Organizational Change: Theories and Application

Organizational Change: Theories and Application
The dynamic nature of the business environment in the contemporary world has prompted organizations to confront and embrace change. Constant shifts in the competitive, economic, political, and global landscape are the primary instigators of organizations toward change. Earlier case studies demonstrate that when an organization fails to change, its effectiveness drops, and the company lags behind its competitorsCITATION Geo12 \p 533 \l 1033 (George & Jones, 2012, p. 533). Resistance to change is one key reason why some renowned industry leaders have been toppled from their leadership positions by their competitors. Dell Inc. is an excellent example of one such organization, replaced by Apple in the tech industry. Due to resistance, change initiatives can fail. Evidence suggests that 25% of all change initiatives fail, with 40% employee turnover and a further 25% decline in productivityCITATION Wil19 \p 99 \l 1033 (Will & Mueller, 2019, p. 99). Thus, the need to manage change successfully. Successful change management is critical to organizational behavior CITATION Geo12 \p 533 \l 1033 (George & Jones, 2012, p. 533). This paper details the model and theories of change, including the force-field theory and the congruence model of change. It further outlines the sources of resistance to change and how they can be managed but also offers a new view of resistance from literature. Finally, the paper describes how I will apply the change knowledge gained from my research in practice as an OD practitioner.
Theories and Models of Organizational Change
Various models explain how change occurs in an organization. Most of the existing models of change are based on empirical evidence, while others are articulated from the experiences of practitioners. Thus, these theories of change offer different perspectives and approaches to organizational changeCITATION And17 \p 114 \l 1033 (Anderson, 2017, p. 114).
Lewin’s Force Field Theory and Three-Step Model of Change
Kurt Lewin articulated his “force-field theory of change” in 1951. He argued that forces that promote the status quo always oppose forces that drive an organization towards change. Thus, when these forces are balanced, there is no change. Lewin’s theory posits that for organizations to achieve change, managers must either decrease the forces promoting the status quo while increasing forces for change or achieve both simultaneouslyCITATION Geo12 \p 538 \m And17 \p 120 \l 1033 (George & Jones, 2012, p. 538; Anderson, 2017, p. 120). Lewin further developed a model that depicts “change” in an organization in three phases. The first phase is unfreezing the company from its existing state so that change may be initiated. Once the change desired change has been made in the second phase, the new desired practices are refrozen in the final stage CITATION And17 \l 1033 (Anderson, 2017).
The Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model
Articulated by Nadler and Tushman (1981) and founded on systems theory, the congruence model is more practical and valuable to OD practitioners in organizational change. The model emphasizes on transformation process and is founded on the premise that organizati...