Organizational Behaviour Wk 9

• Organizational Change


  Any alterations in the people, structure, or technology of an organization
• Characteristics of Change


  • Is constant yet varies in degree and direction
  • Produces uncertainty yet is not completely unpredictable
  • Creates both threats and opportunities
• Managing change is an integral part of every manager's job
• Three Categories of Change

  • Work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization, formalization, job redesign, or actual structural design
  • Technology: Work processes, methods, and equipment
  • People: Attitudes, expectations, perceptions, and behaviour
• Planned Change


  Activities that are intentional and goal oriented
• Change Agents


  Persons who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility for managing change activities
• Types of Change Agents

  • Managers: internal entrepreneurs
  • Nonmanagers: change specialists
  • Outside consultants: change implementation experts
• Sources of Individual Resistance to Change

  • Habit
  • Security
  • Economic factors
  • Fear of the unknown
  • Selective information processing
  • Group conformity
• Sources of Organizational Resistance to Change

  • Structural inertia
  • Limited focus of change
  • Group inertia
  • Threat to established power relationships
  • Threat to established resource allocations
  • Threat to expertise and established roles
• Forms of Resistance to Change

  • Overt and immediate: Voicing complaints, engaging in job actions
  • Implicit and deferred: Loss of employee loyalty and motivation, increased errors or mistakes, increased absenteeism
• Tactics for dealing with resistance to change

  • Communication
  • Participation
  • Building support and commitment
  • Develop positive relationships
  • Implementing changes fairly
  • Manipulation and cooptation
  • Selecting people who accept change
  • Coercion
• Impetus for change is likely to come from outside change agents
• Internal change agents are most threatened by their loss of status in the organization
• Long-time power holders tend to implement only incremental change
• The outcomes of power struggles in the organization will determine the speed and quality of change
• Lewin's Three-Step Change Model

  • Unfreezing: Change efforts to overcome the pressures of both individual resistance and group conformity
  • Movement: Changing to a new state
  • Refreezing: Stabilizing a change intervention by balancing driving and restraining forces
• Driving Forces


  Forces that direct behavior away from the status quo
• Restraining Forces


  Forces that hinder movement from the existing equilibrium
• Mistakes Managers Make When Leading Change

  • Not communicating a sense of urgency
  • Not forming a guiding coalition
  • Quitting before change is finished
  • Not making changes part of the organizational culture
  • Not creating a vision
  • Not communicating the vision
  • Not empowering others to act on the vision
  • Not planning for and creating short-term wins
• Helping Employees Accept Change

  • Give reasons
  • Be empathetic
  • Communicate clearly
  • Show top management's support
  • Publicize successes
  • Make midcourse corrections
  • Help employees deal with stress
  • Explain the benefits
  • Identify a champion
  • Get input from employees
  • Watch timing
  • Maintain job security
  • Provide training
  • Proceed at a manageable pace
• Kotter's Eight-Step Plan for Implementing Change

  1. Establish a sense of urgency by creating a compelling reason for why change is needed

  2. Form a coalition with enough power to lead the change

  3. Create a new vision to direct the change and strategies for achieving the vision

  4. Communicate the vision throughout the organization

  5. Empower others to act on the vision by removing barriers to change and encouraging risk taking and creative problem solving

  6. Plan for, create, and reward short-term "wins" that move the organization toward the new vision

  7. Consolidate improvements, reassess changes, and make necessary adjustments in the new programs

  8. Reinforce the changes by demonstrating the relationship between new behaviors and organizational success
• Action Research


  A change process based on systematic collection of data and then selection of a change action based on what the analyzed data indicate
• Action Research Process Steps

  • Diagnosis
  • Analysis
  • Feedback
  • Action
  • Evaluation
• Action Research Benefits


  • Problem-focused rather than solution-centered
  • Heavy employee involvement reduces resistance to change
• Organizational Development (OD)


  A collection of planned interventions, built on humanistic-democratic values, that seeks to improve organizational effectiveness and employee well-being
• OD Values


  • Respect for people
  • Trust and support
  • Power equalization
  • Confrontation
  • Participation
• Organizational Development Techniques


  • Process Consultation
  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • Intergroup Development
  • Team Building
• Process Consultation (PC)


  A consultant gives a client insights into what is going on around the client, within the client, and between the client and other people; identifies processes that need improvement
• Appreciative Inquiry (AI)


  Seeks to identify the unique qualities and special strengths of an organization, which can then be built on to improve performance
• Stress


  A dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or demand related to what he or she desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important
• Stressor


  Conditions or events that an individual perceives as challenging or threatening
• Types of Stressors


  • Challenge stressors: Stressors associated with workload, pressure to complete tasks, and time urgency

  Hindrance stressors: Stressors that keep you from reaching your goals—for example, office politics, unnecessary tasks
• Potential Sources of Stress

  • Environmental stressors: Economic uncertainties of the business cycle, Political uncertainties of political systems, Technological uncertainties of technical innovations, Terrorism in threats to physical safety and security

  Organizational stressors: Task demands related to the job, Role demands of functioning in an organization, Interpersonal demands created by other employees, Organizational structure (rules and regulations), Organizational leadership (managerial style), Organization's life stage (growth, stability, or decline)

  Personal stressors: Family and personal relationships, Economic problems from exceeding earning capacity
• Consequences of Stress: Strain

  • Physiological: Changes in metabolism, increased heart and breathing rates, raised blood pressure, headaches, and potential of heart attacks

  Behavioural: Changes in productivity, absenteeism, job turnover, changes in eating habits, increased smoking or consumption of alcohol, rapid speech, fidgeting, sleep disorders

  Psychological: Job-related dissatisfaction, tension, anxiety, burnout, boredom
• Eustress


  A healthy, positive, and constructive appraisal of stressors
• Individual Approaches to Managing Stress

  • Developing Time Management Skills

  Focusing on Mental Wellness and Physical Fitness

  Building Resilience

  Practicing Relaxation and Mindfulness

  Seeking Social Support
• Organizational Approaches to Managing Stress

  • Redesigning of jobs

  Enabling a Remote Work option

  Offering recovery experiences

  Wellness programs