Discuss about the Interpretation and Role in Knowledge Creation.
Change is the process in which one thing becomes different. It is considered as the stepping stone of growth and development. Change is expected in human nature. It is something humanity is dependent on to become better. However, resistance to change is a natural reaction because of the outcome that is anticipated with change on both psychological and physical level.
Implementing change within an organization is one of the hardest task managers experience because of the resistance that they will face within the different levels of the organization. human beings tend to resist change even though change is usually affiliated with development, enhancing the workflow, increasing efficiency, and productivity. However, resistance to change is the result of many factors but the most common one is the fear of the unknown. Anxiety usually dawns upon organizations that undergo a change because of the unknown result of the change and the unknown effects that change will have on their performance, relationships with their fellow employees and other factors related to work.
Resistance to change is classified into three different levels, organization level, group level and individual level. Each level has its own challenges and barriers to overcome by the management for them to implement the change as successfully and efficiently as possible.
Organizational policies are often determined by higher level management while the implementation and effects of the implementation are experienced by the employees of the organization. These changes may lead to resistance to change since the employees anticipate a pending job loss, poor engagement, poor communication and lack of trust among many other reasons. While management may be aware of the possible reasons of resistance to change, it may be important for management to anticipate this reaction to change for them to be able to obtain buy-in from the employees and motivate them to adapt to changes in the organizational policies.
When change is implemented on an organizational level, managers are usually given or stripped of authority and privileges, and here arises the resistance to change because managers are comfortable where they are and when change does happen then the level of concerns regarding underperformance is raised which might lead to suspension due to lack of fulfilment of new tasks and goals that are set by the newly implemented strategies. Large organizations have sets of policies that employees and managers must follow. This becomes a problem when change is implemented because new sets of rules and standards are introduced with the change which will force the managers to adapt to these new sets of policies which in its way introduce new challenges for the managers, therefore, managers tend to resist the change because they favor what they are used to when it comes to rules and standards. The culture within the organization also plays a role when it comes to resistance to change, because an organization is used to its norms and values, therefore when a change comes along, it interferes with the values that the organization is used to.
Working in groups can have many advantages such as dividing a task between the group members which speeds up the process of getting tasks and projects done. Therefore, forming groups within the organization is an advantageous strategy to boost the efficiency of the employees. However, groups tend to be united and harder to convince to change because usually, groups develop their own norms and values within the group to make it easier and more pleasant for everyone in the group to get tasks done. Therefore, when a change is implemented, groups tend to unite and resist the change because it usually threatens the group’s cohesiveness. Working in a group within an organization is great for brainstorming and idea building, however, it can be disruptive because group members tend to ignore the negatives of an idea to agree to each other’s views, this worsens the chances of adopting the change which will lead to resistance. There are many ways to prevent or reduce the resistance to change on a group level such as breaking up the groups or introducing new norms and values within the groups, this can be done through well-organized training sessions and seminars.
Resistance to change on an individual level is a hard task to deal with in an organization, especially if many individuals are resisting change. Individuals usually resist change because of the insecurity of the outcome that will be the result of the change. Individuals tend to prefer the already known strategies that they have been a part of because it makes them feel secure and involved. Individuals within an organization that have an already set workflow tend to resist change because of their habits, they refuse to change their work habits because it makes them feel secure and that hinders them from implementing changes, therefore managers should help individuals break their habits by encouraging them to implement the changes instead of resisting them. To decrease the resistance to change on an individual level, managers should ensure that the individuals are a part of the change process, they should feel included and have a saying in the change that is being implemented.
The purpose of this study is to consider the role of leadership in impacting resistance to change.
According to Kurt Lewin, there are several powers that influence organizations to reject changes, while others push them to accept it. He developed a theory that describes the counteracting powers of the organizational change. The force field analysis is an effective theory that helps categorizing and distinguishing powers, those who are aiming for the desired state, and those who are not.
The model introduced by Kurt Lewin in the 1940s. The model shows forces that enable organizations to change and it shows the forces that prevent the organization to change. This model can also be used to show the effect of the resistance to change in the organization.
As is shown in the figure above, forces to change are factors that push the organization to change. That contains a lot of different factors within any business that impose organization to change. Those forces are dependent on the business activities and growth strategies, which includes compensation for both internal and external factors. Good examples of internal factors might be increasing the financial returns or adopting new technology to improve efficiency or enhance the operational process. In addition, there are external factors it can have a significant influence on its current operations, growth, and long-term sustainability such as a change in customer demand, competitive actions, political and social conditions.
