about it, a detailed draft is
prepared by consultant.
5. Intervening the system: The detailed plan prepared in previous step is gradually
implementation. Various methods known as interventions are used by consultant to
make change effective.
6. Team Building: Consultant facilitates the implementation of change by encouraging
the formation of teams and small groups. Managers and their subordinates are
motivated to work together as team to achieve the desired outcomes.
7. Evaluation: For evaluation of OD programme, the use of critique sessions, appraisal
of change efforts and comparison of pre and post training behavioral patterns are
quite effective methods. As OD is a long process, its evaluation is very significant in
successful implementation of desired changes in the system.

Techniques/ Interventions of OD
There are four categories of OD interventions:
1. Human process interventions: These interventions aim at improving inter personal
skills of employees so that they can intelligently solve inter personal and inter group
problems. These include:
1. T groups or sensitivity training or lab training
2. Process Consultation
3. Third Party Intervention
4. Team Building

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 5. Organization Confrontation Meeting
6. Intergroup relations.
2. Techno structural Interventions: Experts in OD are increasingly relying on efforts to
change structures, methods and job designs of the organizations. Techno structural
interventions focus on productivity improvement and increasing efficiency. These include:

• Formal structural change

• Differentiation and integration
• Cooperative union management projects
• Quality circles
• Total Quality management (TQM)
• Work Design
3. Human Resource Management Interventions: HR practices such as hiring, training
and performance appraisal can mould employee commitment, motivation and productivity.
Therefore OD practitioners targets the change areas like firm‟s appraisal system, reward
system and workforce diversity programmes. These include:
• Goal Setting
• Performance appraisal
• Reward system
• Life and Career planning and development
• Managing work force diversity
• Employee wellness
4. Strategic Interventions: These are meant for the organization as the whole. These are
long term interventions involving major changes. These include:
• Integrated strategic management
• Culture change
• Strategic change
• Self designing organizations
Some of these interventions are discussed below:
5. T Group or Sensitivity training or Lab training
It is the most widely used technique. The method is used to train teams with an ultimate
objective of organizational development. Sensitivity training envisages formation of
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 unstructured small groups. Members of the group interact with each other and learn from
various situations. T group involves use of various models of role playing, learning, change
and transactional nature of human beings. Team building dynamics is the major part of T
group. Sensitivity training also involved organizational topic like deadlines, study
pertaining to duties and responsibilities, policy, procedures and inter organizational group
relationship. The method helps individuals to change attitude, understand human nature,
modify behavior to suit a particular situation and be a useful member of the team.
6. Process Consultation
Process consultation requires combination of skills in establishing relationship, knowing
what kinds of processes to look for in organizations and intervening in ways to improve
organizational processes. The essence of process consultation is that a skilled consultant
(facilitator) works with managers, groups and individuals with the object of developing their
process skills. It involves diagnosing, understanding and solving process related problems.
An organization has various processes (e.g. administrative process) having various sub-
processes within it. The managers have to evolve a particular process and ensure that it is
implemented by all the employees. For example in a communication process, the manager
must ensure free flow of vertical, horizontal and diagonal information and that no work
should suffer for the want of required information. If problems in the process persist, an
outsider consultant is employed to examine the process, identify problem areas, suggest
solutions, implement and obtain feedback. It involves ascertaining solutions to various
issues in the organization. Following process are taken into consideration:
• Organizational structure and organizational design modification
• Dynamics of inter-personal relationship
• Nature and scope of communication
• Issues relating to leadership style that are followed by various leaders
• Group problem solving on organizational, social and domestic issues
• Decision making process
• Welfare measures
• Training and development
• Issues of production, Quality control leading to product modification and thereby
• Achieving organizational effectiveness.

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 The process consultation sensitizes the individuals who are directly or indirectly involved
in above processes. Trend is observed in the organizational systems where individual
display their voluntary commitment to develop organizational processes and assist each
other to resolve issues irrespective of their departmental boundary.

7. Organizational Mirroring: Organizational mirroring is an intervention technique to assess

and improve organization‟s effectiveness by obtaining feedback from the organizations it is
interacting with. When an organization experiences difficulties working with other
organizations, it can seek assistance from these organizations. The process of organization
mirroring is as under:
• Representative from outside organizations like suppliers, government organizations
with whom host organization is facing problems are invited for mirroring or reflect
back their perception.
• Consultant generally interviews the people attending the meeting in advance of the
scheduled meeting.
• Consultant in the interview identifies the magnitude of the problem the host
organization is facing.
• Meeting continues in which groups/sub-groups identify problems faced by the host
organization and suggest solutions.
• Host organization should be genuine in wanting to resolve problems it is facing with
the external organizations, and then only, the organizational mirroring can be of use.
• Host organization should implement the action plan developed during the meeting.

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