Change management strategies
Name
MMSL 6000 - Dynamic Leadership
2022
Change management strategies.
Warrilow, (2010) refers to change management strategies as the techniques adopted to effectively
manage change in an environment experiencing change dynamics so as to embrace change and
direct it towards positive contribution of a given organization.
Before any strategy is adopted the organization must know its strength and weaknesses, their
customers’ needs and the nature of the environment in which they operate. A SWOT analysis can
be used to benchmark an organization’s performance against a range of internal and external
comparators (Camp, 1999). A SWOT analysis enables managers to identify the key internal and
external issues they need to take into account in order to understand the context in which the
organization operates, and thus areas where they need to make choices.
Empirical-Rational.
According to Nickols (2004), People are rational beings and will follow their self-interest once it
is revealed to them. Successful change is based on the communication of information and the
proffering of incentives. For the most part, people are reasonable and they can be reasoned with.
In short, they can be persuaded. Value judgments aside, they can also be bought. This is the
“carrot” side of carrot- and-stick management. But for reason and incentives to work, there has
to be very little in the way of a downside to the change. If there’s a big downside, it’s not offset
by an upside that is big and attractive enough to offset the downside, and null out any risk
involved, people will indeed be rational; that is, they will oppose or resist the change overtly or
covertly. Change strategy here centers on the balance of incentives and risk management, and it
is majorly used to reduce resistance to change and improve organizational performance.
Power-Coercive.
According to Nickols (2004), People are basically compliant and will generally do what they are
told or can be made to do. Successful change is based on the exercise of authority and the
imposition of sanctions. The basic aim here is to decrease people’s options, not increase them.
Surprisingly, in many situations, people actually want and will readily accept this approach,
particularly when they feel threatened and few know what to do. This is the “stick” side of
carrot-and stick management. Two major factors influencing the choice of this strategy are time
and the seriousness of the threat faced.
Environmental- Adaptive.
According to Nickols (2004), People oppose loss and disruption but they adapt readily to new
circumstances. Change is based on building a new organization and gradually transferring people
from the old one to the new one. This strategy seeks to shift the burden of change from
management and the organization to the people. It exploits their natural adaptive nature and
avoids the many complications associated with trying to change people or their culture.
Normative-Reeducative.
According to Nickols (2004), People are social beings and will adhere to cultural norms and
values. Successful change is based on redefining and reinterpreting existing norms and values,
and developing commitments to new ones. Change strategy here focuses squarely on culture –
what people believe about their world, their work and themselves and the ways in which people
behave so as to be consistent with these beliefs.
Lewin’s process of change.
Successful change according to Lewin requires the ‘unfreezing’ of current attitudes, systems and
behaviours. He proposed that a programme of planned change and improved performance
incorporates a three-phase process:
First phase is unfreezing; reducing the forces that maintain the status quo; recognizing the need
for change and improvement to take place. Second phase is transition; the development of new
attitudes or behaviours and implementation of the change. Third phase is refreezing; stabilizing
the change at the new level and supporting mechanisms in place to reinforce the change.
The failure of change management strategies.
Even though it is of critical importance to have organizational change in the hotel industry, many
changes have not been successful, achieved the aimed-for goals or increased competitiveness and
profitability. The change management literature by Hamlin reports many examples of managerial
failure in both the formulation and implementation of strategy, particularly strategies involving
significant organizational change and development (Hamlin, 2001:16). For example according to
the survey of TQM program from Schaffer and Thompson, 229 companies from the surveyed
300 electronics companies in the USA, 63% failed to reach the improvements in quality and only
10% of these programs were successful (Schaffer and Thompson,1992). The picture is almost the
same in Europe and in Africa. Although over two thirds of the top 500 companies in Britain have
introduced TQM, only 8% of managers (in these companies) believe it has been successful
(Wilkinson et al. 1993). Such a high proportion of organizational change fail is to some extent
astonishing. Therefore it is worthwhile and important to ferret out why change management
strategies fail.
REFERENCES
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