Change Management and Kurt Lewin's Model

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This assignment delves into the complexities of organizational change management. It examines various theoretical frameworks, with a particular emphasis on Kurt Lewin's three-stage model (unfreezing, changing, refreezing). The analysis considers the challenges organizations face during implementation and explores strategies to overcome resistance to change. It also evaluates the ongoing relevance of Lewin's model in contemporary business environments.
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Running Head: CHANGE MANAGEMENT 1
Managing Resistance to Change
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CHANGE MANAGEMENT 2
Part A
Introduction
Organization change management is a significant process for the growth of a company. It
is the process, by which an organization renews its structure, capabilities and direction to fulfill
the changing needs of its external and internal stakeholders. There are some researches that
defined that change is a feature which is always available in the life of organization. In today’s
business environment, it is very essential to implement the changes for its growth, but it is very
tough to implement the change successfully. There may be some barriers, which can create
issues in change management, like; lack of communication, employee resistance to change,
competitive forces, complex process, changes in the corporate culture etc.
Organizations need to implement different and effective strategies to overcome these
barriers. This paper examines one of these barriers, i.e. employee resistance to change. It reviews
a literature on managing the resistance to change with its related aspects. Furthermore, in part 2,
it critically analyzes the concept of organizational change management and resistance to change
with different perspectives in an organization.
Literature Review
In an organizational environment, resistance to change can be seen as one of the obstacles to the
growth and expansion of organization because of its adverse consequences. According to
Boohene & Williams (2011), organization change refers to the comparatively on-going alteration
in the present state of the organization. It also includes managing all the elements and
interrelationships among its people and functions in order to attain great identity in the current
and expected future environment (Boohene, R. & Williams, 2011). In addition, the author
defined resistance to change as the behavior of employees, which strives to challenge or disturb
the fundamental assumptions and power relations. The article of Bouckenooghe, Schwarz and
Minbachian (2014), Herscovitch and Meyer defined the resistance to change as the actions or
inactions of employees, which are intended to ignore the changes and inhibit the effective and
successful implementation of change in its current organizational culture (Bouckenooghe,
Schwarz & Minbashian, 2014).
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CHANGE MANAGEMENT 3
There may be different types of behaviors and factors, which affect the change implementation
and cause resistance to change. In this context, Oreg (2007) defined resistance to change that
includes a tri-dimensional approach towards organizational change that consists of cognitive,
affective and behavioral components. The definition of Oreg indicates that each and every
negative reaction, force and opposition, which inhibits and prevents the organizational change is
known as resistance to change. Thus, such resistance needs to be eliminated and overcome
(Oreg, 2007).
In the year 2012, Kumar & Singal stated that employees in an organization are vital components
of effective organizational change. There may be some people, who resist the change and they
did not accept the new changes. CIPD (2009) defined that it is very essential to consider this
significant aspect of change management, i.e. resistance to change (CIPD, 2009). According to
famous business magazine, resistance to change may be in different forms, such as; strikes,
sabotage, jokes, sarcasm, whistleblowing, productivity restriction etc.
Lussier (2009) defined some reasons that force the people to resist the change. These reasons are
like; insecurity among employees, level of uncertainty, wrong perception towards change
objectives and lack of effective communication among managers are team. All of these reasons
force the employees to resist the change. If the changes are managed effectively, then it will help
to challenge and improve the action and strategic plans of organization (Lussier, 2009). The
organizations need to develop and implement some effective strategies to manage the resistance
to change.
According to Seuss (2017), there are so many ways, which assist the organizations in managing
and reducing the resistance to change. These effective ways can work as change implementation
strategies in the organization. First, the leaders and managers should give some tie in
understanding the resistance and reason behind resistance. Further, they should understand the
feelings of employees. In his article, Seuss (2017) has stated some ways or strategies for
reducing the resistance to change, such as; the organization should involve the employees and
other related parties in the change planning by asking about their opinions, suggestions and
incorporate their idea. It is very important to clearly define the requirements and needs for
change by communicating the decisions orally and in written form (Seuss, 2017).
