Transcript Implementing and Managing Change

Implementing and Managing
Change
BUSS4 – Change
Change management
 Change management involves controlling
the activities required to move an
organisation from its current position to a
new one
 According to research published by the
Chartered Institute of Personnel
Development (CIPD) organisations
undergo major change once every 3 years
on average with smaller changes taking
place almost continually
 The need for change can result from
influences within and outside the business
 Change is inevitable with business growth
 If a firm is growing organically this change
may be relatively slow
 Managers will still need to have the skills
and expertise required to anticipate and
manage the change effectively
 Change from merger or takeover will be
more sudden and may be followed by
painful adjustment unless effective
planning has taken place before
Change management
 Change can be anticipated such as
the introduction of a new
marketing strategy
 Or unanticipated for example the
collapse of major supplier or
sudden deterioration of customer
satisfaction
 Changes may be beyond the
control of individual businesses
such as the introduction of a
national minimum wage or a ban
on advertising during children’s TV
programmes
 A successful firm will see change
as an opportunity or, better still,
anticipate changes before they
occur and develop competitive
advantage over rivals
Organisational barriers to successful
change
 No matter how much time and
how many resources are put into
the planning stage a number of
organisational issues may arise
that have a negative impact on
the implementation of change
 A lack of effective leadership and
project management will lead to
missed deadlines and wasted
resources
 A lack of effective training – all
those involved in the project must
have the right expertise
 Poor communication – effective
two way communication must be
established between all the
individuals and groups affected
Resistance to change
 Resistance to change can be defined as ‘an
individual or group engaging in acts to
block or disrupt and attempt to introduce
change’
 This can happen for many reasons
 People may be concerned about loss of
control or status, feel vulnerable to the
threat of redundancy or resent the break
up of social groups within the workplace
 Resistance may be directed at the change
itself; perhaps it appears to go against the
existing culture e.g. introducing another
managerial layer to a business with an
entrepreneurial culture
 Resistance can come in different forms
 Active – opposition is clearly stated
(e.g. industrial action)
 Passive – hidden e.g. failing to attend
meetings, not responding to messages
 Can be more successful in block
change as it is not expected
Resistance to change
 To overcome or
minimise resistance
 Start with clear
objectives
 Get the majority to
understand the need
for change
 Provide adequate
resources – financial,
human resources and
the right operational
and technological back
up
 Training is paramount –
this needs to be good
quality and planned and
carried out by an
important figure within
the change process
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Implementing change successfully
 There are a number of things that can be done to improve the
chances of successful change
 Ensure that the objectives and details of any changes are
communicated as clearly and as quickly as possible to employees
 Leaving staff in the dark can lead to rumours and
speculation that can be difficult to challenge
 Appointing a project champion
 New ideas can be stifled by bureaucracy within middle
management
 A project champion needs to have power and persuasion to
push the change through and persuade staff that the
changes will make things better
 Involving staff rather than imposing change
 Consulting staff regularly or setting up project groups
(taking members from different functional departments) to
work on particular areas will help to generate ideas, combat
anxieties and increase commitment by creating a sense of
ownership/belonging
 Ensuring appropriate leadership
 The most appropriate style will depend on the
circumstances
 All leaders will need to provide their people with the vision
and rationale for change to make it a success
 Creating a culture for change
 A learning organisation is one that embraces change and
sees it as an opportunity rather than a threat
 This kind of culture will be much more receptive to change
Managing change
 Once the process of change has been implemented
it needs to be managed effectively
 There are two stages
 Control and Review
 Control involves taking steps to ensure that the final
outcome of the change process is as close as
possible to the objectives outlined in the planning
stage
 Regular checks will allow the firm to detect
problems and deal with them
 Contingency planning encourages firms to attempt
to identify what might go wrong and develop
strategies to deal with these problems if they
happen
 The review stage happens once the change is
implemented and objectives have been achieved
 The organisation then needs to think ‘what next?’
 The business has to keep changing to keep in touch
with its market place.
 Increased competition, changes in technology and
customer requirements mean that no business can
afford to stand still for long
Radical vs Continuous change
 An example of radical change is BPR
(Business Process Engineering)
 This is when and organisation focuses
on changing its processes rather than its
structure
 The organisation is completely
redesigned from scratch
 The good thing about BPR is that it looks
at the efficiency of the business as a
whole rather than looking at certain
parts
 This kind of radical change is unlikely
unless there is some kind of crisis
threatening survival because it causes a
huge upheaval
 Most businesses prefer the Kaizen
approach (continuous improvement)
Evaluation
 All organisations need to accept and face
up to the need for change and, in the
modern business environment, the pace of
change appear to show no signs of slowing
down
 Any business that is unwilling or unable to
adapt to the ever increasing pace of change
appears to be doomed to become less and
less competitive
 There are always exceptions to every rule
 For every nine businesses that need to
change to survive there will be one that
thrives on remaining unchanged
 Customers and suppliers must not be
neglected during change
 Change requires the support of employees
 The ability to establish trust between
management and workers in the face of
change appears to be the way forward in
managing the process of change
successfully