CHALLENGES TO ORGANIZATION CHANGE

Abstract

Organizational change is an essential issue or significant concern in a company. it is a process in which a company enhances performance as it works towards set goals. organizational change happens as a response to an ever-changing environment, a reaction to a present crisis state, or it is caused by a leader. successful organizational change is not only a practice of adjustment. But it also needs adequate managing capabilities. (Isern, J., & Pung, A. 2007).
Every organization needs to change with the changing internal and external environment to be successful in today’s global market, But the change in the organisation is not smooth every time, sometimes it has some barriers which can make a change stop or create hindrances in the process.
This article will include the challenges faced while making the change in the organisation, with the example of Kotter and Schlesinger change model, Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change and Lewin’s 3 step model.

Full text

R RESHI
CHALLENGES TO ORGANIZATION
CHANGE
AUTHOR: AKTHER RESHI

INTRODUCTION
Change, in general, indicates any act of making something different. The factor that necessitates
a change in an organization is broadly categorized into people, technology, information process
and communication, and competition. Some changes in the organization occur suddenly without
the conscious efforts of the people. These changes are known as unplanned changes. on the other
hand, some changes are initiated by the management to accomplish certain goals and objectives.
Also known as planned changes. more often change is met with resistance
People can easily be overwhelmed by change, especially within large organizations where they
may perceive they have little or no voice in or control over the changes, they believe are
descending upon them. The typical response is fight or flight, cooperation managers often
interpret such human resistance to change as “stubbornness” or as “not being on the team”. This
reaction solves nothing in terms of reducing resistance to change or gaining acceptance of it.
Some managers do not accept that they are regarding as imposing “life-threatening” changes and
establishing a “no-win” adversary relationship between management and those below in the
organization. Sometimes managers try to disguise the impending changes with what they
consider innocuous names, (e.g., organizational effectiveness) or they adopt a metaphor (e.g.,
architecture for the future. The result of people feeling disenfranchised is inevitable as the
example of a different organization from around the world attest. (Lorenzi N. M., Riley R. T,
Blyth A.J.C, Southon G, Dixon B.J,)
Organizational change is an essential issue or significant concern in a company. it is a process in
which a company enhances performance as it works towards set goals. organizational change
happens as a response to an ever-changing environment, a reaction to a present crisis state, or it
is caused by a leader. successful organizational change is not only a practice of adjustment. But
it also needs adequate managing capabilities. (Isern, J., & Pung, A. 2007).
Every organization needs to change with the changing internal and external environment to be
successful in today’s global market, But the change in the organisation is not smooth every time
sometimes it has some barriers which can make a change to stop or create hindrances in the
process.
DEFINITION OF AN ORGANISATION.
An organization is a social unit of people that is managed in a way to meet the collective goals.
The structure of the organizations determines the relationship between the activities and the
employees, assigned roles, responsibility, and influence to carry out the various task. All the
originations are open systems- they are affected by their environment, and they also affect the
environment (Business Dictionary. 2017)
An organization is a group of people purposely organized to achieve an overall, common goal or
the set goals of an organization. business organizations vary in size from one person to
thousands of persons. (McNamara, C.a.r.t.e.r. 2017)
According to Blau, PM., Scott the organization is defined as the achievement of an objective or a
goal that requires collective efforts, a person makes an organization design to direct the activities
of many persons and to provide incentives form other people to join them for the purpose. (Blau,
P. M., & Scott, W. R. 1962).
Barnard defines an organization as a system of intentionally organized activities of two or more
persons for the achievement of a common goal. (Barnard, C. I. 1938).

