blog 4 Managing Change

 Managing Change

Argument on the  Mullins’ view

Change is often perceived differently by different individuals. Some are eager for change and can are usually visionaries and ambitious people. Others are indifferent or skeptical about change and view it as a negative thing. They are usually pragmatists and realists. These different perceptions are influenced by varying individual personalities (Jiang & Gu, 2015). The argument for Mullin’s view is based on the idea that these personalities cannot be changed, therefore, management can do little to avoid resistance to change. Galli (2018) also supported that personality has a great influence on the formation of employees' resistance to change. For example, employees who dare to take risks will be more likely to accept change and new things, while employees with more conservative personality will be afraid to go out of their comfort zone, so they are afraid of change. In addition, Lozic (2021) argued that one of the most baffling and intractable problems top managers encounter is employee resistance to change. The manifestations of this resistance may be varied, such as reduced productivity, increased turnover, repeated disputes, depressed employees and even sabotage. In response to the negative resistance of employees, managers often need to spend a lot of time and resources to deal with this problem, which leads to a decrease in the effect of change.

The argument against Mullins’ view is that while personalities cannot be changed, leaders and managers can play a significant role in avoiding and overcoming resistance to change. While change is often thought of as a disruptive force, people can learn to cope with it over time. Carnall’s coping cycle describes the stages involved in people’s reactions to change (Brewis, 2021). The first stage is denial, where people dismiss the idea of change. The second is defence, where people are aware of changes but still disagree with them. The third stage is discarding, where people learn to let go of previous cultures and develop adaptive methods in the fourth stage. The fifth stage is internalization, where people agree with the idea and necessity of change (Brewis, 2021). Leaders and managers must understand each stage to identify effective ways of dealing with employees in each stage to ensure they reach the internalization stage.

Discussion on the role of managers

Managers play an important role in implementing successful organizational change. Some of the most appropriate leadership styles are participative and transformational leadership. Participative leadership allows employees to participate in decision-making. Transformational leaders inspire and motivate their followers to commit to shared goals and visions. With the two leadership styles, the work environment becomes more trusting and committed toward organizational goals and objectives (Akinbode & Al Shuhumi, 2018). They help employees feel valued and important for the company. This is because their concerns are addressed and considered in decision-making. Transformational leaders undertake individualised approaches to managing employees, which describes managerial support for employees. This approach fosters increased employee satisfaction and lower employee turnover.

Change model: Lewin’s Change Management Model

Blocks of ice can be melted, changed in shape, and refrozen to maintain their shape and stability. This is the concept used in Lewin's model, which consists of the unfreeze, change, and refreeze stages. Unfreezing occurs to inform employees of upcoming changes to help them prepare mentally. Changes are implemented in the second stage after everyone understands the need for change. Refreezing occurs to incorporate the changes as part of daily routines and company culture (Galli, 2018).  During this process, individuals also undergo Carnall’s coping cycle and leaders should be there to assist with the transition.

Figure 1  Lewin’s Change Management Model

Lewin’s model is convenient because it is easy to understand for any organization using it for the first time. The model also makes sense in that it focuses on a simple approach to implementing change. Behavioral elements are also based on human psychology, making it more effective in most circumstances.

The model has some limitations as well. Firstly, it is not well-detail but gives generalized approaches to the entire change management process. It is also very rigid, which undermines the dynamic nature of modern business environments. Constant changes in today’s organisations could be undermined by its rigidity. The model can also be considered combative and less nurturing because it focuses on opposing forces to achieve the overall advantages.

In addition, John Cotter pointed out that any enterprise needs change in order to develop, and in the stage of enterprise change, what are the requirements of the enterprise for leaders, what role and function should leaders play in the period of change, and reveal that change The ultimate success is determined by the courage of the leader. Cotter introduces the classic eight steps of change management. The advantage of this model is that it can help companies clearly understand the key aspects of implementing change. At the same time, this model can quickly form a systematic idea when planning and implementing change projects for enterprises, and improve the success probability of enterprise change. However, the disadvantage of this model is that it takes more time and resources, more people are required to participate in the change process, and the expected time for the effect of the change is very long.

Figure 2 8 Step Kotter Model for Change

Examples: Netflix Change Management

Netflix implemented successful changes to the organizational culture using Lewin's change management model. Netflix realized it could benefit more by meeting customer needs in the digital era. Appropriate stakeholders were informed of the need for the change. Management played an important role in convincing them of the benefits of the change. The change was not easy to implement and initially, Netflix saw a drop in the number of subscribers. However, the change was successful as more people subscribed to the streaming service, and subscribers grew to over 137 million by 2018 (Lozic, 2021).

Recommendations

Given the potential for resistance to change, leaders should allow adequate preparation for employees by communicating early about the change. Through transformational and participative leadership, employees will feel more valued and be inclined to accept changes as normal parts of business.

Conclusion

Change is necessary for all businesses.  Leaders and managers should recognize the need to change and prepare all stakeholders early through effective and open communication. Participative and transformational leadership styles are encouraged for this communication and to foster an environment of trust. This way, there will be little resistance to change and the appropriate change management model will deliver successful results.

 

References

Akinbode, A. I., & Al Shuhumi, S. R. A. (2018). Change management process and leadership styles. International Journal of Social Sciences, 4(2), 609-618.

Brewis, J. (2021). Rolling with the punches: receiving peer reviews as prescriptive emotion management. Culture and Organization, 27(3), 267-284.

Galli, B. J. (2018). Change management models: A comparative analysis and concerns. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 46(3), 124-132.

Jiang, W., & Gu, Q. (2015). A moderated mediation examination of proactive personality on employee creativity: A person-environment fit perspective. Journal of Organizational Change Management.

Lozic, J. (2021). MEDIA INDUSTRY TRANSFORMATION: COMPARISON MANAGEMENT IN COMCAST AND NETFLIX. In Economic and Social Development (Book of Proceedings), 69th International Scientific Conference on Economic and Social (p. 107).