BUS643: Leading Organizational Change

As discussed in the first unit, change is difficult for companies to implement, and many factors may cause this. By understanding the various change models, methods, and theories, you will become better informed to facilitate organizational change. Read this section to see why change can be difficult and how change might be organized.

Each organization will use and implement change differently. Because of that, change will need to be specific to the organization. It is important to understand the culture, employees, management, and how a company has dealt with change in the past before choosing a change management system. This video about change theory gives information about what it is, what to expect, and how it works.

After completing organizational research about the change process, and before you choose a change management model, method, or theory, you will create a framework to work and understand change. A change management framework is a plan for change and a process to follow to implement that change. By better understanding how the company operates and the culture in which the change will occur, you can develop a change plan to make it easier to implement change. Read this case study for Sustainability and Response Management about the NHL implementing change and what information needed to be collected first. When you are done, write a two-page summary answering the two questions at the end to improve your understanding.

Kotter's change model is one of the most popular and includes eight steps to assist organizations in making change. These steps include creating a sense of urgency, building a guiding coalition, forming a strategic vision, enlisting a volunteer army, enabling action by removing barriers, generating short-term wins, sustaining acceleration, and instituting change.

Lewin's Change Model describes organizational change in three phases. Lewin explains the change using the words unfreeze, move, and refreeze. He focuses on the change process and what occurs in each stage.

The appreciative inquiry model assists an organization in uncovering strengths, weaknesses, or opportunities by asking questions and having conversations with individuals who understand the organization. This model allows an organization to better understand what needs to change and helps create a story about your organization and how you want that business to grow and change. It uses ideas from employees as a group and includes the culture of the business in the background as a guide for how to change.

Complex adaptive systems are a way of analyzing patterns and relationships in an organization to determine where they are, where they want to go, and how they might get there. Review this section, which gives an overview of this change management tool.

Read this section about the McKinsey 7-S Model. What are your most important takeaways about this model? Can you answer the two concept check questions at the end of this section?

This video gives a good overview of the ADKAR change management model, how it works, what to look for, and what to expect when using it.

Another change management system is Lean Six Sigma which helps to change efficiency in an organization. Lean Six Sigma works well with assembly line production to improve continuously. This short video shows how the Lean Six Sigma process works.

Kaizen is another change management system developed by the Japanese and is part of Six Sigma. Kaizen is the process of using small incremental changes to constantly improve. This process can be used in the workplace or for personal change.

This section covered information on change in various management models and systems. Can you outline a change management model and framework that best fits your organization? Why would you choose that model? If you are not currently working, choose a company you want to know more about and consider how you would respond if you were part of that organization.

Watch this as you work through the unit and prepare to take the final exam.