Why is Organizational Change So Difficult?

Why is Organizational Change So Difficult?

The video explores the technicality of the change process by explaining why implementing change in an organization is difficult. The speaker defines change as a social and dynamic process and begins by reviewing what followers expect from their leaders. According to her, followers expect their leaders to create a vision and share the vision with them, thus creating a need for change because the visions include making some changes either in the behaviour of the followers, organizational culture, or the process followed to run various functions. She explains the dynamic nature of change by stating that it has many moving parts, including intended and unintended outcomes. The video further explores the three ways people react to change. The first way is being enthusiastic and accepting change. The second one is adopting a wait-and-see approach. The third is resisting.

The speaker argues that the group resisting change is often ignored. It is, however, important to understand the reasons for resistance because most people resist change when they feel that their voice is not being heard. The speaker suggests that change is effective when people are engaged. She proposes various models that can be used to implement change. The methods include the Kurt Lewin model, the John Carter model, the HSE model, and the plan-do-study-act approach (RCSI Institute of Leadership, 2014). She argues that these models help organize how the planning and implementation of a change are done and take a holistic view of the planned change. She also adds that the models are divided into encouraging people to plan the change, determining the actions that should be taken and how the change will be implemented, and determining how the change will be mainstreamed or embedded to be part of the culture being followed.

Application

The video is connected to the course content by defining change and expounding on different factors affecting change implementation, such as resistance to change and lack of collaboration among the people required to implement the change. The video also discusses a leader’s vision as a trigger of organizational change. This argument connects with the course content’s review of the key triggers and dimensions of organizational change. Based on the course content, change arises from societal expectations for businesses to operate responsibly and ethically, significant social and political events, the internationalization of business and globalization of markets, technological advancements, fluctuations in business cycles, and mergers and acquisitions. Leaders with a vision to increase a company’s net worth by widening the customer base may create changes in how things are done and propose significant changes such as mergers and acquisitions. Leaders may also introduce new products and services to respond to major social events. Responding to major social and political events could also include changing work schedules for employees and assigning new tasks to them.

The video also connects with the course content in the change description. For instance, the course content defines change as a process that includes moving from the current position to a future position. At the same time, the video acknowledges that change is a process aimed at achieving a vision. The process consists of the present state, the transition state, and the future state. The video and the course content also acknowledge the issue of resistance to change as one of the main factors hindering the successful implementation of change. Managing change is a complex task due to the uncertainty of the outcomes, including intended and unintended outcomes.

Reflection

The leadership video was quite informative on the change process, challenges encountered during the process, the role of leaders in ensuring that change is implemented effectively, and the different groups of people in the change process. One of the lessons I learned from the video is that the leader is not entirely responsible for the failure or success of change in an organization. The leader’s main role is to suggest the change and explain to the followers what the change is intended to achieve and their role in the implementation. Leaders are, however, responsible for creating an environment that may dictate the success of the change. For instance, they need to promote collaboration among employees and ensure that their opinion is considered during the change process. The second lesson was that resistance to change might arise from misinformation and past experiences. For instance, if employees are not given the right information about how the change will affect them and later find out that the leader intentionally withheld that information, they are highly likely to resist the change.

Past experiences create resistance among employees who had previously observed the outcome of the proposed change. The third lesson was that change is an important and complex process that should be planned appropriately. It is important to consider the impact of unintended outcomes that could affect the organization and develop strategies to enhance the success of the intended change. Another lesson was that there is always a possibility of experiencing challenges in the change implementation process, hence the need to ensure that everyone affected by the change is considered. It is also important to determine why some employees may be resisting the change.

References

Dawson, P., & Andriopoulos, C. (2017). Managing change, creativity and innovation. SAGE.

RCSI Institute of Leadership. (2014). Why is Organisational Change So Difficult? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o5HeUAYJiw

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Watch the assigned video listed for the module/week, and write a minimum three-page reflection paper on one of the leadership videos selected for the module/week (https://study.sagepub.com/dawson3e/student-resources/chapter-2/videos)

The paper format should include the following sections:

(1) Cover Page;
(2) Summary section of leadership video / minimum one page;
(3) Application section of how the leadership video connected to the course content / minimum one page;
(4) Reflection section of what lesson you learned from the leadership video / minimum one page;