Content: 

• Approaches to managing organizational change
• Creating a culture for change
• Work stress and its management

Forces for Change

What are the main forces of change in organizations?

• Nature of the workforce
• Technology
• Economic Shocks
• Competition
• Social Trends
• Work Politics

Managing Planned Change

            Change = making things different

            Planned change = change activities that are intentional and goal directed

            Change agents = catalysts who assume the responsibility for managing change activities

Resistance to Change

Why do we resist change at work?

            Individual Resistance

                        Habit, security, economic factors, fear of the unknown, selective information processing

            Organizational Resistance

Structural inertia, limited focus of change, group inertia, threat to expertise, threat to established power relationships, threat to established resource allocations

So, how do we overcome these?

Overcoming Resistance to Change

           Education and communication

            Participation

            Facilitation and Support

            Negotiation

            Manipulation and cooptation

            Coercion

*Note that politics often comes into play when we talk about change (political behavior often determines the speed and quantity of change)

Approaches to Managing Organizational Change

            Lewin’s 3 Step Model

                        Unfreezing: Overcome the pressures of both individual resistance and group conformity

                        Movement: To a new state

                        Refreezing: Stabilizing the change by balancing driving and restraining forces

           Action Research: Based on a systematic collection of data and THEN selection of a change action based on what the analyzed data indicate

Organizational Development

            A collection of planned change interventions – built on humanistic-democratic values, that seeks to improve organizational effectiveness and employee well-being.  It can include: sensitivity training, survey feedback, process consultation, team building, intergroup development and appreciative inquiry.

Contemporary Issues

            Stimulating innovation (new ideas applied to initiating or improving a product, process or service)

            Creating a learning organization (an organization that has developed the continuous process capacity to adapt and change)

Knowledge management (a process of organizing and distributing an organization’s collective wisdom so the right information ges to the right people at the right time

Note: Don’t forget to consider culture as you attempt to change your organization (p. 576)

Work Stress and Its Management

            Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or demand related to what he or she desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important.  Sources of stress include environmental factors, organizational factors, and individual factors.

            The consequences of stress include physiological symptoms, psychological symptoms, and behavioral symptoms.

How do we manage it? Time management, exercise, relaxation training, and expanding our social support network.  “Wellness programs” in organizations seek to help employees manage stress

Summary and Implications for Managers

• Change has been stressed throughout the textbook – leadership, motivation, organizational culture, etc.
• The real world is often turbulent and fast-changing – organizations need employees and systems to change in order to compete
• Managers and organizational structures often lead to change
• Stress, in and of itself, need not imply lower performance.  Low to moderate amounts are generally helpful in increasing employee intensity, alertness, and ability to react. (However, even low levels of stress tend to lower job satisfaction levels)
• However, long term, high levels of stress can reduce performance – try to manage stress