The Phases of Organizational Change Essay

According to Spector (2013) Lewin's field theory has three steps: 1) unfreezing; 2) Moving and; 3) refreezing. Unfreezing and refreezing serve as bookends to the process. Unfreezing requires members of the group to be unsatisfied with the status quo (Spector, 2013). In the case of Children's Hospital, the financial crisis and employee moral/satisfaction were at all-time lows which created the dissatisfaction with the status quo (Spector, 2013). Once a new status quo and new patterns of behavior have been implemented refreezing can occur (Spector, 2013). However, in order to get to refreezing, moving needs to occur which encourages members of the group to alter their behavior (Spector, 2013).

No matter how easy is may seem on the surface, the unfreezing, moving and refreezing stages of Lewin’s 3-Step model must be taken (Lewin, 1946). These stages are difficult and persistence by the organization in sticking to its objectives for growth and improvement must remain a top priority. In reality no matter how many positives a new idea is there will always be resistance when it is introduced. Change management is therefore central to the process of making the transition from the old system to the new and change management practices should be employed throughout the transition (ITIL,

The book The Heart of Change shows the practical side of the theories that are taught in the course textbook. It presents stories of successes and failures based in the application of concepts discussed in Organizational Behavior and Management and in class. Although we talked about several different concepts the ones that are evident in the examples in The Heart Of Change are the more progressive and individual centered approaches. The leadership characteristics that are important to successful change in an organization are those that are espoused in the transformational theory of management. It makes sense that ideals in line with the transformational management theory

The purpose of this paper is to discuss organizational change and the management of that change. I will talk about the different drivers of change, the factors a leader needs to weigh to implement change effectively, the various resistances a leader may encounter while trying to implement change, and how various leadership styles will effect the realization of change. I will also discuss the knowledge I have gained through the completion of this assignment and how I think it might affect the way I manage change in my workplace.

After reviewing and researching the literature with respect to organizational changes, I have come to the conclusion that organizations have always changed. When everything in the world is changing, organization cannot remain islands. They must change to face new challenges. Bolman and Deal (2008) claim organizations have changed about as much as in past few decades as in the preceding century. Bolman and Deal (2008) claim means that the change organizations have experienced in the last decade are almost similar to those they experience in at the end of the twentieth century.

Implementing Organizational Change: Theory into Practice, Third Edition, by Bert Spector. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2013 by Pearson Education Inc.

The aim of this report is to provide a critical analysis of the concept of change in the business industry. The concept of change can be tracked back to Lewin’s Model of Change therefore the intitial introduction of this report focuses on the relevance of the Model of Change and its importance to giving precedence to other relevant change management theories and how Kurt Lewin’s work on heavioral science and planned change during World War II gave rrise to prominence of experimental leadership and planned change processes which also in turn launched a new generation of research that lead to group dynamics and how change programs are implemented into an organisation (Burnes, 2004). This is important because today’s basic elements or factors

Health care organizations that choose to convert to an electronic medical record system (EMR) have several advantages; most important it increases patient safety, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and security. Accepting such a transition also presents with its share of challenges like preparing for the required significant time obligation and resources that will make the transition a successful one. Leadership and management must create an atmosphere that will get the buy-in of all stakeholders. Providing information about the process and what methods will be best to make the conversion to an EMR system is an important aspect of the implementation

Over 60 years have passed since Kurt Lewin introduced his Unfreezing-Changing-Refreezing Model. His model is often considered invalid due to the specific beginning, middle, and end of his model. Today, change is continuous and fluid which critics have argued is not recognized by Lewin’s model. However, the following paragraphs will examine how Lewin’s Model is still applicable in today’s change management world.

Management and leadership are viewed as two different perspectives in the business environment. As described by Dr. Warren Bennis ‘Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing’, this means that managers do things by the set rules and follow company policy, while leaders follow their own intuition, which may in turn be of more benefit to the company.

In the 3-step model for successful organizational change, Kurt Lewin argues that successful change in organizations follows 3 steps:

Lewin called the final stage of his change model freezing, but many refer to it as refreezing to symbolize the act of reinforcing, stabilizing and solidifying the new state after the change. The changes made to organizational processes, goals, structures, offerings or people are accepted and refrozen as the new norm or status quo.

Burke (2014) stated that organizations change from day to day. The changes that take place in organizations can be intentional or unintentional. Generally, the changes that occur is accidental. It is important to have a broader and deeper knowledge of understanding organization change. Understanding what is currently happening as well as trends in which the organization is functioning can provide such awareness.

The Burke-Litwin Model highlights the main elements or source of major transformational change and also the changes that are incremental in nature. The four transformational factors are external environment, mission and strategy, leadership, and organizational culture. The main cause that makes a company to make changes is the external environment. It can force any organization to make changes to its mission, culture, leadership, and operating strategies. Changes in the 12 drivers in The Burke-Litwin Model bring a series of change to the overall structure. Various internal and external organizational factors that influence the changes in the organization are:

According to Kurt Lewin’s change model (1947), there are three aspects of managing organizational change: unfreezing, change intervention and refreezing. By observing the change model, all four characters are seen to go through the freezing stage when they found the first cheese station.