Change Kaleidoscope for IBM: Managing Resistance to Change

This report highlights the change kaleidoscope for IBM at the point at which the Gestner took over in the organization and explains the change options available. It also discusses the different theories that could have been used by Gestner to overcome the resistance of employees to change.

Leading and Managing
change

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Change Kaleidoscope for IBM....................................................................................................1
Theories which could have been used by Gestner to overcome the resistance of employees to
change.........................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Change is a systematic approach to dealing with the transition or transformation of an
organization's goals, processes or technologies. This report is based on the IBM. IBM
Corporation is an American multinational information technology company headquartered in
Armonk, New York, with operations in over 170 countries. IBM used to employee in total
350600 employees in the organization. This report highlights the change kaleidoscope for the
IBM at the point at which the Gestner took over in the organization. Also, with the help of the
same report explain the change option available in front of the IBM. After that the report
highlight the different theory which will help the organization in getting aware of the different
steps Gestner might have taken to help the company in resisting the different changes in the
organization.
Change Kaleidoscope for IBM
Figure:- 1
Balogun and Hailey introduced change kaleidoscope in order to help the change agents so
that they effectively take actions in order to implement effective decision to bring changes in the
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Illustration 1: change kaleidoscope

organisation(Ferguson, Hall and Hopwood, 2015). This model consist of outer ring and inner
rings where the outer ring indicates contextual features like time, scope, preservation, diversity,
capability, capacity, readiness and also power. On the other hand, inner rings have change path,
change start point, change style, change target, change levers and change roles.
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXTUAL FEATURES
The respective organizational contextual features are as following:-
 Time:- This feature indicates the respective period in which change need to be
accomplished by the organization. From the case study of IBM, as the organization was
in serious trouble and was cutting cost for about six years, many changes were required in
order to take the business on right track(Hodges, 2016). As Gestner was appointed as
chairman of IBM, he initiated to bring the respective changes as organization was facing
lots of problems.
 Scope:- It represents the degree of change that organization can use in order to have
separation as realignment and transformation. The scope related to this change was quite
broad and clear in eyes of Gestner, and he worked effectively to manage the change by
setting priorities that organization have to work immediately.
 Preservation:- The respective assets that IBM used in order to bring the effective change
was its working employees who have trust on the business and the goodwill of the firm in
market. However, funds were required to implement the respective changes. Gestner also
implemented different practices improving the customer relations and also defined the
core areas of IBM where these changes were in need to be implemented(Peate, 2019).
 Diversity:- IBM is having a diverse working environment as they hire employees from
global market. There were many employees that were happy with the change
management but there were may employees who were dissatisfied with the respective
practices that Gestner was implementing. Gestner immediate action related to staff
reduction affected the attitude of working employees and the salary structure of
employees was also changed that affected the overall behaviour of working staff.
 Capability:- IBM was having capability to implement the respective change in its
business as the firm was financially strong and was having required resources that they
can use to bring the respective changes that was prioritized by the new chairman of IBM.
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 Capacity:- IBM worked to have changes and was having capacity with respect to
allocation of different resources related like budget, human resources and time to bring
that change(Bell, 2019).
 Readiness:- Working employees were ready and were quite aware to implement the
respective changes. However, there were many employees who were not happy with the
salary structure that was changed.
 Power:- The respective power to bring the change was in the hand of Gestner, and he
utilized his power in an effective manner.
IMPLEMENTATION OF CHOICES
Change Path:-
There are different types of changes that organisation can initiate to take the business on
right track. Change path is categorized into 4 types that is based on the result of the respective
change implementation. These change path are:- Evolution, Adaptation, Revolution, and
Reconstruction. Evolution:- If an organization is looking for total transformation in its business, then the
respective change is known as Evolutionary change. Adaptation:- If organization decides to realign its business with incremental change path
that it is used that is known as adaptation(Piña, Lowell and Harris, 2018). Revolution:- If an organization works to use big bang approach for its business in order to
bring change, then the change path is known as Revolutionary change.
 Reconstruction:- If an organization decides to realign its business with big bang approach
than it is known as adaptation change.
From the case study of IBM, it is seen that organization used Evolutionary change path as
Gestner decided to bring an effective transformation by reducing the staff number, defining core
areas of its business and working on them, by improving the customers relation and also
restructuring the HR and making changes in salary structure of the working employees.
Change Start Point:-
The Change start point usually indicates, where the respective changes are in need to be
initiated. The change start point is divided in into following:-
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 Top-down change:- Here, the respective changes are initiated from top management of
the organization. From the give case study, it is been seen that the start point of change
implementation was when the Chairman of IBM was changed and Gestner was appointed
as new Chairman of the organization. Gestner also worked to bring change at top
management by restructuring the HR department and there were many policies that were
also changed(French and Rees, 2016). Bottom-up change:- Another approach of the business to bring change in the organization
is to initiate change from bottom line. During the case, Gestner also worked to bring the
respective change by reducing the number of working staff and also changing their
respective salary structure. The marketing strategies of the business were also changed
and company worked to right size its organisation. The decision-making structure of the
organization was also changed(Stewart and Malatji, 2018). Pockets of good practice:- Another method to implement the change in the organization
is by taking advantage of good practising and having innovative working culture.
