M5.3: Change Management Models

• Provide a brief overview of 3 change models presented in the assigned readings this week.
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implementing change, change management, contingency, and processual approaches. Each model has several advantages and several challenges when implementing. We will examine some of these during this module.
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• Select 1 of the models you chose in the first bullet; then discuss how you would modify to change that model to make it more relevant/current in today’s organizational environment.

Managing Organizational Change: A Multiple Perspectives Approach (3rd ed.) Chapters 8 & 9, by Palmer, Dunford, and Buchanan

M5.3: Change Management Models

There are many change management models that have been developed over the years, attempting to provide a way of effectively managing change within organizations. The most commonly used ones include Lewin’s change management model, the McKinsey 7-S Model, and Kotter’s 8 step change model (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2006). Lewin’s change management model was developed in the 1950s by Kurt Lewin. The model explains that change includes three stages (Calder, 2013): unfreeze stage, where people resist change and management has to overcome change through motivation (unfreezing); transition stage, which comes after the change is initiated; and refreeze stage, when a company achieves stability after change implementation. The McKinsey 7-S model provides an in-depth approach to organization and change management. It was developed in 1978 and has seven factors that serve as the collective agent of change: “shared values, strategy, structure, systems, style, staff, and skills” (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2006).

Kotter’s 8 step change model was developed by John Kotter and looks at change as a campaign, where employees accept change after their leaders and managers convince them of its urgency (Calder, 2013). The model lists eight steps through which leaders implement change within organizations: “increasing urgency for change; building a team that is dedicated to change; creating a vision for change; communicating the need for change; empowering staff; establishing short-term goals; remaining persistent, and making the change permanent” (Calder, 2013). While Kotter’s 8 step model has advantages such as being an easy step-by-step model and focusing on preparing employees for change, the model is lengthy to implement and each step has to be undertaken. To improve this model for today’s organizational environment, organizations should avoid implementing each step singularly to save time. For instance, the creation of a vision can be done together with the communication of the need for change. Increasing urgency for change can be done together with the creation of a team focused on change.

References

Calder, A. M. (2013). Organizational change: Models for successfully implementing change.

Palmer, I., Dunford, R., & Akin, G. (2006). Managing organizational change. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.