DEFINING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE.
The common concept of change is usually defined as just “a new state of things, that are
different from the old state of things”. (French, Wendell and Bell, H. Cecil, jr 1999)
Cambridge dictionary defines organizational change as a “process in which a company or an
organization make a change in its working method for example making a change to deal with
new situation or market”
Nickols (2004, p. 1) defines organizational change as “the making of changes in a planned and
managed or systematic fashion and the response to changes over which the organization
exercises little or no control”. The necessity to recognize organisation-wide change has become
one of the most challenging responsibilities of every organization. (Pettigrew, Woodman and
Cameron 2001)
WHY IS ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IMPORTANT?
According to the Contingency theory, if an organization environment is undergoing major
changes, it is expected to require a change in its structure, task and behaviour if the organization
has to remain successful and adaptive
All the small or big organizations must experience ongoing change and gain an understanding of
the ways organization change management provides a viewpoint or perspective on the process.
organization change is a management theory that focuses on the process stages of an
organization, or the company have to go through as they grow. The organizational change theory
principles apply to both long and short- term changes. When a company knows the usual
characteristics of the different stages of organizational change. The company can implement
strategies suitable to the specific circumstances at the current stage. (Gartenstein, D.e.v.r.a.
2017)
Organizational change is an essential issue or significant concern in a company. it is a process in
which a company enhances performance as it works towards set goals. organizational change
happens as a response to an ever-changing environment, a reaction to a present crisis state, or it
is caused by a leader. successful organizational change is not only a practice of adjustment. But
it also needs adequate managing capabilities. (Isern, J., & Pung, A. 2007).
According to Carter, The essential purpose of organisational change is to enhance the
performance of the company. Breaking down into lower organizational level, this progress about
achieving a goal is measured in terms of staff job performance Organization change my effect
employees positively or negatively. Employee performance is an important element that affects
the effectiveness of an organization. (Carter et al., 2012). focus on job performance more than
employee performance, referring to adaptable actions, behaviour and outcomes that the
employees engage in, and are specifically concerned with the accomplishment of company aims
and goals. Viswesvaran and Ones (2000). Caillier (2010) agrees with the statement that there
should be a focus on job performance rather than employee performance and describes job
performance as a term that is developed to characterize the degree of how well staff act in
requested work-related circumstances or situations. In line with Bormann and Montevideo
(1993), we differentiate between job performance and contextual performance.

WHAT IS THE NEED FOR CHANGE?
Mainly the two Factors which force the company to bring change in the current organization.
• External Factors
• Internal Factors
External forces make the need for change to come from different sources. It includes:
• Market place.
• Economic changes.
• Government laws and regulations.
• Technology - Fluctuation in Labor markets.
Internal forces create the need for change. The internal forces tend to originate primarily from
the:
• Internal operations of the organization.
• Due to the impact of external changes.
Including:
• Modifying the current strategy (Turnaround strategy)
• Organization's staff (Composition changes like age, education, sex, etc.)
• Redesign of jobs and new interaction patterns within their workgroup.
• Employee attitudes etc.
• Compensation and benefit system
• Introduction of new gears and instruments. (Murthy, C. (2007).
Systemic change can be explained as dynamic modification that occurs in an organization.
Including the policy and practice system, information systems and how they interact. This allows
the employees of a company to involve in reflecting, reconsidering and rearrangement how they
organize themselves. It is a repeated process in which the effect of change on all parts of the
whole and their associations to each other are taken into attention. (Blanchard, J. 2003).
Change in Organization is never an easy process. As Alison Penn and others have argued many
organizations have been responding and changing to major contextual influences, structural
constraints and opportunities. from the time when world war two ended. (Penn et al.,2011).

CHALLENGES FACED WHILE ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE AND
HOW TO OVERCOME THEM
• RESISTANCE TO CHANGE BY PEOPLE
“People do not resist the change itself, but the fallout from change” (Conner, 1998). Waddell and
Sohal (1998) argue that “people do not resist change, rather they resist the uncertainties and the
potential outcomes that change can cause.” Employees are afraid about the work they may not be
able to cope in the changing environment because they have to learn new technologies or learn
different sets of skills to do their jobs new environment. According to Morgan resistance to
change by people is the biggest challenge while organizational change.
There are four types of people
1. Those people who ignore the change
2. People who refuse to recognize change
3. People who defend the idea of change
4. Those who cross their arms and wait for the delay of plan. Morgan (1976)
O'Connor also agrees with resistance as a challenge and suggest some causes for resistance
1. Failure to believe that there is a serious need for change.
2. Different descriptions of the need to change.
3. No agreement on the objectives of the change. (O'Connor (1993)
HOW TO OVERCOME RESISTANCE
Teboul states that to reduce the resistance to change an organization should make a climate of
trust which helps the employees to understand that their job, position, power, etc. they should
not be threatened; Encouraging participation- the people who are directly affected by the change
involve from the start can influence its result. (Teboul, 1991).
According to Morgan the companies should prepare their employees in a way that the change is
positive and make them understand that the change will benefit their work and change is most
important to everyone’s life. (Morgan, 1976, p.14).
The two steps will help an organization to Overcoming Resistance to Change
1. Transparency: Provide the employees as much as detail available and explain the cause
to change and how will the change help the organization.
2. Agreement: Establish agreements are a two-way street. Making the people understand
why change is important. And when is it going to happen. We also need to understand
what problems they are facing and Know their fears.
Lewin’s three-step model of change was developed in the context of group dynamics in an
organization- which is the most important area in the resistance of change.
Lewin’s 3 step model

