Journal of Change Management Vol. 5, No. 4, 369 –380, December 2005
Organisational Change Management: A Critical Review
RUNE TODNEM BY
Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, UK
ABSTRACT It can be argued that the successful management of change is crucial to any organisation in order to survive and succeed in the present highly competitive and continuously evolving business environment. However, theories and approaches to change management currently available to academics and practitioners are often contradictory, mostly lacking empirical evidence and supported by unchallenged hypotheses concerning the nature of contemporary organisational change management. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to provide a critical review of
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Secondly, there is a consensus that change, being triggered by internal or external factors, comes in all shapes, forms and sizes (Balogun and Hope Hailey, 2004; Burnes, 2004; Carnall, 2003; Kotter, 1996; Luecke, 2003), and, therefore, affects all organisations in all industries. While there is an ever-growing generic literature emphasising the importance of change and suggesting ways to approach it, very little empirical evidence has been provided in support of the different theories and approaches suggested (Guimaraes and Armstrong, 1998). The purpose of this article is, therefore, to provide a critical review of theories and approaches currently available in a bid to encourage further research into the nature of organisational change with the aim of constructing a new and pragmatic framework for the management of it. In order to do so the article has adopted Senior’s (2002) three categories of change as a structure with which to link other main theories and approaches. These three categories have been identified as change characterised by the rate of occurrence, by how it comes about, and by scale. Although total quality management (TQM), business process re-engineering (BPR) and other change initiatives embrace
Change management according to many becomes essential for the following reason: external pressure; which can encompass competition, new technology, cost, and regulation changes. Furthermore, economic and social conditions can escalate long-term change necessary. This paper will discuss several aspects of change management models, theories, and application thereof. In addition, it will provide overviews of the drivers of change, factors necessary for to implement change successfully, strategies and expectations of management, and leadership styles needed for influence and effectiveness.
Change in an organization can be and usually is difficult for various reasons. Much of the difficulty is in the approach used to initiate change and the willingness to stay engaged and stamina to sustain change through to the end. Organizations can choose to lead by recognizing and implementing change, follow in the shadow of organizations leading the market, or get out of the way by standing still and eventually going under. With this said; if change was easily done and successful for every organization there would be no need for change management specialists and years
Fincham and Rhodes (2005, p525) define change management as ‘the leadership and direction of the process of organisational transformation – especially with regard to human aspects and overcoming resistance to change’.
In order to examine this issue further, this research will look at a number of different sources. Contemporary managerial sources are explored in order to understand how other voices in the field are describing similar methods for change. First, popular structures for change management are examined, especially within their correlation to Palmer & Dunford (2009). This is followed with an extensive
Academics such as Lewin and Kotter have outlined frameworks which fellow re-searchers can refer to when trying to implement organisational change successful-ly. Although there are many theories regarding change management, this research will focus Lewin’s change management model and Kotter’s 8 step model.
Leading and managing change require a solid theoretical foundation. This assignment will research the theoretical elements of change and change management. Addressed will be the following: Organic Evolution of Change, Formulating Strategic Development Approaches, Leadership and Management Skills and Gathering and Analyze Data. As societies continue to evolve and changing demand creates the need for new products and services, businesses often are forced to make changes to stay competitive. The businesses that continue to survive and even thrive are usually the ones that most readily adapt to change. A variety of factors can cause a business to reevaluate its methods of operation. According to literature from the past two
Change Management is a modification in an organizations practice. It is instituted to profit the company and to improve the system. From the mid-2000s, change management has developed enduring landscapes for any organizations as if it’s related to business field or health care industry. In order to be in today’s competitive market; change management is very important part of any company (Aguirre & Alpern 2014). Technology and advancements is rapidly expanding and changing working organizations’ everyday atmosphere. Due to economic changes many businesses are being obliged to merged or downsized with other companies in order to increase their financial stability. Change management stepped in when employers or employees couldn’t keep up with
This assignment will critically evaluate change models and strategies with reference their effectiveness when implementing a change in an organisation. Justify and design an intervention which demonstrates how a leader can initiate this change. In order to address the subject of change one must grasp a full understanding of what it is change, change can be defined as "a necessity to adapt, stay relevant & survive" (Hayes, 2010).
1.1 Change management is described by Armstrong (1) as “the process of achieving the smooth implementation of change by planning and introducing it systematically taking into account the likelihood of it being resisted”. Change, the fundamental constant in any successful organisation, can be adaptive, reconstructive, revolutionary or evolutionary and can happen for a number of diverse reasons:
In an ever-changing business environment, for organisations to remain competitive in this fast-moving world of technological development and globalization, organisations must examine frameworks regularly and manage change and their working practices and systems if they are to remain competitive. “It is becoming increasingly important for organizations to gain competitive advantage by being able to manage and survive change ” “Organizational change has become synonymous with managerial effectiveness since the 1980s (Burnes, 1996; Wilson, 1992). A definition given by Mark Hughes (2006 ) in his book Change Management
Change management is relevant as though the research finds that change is taking place at an ever-increasing pace, the evidence suggests that most change initiatives fail. For example, recent CIPD research suggested that less than 60% of re-organisations met their stated objectives which are usually bottom line improvement. This is consistent with other published research.
For any business in the rapidly evolving world of business, planning and implementing successful organizational change is indispensable. Essentially, organizational change refers to a process whereby an organization strives to optimize performance in order to achieve its ideal state characterized by high performance and profitability (Côté & Mayhew, 2014). Any business would be more likely to lose its competitive edge, as well as fail to meet the demands of its loyal consumers if it doesn’t plan and implement change. Weiss (2012) emphasizes that all organizations ought to embrace change, and it’s imperative to note that successful organizational change doesn’t involve simple process of adjustments; instead it requires appropriate change management capabilities.
In today’s economy I see business like Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and HEB Grocery is always making changes. Changes in organizations like these are challenging aspect to implement. If an organization applies strategies and they do not yield the expected result for a successful operation, it is important to change and try out new ways. It is the organization responsibility to implement the change. The major challenges that change faces include resistance and strategies to incorporate the new ways of operation. Failure to adopt new strategies results from the failure to implement the changes successfully. It is therefore important to ensure that an appropriate change model is used to ensure that the changes are embraced by the organization.
Organizational change is usually triggered by relevant environment shift, either internal or external, that sensed by companies and leads to intentionally generated response (French, Bell & Zawacki, 2006). This paper will discuss several organization development models..
Many companies emphasize a culture of continuous improvement. While never being satisfied with the status quo can drive