Change is inevitable. According to Borkowski (2005), “change is a very complex phenomenon involving the multiplicity of man’s motivations in both micro and macro systems and that man gets satisfied with his equilibrium and is resistant to changing his status quo.” Most organizational efforts will be met by resistance. The concord bookshop is initiating a change due to the store’s financial situation. The President of the bookshop announced that a new general manager will be hired. This will not lead to any salary cuts or employee lay off. Employees were not happy with this change and met with board members to express their concerns but the board members had already made up their minds and told employees to decide on how they want to proceed. This approach backfired, which led some of the employees to quit or give their notice (Spector, 2010).
This paper discusses the phases in the organizational change process and also discusses the phases that was not completed or implemented at the concord bookshop that led to the change failure. Phases in the Organizational Change Process
In 1947, Kurt Lewin developed a three stage process of implementing change which is necessary for effective change within an organization. The three stages are: Unfreezing: Recognizing the need for change is very vital. This is the first phase that involves preparing the organization to accept that change is necessary. The existing status quo has to be broken down before a new way of operating is built. Organizations need to give reasons why things cannot continue the present way. This gives employees an understanding of the need for change. This stage also involves investigating the resisting forces. According to Borkowski (2005), unfreezing takes place when managers effectively communicate the need for change and the organizational and personal benefits that would come out of it. This stage can also be described as the strategic renewal stage.
The Essay on How Frequent Organisational Changes Affect Employees
Today’s business world is constantly evolving. To keep up with the rapidly shifting environment, companies introduce process changes frequently within their organization to improve performance, and outdo their competition. In this memo, the pros and cons of frequent organizational changes are first investigated. By going through the effectiveness of adopting specific activities and leadership ...
Change: This is the phase where implementation takes place. In this phase people begin to act in ways that supports the new direction. The transition from unfreeze to change takes time. Employees should be given adequate time to understand the changes. It is important that members of the affected workforce participate in the design of the new approaches and fully understand the benefits of the change to make acceptance easier (Borkowski, 2005).
Communication throughout the transition period allows the employees to feel connected to the organization, which leads to change success. Refreezing: In this phase, the desired changes have been implemented, and continuous monitoring and readjustments are necessary. Refreezing involves developing ways to support the change such as creating a reward system to reinforce the change process, establishing feedback systems, maximizing the desired behaviors of staff or employees, providing training and ensuring leadership support. This phase is also known as strategic responsiveness. Phases not Completed or Implemented at Concord Bookshop
The first phase of unfreezing was not completed at the Concord Bookshop. The leaders of the organization recognized the need for change but did not prepare the employees for the change or involve them. This led to resistance by the employees. The employees were not given reason for the change until they requested a meeting with the board. Even after the meeting, the board made it clear they had made up their minds and was not ready to make any adjustments to their decision. This made the staff feel expendable. The change implementation phase was also not completed. The managers felt the financial health of the bookshop was at a good place and did not agree with the leaders. The leadership of the Concord Bookshop was not able to convince the employees and managers of the need for a change. Conflict ensued as a result of the change that led eight of the bookshop employees and three top managers to quit (Spector, 2010).
The Essay on The Change Of American Lives In Support Of The Second World War
Since the end of the First World War, the American had no intention of getting involved in any war, and they were ready to sigh and isolation policy in 1940s. Though the will to sigh the policy was there, the Americans felt hurt when Japanese attacked their allies in Europe on the 7th December years 1941 (U-s-history.com. 2014). This resulted in the turnup of the events, and the country decided to ...
The refreeze phase was not implemented at all. Since the change was not implemented, there was no way for the change to become a routine and accepted into the day-to-day practices of the bookshop. Conclusion
Change affects those involved either in a negative or positive way. Change can produce opportunities, growth, transition, and sometimes resistance. Resistance needs to be handled professionally and needs to be resolved before continuing the process. Leaders can increase the support for change through effective communication and by allowing employees to participate in the formulation of change plans.
References
Borkowski, N. (2005).
Organizational behavior in health care. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Spector, B. (2010).
Implementing organizational change: Theory into practice (2nd ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice hall.
