Module 4: Organizational Processes and Behavior 1

MODULE 4: Organizational Processes and Behavior

Lesson 3: Change Management

Learning Outcomes 1. Describe the influence model of the change process in

organizations.
2. Contrast the forces for change and planned change.
3. Explain why people resist change, and how to manage such
resistance.
4. Describe four major factors that contribute to organizational
change.
5. Compare the four main approaches to managing
organizational change.
6. Explain the nature of organization development.
7. Develop useful insights into managing change in your job
and career.

Time Frame 2 sessions (3 hours)

U nless we want to produce positive outcomes for organizational behavior

(OB), which is, after all, the purpose of this text as a whole, we need to
tackle two realities of organizational life: change and stress. Let's think about
adjustment first, which also leads to higher stress. As we can see, the transition brought
on by several forces is either reactionary or expected.

ACTIVITY

Imagine yourself as a freshly hired management staff in a pharmaceutical company

that has several plants in the country. You were assigned by your supervisor to work at
the other plant which is far from the region you belong to.

ANALYSIS
Working in a remote area will be a phase – a stressful change. With the activity, what is
the positive side of taking the risk of change? What mindset should prevail? How about
the negative side of it?
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ABSTRACTION
3.1. What is Change?
Change often occurs along with one (or more) of six dimensions:
Change is really about
Changing
making things different.
nature of the
workforce
Nevertheless, the
expected change is
defined only in planned
Globalization Technology
changes. There are also
improvements in the
Forces of basic approach to
Change workplace requests. Any
companies view any
Economic modifications as an
Social Change
Shocks
unintended occurrence. In
this chapter, progress is
Competition discussed as a deliberate,
goal-oriented behavior.
Next, it aims to
strengthen the organization’s ability to respond to changes in the environment. Third,
it aims to improve the actions of workers. The solution is to have change agents. We
see a future for the company that others have not seen, and they are worthy of
inspiring, inventing, and executing this dream. Change agents can be managers or
non-managers, existing or new staff, or contractors.
Why is there resistance?
Our egos are vulnerable, we always see change as a threat. And when workers are
given details that indicate they need to improve, they lock on whatever evidence they
can find suggesting they’re good and don’t need to change (Audia & Brion, 2007).
Workers that have bad thoughts about improvement by not thinking about it,
maximize their use of sick leave or resign. Both of these responses will drain the
company of critical resources when it is desperately needed (Fugate, Kinicki, &
Prussia, 2008). Resistance to reform doesn’t only come from a lower level of
organization. In certain situations, higher-level managers may oppose improvements
suggested by subordinates, particularly if they are focused on immediate performance
(Sijbom, Janssen, & Van Yperen, 2015). Conversely, while leaders become more

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focused on competence and discovery, they become more likely to consider and
accept subordinates’ proposals for improvement.

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3.2. Sources of Resistance to Change
Aside from our egos, there are also other reasons why we resist change. Here are to know
a few.

Habit
When faced with change, this propensity to react in our normal ways
becomes a source of resistance.
Security
Persons with a strong need for security are likely to oppose transition
because it undermines their sense of safety.
Economic factors
Individual Sources
Changes in job assignments or established work schedules will give rise to
economic concerns if people are concerned.
Fear of the unknown
Change substitutes ambiguity and uncertainty for the unknown.
Selective information processing
Individuals are capable of deceptive retrieval of information in order to
keep their biases intact.

Structural inertia
Organizations have built-in mechanisms to produce stability.
Limited focus of change
Organizations are made up of a variety of interdependent subsystems.
Group inertia
Organizational Even if individuals desire to modify their actions, group norms can serve as
Sources a restriction.
Threat to expertise
Changes in organizational practices can jeopardize the expertise of
specialized groups.
Threat to established power relationships
Any transfer of the decision-making authority may disrupt long-
established power ties within the organization.

3.3. How to Overcome Resistance to Change

Eight tactics can help change agents deal with resistance to change (Smollan, 2011).
Let’s enumerate them briefly.
 Communication – Changes are more successful where an organization
communicates a concept that incorporates the needs of various parties
(shareholders, workers, the environment, customers) rather than shareholders
alone (Fiss & Zajac, 2006).
 Participation – Employee participation will reduce opposition, enhance
dedication, and increase the consistency of the decision to change.
 Building Support And Commitment – Employees are more likely to consider
changes because they are loyal to the company as a whole (Peccei, Giangreco, &

