Internal vs. External Change Agents: Factors to Consider in Organizational Change

This study explores the critical factors organizations must consider when choosing between internal and external change agents. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of each approach, highlighting the importance of return on investment, resource allocation, and potential impact on various departments. The study uses the example of Harvey Norman Limited to illustrate the complexities of change management and the need for a strategic approach.

Change Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Topic: Organisations undergoing change employ internal and external change agents. What
factors must be considered before making a choice? Justify your answer with examples..............4
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
This study talks about the associations which are undergoing in the employ external and internal
change agents. Some of the factors have also considered before making a choice. In any kind of
business, change is importantly required, as it helps in bringing some innovative and creative
ways of achieving success. It basically includes the point of view of the learners with some of the
arguments which has been researched from the relevant literature on associational change. It
includes the various factors which play an imperative role in the external and internal change
agents. The association also focuses on the change of the consultants and experts for driving an
attractive and efficient business. It includes the people from inside or outside of the business for
including some various ways to reach the success level. The example of Harvey Norman
Limited is taken to describe the change management process and its impacts.
(Figure: Change Management)
(Source: sumologic, 2015)
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Topic: Organisations undergoing change employ internal and external change agents.
What factors must be considered before making a choice? Justify your answer with
examples.
Internal and External Change Agents
It is well known that change in agents presents some required changes for bringing the efficiency
in the business. Various factors employ change agents from externally and internally help in
increasing the productivity and profitability of the business. Many of the reason or ways which
play an imperative role in meeting the goals of the business gets achieved by the changes.
Changes in management and people both gracefully help the business in reaching on top in the
target market. It also helps in satisfying the employee’s needs and requirement in an efficient
manner. By implementing the changes business becomes able to reduce all the risk factors which
can ever hamper the business in a negative manner.
A change agents are the people who get considers from outside or inside of the association and
attractively helps the association in transforming the business by focusing on various matters
such as effectiveness, development, improvement of the association. Mostly the focus includes
the workers of the association and interactions as well. This kind of changes in people and
environment helps in standing the business on top in the competitive market. As same it also
helps in setting the objectives of the business in an appropriate manner.
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(Figure: Change Agents)
(Source: TuneIn, 2017)
The external change agents mostly get the professional training in the field of technology for the
associational change. As discussed that external change agents are the people who get hired from
outside of the association and the one who excellently helps in meeting the needs and
requirement of the business. They are the one who takes a higher amount of fees, so hiring those
gets considers as an expensive method. They always work as professional. These experts only
work for the change processes. It can also be said that the consultants who get hired from the
outside of the association mainly gives the various recommendations for the successful change of
business. The external change agents greatly help in meeting actual requirements of association
by bringing the innovative changes in an appropriate manner.
According to Dawson, et. al. (2014), the internal change agents are the consultants or experts
who are already working with the association for a longer time. These people do not seem to be
professional at all the time. It can also be said that their working period is not really limited. The
internal change agent works as the economic beneficiary for the association and puts their efforts
in meeting the business needs. The internal change agents also process for the implementation of
various change processes (Dawson, et. al., 2014).
It is very well known that change is an important requirement which helps the business of
Harvey Norman Limited in meeting their business objectives and goals in the perfect manner.
The program of change a group or some person mainly designs to lead some changes which are
called change agents. After this, it comes to the change leader. The change gets divided into two
different like internal & external agents.
According to Sorokin (2017), the internal agents are well known as the people who are already
working with the associations. They may be managing director, senior manager or the CEO of
the organisation. All these people include the various skills of leadership within them and lead
for implementing some changes which get utilize as the symbolic processes for supporting the
process of change. The change agents may not the one who is posted on good designations but
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they also can be a group, individuals which help in initiating and facilitating the process of
change (Sorokin, 2017).
The change agents also come from outside of the sources like as external people who are
basically the experts of change management. These people get hired by the association for aiding
the managers in taking care of association. The external people or consultants are the one who
was not previously associated with the system of a client or the association. There are some of
the advantages and disadvantages of internal and external consultants.
Advantages of internal change agents
The internal experts of the association include the deep knowledge and understanding about their
association, the people who are working with them and about the systems as well. It helps the
Harvey Norman Limited in meeting the objectives regarding the change. The internal
consultants are likely to be readily available at each and every point in time. They stand there
ready at all the time and seem able to take on their work at the place where the evaluation is
importantly or necessarily required.
According to Burke (2017), the internal experts also include the abilities to trust people and
respecting other as well. The internal consultants are the one who helps the association with a
greater range of confidentiality and security as well. They are the one who creates and properly
maintains all the norms of the association. It also includes renewal of the various things (Burke,
2017). The internal consultants are the one who has easy access to all the required information in
the business.
Disadvantages of internal change agents-
According to Adie, et. al. (2017), as because the internal consultants are so close to the actual
system of the association, sometimes their thoughts, views, and ideas seem to be quite bound to
the usual or conventional to the association. They may be into the cognitive situations or
limitations as being so close to looking at the issues. The internal experts may have already taken
sides, biased, maybe mistrusted or disliked by some of the stakeholders (Adie, et. al., 2017).
