alevel business managing strategic change

• What is change management?

  involves the process that ensures a business responds to the environment in which it operates
• What is 'step change'?


  Significant and occurs rapidly
• What is incremental change?


  Changes that occur over a period of time in small stages
• What is disruptive change?


  A form of step change that arises from changes in the external environment. It will impact the whole market
• What are internal causes of change?


  Arise from factors within the control of the

  business - i.e. the decisions taken by business management
• What are external causes of change?

  Arise from factors outside the control of the business - i.e. as a result of changes in the external environment
• What are the potential benefits of embracing change?

  - helps sustain competitive advantage

  - aligns business strategy with changing customer needs

  - businesses can take advantage of developing technologies
• What is a flexible organisation?

  One that is able to adapt and respond relatively quickly to changes in its external environment in order to gain advantage and sustain its competitive position
• What are the benefits of being a flexible organisation?

  - more likely to be efficient

  - improved decision making

  - a more attractive place to work
• What is restructuring?


  changing the organisational structure
• What is delayering?


  Removing layers of management from the hierarchy
• What are the benefits of delayering?

  - lower labour costs

  - shorter communication paths
• What are the drawbacks of delayering?

  - significant redundancy payments

  - increased workloads for managers that remain

  - impact on redundancies on morale
• What are flexible working contracts?

  Where there are a variety of options offered to employees in terms of working time, location and pattern of working
• What are some examples of flexible working options?

  part-time, working from home, shift swapping, flexitime
• What are the benefits of having a flexible workforce?

  - save on costs

  - helps with staff retention

  - meet employment legislation
• What are the drawbacks of flexible working?


  - administrative work and 'red tape' involved in setting it up

  - potentially lower employee productivity

  - employees can be more difficult to manage
• Who suggested there are 4 main ways why change is resisted?

  Kotter and Schlesinger
• What are the 4 main ways change is resisted (Kotter and Schlesinger)?

  Self interest, different assessment of the situation, low intolerance for change, misinformation and misunderstanding
• How can self interest prevent change?

  Individuals often place their own interests before their organisations, particularly if they do not have a strong loyalty to it. Therefore they are less likely to be onboard with change, especially if it threatens their job security
• How can misinformation prevent change?

  People are unaware of why the change is happening which risks widespread perception that there is no point in change
• How can different assessment of the situation lead to resistance to change?

  Some people may disagree with the change suggested, feeling that they may have a better solution
• How can low tolerance restrict change?

  Many people need stability and predictability in their work which may be disrupted by change
• What are the 6 ways of overcoming resistance to change?

  1) education and communication

  2) participation and involvement

  3) facilitation and support

  4) manipulation and co-option

  5) negotiation and bargaining

  6) explicit and implicit coercion
• What is education and communication?

  Effectively communicating the reasons why change is needed
• What is participation and involvement?

  Assigning people a role in the change so that they feel they cannot resist
• What is facilitation and support?


  involves providing the training and other resources people need to carry out the change and perform their jobs under the new circumstances.
• What is manipulation and cooption?

  Co-option is to bring specific people into roles to make them a part of the change management and manipulation involves selective use of information to encourage people to work in a certain way
• What is negotiation and bargaining?

  Trying to offer an incentive to agree with the change- if not, then they leave
• What is explicit and implicit coercion?

  Explicit means to tell people exactly what the consequences are for resisting change. Implicit means to suggest them, without making any direct threats
• Who suggested the 'force field analysis'?

  Lewin
• What is the force field analysis?

  It provides a balanced overview between forces driving change and the forces resisting change
• What are the two forces on Lewin's forcefield?

  Driving and resisting
• What is an organisational structure?

  Shows how people and management are organised within a business
• What factors may influence organisational structure?

  size and type of the business, management style, competitive environment
• What is span of control?


  The number of employees for whom a manager is responsible
• What is a chain of command?

  Describes the lines of authority within a business
• What are levels of heirarchy?

  The number of layers of management or supervision in the organisation structure
• What is a matrix structure?

  Individuals work across teams and projects as well as within their own department
• What are the benefits of matrix structures?

  - improves communication between different departments

  - greater motivation amongst the team

  - resources can be shared across departments #