1 Describe Kotter’s Eight Step Change Model

Explaining Kotter’s Eight Step Change Model

Answer: Eight Step Model

Step 1: Establishing a sense of urgency
• Help others in realizing the need for change and the importance of acting immediately.
• Examining the realities of market and competition.
• Identifying and discussing potential crises.

Step 2: Creating the guiding coalition

• Assuring that the change is guided by a powerful group that has leadership skills, bias for
action, credibility, communication skills and authority andanalytical skills.
• Team building and guiding coalitions that are influential to be formed
• To lead and influence the change,
• Group working together like a team.

Step 3: Developing a vision and strategy

• Clarify how the future will be different from the past, and how the future will be a reality.
• To help direct the change effort by creating a vision.
• Building the right vision and strategy.
• Achieving the vision by developing strategies.

Step 4: Communicating the change vision

• Understanding and accepting the vision and the strategy for as many others as possible.
• Communicating new vision and strategies by using every vehicle possible.
• Have the guiding coalition be a role model of the behaviour expected fromstaff.

Step 5: Empowering broad-based action

• Making the vision a reality by removing as many barriers as possible.
• By getting rid of obstacles, encourage risk taking so that others can act on the vision.
• Making alterations in systems or structures that undermine the vision forchange.

Step 6: Generating short-term wins

• Identifying the ‘low hanging fruit’ – the visible and clear successes that can be achieved
quickly.
• Identifying wins/improvements in performance.
• Ensuring those wins.
• Recognizing and rewarding those who make these wins possible.

Step 7: Consolidating gains and producing more change

• After the first success press harder and faster.
• Sustaining and maintaining the momentum for change by consolidating improvements.
• To change all systems increasing credibility to be used.
• Implementing the change by hiring, promoting and developing people.
• New projects, themes and change agents to be used for reinvigoratingthe process.

Step 8: Anchoring new approaches in the culture

• To become a part of the culture of the group the new ways of behaving are to be held onto and
be made successful.
• Behaviour that is customer and productivity oriented, better leadership,and more effective
management for creating better performance.
• The connections between new behaviours and organizational success to be articulated.
• Ensuring leadership development and succession by developing meansfor it.
2 Explain the various steps at which control takes place in a Change Management Process
Explaining the steps at which control takes place with regard to Change Management

Answer: Steps at which control takes place

Step l: Preparation for change
As a first step, in the preparation stage, the change manager has to focus on the following
aspects
(a) The required change has to be identified
(b) Determination of the major concerns and issues needs to be determined
(c) The obstacles or hurdles to be identified
(d) Calculating the involvement of risk and determination of the cost of change
(e) Understanding the reasons for resisting the change
(f) A suitable method to be devised recognizing the requirement for change and identification of
the present position

Step 2: Building a vision

To build a vision is the second step in the change management process. In this stage, the
following aspects need to be taken into consideration:
(a) Formulating a clear vision
(b) Helping people in identifying what is involved in a change i.e. the proposal for change, the
actions needed for it and its impact.
(c) The ways to manage the change

Step 3: Plan the change

The planning stage considers the following aspects:
(a) Developing an appropriate strategy for the introduction of change
(b) Designing of the change
(c) Making available the complete details of what is involved in the change and explain the need
for change
(d) Involve people in planning the change
(e) All those who are concerned with the change to be communicated the plan
(f) A timeframe to be devised for change
(g) A plan of action to be made for monitoring change
(h) Understanding the reasons for the resistance of change

Step 4: Implementing the change

(a) The activities involved in implementing the change follow
(b) The change management strategy to be implemented
(c) Keeping the records of the progress
(d) Assuring change is taking place and it is permanent in nature
(e) Identification of the gaps and working upon weaknesses.
(f) Resistance to be overcome
(g) Involvement of stakeholders who will be the recipients of change
(h) An effective reward or incentive system to be developed
(i) Adopting all the strategies related to change

Step 5: Monitoring and reviewing change

In monitoring and reviewing change following activities are involved
(a) Change to be recorded and monitored
(b) Assessing progress as compared to the set targets
(c) Ensuring the achievement of the desired results
(d) Determining the success of the project
(e) Monitoring how the stakeholders perceive the changed situation
(f) Helping people who are not responding to the change
(g) Sustenance of the change, without any backsliding

3 What do you mean by Organizational Effectiveness? Explain the factors in achieving

Organizational Effectiveness.

