Change Management

Change Management
I. The Concept
Change management is a structured approach to transitioning

individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future
state, to fulfill or implement a vision and strategy. It is an organizational
process aimed at empowering employees to accept and embrace changes in
their current environment. There are several different streams of thought that
have shaped the practice of change management.
As a systematic process, Change management is the formal process

for organizational change, including a systematic approach and application of
knowledge. Change management means defining and adopting corporate
strategies, structures, procedures, and technologies to deal with change
stemming from internal and external conditions (Society for Human
Resources Management, 2007 Change Management Survey Report).
The process as “Unfreezing, Changing, Refreezing” The process of

change has been characterized as having three basic stages: unfreezing,
changing, and re-freezing. This view draws heavily on Kurt Lewin’s adoption
of the systems concept of homeostasis or dynamic stability.
Human resource management has an important role in any change
process. Change always needs people: for developing objectives, for
identifying the need for change, for developing solutions and for implementing
these solutions. Technology can support and influence change, but it can
never replace people. Another challenge of managing change is that there is
no chance to ‘undo’ mistakes once they were made. If you allocate resources
in an inefficient way, you still have the option to provide additional resources
in order to achieve your objective. If you once failed to make your employees
participate in the change process, you will hardly be able to motivate them
again.
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Change management has been deﬁned as ‘the process of continually
renewing an organization’s direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the
ever-changing needs of external and internal customers’ (Moran and
Brightman, 2001: 111). According to Burnes (2004) change is an ever-present
feature of organizational life, both at an operational and strategic level.
Therefore, there should be no doubt regarding the importance to any
organisation of its ability to identify where it needs to be in the future, and how
to manage the changes required getting there. Consequently, organisational
change cannot be separated from organisational strategy, or vice versa
(Burnes, 2004; Rieley and Clarkson, 2001). Due to the importance of
organisational change, its management is becoming a highly required
managerial skill (Senior, 2002). Graetz (2000: 550) goes as far as suggesting.
Against a backdrop of increasing globalization
Change management has been deﬁned as ‘the process of continually

renewing an organization’s direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the
ever-changing needs of external and internal customers’ (Moran and
Brightman, 2001: 111). According to Burnes (2004) change is an ever-present
feature of organizational life, both at an operational and strategic level.
Therefore, there should be no doubt regarding the importance to any
organisation of its ability to identify where it needs to be in the future, and how
to manage the changes required getting there. Consequently, organisational
change cannot be separated from organisational strategy, or vice versa
(Burnes, 2004; Rieley and Clarkson, 2001). Due to the importance of
organizational change, its management is becoming a highly required
managerial skill (Senior, 2002).
II. Benefits of managing change when applied to government organizations
Change management can be a challenge in any organization.

Managing change means getting the organization to accept the change,
understand the elements of change and then properly execute change.
However, being able to deliver results on multiple changes allows an
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organization to achieve their strategic vision and thrive in the changing
landscape of today’s time. Applying change management enables
organizations to deliver results on each change more effectively and build
competencies that grow the organization’s capacity to tackle more changes at
one time. Changes in organizations are undertaken to improve performance.
From individual change to organizational change, it is crucial to change

behavior and the way people think about work which may take time to adopt.
Careful planning helps to ensure that the change process is started and
managed by the right people at the right time. More specifically, the entire
process will aid on the people side of change as it helps employees to
understand, commit to, accept, and embrace changes in the current set-up,
environment and condition.
III. Challenges in the application of Change Management in the area of HR

Resources, Competencies, Systems and Policies
Strategic change brings so many challenges. These include time that is

required to develop the entire plan, implementation as well as assigning people to
perform with the strategies. And one of the biggest challenges of change
management is the lack of support. Many people perceive change as a threat for
their personal status. As there is truth to this perception, changes indeed move the
whole organization. Every single employee will be moved out of their ‘comfort zone’,
hence; there will always be some people who try to stop or ignore the process. On
the other hand, those who create new ideas may set up new barriers when they
ignore justifiable criticism. The ability to accept criticism is another thing to cultivate
among those who initiate and manage change.
The implementation of any change process has effects on the employees in

an organization. Hence, there is a feedback from the change process to the people
involved and allow employees to participate in all phases of the change process.
This will make them feel valued and included. In return, the organization will gain
their commitment to the process and managing change.
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References;
https://themanager.org/pdf/Change_Problems.PDF
https://www.nickols.us/change.pdf
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Change Management

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Change Management

Change management is a structured approach to transitioning

As a systematic process, Change management is the formal process

The process as “Unfreezing, Changing, Refreezing” The process of

Change management has been deﬁned as ‘the process of continually

II. Benefits of managing change when applied to government organizations

Change management can be a challenge in any organization.

From individual change to organizational change, it is crucial to change

III. Challenges in the application of Change Management in the area of HR

Strategic change brings so many challenges. These include time that is

The implementation of any change process has effects on the employees in

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