However, in the change management process of IBM, no innovative working culture was
implemented.
 Pilot sites:- Change start point can also be there by initially implementing the respective
changes at an individual part of organization. However, in the respective case study, the
changes were implemented to all the respective part of IBM.
Change Style:-
The way to manage process of change can be divided into 5 styles and these styles are as
following:- Education and Delegation:- In order to implement the respective changes in the
organization, discussion was made with the working employees as well the senior
managers of the IBM. The change that were in need to be implemented were discussed
with the working staff and their feedback was taken so that they can adapt the change
easily and can work effectively in the organization(Seale and Cross, 2016). Collaboration:- The employees were involvement to make effective decision with respect
to brining change in the organization. The employees worked collaboratively to
implement the respective changes as IBM was previously facing lots of issues related to
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management. Gestner worked effectively with the working staff and gave them right
direction to implement the change. Participation:- At starting stage of the change implementation, all the respective staff
members were less involvement in change implementation as they were unhappy with the
salary structure and policies that IBM was implementing. However, by discussing the
issues and getting to the facts, the working staff took initiative to implement the
respective changes and work in an effective manner for the business. Direction:- All the respective leaders that were working in IBM were directed and there
were many change leaders who worked to bring change with the help of right strategy in
hand. Gestner worked hard to give right direction to the organization, though the person
was not experienced in the given field.
 Coercion:- There were many changes that were imposed by Gestner and the working
staff followed the same. There were many business activities that were forcibly
implemented in the organization as employees were not happy with the resizing of
organizational structure and also with the changing salary structure of the IBM(Seale and
Cross, 2016).
Change Target:-
There are 3 types of change targets which are outputs, behaviours, and values. Outputs:- The target of the respective change was to have effective outputs of the change
as organization was facing many problems and Gestner was appointed. After the
appointment of this chairman, he worked effectively to get better results for its
organization. Gestner implemented different changes with respect to structure of the
department and human resource so that they can implement effective marketing strategies
in order to bring positive outputs for its business(Ferguson, Hall and Hopwood, 2015). Behaviours:- The target of the change was also the behaviour of working employees, As
IBM is having diverse working environment, it affects the implementation of change in
the organization as many employees were against the decision that Gestner have taken in
order to resize the organization and changing HR practices. Marketing strategies of the
business was also modified as previously, organization was facing lots of problems due to
these strategies.
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 Values:- The respective changes also targeted the values of the organization as Gestner
worked to change many policies like the reward policy was changed and the employees
who were actually working hard were rewarded for their performance(Piña, Lowell and
Harris, 2018).
Change Levers:-
In order to implement the respective changes, intervention was necessary as it is tough
for the business to implement such huge number of changes in one go. Gestner took different
intervention plans in order to implement the respective changes in its business. In order to
identify the organizational culture, the business can use cultural web as it helps the business to
identify the respective barriers that may arise in implementation of the changes.
Change roles:-
In order to implement the respective changes, different roles are in need. For the given
case study also, a change team was required who can take initiative to implement the respective
changes in the organization's work culture. There were many external consultants who helped the
business in implementing the respective change. Managers play an crucial role in guiding the
employees and making them work to implement the respective changes.
Theories which could have been used by Gestner to overcome the resistance of employees to
change
The change refers to as some changes taking place within the business, environment or
the way of working the employees or many other related changes. The business exists in the
business environment which is very changing and dynamic in nature and this also impact the
way a business is operating (Day and Shannon, 2015). This is due to the fact that the business
runs in the environment and is made for fulfilling the needs and desires of the consumers. These
needs and preferences of the consumers are frequently changing with the changing world
scenario. And this is the main reason behind the changes taking place in IBM after the
appointment of Gestner. The changes listed by the newly appointed chairman that is Louis
Vincent Gestner is the reduction of the staff form the IBM workforce. Also, another change
which the new chairman brought was focusing on the improvement of the customer relation and
main focus was in decentralizing the power.
These changes were very necessary for the company to implement within the company to
make it a more profitable business. But the employees were not in favour of some of the changes
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brought in by the new chairman. This was majorly because of the reason that Gestnre was
downsizing the company by reducing the staff of the company and this demotivated the
employees because there was threat in them that they can also be removed from their job any
time. Therefore, in this present culture it is very difficult for the new chairman to implement t the
changes. But then also it is very necessary for him to implement the changes within the company
so that the company can improve its working. For this Gestner can use different alternate theories
of change management to implement the changes without troubling the employees.
The first change management theory which Gestner can implement within IBM for
managing the above- mentioned changes is the Kurt Lewin change management model. This is a
three-step model which will make it very simple for the employees to understand and except the
changes taking place within the company. the three simple steps of the Kurt Lewin model are
Unfreeze, Change and Refreeze (Rossi, 2019).