Answer: Organizational effectiveness has been defined as the degree of goal achievement. The
determination of an organization’s goal(s) is crucial in evaluating effectiveness of an
organization.

Factors in Achieving Organizational Effectiveness

For creating an effective organization, some of the factors need to be considered.Some of these
the factors in achieving organizational effectiveness are discussedbelow.

• Sensitivity training: It is a process of changing behaviour with the helpof interactions in an

unstructured group. The employees in a free andopen environment discuss among themselves
and learning takes placethrough serving and participation.

• Survey feedback: This method requires use of questionnaires for theidentification of

discrepancies within the perception of members byarranging discussions about their
perceptions and suggesting remedialmeasures.

• Process consultation: An external consultant assists the organization interms of perceiving,

understanding and acting upon process events. Thechange managers modify the situation by
taking remedial steps.

• Team building: There is an increasingly relrance in the modernorganization upon teams for
the accomplishment of the work tasks. Highinteraction within group activities aids team
building in increasing the levelof trust and openness within members of the team. The aim here
is toimprove members’ effort that will result in increase in the performance ofthe team.

• Inter group development: The objective of this method is to change the attitudes and
perceptions of various groups towards each other. Eachgroup independently creates a list of its
own perception and the perceptionof other groups. The exchange of the lists takes place within
the group,after which there is a discussion upon the similarities and differences.

• Innovation: Application of a novel idea to initiate or improve a product,process or service.

The organization’s effectiveness depends to a greatextent upon its innovativeness that can be
developed in all the functionalareas of management.

• Creating a learning organization: An organization that has grown in itscapacity to adopt and
change continuously is a learning organization. Theorganizations also learn just like individuals
do. An organization can becomea continuous learner by establishing a strategy for change,
innovation andcontinuous improvement. Moreover, the organizational structure isredesigned to
facilitate the continuous learning in the various departmentsand employees and to suit this
continuous learning, the culture also needsto be reshaped.

• Sustained top management commitment: A change programme maybe initiated by a few

employees, but a sufficient number of seniorexecutives must become interested in it, if it has to
be successful. It isimperative that the head of the organization, together with a dozen or
sosenior managers believe in the necessity of the change programme andfollow through the
change process till the set objectives are achieved.This group takes on the responsibility of
leading and guiding the changeprogramme.
4 Define organizational Culture. Describe briefly about the types of organizational
Culture
Definition of Culture.
Explaining the various types of organizational culture

Answer: The word ‘culture’ has been derived metaphorically from the idea of ‘cultivation’, the
process of tilling and developing land. When we talk about culture, we aretypically referring to
the pattern of development reflected in a society’s system of knowledge, ideology, values, laws,
social norms and day-to-day rituals. Edgar Schein has defined culture as ‘a pattern of basic
assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its
problems of external adaptation and internal integration worked well enough to be considered
valuable and therefore, to be taught to new members as a correct way to perceive, think and
feel, in relation to those problems’. Wagner III and Hollenbeck have defined organizational
culture as ‘the shared attitude andperceptions in an organization that are based on a set of
fundamental norms and values and help members understand the organization’. Organizational
culture is said to be a blend of innovation and the ability to take risks, attention to detail,
outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness and stability.

Types of Culture
Culture is formed by the practices, principles, policies practiced and values espoused in an
organization. The behavioural patterns of the employees, amongst themselves, as well as with
the people outside the organization, are decided by the culture of an organization. The
Competing Values Framework as shown in Figure below identifies four distinct types of cultures
in the organizations.
The upper left quadrant, i.e., clan culture, is represented as a place where a lot of sharing takes
place and people are way too friendly with each other. The people have their best friends at the
workplace and the organization is just like an extended family. Leaders are father figures,
mentors and guides. The organization is held together by loyalty, tradition, and collaboration
that results in very high commitment. It stresses upon teamwork, participation and consensus.
Concern for people is high. Organization stresses upon the long-term benefits of individual
development with high bonding and morale being important.