• Freezing- when the change has occurred it should be reinforced so that the organization
work according to change and it should slip back to the state before change. (King, D., &
Lawley, S. 2016)
• Unfreezing – understand the current situation. A Force field analysis diagram can be
used to know the current state. The organization should be shaken out of its current state
and prepare for change
• Movement – motivating people and making them work for the change and moving to the
desired state slowly
CHANGING THE CULTURE
Changing a culture in an organization can be a major challenge, Challenges faced while culture
change in an organisation.
• Employee apprehension
• Employees believe that the change in environment can bring unintended changes social
environment of the business.
• Force of habit as the change can bring the new way or process of working but some of
the employees must resist to it and work in the old method
• Confusion and uncertainty: lack of communication during the process of change can
create uncertainty among the staff
HOW AN ORGANISATION CAN FACE THE CHANGES AND CHALLENGES.
LACK OF RESOURCE: The management may be worried that they do not have enough
resources to handle change. This can be a communication problem the senior manager did not
consider input from the middle manager.
McCarthy (2004) posits that The leader of the organization should provide support and
development of the managers who report to them in their own personal evolution and then assist
them in doing the same for their teams.”
INFORMATION OVERLOAD: Providing people with too much information about the
change can be a challenge. The employees should be provided with the information that they are
needed and should not be given the extra information which can create a problem for an
organization
PUSH FOR INSTANT SUCCESS BY MANAGEMENT: Organizational change is a time-
consuming process. The changes do not happen instantly, so the employees should not be forced
to make changes quickly.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEE IS
ADVERSARIAL
Proven as a major challenge in organisational change. There can be many conflicts running
through the organization between the management and the staff. There should be a process of

creating a meeting or solving the conflicts in the organization. an organizational leader should
take the step to solve this problem to make the organization change successful. The decision
theory school has established from the writing of Simon (1957) and Cyert and March according
to Simon all managerial action is decision making. A manager should not make all the decisions
himself but while making the decision he should keep the organization in mind and make
effective decisions. he should be able to solve all the challenges faced while the change in the
organization. (Cyert and March 1963).
System theory has some basic principles which can help managers to study organization and
make change effective using a system approach. Linking all the departments with each other.
According to rosemary some of the hindering factors while planning change can be Continual
change, change of mind, speed of change, the unpredictability of change, lack of clarity
/rationale, lack of involvement, indirectness, incompleteness, workload (Rosemary Stuart (1995)
Kotter and Schlesinger set out the following change approaches to deal with this resistance
to change.
Education and Communication: the majority of the challenges in change organizations are
because of communication problems. People of the organization does not have the proper
information about the change. Educating people with the relevant information can end the
resistance by people.
Participation and Involvement: when the people of the organization do not have the
information about the change and how the change can help the organization to improve people
may stop involving in their work leader can help the employees to work properly and motivating
them with explaining them the effects of change and how it can help them to improve
Facilitation and Support: providing the employees with the support they need while the change
and. the leader or the manager of the company can help the employees to overcome their fear
and anxiety during a transition period. motivate them to work for change
Negotiation and Agreement: when the employees of the organization may resist the change,
the manager of the organization can be offering incentives to employees not to resist change
offering them a bonus on their work and make sure the work is properly done
Explicit and Implicit Coercion: as the last option if employees resist change and are not willing
to work. giving them the last warning and continuing to the resistance they may lose their jobs
and can be expelled from the job or not promoting employees.
Amongst the different theories, the most effective theory is Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading
Change As per the reports and research carried out by Kotter the 70% of the change failed with
only 30 % of them were successful. John Kotter introduced the 8-step change model which can
improve the ability of change being successful by following these 8 steps organizations no
longer need to adjust the changes and they will increase their chances of success
Following the 8 steps may also solve many barriers to change and there will be less chance of
any challenge that an origination has to face while going through the change management.

Conclusion:
Organizations of all types always experience change, because as businesses grow, the company
have to evolve. Changes such as transferring to a new HR plan can affect your business in every
way, but that doesn’t essentially mean that it has to change for the worst. Change needs to be
dealt with efficiently and responsibly, and if done correctly, it will benefit the organization and
make it a smooth transition. There may be different barriers to change while the change is
ongoing but if the process of planning change has been done efficiently and the company has got
all the relevant information and using the different theories or methods which can the
organization in advance to knows the challenges that can be faced in future by an organization
and try to resolve them and make a plan to overcome the barriers. Not every time a change may
be successful but if the change is done by good management following the principle of change
can lead to improvement of the organization. As per the reports only, 30 % of changes are
successful so this means there are chances of the successful change.
Change is an important factor for the organization to remain successful. As different companies
have a different processes of changing the organization some may fail some may be successful.
The successful change in the environment leads the organization to remain in competition with
the other successful companies.

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