Organizational Change Management

This article discusses the importance of organizational change management and the steps involved in the process. It emphasizes the need to consider employee feedback and the role of change agents in successfully implementing the change. The Lewin's change management model is also discussed.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
r ani ational an e Mana ementO g z Ch g g
Name of the Student:
Name of the Organization:
Author’s Note:

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As per the opinion of Wedel and Kannan (2016) in the modern day scenario,
organizational change is of utmost importance for any and every company. This is because the
needs and demands of customers are constantly changing at a rapid rate. So, the organizations
have to keep pace in accordance with these changes. It is for this reason that they often try to
bring some of the other changes within the organization. Apart from this, there can also be some
of the other kinds of problems going on within the organizational setup of the organization. So,
the company has to bring about some changes. As per the idea shared by Georgalis et al. (2015)
these changes might include recruiting some new professionals or replacing the existing software
system or the existing tools and implements that were earlier used in the organization. However,
there are many steps that an organization needs to follow while bringing about a change. They
have to first observe the current processes of the organization and then find out the fault in the
same.
As per the opinion of Alvesson & Sveningsson (2015), there is often a misconception about
the organizational change. Many people consider this entire concept to be similar to a patient
being diagnosed by a doctor. The issue going on within the organization is like the patient and
the doctor is the change management professionals. The change or the solution that they suggest
to stop this issue is medicine. However, this concept is quite loosely bound because the thing that
needs a major concern is the collaboration or the joint effort between the change professionals
and the rest of the stakeholders. Whenever a change is imposed within an organization there will
be restrictions from the employees. So, the managers have to carefully deal with and solve all the
issues. Their managers and the other change professionals have to make sure that they are
making a proper diagnosis system so that they can move in a step by step manner. Some of the
steps that are involved in this process are as follows-

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 Orientation
 Goal setting
 Data gathering
 Interpretation or analysis
 Feedback
 Implementation
 Monitoring
 Evaluation
Martini, Suardana and Astawa (2018) have argued that, in order to diagnose the change in
the organization, the managers have to see the entire matter from the viewpoint of the
employees. They must not overlook the interests of the employees. It will really have a very
negative effect if the managers or the change management professionals do not pay heed to the
opinions and the perceptions of their employees. They can actually follow several change
management models for implementing and diagnosing the change. One among them is the
Lewin’s change management model. There are three steps in his model.
The initial stage is known as the unfrozen state. It can be termed as the first stage of
diagnosis. It is at this stage that the managers have to observe the ongoing activities of the
organization and the current performance of their employees. As per the opinion of Methner,
Hamann and Nilsson (2015) Woolworths one of the leading supermarket chains in Australia has
been largely benefited from this process. Initially, they were selling their products only in the
brick and mortar stores but in their unfreeze stage they saw that customers are looking for an

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online shopping system. It has been argued by Cummings and Worley (2014), that customer
service is one of the key aspects for any and every organization.
The second stage is called making the changes. It is the stage where the changes are
actually implemented. Woolworths started selling their products online in order to meet with the
customer demands.
The third is the refreezing stage. It is at this stage that the companies check if the change
has been implemented properly and is being followed. They must carry out many surveys an
feedback sessions. However, the company has to keep in mind that they are to take the opinion
of the employees as well. The organizational change may make the employees inefficient. They
might resent the new changes and feel unimportant. So, it is essential for managers to diagnose
these issues and deal with them patiently. So, they need to deal with the employees in an
empathetic manner and solve all their issues.
As per the opinion of Neffke et al. (2018), the managers must take the advice of the
organizational change professionals or the change agents for bringing about the organizational
change in a proper manner. They have to appoint the change agents because these agents have
the professional expertise of explaining these changes to the employees and also encourage them
to take part in the change process.The changes are brought about by the change agents. They
have some very important roles to play-
Investigate
The change agents have to explain the entire concept of change and the need for this
change to all the stakeholders. They talk to the employees and try to know about their perception

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of the proposed changes and also communicate the same with the managers. They try to motivate
all the stakeholders and encourage them to participate in the change implementation process.
Encourage
The change agents realize that employees often feel isolated and unimportant after the
implementation of the changes. So, they try to make the employees motivated and show them the
importance of these changes. They teach the employees how to manage the work in a sound
manner even after stepping out of their comfort zones.
Facilitate
The change agents help in designing the tools and the implements for helping the people
to follow the changes. For an instance, if the change includes replacing the existing software
with the new one, then the change agents might arrange for some campaigns and training.
Advise
The change agents are professionals who have a very sound knowledge in their respective
areas of expertise. So, they follow the method of knowledge transfer and make sure that they are
able to teach something valuable. They arrange for many meeting sessions where they carry on
the process of knowledge transfer. The change agents are always confident enough about their
abilities. So, they try to demonstrate their knowledge and motivate the employees to take part in
the proposed changes.
So, it can be concluded that diagnosis is a step by step procedure that is to be followed by
all the managers. They must diagnose the changes and try to deal with it patiently. They have to
take the help of the change agents to successfully implement the organizational change. They

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need to consider the feedback and opinions of their employees and consider their responses
towards the change.

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References and Bibliography
Georgalis, J., Samaratunge, R., Kimberley, N. and Lu, Y., 2015. Change process characteristics
and resistance to organisational change: The role of employee perceptions of justice. Australian
Journal of Management, 40(1), pp.89-113.
Martini, L.K.B., Suardana, I.B.R. and Astawa, I.N.D., 2018. Dimension Effect of Tangibles,
Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy, Leadership towards Employee
Satisfaction. International Research Journal of Management, IT and Social Sciences
(IRJMIS), 5(2), pp.210-215.
Methner, N., Hamann, R. and Nilsson, W., 2015. The Evolution of a Sustainability Leader: The
Development of Strategic and Boundary Spanning Organizational Innovation Capabilities in
Woolworths. In The Business of Social and Environmental Innovation (pp. 87-104). Springer,
Cham.
Neffke, F., Hartog, M., Boschma, R. and Henning, M., 2018. Agents of structural change: the
role of firms and entrepreneurs in regional diversification. Economic Geography, 94(1), pp.23-
48.
Wedel, M. and Kannan, P.K., 2016. Marketing analytics for data-rich environments. Journal of
Marketing, 80(6), pp.97-121.