Questions and Answers of Organizational Change

Think of a change situation that you have been in and discuss the sensegiving and sensemaking processes that took place. How effective were they?
Disseminate the vision for the change and why it's needed through multiple communication channels. Mobilization Chapters 5 through 8 LO.1
Leverage change agent personality, knowledge, skills and abilities, and related assets (e.g., reputation and relationships) for the benefit of the change vision and its implementation (Chapter 8).
Manage the transition, celebrating small wins and the achievement of milestones along the larger, more difficult path of change. Institutionalization Chapter 10 LO.1
If the vision for change is achieved, how will it look from the perspective of the financial results achieved? LO.1
To accomplish these financial outcomes, what initiatives have to be undertaken from a customer perspective to deliver on the value proposition in ways that generate the desired financial results? LO.1
To accomplish these customer outcomes and/or contributions directly to the financial outcomes through efficiencies, what changes must be tackled from an internal business process perspective? LO.1
Finally, to attain the internal process goals and objectives, what must be undertaken from a learning and growth perspective to increase the organization’s capacity to do what is needed with the
State the mission, vision, and strategy for the change. LO.1
Consider the mission, vision, and strategy of the organization:Is the proposed change consistent with these?If not, what needs to be done with the change or the existing mission, vision, and strategy
Complete the financial component of the scorecard by answering the following questions:If you succeed with the change vision, how will it appear to the shareholders or those responsible for funding
Complete the customer component of the scorecard by answering the following questions:If you succeed with the change, how will it appear to your customers?How will you know (objectives and
Complete the internal business processes component of the scorecard by answering the following questions:If you succeed with the change, how will it appear in your business processes?How will you
Complete the learning and growth component of the scorecard by answering the following questions:If you succeed with the change, how will it appear to your employees and demonstrate itself in their
Seek feedback from trusted colleagues on the scorecard you’ve developed. Does it help them to understand the change initiative you have in mind, the key measures that will indicate progress, and
”Self-Managed Work Teams at South Australian Ambulance Service” is a case available on the book’s website that will help you think about the use of measurement to advance change initiatives.
What measures and control processes were employed in tracking and guiding the change initiative? Were they consistent with the vision and strategy of the change? Were they viewed as legitimate by
How was the measurement information captured and fed back to those who needed to use it? Was it a user-friendly process, and did the information arrive in a useful and timely form? LO.1
Did the change managers consider how the measures might need to evolve over the life of the change initiative? How was this evolution managed? By whom? LO.1
Were steps taken to ensure that the measures used during the change would be put to proper use? Were there risks and potential consequences arising from their use that would need to be managed? LO.1
Were goals and milestones established to plot progress along the way and used to make midcourse corrections if needed? Were the smaller victories celebrated to reinforce the efforts of others when
What were the end-state measures that were developed for the change? Were they consistent with the vision and strategy? Were they viewed as legitimate by those who would be using them? LO.1
How was the end-state measurement information captured and fed back to those who would need to use it? Was it a userfriendly process? LO.1
Were steps taken to ensure that the measures would be put to proper use? Were there risks and potential consequences arising from their use that would need to be managed? LO.1
Describe the control processes and measures that were used with the change (i.e., the belief, interactive, boundary, and diagnostic controls). When and how were they used, and what was their
Were there forbidden topics in the organization, such as questions related to strategy or core values? Were those limits appropriate and did anyone test those limits by raising controversial
What changes could have been made with the control processes and measures that would have assisted in advancing the interests of the change? LO.1
State the mission, vision, and strategy for the change. LO.1
Consider the mission, vision, and strategy of the organization:Is the proposed change consistent with these?If not, what needs to be done with the change or the existing mission, vision, and strategy
Financial component of scorecard: If you succeed with the change vision, how will it appear to the shareholders or those responsible for funding the change?How will you know (objectives and metrics)?