The first step that is unfreeze is the one in which the practices which have been till now
used are stopped from using that is unfreeze them. This is done so that these practices are not
used in the future. This involves the readiness of the employees that whether they are ready to
except the new changes or not and if not then what are the reason of non- acceptance (Cowne,
Frankl and Gerschel, 2018).
Further the second stage is the shange that is the transformation which is intended by the
manger. Here the changes are like the use of new things, practices and ways of doing the work.
Here the leader which is Gestner in present case teaches the employees of IBM that is all the
reason for which these changes are being implemented within the company and what will be the
future implications of these implemented changes. Here in this stage Gestner can try to explain to
all its employee that why they are doing downsizing of the company or why they are going for
decentralization and other changes.
The last stage is of freezing. It means that the employees freeze all the new changes made
within the company. after analysing all the positive impacts of the changes which are being
implemented within the company by Gestner. This is because of the reason that when the
employees understand about the reason behind the changes and the benefits which will be
enjoyed by the company and the employees, all the employees expect the changes. Thus, in this
final stage the change is accepted by the employees.
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Another model which Gestner can use to implement the though changes within IBM is
the ADKAR model. This is a model which helps the person in implementing the changes very
effectively and efficiently. This model could have been adopted to remove the resistance to the
change. This includes the following steps which Gestner could use to implement the intended
changes.
The first step is AWARE which means that there is need to make the employees aware
about the fact that there are many problems within the company that needs to be changed.
Raising the awareness of the problem in front of the employees will motivate the employees to
think that there are some problems which are being faced by the company and which affects the
working of the company.
The next step is DESIRE that is developing a desire in the employees to take some
initiative in order to solve the problem which they have been aware of (Carter, 2015). The next
step is of developing the KNOWLEDGE of the employees relating to the desire which emerged
in the employees to make some changes for solving the problem. In this stage it is very necessary
for the company to understand the requirement of the change and what are the matching
knowledge needed to implement these changes within the practice. The next step is the
ABILITY. The ability here means the ability to use the above knowledge in order to implement
the change in correct way (Lee and Lee, 2015). This is very necessary because of the reason that
if the change will not be implemented in the intended way then it can cause a trouble for the
company. this is because the thought work will nit take place in the same way and this will affect
the overall business activity.
The last stage of this ADKAR model is REINFORCEMENT. This is a step wherein all
the desired changes are being implemented within the company and ensuring that the employees
are following the changes so that they are successfully implemented within the business. This
final stage of ADKAR model checks that the intended change is being implemented in the same
manner as it was thought and also the follow up is taken from the employees that the change is
good or not and if not then what are the changes they need more.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it is been concluded that its is very important for the organization
to implement the respective changes with the help of different change management process in
order to have effective growth of the organization. Report also concluded that the Change
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Kaleidoscope is helpful in implementing effective change in the organization. Finally, report
concluded that there are different theories that could have been used Gestner to overcome the
resistance of employees to change.
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REFERENCES
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Cowne, E., Frankl, C. and Gerschel, L., 2018. The SENCo Handbook: Leading and managing a
whole school approach. Routledge.
Day, G.E. and Shannon, E., 2015. Leading and managing change. Leading and managing health
services: An Australasian Perspective. 295. pp.405-412.
Ferguson, P.W., Hall, G.E. and Hopwood, J.D., 2015. Leading and Managing the 21st Century
Research University: Creating, Implementing, and Sustaining Strategic
Change. International Journal of Leadership and Change. 3(1). p.4.
French, R. and Rees, G. eds., 2016. Leading, managing and developing people. Kogan Page
Publishers.
Hodges, J., 2016. Managing and Leading People Through Organizational Change: The theory
and practice of sustaining change through people. Kogan Page Publishers.
Lee, L.Y.K. and Lee, J.K.L., 2015. Leading and managing change in education: Putting
transformational leadership into practice. Studies and Practices for Advancement in Open
and Distance Education. 1.
Peate, I., 2019. Leading and Managing Care Provision. Learning to Care E-Book: The Nursing
Associate, p.118.
Piña, A.A., Lowell, V.L. and Harris, B.R., 2018. Leading and Managing e-Learning. Springer.
Rossi, P., 2019. Conflicts in Leading and Managing Change: Towards a Reflexive
Practice. Leading Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives.
Seale, O. and Cross, M., 2016. Leading and managing in complexity: the case of South African
deans. Studies in Higher Education. 41(8). pp.1514-1532.
Stewart, J.M. and Malatji, S.M., 2018. Development of the MOSH Leading Practice Adoption
System-a science-based system for managing behaviour change. Journal of the Southern
African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. 118(3). pp.259-277.
Online
Change Kaleidoscope. 2019. [Online]. Available. Through<https://www.mbaknol.com/modern-
management-concepts/change-kaleidoscope/>
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