Also, against these driving-forces, there are forces that resist the change and prevent change from occurring. These restraining forces are pushing down the change and make the implementation of change much more difficult, and slow the achievement of organizational objectives, which increase organization inability to change and reduce its effectiveness and accelerate the organization life cycle toward death.
Misunderstanding the purpose of change, lack of trust, self-interest, the difference of assessments, fear from unknown, poor leadership all of these are reasons that contribute to resistance. Now when forces of change and resistance to change are evenly balanced they produce what is known as an equilibrium, in this case, the organization is in a state of inertia and does not change. So according to Lewin’s force analysis, to get an organization to change, managers must increase the forces for change, reduce resistance to change, or do both simultaneously.
The model was first introduced by Swiss psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler Ross and it aims provide an understanding of how people deal with changes in personal transitions. It helps anticipate how individuals react to change and how to provide support during the process of change. Further, it helps to understand the role of change in the business world. While the Kubler-Ross model helps in identifying and understanding how people deal with change and explains how the individuals react the way they do, the human change curve model is a curve that shows the different stages that individuals experience when they face some sort of change, it could be any kind of change or even any size of the change. In this model, we are trying to have a deeper understanding of what leaders and managers should be aware of to manage individual reactions. This model shows the stages that employee goes through since managers present the change to employees until change is successfully applied. There are several stages that employees go through, it starts with denial or shock stage, then anger or resistance, then exploration or testing the change, then finally acceptance. In some models, there are few more stages or different names or maybe more stages, but it means the same concept.
Stage1: At this stage the first reaction is denial, people are used to do things in a certain way and and now they are not willing to do it in a different way. This is because, people tend to feel uncertain and insecure about what is the outcome will be. Communication in this stage will accelerate the change process toward acceptance. Giving employees information about the change and what it will influence, listening to them and answering all the questions they ask and writing notes about predictable reactions for next stage is the best way to deal with this stage.
Stage 2: In his stage, people are concerned and apprehensive about the role of change in their lives. This is considered as the danger zone since it might lead to a crisis in the organization if not handled appropriately. Clear communication will go long way in supporting the employees through this stage.
Stage 3: This stage marks a turning point for the employees of the organization. They start to bargain with the changes and see that it might not be as bad as they had perceived it initially. At this stage they would need training and sensitization of the potential changes.
Stage 4: At this stage, the employees are well on to embracing the change. They are in participation of some of the things that could be altered in order to effect the changes and everyone would like to share in the success.
According to Whetten (2002), the leadership theory seeks to answer three main questions: What, why and how. Here, the “What” refers to the target of theorizing while the “How” describes the ways utilized to create a correlation between various components of the theory. On the other hand, the “why” refers to the reasons behind the relationship between the constructs of theory.
In this regard, the “what” refers to the goal which the leader seeks to attain, the “how” describes the methods utilized to achieve the set goals, and the “why” explain the reasons behind using that method to achieve the aims set.
There exist three different phases of the leadership timeline. These phases include the past, the present and the future. Largely, these phases represent how leaders have undergone a transformation, their social role, and how they discover and achieve their function.
According to the Kosleck (2002; 1985), the leader’s timeline defines and captures the advancement of a leader’s abilities guided by their vision of possibilities.
The Harvard Business Review identifies the role of leadership as the biggest resistance to change. One of the major issues in this role is that they recognize the role of the business case. As such, leaders may sacrifice their control or risk their power within the organization to make changes within their institution. Often, this reluctance to change is undesirable because they must set an example for any proposed change initiative in the organization. Leaders must be the first to embrace changes in the organization. Otherwise, others might be encouraged to disregard the proposed change as well. In their book, Ryan and Robert Quin believe that true leadership comes from setting an example that motivates others to follow. Inspiration must trickle down from top management down to the bottom.
It is important to note that employees are always opposed to changes within the organization. Often, they do not view it as something positive. Therefore, the management should devise methods to make them understand the importance of the proposed adjustment as they are required for the implementation. In this regard, Kotter (1996) provides an 8 Step Change model to help firms effect change successfully.
In this step, managers should take an initiative to have an honest conversation about the firm’s position in the market against its rival companies and explain why the change is important for the organization to implement it.