Customer component of scorecard: If you succeed with the change, how will it appear to your customers?How will you know (objectives and metrics)? Are there leading and lagging indicators here? LO.1
Internal business processes component of scorecard: If you succeed with the change, how will it appear in your business processes?How will you know (objectives and metrics)? Are there leading and
Learning and growth component of scorecard: If you succeed with the change, how will it appear to your employees and demonstrate itself in their actions?What about the information and organizational
Lay out the scorecard you’ve designed for your change and seek feedback. LO.1
Show how the different components are connected to each other by developing a strategy map for the change in the space below. LO.1
Does the organization have an appropriate level of risk taking given the nature of the business it is in? Does it play it too safe, about right, or does it take excessive risks? LO.1
Does the approach help you in thinking about risk and what factors may be contributing to the overall risk levels? LO.1
Do the findings help you to think about what can be done to make the levels of risk more manageable? LO.1
What score did the change project receive? Was it in the low-risk category (7 to 14), the worry zone (between 14 and 17), or the high-risk area (over 17)? LO.1
Do the findings help you to think about important sources of risk to the success of the project? LO.1
Do the findings help you to think about what can be done to make the levels of risk more manageable? LO.1
Disseminate the vision for the change and why it's needed through multiple communication channels. Mobilization Chapters 5 through 8 LO.1
Leverage change agent personality, knowledge, skills and abilities, and related assets (e.g., reputation and relationships) for the benefit of the change vision and its implementation (Chapter 8).
Manage the transition, celebrating small wins and the achievement of milestones along the larger, more difficult path of change Institutionalization Chapter 10 LO.1
Missing tools and equipment, including some big-ticket items, such as a $35,000 loader and a $25,000 compressor LO.1
Sales relationships not actively managed, clients not phoned in a timely manner, customer complaints not acted upon until threats were invoked LO.1
Logistics/scheduling, customer delivery and pickups, on-site servicing of equipment not handled well. Customers complained about downtime and their inability to predict when things would be
Lags between order fulfillment and client billing, slow payment of accounts payable LO.1
Poor relations with suppliers of parts and equipment, due in part to slow payment, disagreements over terms and conditions, and lack of supplier responsiveness to emergency requests LO.1
Finally, and importantly, there was the lingering question: What role would his cousin play after the company had been revitalized? LO.1
Gain perspective and insight by recognizing the dynamism and complexity of your organization. What connections exist between parts and how do they work? LO.1
Recognize that people’s perceptions are critical. The perception of benefits and costs determines a person’s reaction to a change proposal. LO.1
Understand that your perception is only one of many. Your view is neither right nor wrong. It is just your point of view of how things are. LO.1
Gather people as you go. There are multiple ways to achieve your change (even when you are starting as a recipient), but the ways that bring others with you are easier and more fun. And remember,
Pull people toward you with a powerful change vision. Push people through argument and rewards when you need to, but gain support through their hearts. LO.1
Get active in pursuit of your vision. If you do something, you will get responses, and you can learn from those. Not doing anything cuts you off from learning. LO.1
Have a plan oriented around your change vision. Having an explicit plan means your thinking can be discussed and challenged. Know that your plan won’t last and will require modification when you
Do things that are positive. Actions that suck energy from you and the system are difficult to sustain.Growing your energy as change agent is important. LO.1
To start meaningful change, you need only a few believers. To continue, you need to develop momentum until a critical mass of key participants is onside. Some will never join in, and that’s OK
There are many routes to your goal. Find the ones with the least resistance that still allow you to proceed with integrity. LO.1
The development of a sequence of action steps and the arrangement of them into a critical path with a clearly defined end goal, intermediate targets, and specific first step. LO.1
The consideration of contingencies—what might go wrong? How will these things be handled? LO.1
A responsibility chart. That is, who will do what, where, when, and how? LO.1
A transition plan including a communications plan. How will the transition be managed? Who will make the innumerable decisions required to handle the details? Who will provide information to those
The chapter defines organizational change as “planned alteration of organizational components to improve the effectiveness of organizations.” LO.1
The orientation of this book is to assist change managers or potential change leaders to be more effective in their change activities. LO.1