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CHANGE MANAGEMENT 4
Furthermore, the top management should address the needs of people, who are involved in the
change process. There should be flexibility in the change by phasing it in where, it is possible. It
will allow the employees to make current efforts and adapt new attitudes and behaviors. In
addition, the management should allow the employees to redefine their roles and responsibilities
during the process of change implementation. In this context, Hayes (2014) stated that first, the
organization should understand that why people are resisting the change in organization. After
understanding the reasons, it can adopt different ways and strategies to make the change
implementation successful. The management should encourage and motivate the people to
express their feelings and thoughts regarding change plan (Hayes, 2014).
Jacoby (2011) identified six classic strategies for handling the change resistance and using then
in change action plan. One of the best strategies is to educate the people about the reasons behind
change efforts. Effective communication and education assist the employees to see the logic
behind change in the systems and processes. If the employees will be clear about the positivity
behind the change implementation, then it will be easier to implement the change plan. Managers
can manage the resistance by being helpful to the employees during their tough times. This
assistance helps the employees to deal with the anxiety and fear in the period of change
implementation (Jacoby, 2011). Additionally, the managers can decrease the resistance to change
by providing bonuses and incentives to the people. It will motivate them and keep them engaged
to work.
For successful implementation of change process, Kurt Lewin has given a change model in 1947.
In order to explain this model, Cummings, Bridgman & Brown (2016) reflected that this model
of change is known as 3-steps model also. Lewin’s model primarily consists of three stages, i.e.
unfreezing, moving and refreezing, in which the changes occur in an organization. Lewin
reflected change as originating from different forces; one is internal forces and others, which are
imposed by environment. In this framework, unfreezing step includes the process of encouraging
the people to adapt the change. Second step, moving includes getting the employees to adopt
new and desired organizational state. At the end, third step is refreezing, which targets at
developing new behaviors and practices (Cummings, Bridgman & Brown, 2016). For attaining
the organizational change, the change agents and managers must attempt to each to the
refreezing step.
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Along with this model, Lewin has also given a force-field theory. It states that there may be two
types of forces, i.e. forces, which promote the changes and forces, which resist the changes in
organization. The situation, in which these forces are balanced, that is called “equilibrium”.
Thus, this theory states that organization needs to balance both the forces. It makes easier to
manage the resistance to change in the organization.
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CHANGE MANAGEMENT 6
Part 2
Critical Analysis
From the above literature review, it can be said that it is very difficult to manage the resistance to
change in an organization. Different authors have given different opinions regarding managing
employee resistance to change. There are some issues, but a part of problem is that there is little
agreement on what are the factors, which most impact the change initiatives. Some authors have
emphasized on some soft issues, like; leadership, culture, motivation etc. But managing these
factors only is not enough to implement the change plan (Aiken & Keller, 2009).
For implementing change in the organization, managers generally prefer to adopt theory and
model of Kurt Lewin. Although, the frameworks of Lewin are effective for the organization, but
there are some disadvantages of implementing these models. The major strength of force field
theory is that it provides a visual description of different factors, which are supporting and
resisting the ideas behind change. Moreover, this theory expands the analysis beyond the facts to
consider the qualitative factors, which may have effect on the success or failure of decision
making process (Bridges and Bridges, 2017).
Apart from these strengths, the theory may impact the organizational change efforts. Field force
theory needs the participation of each and every person, who is involved in giving the correct
information needed for effective change implementation. It is the major weakness as it is not
possible to involve everyone in the change process (Burke, 2017). Moreover, one of the major
disadvantages of this theory is that it may cause a separation between groups, i.e. group that
supports the change decision and another one that opposes the change decision.
Lewin’s three steps model is considered as most effective model of organizational change
management. The model defines three steps for implementing the change, i.e. unfreezing,
moving and refreezing. But, an article on organizational change management wrote that Change
model of Lewin is too rational, plan and goal oriented. The change seems good on paper,
because it develops a rational sense. But when it is applied, human experiences and feelings may
have negative effects, if management did not consider them (Dawson and Andriopoulos, 2014).
In implementation of model, there may be situations, when people get too much excited about
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CHANGE MANAGEMENT 7
the new approaches that they start to avoid the attitudes, feelings and past experience of other
colleagues. Therefore, they may find themselves confronting the change resistance and less
excitement. So, sometimes Lewin’s model may cause the resistance to change in the
organization.
