Leading change will inevitably also be concerned with overcoming resistance to change

Driving forces for change

external forces (e.g. constraints from suppliers, customer needs) internal forces (e.g. org growth, office politics, restructuring)

Driving forces against change

Individual resistance organisational resistance

Loss of job Reduction of career prospects Down grading of work Effects in pay Loss of status - empires Reduction in responsibility or job interest Need to learn new skills New and unknown bosses New and known (!) bosses Break up of established work groups Transfer to new, unknown (known!) locations or departments

Underlying Reasons Why Individuals Resist Change

Perceived lack of new skills, loss of old Loss of power base

Fear of the Unknown

Loss of rewards

Dislike of uncertainty ambiguity

Lewins Force-Field Theory of Change

Organisational change occurs when: forces for change strengthen restraining forces lessen, or both processes occur simultaneously

1. Define problem (current state) and target situation (target state). 2. List forces working for and against the desired changes. 3. Rate the strength of each force. 4. Draw diagram (length of line denotes strength of the force). 5. Indicate how important each force is. 6. How to strengthen each important supporting force? 7. How to weaken each important resisting force? 8. Identify resources needed. 9. Make action plan: timings, milestones, responsibilities.

Look for closed attitudes. Look for an entrenched culture. Look for rigid structures and systems. Look for counterproductive change dynamics. Assess the overall resistance to change by:

examining to what extent the various forces of resistance are correlated with one another. describing the resistance threshold in terms of power and resources needed to deal with the resistance.

Unfreezing--melting away resistance

Change--departure from the status quo

Refreezing--change becomes routine

WHY TO USE?
Force-field analysis focuses our attention on ways of reducing the hindering forces and encouraging the positive ones.

education & communication participation & involvement facilitation & support negotiation & agreement manipulation & co-optation explicit and implicit coercion

Styles of managing strategic change

Style

Means/context

Benefits

Problems

Circumstances of effectiveness

Education and communication

Mutual trust/respect Small group briefings Small group/taskforce involvement

Overcoming lack of (or mis) information

Timeconsuming Direction or progress may be unclear

Participation

Increasing ownership of a decision or process May improve quality of decisions Process is guided/controlled But involvement takes place

Time consuming Solutions/outco me within existing

paradigm

Incremental change or long time horizontal transformational change

Intervention/ manipulation

Direction

Coercion/edict

Change agent retains coordination/contr ol: delegates aspects of change Use of authority to set direction and means of change Exploit use of power through edict or imposition of change

Risk of perceived manipulation

Incremental or non-crisis transformational change

Clarity and speed

Risk of lack of acceptance and ill-conceived strategy Least successful unless crisis

Transformational change

May be successful in crises or state of confusion

Crisis, rapid transformational change or change in established autocratic cultures

Source: Johnson and Scholes (2003)

Economic Shareholder oriented Money incentives Layoffs Downsizing Restructuring Organisational Capability Softer Culture change Emphasis on individual & organisational learning

Stories
Members of the organisation tell these to insiders and outsiders. The history of the organisation is embedded in the present through important past events and personalities, including mavericks that deviate from the norm.

Routines and Rituals

Routines are part of the culture (the way things are done around here) and as such may demonstrate a beneficial competency. Rituals signal what is especially valued. They include events such as training programmes, promotion and assessment.

Symbols
These are demonstrated by the language and terminology used in the organisation. They include logos, offices, cars and titles.

Control Systems
These are measurement and reward systems that monitor activities designated as important.

Power Structures
These are most likely to be considered as integral to the nature of the paradigm. Key groups are likely to be associated with an organisations core assumptions and beliefs.

Organisational Structure
These are more informal ways in which the organisation works. Structures are likely to reflect power.

The Paradigm
These are the taken for granted assumptions about the organisation. They partly appear in Mission Statements and other documents but it would be a misrepresentation to say that these were the paradigm.

A Cultural Web of the UK National Health Service

STORIES Cures Villians (politicians) Heroes and heroism Change agents are fools Abuse of managers The golden age ROUTINES & RITUALS Clinical rituals Consultation ceremonies Patient infantalising - waiting rooms - putting to bed - waking up Ward rounds Blaming next tier CONTROLS Financial Waiting lists reporting Consultant episodes Professional responsibility ORGANISATION Hierarchical Mechanistic Pecking order of services Tribal/Functional SYMBOLS Terminology White coats/uniforms Retinues Mobile phones Doctors dining room Big institutions Royal

PARADIGM NHS is a Good Thing Public service Free at point of delivery Clinicians values Providers know Acute sector superior best Ours

POWER Fragmented :- professional - doctors bodies - senior clinicians Old Boy network Politicians

Mapping Required Changes

FROM WHAT IS

TO WHAT IS NEEDED

There are three issues that managers leading change need to address Major change requires a shift in the underlying culture of the organisation and therefore the attitudes and behaviors of the employees

If change implementation efforts are to be successful, they need to be designed to fit the organisational context, that is, they need to be context sensitive. Change is about changing people, not organizations. Organizations change when the managers and employees change their way of doing business

A culture web represents culture as an interlinked set of organisational subsystems in which the paradigm drives the visible manifestations of culture, such as the organisational symbols, routines and rituals, stories, control systems and structures

Changing individuals requires considerable investment, for example in communication, education, training and support. That is why this article talks of paths of change

Routines are 'the way things are done round here'. These are powerful instruments to blocking the change process.

There is a need to understand that the 'mundane tools that involve the creation and manipulation of symbols over time have impact to the extent that they re-shape beliefs and expectations' (Tom Peters, 1987) The rituals or rites of organisations have an important role in affecting or consolidating change.

What are the political mechanisms that can be manipulated within organisations? Resources Elites Subsystems Symbolic

Political mechanisms in Organisations

Activity areas Resources Building the power base Control of resources Acquisition of/identification with expertise Acquisition of additional resources

Mechanisms Elites Sponsorship by an elite Association with an elite Subsystems Alliance building Team building Symbolic Building on legitimation

Key problems

Overcoming resistance

Withdrawal of resources Use of counterintelligence information

Breakdown or division of elites Association with change agent Association with respected outsider Removal of resistant elites Need for visible change hero

Foster momentum for change Sponsorship/ reward of change agents

Attack or remove legitimation Foster confusion, conflict and questioning

Time required for building Perceived quality of ideals Perceived as threat by existing elites Striking from too low a power base Potentially destructive: need for rapid rebuilding

Achieving compliance

Giving resources

Partial implementation and participation Implantation of disciples Support for young Turks

Applause/ reward Reassurance Symbolic confirmation

Converting the body of the organisation Slipping back

Source: Johnson and Scholes (2003)

The track record of success in bringing about strategic change within organisations is poor. Many simply fail to grasp that it is implementation (that is, actually turning plans into reality) rather than formulation that is the hard par