The next step involves recruiting and selecting a team of employees that can affect the proposed adjustments in the company. These people may be chosen for their level of expertise, skills, or authority. The leadership would then identify who will be responsible for what during the adjustment process. The leaders should also recognize the fact that a change initiative may be complicated and difficult to understand for employees at the bottom, thus they should develop a clear vision that is easy for them to understand.
The third step involves communicating the vision to workers for them to recognize its purpose. Members of staff must be able to see how the proposed change will affect and benefit them as individuals.
Factors that inhibit change usually hinders the vision of change and disempowers members of staff with unachievable aims. Such barriers often emanate from supervisors, subordinates, and the information system. Thus, the leadership should always be vigilant to remove these barriers and create an environment for efficiency.
Short-term wins are important for the team as they will help create and maintain enthusiasm and passion among employees to keep the change initiative going. Thus, it is important for the leader to set specific goals that members will be required to achieve. Once the goals have been attained, leaders should congratulate and celebrate members’ accomplishments by rewarding them. This would go a long way in boosting the level of performance.
The manager should work towards achieving a nonstop progress by evaluating success stories individually and learning from those experiences to enhance improvements in other areas.
It is important for the management to ensure that the proposed changes become a core element of the organizational culture for it to have a long-term effect. This may be achieved by encouraging new workers to adopt the changes, keeping senior stakeholders in support of the change, celebrating individuals who adopt the change among others.
By outlining the 8 steps, Kotter shows that implementing change in an organization is not a simple task. It requires many steps of planning for the change to be successfully integrated into a firm’s culture. According to Kotter, approximately 70 percent of change initiatives often fail. Mainly, he attributes this to the fact that most companies do not invest in the necessary preparations or see the project implementation through correctly. However, following these steps will help an organization initiate changes successfully.
Since the world is constantly changing and so does the companies and organizations across the globe, the main objective remains for the managers and its employees; how best can you overcome a change and its capabilities that can affect your business. We want to see how well other top managers act in demanding situations that require a change.
The method chapter describes the chosen methods in this field of study. By studying the chosen techniques in the thesis, it is apparent that the qualitative research has been chosen as the main tool for collecting and deducting the findings. The study was lead to an interview that also has the potential to provide a much deeper understanding of the subject (Bryman and Bell, 2013).
Since the intent was to gather information from multiple companies the strategy did not go as planned and we narrowed the focus on one single company. By performing a structured interview with a single company, it is argued to be more effective in acquiring a deeper understanding of the subject of study (Dyer and Wilkins 1991).
The X company is in Germany and is one of the largest companies that specializes in producing steel tubes, they got a subsidiary company that is in Sweden and is well knows within the industrial field. The subsidiary company from Sweden is constantly facing challenges with the technology, machines and the employees since change is inevitable the only solution is to adapt to the change and make it work.
By using a well-structured interview, it is possible to address specific topics of interest that can further be questioned with why/how and develop alternative questions. This gives the interviewer a much deeper understanding of every answer and gives the interviewee freedom of expression in which is the case of the whole data collection. An in-depth interview gives also the benefit of having follow up questions when the interviewee says something of interest.
For this case study, the interviewer and the respondent met in his office and he was able to ask several questions which had been initially prepared. Other questions were asked as to follow up questions. Initially, the respondent was informed of the purpose of the interview and the intention to make his participation anonymous for the study.