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 Sebastiano, 2011). Therefore, dismissing workers and reinforcing their loyalty to
the institution as a whole will make them contribute to reform rather than support
the status quo.
 Developing Positive Relationships – People are likely to consider changes if
they trust leaders introducing it (Kottler, 2007). Those who had a more supportive
relationship with their boss and believed that the work climate promoted growth
was even more optimistic about the transition process (van Dam, Oreg, & Schyns,
2008).
 Implementing Changes Fairly – One approach for organizations to reduce
adverse effects is to ensure that reform is enforced equally.
 Manipulation And Cooptation – Manipulation applies to the efforts at indirect
control. Twisting facts to make them more appealing, hiding information, and
making fake rumors to get workers to embrace changes are all forms of deception.
Cooptation is a mixture of coercion and involvement. This tries to buy off the
members of the opposition by offering them a central position, taking advice not
to find a viable way, but to gain their consent. Both manipulation and cooptation
are fairly cheap ways to obtain opposition's favor, but they can backfire if targets
are convinced that they are being manipulated or exploited. Once this has been
found, the integrity of the change agent can fall to zero.
 Selecting People Who Accept Change – Study shows that the ability to readily
accept and respond to change is correlated to personality — some individuals
have more favorable attitudes about change (Oreg, 2006). People who are open to
learning, able to face chances, and versatile in their actions are ideal candidates.
 Coercion – Coercion is more successful where some coercion or leverage is
exercised on at least some resisters — for example, once an employee is openly
refused a relocation offer, the prospect of delayed promotions can become a
possible reality in the minds of other workers. The benefits and drawbacks of
coercion are essentially the same as with bribery and cooptation.

1.4. Approaches to Managing Organizational Change

Here are some of the approaches to managing change.
 Lewin’s Three-Step Model – The model of Kurt Lewin (unfreezing, changing,
and refreezing) is generally known for change-making in psychology.
Implementation of the transition requires shifting the present state of the company
to the intended one, but this does not come immediately but at the same time.

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 Kotter’s Eight-Step to Change Management – There are a lot of theories about
how to “do” change. Most originate with the leadership and growth making guru,
John Kotter. A professor at Harvard Business School and a world-renowned
authority on transformation, Kotter published his eight-step method of change in
his 1995 book, “Leading Change.”

 Organizational Development – A series of coordinated reform initiatives, based

on humanistic-democratic principles, aimed at increasing corporate productivity
and the well-being of workers.
o Sensitivity Training – Training sessions that aim to improve behavior
through unstructured group experiences.
o Survey Feedback – The use of questionnaires to define gaps between the
opinions of members; discussion follows and alternatives are
recommended.
o Process Consultation – A conference at which the manager allows the
customer to consider the business incidents he or she needs to deal with
and to define procedures that require change.
o Team Building – High interaction between team leaders to improve
confidence and transparency.
o Intergroup Development – Organizational growth initiatives are being
made to shift the views, prejudices, and expectations that individuals have
about each other.
o Appreciative Inquiry – A strategy that aims to recognize the inherent
characteristics and exceptional abilities of a company that can then be
expanded on to enhance its performance.

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APPLICATION

What do you think are the best ways to prepare employees for organizational change?
Support your answers.
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Thank you for taking part in the activity.

You are almost there. Please proceed to the Module Assessment.

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MODULE ASSESSMENT

1. What organizational design do you think is best suited to incorporate

employees who work from home? Why?
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2. Identify a job in any field of business that you think experiences a lot of
negative stress and its stressors. Define a possible mechanism to address the
stress.
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3. How does culture affect the way you handle organizational change?
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MODULE SUMMARY
1. An organization is a community of individuals working together to accomplish a
collective purpose (or a broad group). Organizational design is the method of
designing a system that better fits the objectives, the strategy, and the
environment of the organization.
2. Organizations are so dynamic that several variables need to be defined,
comparable to humans or machines. Its founding concepts are formalization,
centralization, span of control, chain of command, and work specialization.
3. There are three most common organizational frameworks: simple structure,
bureaucracy, and matrix system.
4. Organizational culture refers to a system of shared concepts established by
members that distinguish the company from other organizations. It has seven
primary characteristics that convey its essence.
5. Socialization is a mechanism that adapts staff to the culture of the company. The
Socialization Process undergoes three stages: pre-arrival stage, encounter stage,
and metamorphosis.
6. Change is really about making things different, and it occurs along with one (or
more) of six dimensions. Change agents have eight tactics to help deal with
resistance to change. There are a few approaches to address change: Lewin’s
Three-Step Model, Kotter’s Eight-Step to Change Management and Organization
Development.
7. Stress is a complex situation in which a person is faced with an incentive, a need,
or a resource relevant to what the person needs and for which the result is
considered to be both unpredictable and significant. Strategies to be addressed
include optimizing workforce retention and work choice, goal-setting, job
redesign, increasing workplace engagement, internal communication, employee
sabbaticals, and corporate health initiatives.

Module 4 is now complete.

Thank you for participating in the activity.
I hope you were able to understand how an organization behaves.

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