Chapter 6Change Management and System Implementation

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

• “Systematic process of applying the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to effect change in transforming an organization from its current state to some future desired state as defined by its vision”

• Must also consider altering behavior patterns of people within the organization

• Includes both a vision and a plan

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CHANGE MANAGEMENT

• Change management is focused more on changing employees’ attitudes and behavior than OD, which is also interested in changing employees’ attitudes and behaviors. But CM is only one part of an OD intervention.

• Change management can be used on projects, which can be either larger or smaller in scope, because it is only focused on changing the attitudes and behaviors of the individuals in that organization, which are important in any OD project.

• Change management must consider altering the mindset and behavior patterns of the people within that organization.

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CHANGE MANAGEMENT TERMINOLOGY

• External and internal forces for change• Change agent or change leader• Gap analysis• Resistance to change

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MODELS OF THE CHANGE PROCESS

• Action research model• Lewin’s change model• Gleicher’s change formula• Nadler’s congruence model• Kotter’s eight-stage change model

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ACTION RESEARCH MODEL

• General perspective to use in any planned change effort– Approach to the management of change

• Interaction of managerial or organizational action and research that both evaluates the action taken and provides data for future planning of the change effort

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LEWIN’S CHANGE MODEL

• Unfreezing• Destabilize (unfreeze) the old ways of doing

things• People need to know what drives the change• Kotter’s (1996) sense of urgency• Psychological safety

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LEWIN’S CHANGE MODEL

• Changing/Transition– Focus on helping change the behavior– Ending Neutral Zone New Beginnings

• Refreezing– Stabilize the organization– Often requires changes in organization’s culture

and norms, policies, and practices

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GEICHER’S CHANGE EQUATION FORMULA

• Helps us assess this degree of readiness as follows C = (D × V × F) > R

• C is the change, D the dissatisfaction with status quo, V the vision, F the first steps (feasibility), and R the resistance to change (costs)

• All three forces for change must be active to offset the forces against the change

• If any one of the three is missing, the product of the equation will tend toward zero, and resistance to change will dominate.

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NADLER’S CONGRUENCE MODEL

• Need congruence (“fit”) between the various organizational subsystems for optimal performance

• Components – Input, strategy, output, and operating organization

• Transformation processes– Strategy, work, people, formal organization

(structure), and informal organization (culture)

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People

NADLER’S CONGRUENCE MODEL

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KOTTER’S EIGHT-STAGE MODEL

• First four stages focus on “unfreezing”– Establishing a greater sense of urgency– Creating the guiding coalition– Developing a transformational vision and strategy– Communicating the change vision

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KOTTER’S EIGHT-STAGE MODEL

• The next three stages introduce many new practices (“change/transition”)– Empowering a broad base of people to take action– Generating short-term wins– Consolidating gains and producing even more

change

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KOTTER’S EIGHT-STAGE MODEL

• The last stage is required to ground the changes in the corporate culture (“refreezing”) and make them stick.– Institutionalizing new approaches in the culture

• The model requires that all the stages must be worked through in order—and completely—to effect change successfully.– More than one step may be activated at any one

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REASONS FOR SYSTEMS FAILURE

• Leadership• Planning• Change management• Communication• Training

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Reasons for Systems Failure:LEADERSHIP

• Lack of executive support• Project managers lacking in leadership skills• Team of individuals committed to change

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Reasons for Systems Failure:PLANNING

• Clearly identified scope and strategy• Adequate funding• Adequate staff to manage the project• Time requirements estimated properly

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Reasons for Systems Failure:CHANGE MANAGEMENT

• Ongoing challenge for HR leaders and organizations

• A review of the research literature on change suggests that a large percentage of change efforts end in discouraging results. – Experts suggest that the figure may be as high as

70% (Mourier & Smith, 2001; Pascale & Millemann, 1997)

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Reasons for Systems Failure:COMMUNICATION

• Makes the difference between success and failure

• Getting people “unstuck” is a huge communication challenge

• Ideally, people participate from beginning to end

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TRAINING

• Ongoing, effective training is essential• Training plan in the beginning with full training

just before system will be used• Advanced training in phases• Involve power users

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CULTURAL ISSUES IN HRIS IMPLEMENTATION

• Can be helpful or harmful to the change efforts

• Defined as a complex set of shared beliefs, guiding values, behavioral norms, and basic assumptions acquired over time that shape our thinking and behavior

• Need to understand the organization’s cultural profile

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CULTURAL ISSUES

• Whenever there is an incongruity between the current culture and the goals of the change initiative, the culture always wins (Conner, 1998, p. 207)

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RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

• Groups and individuals resist change• Loss of control over their lives

– Leads to uncertainty about their future– Need effective two-way communication

• Comfort level with current organizational performance

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RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

• Employee burnout and cynicism from series of failed change initiatives

• Should be anticipated and addressed– Proactive, continuous communication and

effective, ongoing training

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USER ACCEPTANCE

• Ultimately, acceptance represents project success

• Understand users• Involve end users• Involve resistant users• Institute phased implementation plan• Offer rewards to encourage user participation

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