In order for implementation of change to go along smoothly it is incredibly important that management is supportive and demonstrates it by communicating and interacting with staff. This is one of the few universally accepted principles of change management. Other important aspects include; employee involvement, communication, getting rid of barriers, and making employees feel appreciated after the change has been successfully made.

There are a number of well-known of change management models, but many companies choose 1) Lewin's Change Management Model, 2) McKinsey 7-S Model or 3)Knotter's 8 Step Change Model.

We're already covering Kotter's Model in this week's discussion. This written assignment covers the model by Kurt Lewin.

Lewin's Change Management Model:

1. Unfreeze - There needs to be a period of thawing or "unfreezing"

2. Transition - Good leadership and motivation then helps ease the company successfully change.

3. Refreeze - Once change is assumed then it refreezes with the new guidelines that were implemented.

Although his model sounds good in theory, the practical application has been criticized because some people believe that it takes to long for companies to get used to the new way of things. Kurt's theory has also received various amounts of criticism regarding there not being enough time for the so called "freezing" part of the theory. A generally accepted principle is that the only constant is change, and things are always changing. Theoreticians and statisticians require holding variables constant in order to measure the change and the causative factors. We know that in the rea world, we can't really hold variables constant. Therefore, it is difficult in reality for a business to be constantly refreezing and freezing.

Nevertheless, Lewin's model has been widely taught in management schools and is quite famous. Based on your research of this model and the transformational factors we learn about this week in the textbook, think about your own organization (or an organization that you were affiliated with) and a major change that you have undergone and answer the following questions:

1. Was there evidence of Lewin's model applied in your change management process? If not, why not and what do you think was the impact of not following a model like Lewin's? If it was applied, describe the process that was used.

2. In the discussion question for this week you applied Kotter's 8-step model. How would you correlate the two models (Lewin and Kotter)? Are the two models congruent or

incongruent? (meaning are they in concert or in opposition to each other) Explain in detail and feel free to seek out additional sources to supplement your answers.