Page 28 - DMGT520_ORGANIZATION_CHANGE_AND_DEVELOPMENT

Unit 2: Nature of Planned Change

 Select an Agent of Change: The next step is that the management must decide as to who Notes
will initiate and oversee this change. One of the existing managers may be assigned this
duty or even sometimes specialists and consultants can be brought in from outside to
suggest the various methods to bring in the change and monitor the change process.
 Diagnose the Problem: The person who is appointed as the agent of change will then
gather all relevant data regarding the area or the problem where the change is needed.
This data should be critically analyzed to pinpoint the key issues. Then the solutions can
be focused on those key issues.
 Select Methodology: The next important step is selecting a methodology for change which
would be commonly acceptable and correct. As the human tendency is to resist the change,
employee’s emotions must be taken into consideration when devising such methodology.
 Develop a Plan: After devising the methodology, the next step will be to put together a
plan as to what is to be done.

Example: If the management wants to change the promotion policy, it must decide as to
what type of employees will be affected by it, whether to change the policy for all the departments
at once or to try it on a few selected departments first.
 Strategy for Implementation of the Plan: In this stage, the management must decide on
the ‘when’, ‘where’ and ‘how’ of the plan. This include the right time of putting the plan to
work, how the plan will be communicated to the employees’ in order to have the least
resistance and how the implementation will be monitored.

2.4.2 Assessing Change Forces

The planned change does not come automatically; rather there are many forces in individuals,
groups and organisation which resist such change. The change process will never be successful
unless the cooperation of employees is ensured. Therefore, the management will have to create
an environment in which change will be amicably accepted by people. If the management can
overcome the resistance the change process will succeed.
In a group process, there are always some forces who favor the change and some forces that are
against the change. Thus, equilibrium is maintained. Kurt Lewin calls in the “field of forces”.
Lewin assumes that in every situation there are both driving and restraining forces which
influence any change that may occur.

Driving Forces are those, forces, which affect a situation by pushing in a particular direction.
These forces tend to initiate the change and keep it going. Restraining Forces act to restrain or
decrease – the driving forces. Equilibrium is reached when the sum of the driving forces equals
the ‘sum of the restraining forces.
There may be three types of situations, as both driving and restraining forces are operating:

1. If the driving forces far out weight the restraining forces, management can push, driving
forces and overpower restraining forces.
2. If restraining forces are stronger than driving forces, management either gives up the
change programme or it can pursue it by concentrating on driving forces and changing
restraining forces into driving ones or immobilizing them.

3. If driving and restraining forces are fairly equal, management can push up driving forces
and at the same time can convert or immobilize restraining forces.

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