In contrast to the Lewin’s model, some organizations adopt Kotter’s 8 step model to implement
the change and manage resistance to change. This model takes so much time, as it includes 8
steps and company cannot skip any of the stages. In Lewin’s model, third step, i.e. refreezing has
faced too much criticism from many Human Resource practitioners and authors (Hechanova &
Cementina-Olpoc, 2013). Now, it is argued that today’s business environment is changing with
the fast pace that provides no time to settle and to refreeze after a process of change has been
adopted.
There are some authors, who believe that resistance to change sometimes good in the
organization, as it prevents some of the positive intentions and aspects (Kumar & Singhal, 2012).
If the resistance to change is managed effectively, it will assist in challenging and refining the
action and strategic plans of the organization. It improves the decision making quality in
organization. Moreover, organizational change management can be a productive force to know
about the unethical actions and it can develop the learning and education among organizational
people.
According to my view and perspective, implementation of change is conclusively a difficult
action to attain requiring the genuine support and contribution of all the people in the
organization; not keeping them in the state to find out what is going on in the organization and to
some level and to cheer the positive results of the previous efforts will be the reason behind
increasing disaffection with the change plan and processes. It will contribute to strengthen the
challenging power of resisting factors (Small, et al, 2016). By looking at different articles and
researches, I realized that Lewin’s model of change is still valid in modern business world along
with the Field Force theory. Both the frameworks can enable the organizations to effectively plan
and implement the change in working environment. This model not only works in valuable
structured environment, but also because this can assist the top management to keep track of the
attainments related to change processes.
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CHANGE MANAGEMENT 8
Conclusion
Thus, the literature review states that change is necessary but it will be more successful without
resistance for both the organizations and its employees. The organization may face some
challenges, when employees resist accepting the change. These issues influence the process of
change implementation and it lowers the speed of change process. Furthermore, it examines that
organizations should adopt some effective strategies to deal with these opposing forces. Part 2 of
the paper critically evaluates the literature review and Kurt Lewin’s three step model. At the end,
it includes the self-thoughts and opinions regarding change implementation. It results that Kurt’s
model and theory is still valid and used by the organizations.
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CHANGE MANAGEMENT 9
References
Aiken, C., Keller, S, 2009, The irrational side of change management. McKinsey Quarterly.
Pp.100-109. Retrieved from <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost>.
Bouckenooghe, D., Schwarz, G.M. & Minbashian, A., 2014, Herscovitch and Meyer’s Three-
Component model of commitment to change: Meta-analytic findings, European Journal of Work
and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 24, Issue: 4.
Boohene, R. & Williams, A.A., 2011, Resistance to Organizational Change: A Case Study of Oti
Yeboah Complex Limited, International Business and Management.
Bridges, W. and Bridges, S., 2017. Managing transitions: Making the most of change. Da Capo
Press.
Burke, W. W., 2017, Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.
CIPD, 2009, Change Management. Retrieved from:
http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/corpstrtgy/changemmt/chngmgmt.htm?IsSrchRes=1.
Cummings, S., Bridgman, T., & Brown, K. G., 2016, Unfreezing change as three steps:
Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. human relations, 69(1), 33-60.
Dawson, P. and Andriopoulos, C., 2014. Managing change, creativity and innovation. Sage.
Hayes, J., 2014, The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hechanova, R. M., & Cementina-Olpoc, R., 2013, Transformational leadership, change
management, and commitment to change: A comparison of academic and business
organizations. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 22(1), 11-19.
Jacoby, J., 2011, Strategies for Managing Resistance to Change, Emergant Journal:
Organization, People and Change.
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Kumar, P. & Singhal, M., 2012, Reducing change management complexity: aligning change
recipient sensemaking to change agent sensegiving. International Journal of Learning and
Change.
Lussier, R.N., 2009, Management fundamentals, concepts applications, Skills development:
(South-Western Cengage Learning). 4th Edition.
Oreg, S., 2007, Personality, Context, and Resistance to Organizational Change, European
Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 15(1), 73-101
Seuss, 2017, Managing Resistance to Change, Retrieved from https://bia.ca/managing-resistance-
to-change/.
Small, A., Gist, D., Souza, D., Dalton, J., Magny-Normilus, C., & David, D., 2016, Using
Kotter's Change Model for Implementing Bedside Handoff: A Quality Improvement
Project. Journal of nursing care quality, 31(4), 304-309.
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