The first question wanted to find out how working on strategic initiatives is perceived. The respondent highlighted while it can encompass a situation where it is voluntary and sometimes involuntary, it perceived as a “have to” situation when the change is experienced at a faster rate than it is expected. They gave an example of when they were working in a project where they rolled out a five-year plan to deal with a change in the IT department to have a strategic approach in dealing with the expected change. The next question wanted to find out how leaders react to resistance to change. The respondent identified that the managers often experience a higher turnover rate from employees who do not embrace change well. They also find it easier to work with flexible employees who make the transition easier. When asked what the respondent does to create team spirit he said that he conducts team meetings that enable everyone to contribute to a problem that the organization is facing. It was found out that the company does not have an outright option to fire individuals who are resistant to change especially since the laws in Sweden are quite restrictive towards such kind of employer behavior. He mentioned that it is especially not easy when working with a small group since everyone is placed in a specific department and if they are taken in another department, they are more likely to react in the same way. The respondent mentioned that his role in the resistance to change by the employee would be to try and educate the employee on the benefits and implications of the required change before any further action is taken. It was clear that some of the issues experienced with resistance to change were anger and frustration that led to the employees venting out against each other. As a manager, the respondent highlighted that it was his role to quell the situation by holding a meeting and showing the employees that fighting may not be productive when it comes to dealing with the oncoming change. The manager highlighted that when he is provided with the role of enforcing change in the organization, he first takes the change into perspective in his own context and anticipates some of the challenges that may occur when he is rolling out the change. He then holds a meeting with the rest of the employees to sensitize them regarding the oncoming change. He points out that to gain buy-in with the rest of the staff, he lets them do something fun for a change and ensures that they are in a positive environment before making the announcement of the proposed change. He fully agrees that he needs to inspire people for them to subscribe to the required change and provides some examples of activities to set the mood and help them acquire buy-in from the employees. The respondent highlight that in this way, the high-level management and the other staff can have a chance to interact and know each other and alleviate any issues which may seem to create anxiety among the less senior staff members. It was clear that having a listening ear to the employees regardless of their status in the company as this allows the manager to be empathetic to the plight of the staff and for the staff to know that the managers have a listening ear to their problems. The respondent highlighted the importance of balancing change management with change leadership in terms of also providing the best leadership mechanisms to deal with the oncoming change in the organization. From the interview, it was clear that sometimes the leaders themselves are resistant to change and may pass on their anxieties to the employees and therefore create a group resistance to chance. He argues that it is necessary for the manager to look beyond himself during an oncoming change. This can be done by holding internal management meetings to outline any underlying concerns before informing the other staff of the oncoming change. He notes that it is important for the manager to understand the influence that he may have on the group. Further, he highlights that it may be difficult to punish the manager for misbehavior and misrepresenting the oncoming change which fuels the resistance to change due to the position of the manager in the organization. The main method by which resistance to change is managed in the organization is through internal meetings in the organization. He points out that everyone at the organization has a role to play in managing resistance to change but the manager has a higher responsibility. The respondent shared that failure to communicate the change well to the staff may cause issues in implementation especially due to the fear of the unknown. He points out that some years back implementing technology was an issue compared to now since people are more aware of the capabilities of new technologies. He argues that instead of threatening the employees with loss of a job when they are resistant to change, it may be necessary to highlight the implications it may have on the company and the overall health of the organization. According to the respondent, a small group may be useful in managing change compared to larger groups since there might be more communication and understanding within the smaller group.
From the findings of the report, the Kurt Lewin Model finds application in terms of some of the influencers of resistance to change. It asserts the role of the manager as a means through which the other staff members can be pushed to taking on the change or resisting the change. From the respondent, management tries to take an active approach in positively influencing change in the organization. It also shows that the management considers time element while carrying out the change in the organization. When he pointed out that a change should be rolled out slowly to reduce resistance to change, they are able to manage the expectations of the staff members. In this case, the human change curve model takes effect through the meetings and social events that the company takes into consideration before they inform the staff members about the changes that are taking place. It notes that individual reactions are important as well as group reactions and therefore it may be important to deal with individuals through a face to face meetings and then holding group meetings since individual reactions may not be the same as group reactions. The respondent highlighted the importance of information in the initial stages of the change process as it may quell any fears of the unknown from the staff as highlighted in the change curve process.
Conclusion
For a successful change process, the leader has a significant level of control in steering the change process and managing resistance to change. One way the leader can be able to do this is through first understanding the change being brought about and outlining reasons why the staff may be averse to that change in the first place. Understanding these reasons may ensure that the manager can manage the expectations of the staff and communicate effectively with the changes to be expected and how it may affect the organization.
References:
Kotter, John P. (1996). Leading Change. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press, 1996. Print.
Kosleck, R. (2002), The Practice of Conceptual History: Timing History, Spacing Concepts, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.
Kosleck, R. (1985), Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Mostovicz, E.I. (2008), Understanding of Consumers’ Needs for Luxury: The Mechanism of Interpretation and its Role in Knowledge Creation, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Northampton, UK.
Whetten, D.H. (2002), “Modelling as Theorizing a Systematic Methodology for Theory Development” in Essential Skills for Management Research, ed. D. Partington, Sage, London, pp. 45-71.
Organizational Theory, Design, and Change. Seventh Edition by Gareth
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