Integrated Change Management in Project Management

This literature review explores the need for integrated change management in project management. It discusses the importance of change management in handling internal and external changes that impact business operations. The review also highlights the integration of change management with project management methodologies and the skills required for effective change management. The content focuses on the IT industry, project-based engineering-to-order industry, and the healthcare industry.

qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqw
ertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwert
yuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui
opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiop
asdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasd
fghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfgh
jklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjkl
zxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc
vbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvb
nmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm
qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqw
ertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwert
yuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui
opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiop
asdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasd
fghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfgh
jklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcv
Literature Review
Integrated Change Management in Project Management
4/8/2019

Literature Review
Table of Contents
Abstract.................................................................................................................................................2
Title.......................................................................................................................................................3
Research Question.................................................................................................................................3
Literature Review..................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................8
References.............................................................................................................................................9

Literature Review
Abstract
Project Management is a discipline that involves a wide range of activities and tasks for the
overall management of the project processes. Change management is one of the necessary
areas that shall be focussed upon in a business environment. This is because an organization
is exposed to several internal and external changes.
The report analysed the need for integrated change management in project management and
covers a literature review of the same.

Literature Review
Title
A New Era: Integrated Change Management in Project Management
Research Question
Is change management evolving to be the most vital concept in the success of project
management?
Literature Review
Change Management is a process that includes the handling and streamlining of the changes
associated with the internal or external environment of a business firm that may impact the
business operations and activities.
Project Management is a discipline that involves a wide range of activities and tasks for the
overall management of the project processes. There are numerous areas that come under the
domain of Project Management. Some of these primary areas include scope, schedule,
resources, stakeholders, and costs. Apart from these areas, change management has now
become a significant aspect under Project Management.
According to Hornstein, the author, Organizational Change Management (OCM) is defined
as a dedicated process that involves the streamlining of the business processes and operations
due to an internal or external change. These changes may be classified as internal or external
on the basis of the nature of the change. There may be changes in the government policies
and regulations that may have an impact on the project tasks and activities or there may be
changes in the market inflation rates. Such changes are associated with the external
environment of the business firms and are therefore, classified as external changes. On the
other hand, there may be cultural changes witnessed within an organization or changes in the
internal policies. These changes are referred as internal changes. There are different project
management methodologies defined and one such methodology is Project Management Body
of Knowledge (PMBoK). PMBoK methodology includes change management as one of its
ten project knowledge areas. In the recent edition of PMBoK, change management is
integrated under project management as one of its significant knowledge area. However,
there is a defined set of steps and processes under PMBoK that must be followed for
effectively managing the changes. It includes change initiation, planning, execution, control,

Literature Review
and closure. These are the process groups that are included under PMBoK for overall project
management as well. In the initiation phase, there shall be a change request prepared and
released. This change request shall include the change summary, details of the impact of
these changes on the project estimates, and the approval comments (Hornstein, 2015). The
change request shall be submitted to the sponsor and the other stakeholders and they must
add their comments in the approval section. If the change request is approved, detailed
estimation and impact assessment of the change shall be done. The impact on the budget and
schedule along with scope and resources shall be determined with the planning on the
execution of the requested change. The execution of the change shall be carried out thereafter
and the control process shall start. The change control board shall review the implementation
status of the change and the change closure must be performed if the implementation is
successfully carried out. It is necessary to integrate change management under project
management as the projects are exposed to several changes during the timeline. For example,
there may be changes requested by the project client in terms of the requirements and
specifications which may alter the project scope. Similarly, there are technological changes
that may be witnessed during the project timeline. It is also expected that there are changes in
the commitment and motivation levels of the resources involved in the project team. Without
a dedicated change management process, such changes will not be effectively managed and
may take the shape of project risks that may have an adverse implication on the project
progress and continuity. For instance, if there are frequent changes in the project scope and
these changes are not managed and handled in an effective manner, then there may be risks of
scope creep and requirements inflation. It is, therefore, necessary that change management is
integrated with project management.
Also, the Project Manager shall have the skills to manage these changes. There are decision-
making skills that are necessary to determine the priority of the changes to be implemented
and the methodology to be used. There may be certain risks that may occur during the
execution or control of the changes. The PM shall have the adequate problem-solving and
risk handling skills. There may also be cases wherein the project client may keep on
requesting irrelevant changes. The PM shall have the communication and negotiation skills to
ensure that only the necessary changes are accepted and approved for execution (Worley &
Mohrman, 2014).
It is certain that there will be changes that will occur in the organizations and during the
project timeline. It is also evident that integration of change management shall be done with