The social, demographic, technological, political, and economic forces pushing the need for change are outlined. LO.1
Four types of organizational change are discussed: tuning, adapting, reorienting, and re-creating. LO.1
Four change roles found in organizations are described: change initiators, change implementers, change facilitators, and change recipients and stakeholders. The terms change leader and change agent
The difficulties in creating successful change are highlighted, and then some of the characteristics of successful change leaders are described. LO.1
Managers are action oriented and assume other rational people will see the inherent wisdom in the proposed change and will learn the needed new behaviors. Or managers assume that they will be able to
Managers assume they have the power and influence to enact the desired changes, and they underestimate the power and influence of other stakeholders. LO.1
Managers look at the transition period activities as a cost, not an investment that increases the prospects for success and mitigates failure risks. LO.1
Managers are unable to accurately estimate the resources and commitment needed to facilitate the integration of the human dimension with other aspects of the change (e.g., systems, structures,
Managers are unaware that their own behavior, and that of other key managers, may be sending out conflicting messages to employees and eventually customers. LO.1
Managers find managing human processes unsettling (even threatening) because of the potential emotionality and the difficulties they present with respect to prediction and quantification. LO.1
Managers simply lack the capacity (attitudes, skills, and abilities) to manage complex changes that involve people. When those managing the change get defensive, the minds of others tend to close
Managers' critical judgment is impaired due to factors related to overconfidence and/or groupthink. LO.1
The first model is a basic step model, that is, the leader takes an organization through step 1 before step 2; this is Lewin’s three-stage model. LO.1
Kotter’s eight stages of organizational change provide a highly structured, finish-one-stage-before-the-next-stage approach to change. LO.1
The third model is Gentile’s Giving Voice to Values methodology, which supports individuals taking effective ethical action when a situation so demands. LO.1
The fourth model is Duck’s five-stage model that focuses on people and the range of their emotional responses to change. LO.1
Fifth, there is a modified version of Beckhard and Harris’s change-management model that concentrates on process issues. LO.1
We end this chapter with The Change Path, our four-stage model that concentrates on process issues and is used as a guiding framework throughout the book. The four stages of this model are:
E stablish a sense of urgency: In older, well-established organizations a sense of complacency may have set in. Leaders need to illustrate the threats to the system and move enough organizational
C reate a guiding coalition: Select a significant number of people (10 to 50) who have titles and lead divisions and departments, have the respect of their colleagues, and relevant knowledge. This
Develop a vision and strategy: People need an overarching dream of an inspiring future. From this vision comes the implementation plans and steps. LO.1
C ommunicate the change vision: Capture the hearts and minds of most employees by communicating through multiple channels and multiple times the vision for change. LO.1
E mpower employees for broad-based action: Large numbers of employees need to embrace the vision and then organizational structures, human resources systems, and a myriad of other internal
G enerate short-term wins: Large-scale organizational change may take three to five years and yet employees need to see evidence of successful change within to 18 months (p. 11). Highlight short-term
C onsolidate gains and produce more change: Since it takes years for organizational change to become a part of an organization’s DNA, many leaders stop too soon. Keep pressing forward until the
Anchor new approaches in the culture: Make sure that the change is embedded in the organization’s cultural norms and values. LO.1
Identify a need for change and confirm the problems or opportunities that incite the need for change through collection of data. LO.1
Articulate the gap in performance between the present and the envisioned future state and spread awareness of the data and the gap throughout the organization. LO.1
Develop a powerful vision for change. LO.1
Disseminate the vision for the change and why it's needed through multiple communication channels. LO.1
Make sense of the desired change through formal systems and structures and leverage those systems to reach the change vision (Chapter 5). LO.1
Assess power and cultural dynamics at play and put them to work to better understand the dynamics and build coalitions and support to realize the change (Chapter 6). LO.1
Communicate the need for change organization-wide and manage change recipients and various stakeholders as they react to and move the change forward (Chapter 7). LO.1
Leverage change agent personality, knowledge, skills and abilities, and related assets (e.g., reputation and relationships) for the benefit of the change vision and its implementation (Chapter 8).

Showing 1 - 100 of 512