They may be compromised with the independence of the agents.
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As discussed above those external experts, change agents or consultants are the ones who are
from outside of the association.
Advantages of external change agents:
The consultants who rarely feel biased and perform with open-minded thoughts and ideas. They
help in increasing the leverages in a different manner. They help in providing the fresh and raw
ideas which prove very beneficial for the success of the association (Hosking, et. al., 2018).
Disadvantages of the external change agents:
The external change agents may fail with the good understanding of culture related to the
association. That's the reason that they do not get considers into the account for changing or
designing the programs of the association. Sometimes it gets hard for the workers to follow the
implemented change.The external change agents are the one who attempts for promoting a
radical, tough change in the association. The external change agents are the one who takes a hard
time for becoming familiar or friendly with the system. They are the one who creates the
situation of co-dependency or also abandons the entire system.
There are various factors which importantly gets considers before making a choice in the
business. It affects so greatly in the change of the Harvey Norman Limited or employs external
and internal change agents. Some of those factors are discussed below in an appropriate manner.
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Factors which gets considers before making a change
Return on investments-It is the most important factor which influences the process of internal
or external change agents and the business decision making also. The return on investments gets
considers as the actual amount of benefits for gaining and losing the activities which get
undertaken in the process of the business. Lacking behind with the profit also affects on the
internal or external change agents in various manners.
Effects on the various resources- According to Hayes (2018), the time when the association
calculates the profit and benefits from the possible decisions also gets considers as the overall
effect on the human resources, sales, production, accounting, staff, information technology and
etc. If in case producing a product is taking the employees away for the different activities, it
may lead to the other opportunities which are quite related to the profits. Overburdening of staff
also leads to losing the employees in most effective manner. As same it also effects on the
internal or external change agents (Hayes, 2018).
The point one choice gets created it takes it into the situation of losing the other opportunity. For
an example of a person it trying to buy one product, he or she will not have the budget for buying
the other products and services. Including the new machinery for the business helps in raising or
improving the production of the business in a greater manner. Asking the employees for
developing the new consumers also helps in raising the standard of the Harvey Norman Limited
in a different manner. It also leads to the employ external or internal change agents. According to
Knoke (2018), in order to run the business successfully, it is importantly required to manage the
employees and business activities in an efficient manner. It helps the business to reach on top
without facing any negative issue or concerns. For looking at the dollars and costs for selling and
making a product, there are various reviews so many impacts will have on the operations. The
internal and external change of agents greatly contributes to the success of the business.
(Knoke, 2018).
According to Rabellotti (2016), implementing the various kinds of required changes in a
successful manner helps in meeting the business objectives and goals in an efficient manner and
takes the business on top. Including the required changes also helps in maintaining the efficiency
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of the business in an effective manner and greatly helps in expanding the business globally.
Changing of agent or employees internally and externally helps in bring some new innovative
ways which greatly helps in the success of the business (Rabellotti, 2016).
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Conclusion
In this study of change management, some of the changes related to the management have been
discussed herein. The various ways of changes which helps in building up the successful
business have discussed here in an appropriate manner. The change management includes the
changes in the environment of business, employees, leaders, managers, experts, consultants and
etc. This study focuses on all those kind of changes which is importantly required for the success
of the business. The changed leaders or managers internally and externally try to showcase their
skills by performing well. As same the consultants and experts try to meet the objectives of the
business by including their suggestions or thoughts which can get proved beneficial for the
success of the business. Various kind of changes which gets implemented by the association for
the change in the employ of external and internal change agents have been taken place herein. As
same some of the factors which get considered before making a choice of internal and external
change agents have also discussed in a well-behaved manner.
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References
 Brunero, J., 2017. Recent Work on Internal and External Reasons. American Philosophical
Quarterly, 54(2), pp.99-117.
 Burke, W.W., 2017. Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.
 Dawson, P. and Andriopoulos, C., 2014. Managing change, creativity and innovation. Sage.
 Hayes, J., 2018. The theory and practice of change management.
 Hosking, D.M. and Anderson, N. eds., 2018. Organizational change and innovation:
Psychological perspectives and practices in Europe. Routledge.
 Hosking, D.M. and Anderson, N. eds., 2018. Organizational change and innovation:
Psychological perspectives and practices in Europe. Routledge.
 Knoke, D., 2018. Changing organizations: Business networks in the new political economy.
Routledge.
 Rabellotti, R., 2016. External economies and cooperation in industrial districts: a comparison of
Italy and Mexico. Springer.
 Sorokin, P., 2017. Social and cultural dynamics: A study of change in major systems of art, truth,
ethics, law and social relationships. Routledge.
 sumologic, 2015. Change Management in a Change-Dominated World [Online] sumologic.
Available at: https://www.sumologic.com/blog/business-insights/change-management-in-a-
change-dominated-world/ [Accessed On: 24 May 2018]
 TuneIn, 2017. The Change Agent's Dilemma: How to Influence Change Without Aut [Online]
TuneIn. Avialable at: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Talk/The-Change-Agents-Dilemma--How-to-
Influence-Chan-p413465/ [Accessed On: 24 May 2018]
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