The upper right quadrant represents the adhocracy culture in the competing values
framework. It focuses on dynamism, entrepreneurship, and creativity at the workplace. People
strive to take risks. Leadership is visionary, innovative, risk-oriented and hence effective. The
cohesive forces in such organizations are commitment to experimentation and innovation. The
emphasis is on developing a competitive edge towards new knowledge, products, and/or
services. Importance is given to readiness for change and accepting challenges. The
organization’s long term view is on rapid growth and procuring new resources. Success means
producing unique and original products and services. A market culture in the lower right
quadrant is one which is prevalent in a results-oriented workplace. Leaders are demanding and
tough as their concern is winning every time and this is what provides bonding in the
organization. The concern is achieving the stretched targets and remaining competitive. Market
share and penetration are the success mantras and the focus is on sidelining the competitors,
escalating share price, and market leadership.

The organizational culture is the lower left quadrant. The hierarchy culture is formal and
structured. People are governed by procedures and well-defined processes. Leaders are
efficient enough so they are good coordinators and better organizers. Emphasis is on running
and maintaining an organization on smooth lines. Formal rules and policies are the gluing forces
in the organization as a result of which the organizations are more stable, predictable and
efficient.

5 Explain the Behavioural Approach to Individual Change.

Explanation of the Behavioural Approach

Answer: The behavioural approach to change focuses on how one individual can changeanother
individual’s behaviour using reward and punishment, to achieve intendedresults. The failure or
success of reaching intended results can be analysed inthe behaviours of individuals and the
conditions that shape them.

The verdict about this approach is mixed since it has both merits and demerits. For instance,
suppose that a company is attempting to implement aplanned culture change where it wants to
convert from a bureaucratic approachto a more customer-centric approach. This plan would
entail a change inbehaviours of both the back end personnel and the employees who do
publicdealing. To implement this change, the management would need to take a behavioural
approach to change. Since the final goal is behaviour change, andthere is no plan to change
process, policies or improving relationships overall,there will be no focus on how each
individual experiences the change.

This issue has been initially discussed by psychologists like Pavlov and Skinner in order to
understand the relation between behaviours and conditionsand the effects of rewards and
punishment systems to the behaviours ofindividuals. Pavlov mainly analysed the behaviour
itself under classicalconditioning; however, Skinner has furthered the issue to analyse the
possible effects of the behaviours. Using the notion of rewards and punishments, four possible
situations arise when you want to encourage a specific behaviour,according to Skinner.

Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement means providing rewards for good behaviour. This can come in the form
of bonuses or extra benefits, but positive reinforcement caninvolve smaller and simpler
rewards. For example, a verbal acknowledgementof a job well done can help reinforce positive
actions. Awards and trophies foroutstanding employees often encourage high-performing
employees. On a moreformal level, promotions and title changes can show employees that their
longtermpositive behaviours can pay off through growing with the company.

Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement is not punishment. Negative reinforcement is the withholding of
punishment. For example, if an employee has been in danger ofbeing demoted and improves her
behaviour, deciding not to demote her isnegative reinforcement. The key here is the
reinforcement, the encouraging ofcertain behaviour. The manager withholds the negative
consequences as a signthat the employee has made a change in behaviour.

Punishment
Punishment is an undesirable consequence an employee receives for bad behaviour. This can
involve actions like demoting the employee or suspendingthe employee. A manager may put an
employee on probation pending a changein behaviour. In addition, the employee may lose
overtime privileges orconsideration for raises.