Literature Review
project management. However, the change approach that is required in the current times is
agile and integrated approach. There are business organizations that still rely on the
traditional and age-old methods of handling the changes. The chances of success in such
cases are lower. The traditional methods and tools of sequential change handling may not be
applicable in the current scenario. There is newer change theories that have been developed
based on the adaptive methodologies and these shall be acquired by the business executives
and resources. The new change theory is classified in four major areas as awareness, design,
tailoring, and monitoring. Project Manager along with several resources from the project
team and external stakeholders may be involved in a change process. These resources must
be aware of the change and its associated impacts. According to Richards, the design of the
change process shall then be carried out followed by the tailoring process. The execution of
the change shall be done as per the design. There must be an on-going monitoring and control
procedure involved in the change management process. This procedure will allow handling
and management of the changes effectively (Richards, 2013).
There are several projects that are carried out in varied industries. IT industry is one of the
essential; industries in the present time. There are small, medium, and large-scale projects
carried out by these IT firms. The chances of failure of the IT projects are high due to the
presence of various vulnerabilities and risk agents. There are usually cases of technological or
operational failures that are witnessed. The projects also tend to go over budget or ahead of
the schedule originally estimated. One of the primary issues that lead to the failure of the IT
projects is the changing requirements. These changes are conducted due to the change in the
technology involved or changes in the customer expectations due to market alterations. There
are various other causes that may lead to these changes. Ineffective management of these
changes lead to the situations of requirements inflation which become too difficult for the
project managers and leadership to handle. The resolution to such issues can be done by
introducing change management as a project management area in the initiation phase of the
project. There are studies that have confirmed that the absence of change management plan in
the project management plan can lead to project failure. There are also issues of inadequate
PM skills that also lead to project failures. The Project Managers fail to identify the adequate
set of plans and strategies that must be carried out for managing these changes. Therefore, it
is necessary that the integration of change management with Project Management is done and
the Project Manager has the required set of skills for handling the project changes (Han, Lee,
& Nyamsuren, 2015).

Literature Review
As per Warner, in the case of project-based engineering-to-order (ETO) industry, there are
various projects that are closely related and integrated with each other. Some of these may
include design, production, purchase, and quality. There are constraints that are applied on
these projects in terms of the project schedule, project budget, and project quality. In the case
of the occurrence of an engineering change, it becomes necessary that the communication of
these changes is adequately done. If there is any miscommunication involved in the design or
other phases then there may be overrun of cost or schedule. There may also be failures
observed in such cases. There are additional risks that may also appear in terms of resource
risks or scope creep. All of these areas come under the domain of project management.
Therefore, it is necessary that change management in integrated with the other project
management areas, such as communication management, risk management, resource
management, etc. In this manner, the changes will be effectively handled and there will be
increased changes of project success (Wanner, 2013).
There are different models defined for integrating change management under project
management. These models and approaches make use of different techniques, such as as-is
process, data analysis, stakeholder mapping, and likewise. In one of these models, there are
eight steps defined. The first step includes the creation of urgency followed by formation of
powerful collaborations and setting up the change vision, thereafter. Communication of the
change details and vision is conducted in the fourth step followed by empowering the
employees to act on the vision. Short-term goals shall be achieved in the sixth step followed
by working on the strengths to implement the change. Anchoring the changes is the last step
in this model. The steps that are covered in this model make use of the other project
management areas, such as communication management, quality management, etc.
Therefore, the integration of change management with all the project areas will make it easier
for the project managers to handle the changes and projects as a whole (Morris & DeLapp,
1983).
There are different forms of changes that may occur in a project. Some of these changes may
be internal to a project while other may be external. Similarly, these changes may have varied
impacts on the project and the business organization. The overall size of these changes may
also vary from one another. It is necessary that irrespective of the change type or the nature of
the change, the management of the changes is correctly done. The change objective has an
impact on the project goals and objectives. It is necessary that the project management