Extinction
Extinction is the elimination of particular behaviour. This type of behaviour modification should
be reserved for the most damaging behaviours. When youwant an immediate and complete stop
to unwanted actions, such as smokingon the job or using sexual innuendos, offer the most
severe punishment, suchas firing, if you see any more of the behaviour. You should make
theconsequences clear and make sure employees know there will be zero tolerance.

6 Write a brief note on the following:

a)Kurt Lewin’s Model of change
b)Burke-Litwin Model of organizational performance and change

Answer: a) In order to ensure that change is permanent, Kurt Lewin described the threephases
of the change process which can enable the organization to move from the current state to the
desired state—Unfreezing, Changing, and Refreezing.
(i) Unfreezing the situation: This stage of the process is designed to make the employees
aware and prepared for the proposed change. In Lewin’s opinion, change must not come as a
surprise to the organization. If change happens suddenly, unannounced, as a surprise, then it
would be socially destructive. Therefore, the management needs to prepare the grounds for
change by ‘unfreezing the situation’.
(ii) Changing or moving to the new condition: The next stage is the redefinition of behaviour
patterns. This is done once the unfreezing process leads the members of the organization to
recognize the need for changeand they are ready to accept such a change.
(iii) Refreezing: Refreezing is the final stage and represents the part where new behaviour is
adopted as the normal way of life. In order for the changeto be successfully completed, the new
behaviour has to fully replace the old behaviour and irreversible under the changed
circumstances. The changes made to organizational processes, goals, structure, offerings or
people are accepted and refrozen as the new norm or status quo. Lewin found the refreezing
step to be especially important to ensure that people do not revert to their old ways of thinking
or doing prior to the implementation of the change. Efforts must be made to guarantee the
change is not lost; rather it needs to be cemented into the organization’s culture and maintained
as the acceptable way of thinking or doing. Positive rewards and acknowledgment of
individualized efforts are often used to reinforce the new state because it is believed that
positively reinforced behavior will likely be repeated.

An important issue that needs to be clearly understood is that the change process is not a one-
time activity. It is a continuous process since the environment is dynamic and constantly
changing. As a result, the activities of unfreezing, changing and refreezing are cyclical and
continuous. It is understood that at this stage, following the transition, stability returns. New
relationships are formed and people become comfortable in their new life-style. Although it may
take time to get settled in this new routine and adapting to new habits.

b) The Burke-Litwin model adopts the open system approach towards an organization. In this
model, the external environment serves as the input dimension and the individual and the
organizational performance serves as the output dimension. The other remaining components
in this model refer to the primary throughput dimensions. The feedback loop links the input
with the output: and the arrows are bi-directional (organizational outputs – products and
services affect the external environment and that forces in the external environment affect
performance directly). For example, change in the government policies or market conditions
will affect organizational outcomes and vice versa.There are many reasons that result in change
in organizations. Building on the Burke-Litwin model of organizational change and performance
helps in the identification of different drivers of change and considers the implications for
change.
This model identifies the importance of the many drivers of change and ranks them accordingly

The important factors of this model are as follows:

External environmental: These are the most important driver for change. The change manager
has to understand these outside changes and understand their implications. He has to regularly
scan the environment for factors such as markets, legislation, competition and economy issues.
Mission and strategy: All activities of the organization are built upon the mission of an
organization which serves as a foundation and also articulate the reason for the existence of an
organization.
Leadership: The attitudes and behaviours of senior members in the organization and the
perception of these behaviours by the organization as a whole are important. The top team
largely influences the implementation of change and its acceptance in the organization.
Culture: The culture of the organization is often impacted by the changes that emerge outside
the organization. Organization culture can best be describedas ‘the way we do things around
here’.
Systems: Very often the change in the structure of the organization happens because of change
in strategy.
Individual needs and values: When team members change, so do team dynamics. In reality it
is difficult to find the right fit to be recruited in the teams, in terms of personal style, abilities
and skills mix, and the change manager has to identify if there are any risks in these areas and
how best they can be mitigated.
Motivation: Motivation levels are directly correlated to effective implementation of change.
Those who are affected by change do not necessarily accept change easily and hence it is
challenging but critical to keep them motivated through the change process.