Literature Review
guidelines and principles are applied in change handling and management as well (Mergel,
Gong & Bertot, 2018).
There are numerous project management methodologies defined and agile methodology is
one such latest methods. It is an adaptive methodology that provides an ad-hoc approach for
project management. The management of the changes in the projects managed using agile
methodology tend to be simpler. This is because the end-products and the overall process
under agile methods are flexible. The scalability of the project and the associated activities is
also high. The agile process; however, are carried out in a series of iterations. In the case of
agile system development, these iterations are referred as sprints. The introduction of a
change during the timeline of a sprint may not be easy to manage (Öner, Benson, & Gol
Beser, 2014).
There are varied success factors and performance indicators associated with the projects and
the business organizations. It is necessary that the organizational strategy and the objectives
defined under a change are aligned with each other. The use of organizational foresight and
the success factors shall be done for this alignment. It is the responsibility of the senior
management and leadership to make sure that the task is effectively carried out.
There are three main knowledge areas under change management. These include change
types, change methods, and the outcomes of these changes. It is required that these three
areas are in sync with each other. For example, the change may be a small-scale change that
may be manageable using Waterfall management model. However, the outcome of the
change may significantly impact a project or organization area. The size or nature of the
change does not matter while managing these changes. This is because the changes shall be
managed and streamlined irrespective of their type or nature. The adoption of such a
methodology will make sure that the changes are effectively carried out and the integration of
the changes is done with the other elements and areas under the domain of project
management (Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015).
Healthcare is one industry that is witnessing several changes in the recent years. This is
because of the advancement in technology and the development in the medical field. The
healthcare operations and activities along with the medical professionals/patients demands
have also altered by a great degree in the recent times. It is necessary that the project
management activities and such organizational changes are in sync with each other. The
absence of such a practice will lead to the inability to handle the changes which may be

Literature Review
adverse for the organization and its associated stakeholders. The non-alignment of the
objectives of these disciplines may lead to significant losses and failures (Gordon & Pollack,
2018).
Conclusion
Project Management is a necessary discipline and is applied in every business firm in the
present times. There is different knowledge areas defined under project management. Change
management is one such area that must be synced with the other knowledge areas under the
domain of project management. This is because all of these areas have an impact on each
other. Change Management is a process that includes the handling and streamlining of the
changes associated with the internal or external environment of a business firm that may
impact the business operations and activities. Apart from the integration of change
management with project management, it must also be ensured that the Project Manager and
other senior level resources responsible for managing these changes have the adequate set of
skills to carry out effective management. In the absence of the required skills, there may be
enhanced chances of failure.

Literature Review
References
Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a
model for successful change. Journal Of Organizational Change Management, 28(2),
234-262. doi: 10.1108/jocm-11-2013-0215
Gordon, A., & Pollack, J. (2018). Managing Healthcare Integration. Project Management
Journal, 49(5), 5-21. doi: 10.1177/8756972818785321
Han, J., Lee, S.-H., & Nyamsuren, P. (2015). An integrated engineering change management
process model for a project-based manufacturing. International Journal of Computer
Integrated Manufacturing, 28(7), 745–752.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1080/0951192X.2014.924342
Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change
management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33, 291–298.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.08.005
Mergel, I., Gong, Y., & Bertot, J. (2018). Agile government: Systematic literature review and
future research. Government Information Quarterly, 35(2), 291–298. https://doi-
org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1016/j.giq.2018.04.003
Morris, P. W. G. & DeLapp, S. E. (1983). Managing change through project management:
Secret Ingredients for Blending American and Japanese Management Technology.
Project Management Quarterly, 14(2), 60–70. Retrieved from
https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/managing-change-through-project-management-
1777
Öner, M. A., Benson, C., & Göl Beşer, S. (2014). Linking Organizational Change
Management and Organizational Foresight. Strategic Change, 23(3–4), 185–203.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1002/jsc.1970
Richards, K. C. (2013). The Importance of Change Management in Managing IT Projects in
the Public Service of Trinidad and Tobago. West Indian Journal of Engineering,
36(1), 35–46. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.umuc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/
login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=112135792&site=eds-live&scope=site

Literature Review
Wanner, M. F. (2013). Integrated change management. Paper presented at PMI® Global
Congress 2013—North America, New Orleans, LA. Newtown Square, PA: Project
Management Institute. Retrieved from
https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/integrated-change-management-5954
Worley, C.G. & Mohrman, S. A. (2014). Is change management obsolete? Organizational
Dynamics, 43, 214–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2014.08.008