The extent to which change involves incremental ... - DTU Orbit

Literature Review


Change and Transition
Advisory Material
For Managers



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Introduction

The intention of this literature review (WP1) is to translate a selection
of theories and models of change management into an operational framework
that comply with the ATM C&T context and consequently can be applied in the
change and transition advisory material for managers. What follows is thus
designed to provide a common tool box for the following work packages of
this project.

The content is organised into four parts including 17 theories and models.
This structure reflects the four elementary phases of change management
that also describes the four essential objects of change managers:

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To enhance the usability of this document, the presentation of each theory
and model follows a distinctive and uniform order including specifications,
characteristics, and references.

Aspects of overlapping must be taken carefully into consideration as most
of the presented theories and models are originally developed and designed
to be applied to more than just one of the four phases. The utility of each
theory and model is outlined within a tableau in the appendix of this
document.

All theories and models are simplifications of the real world, and the
utility of any particular model needs to be judged in terms of whether or
not it provides a helpful conceptual framework for managing the change
process in the specific context of this project.

None is guaranteed to accommodate all circumstances and provide a reliable
basis for understanding why things are the way they are, or identify
actions that can be taken to produce a desired outcome. Depending on
circumstances and purpose, some theories and models may have greater
utility than others.

The three characteristics of plausible identification and selection of
theories or models to apply in a specific context are that they:
1) Are relevant to the particular issues under consideration.
2) Help change managers recognise cause and effect relationships.
3) Focus on elements that change managers can influence.

Previous to making a final decision of which model to use as guidance in a
specific change management process, it is useful to reflect on two points:
1) How do the available model relate to your personal experience? For
example, to what extent do the models considered accommodate or ignore
elements and causal relationships that your experience has led you to
believe are important? It might be unwise to slavishly apply a model
that ignores aspects of organisational functioning that your own
experience tells you are significant.
2) Do any of the available models include elements or relationships that
you have never previously considered but which, on reflection, might
help you make better sense of your own experience? You need to be
alert to the danger of rejecting alternative models too hastily. You
may find that a model that is quite different from your own personal
favourite model can provide useful new insights.

Change management is not a one-off activity: it is on-going and often
begins with a review of the total system. The use of theories and models to
investigate specific aspects of organisational behaviour and functioning
elaborates and helps to build a richer picture of the organisation as a
whole, and because this big picture exists it is possible to align efforts
to improve particular aspects of organisational performance.

Finally, it is worthwhile to note that the extensive empirical research of
change management processes in numerous industries suggests that the human
factors of determination, knowledge, unambiguous values and managerial
courage to eliminate misassumptions and misunderstandings are crucial
elements of successful change in any organisation.





SØREN LYBECKER & NIELS MØLLER

DEPARTMENT OF MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK
OCTOBER 2007
Table of Contents

PART ONE
Understanding & Identifying

1. Types of Organisational Change (page 5)
2. Change versus Transition (page 7)
3. Developmental, Transitional and Transformational Change (page 9)
4. A Congruence Model of Organisations (page 12)
5. Four Frames in eight Stages (page 15)
6. The Hourglass Model (page 18)
7. Socio-Technical Systems Theory (page 21)


PART TWO
Diagnosing & Analysing

8. SWOT Analysis (page 25)
9. PESTLE Analysis (page 27)
10. Weisbord's Six-Box Model (page 29)
11. Total Quality Management (page 31)
12. The Five Steps of an Appreciative Inquiry (page 33)


PART THREE
Planning & Organising

13. The Dynamics of Organisational Culture (page 37)
14. Fernandez and Rainey's eight Factors of Successful Change (page 40)
15. Five Basic Communication Strategies (page 44)


PART FOUR
Implementing & Evaluating

16. The Psychological Contract (page 48)
17. Individual and Collective Learning (page 51)


APPENDIX
Summary & Overview

Summary
Overview




Part One



Understanding
& Identifying
1. Types of Organisational Change


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Specifications

The extent to which change involves incremental adjustment or radical
change and the extent to which the organisation's response to change is
proactive or reactive provides a useful typology of organisational change.

Nadler, Shaw and Walton (1995) identify four types of change:

1) Tuning is change that occurs when there is no immediate requirement to
change. It involves seeking a better way of achieving the strategic
vision. For example, improving policies, methods, procedures;
introducing new technologies; redesigning processes or developing
people with required competencies. Most organisations engage in a form
of fine tuning much of the time. This approach to change tends to be
initiated internally in order to make minor adjustments to maintain
alignment between the internal elements of organisation and the
external environment.
2) Adaptation is an incremental and adaptive response to a pressing
external demand for change. Essentially, it involves, within broad
terms, doing more of the same but doing it better in order to remain
competitive. This kind of change is not about doing things in
fundamentally different ways or doing fundamentally different things.

While tuning and adaptation can involve minor or major changes, they are
types of change that occur within the same frame, they are bounded by the
existing paradigm. Re-orientation and re-creation, on the other hand, are
types of change that target the playing field and the rules of the game
rather than the way a particular game is played. They involve transforming
the organisation and breaking the frame to do things differently or to do
different things.

3) Re-orientation involves a re-definition of the enterprise. It is
initiated in anticipation of future opportunities or problems. The aim
is to ensure that the organisation will be aligned and effective in
the future. It may be necessary to modify the frame, because the need
for change has been anticipated, this could involve a gradual process
of continuous frame-bending. In those cases where the need for change
is not obvious to all and may not be seen as pressing by many, change
agents may need to work hard in order to create a sense of urgency and
gain widespread acceptance of the need to prepare for change.
4) Re-creation is a reactive change that involves transforming the
organisation through the fast and simultaneous change of all its basic
elements. Nadler and Tushman (1995) state that it inevitably involves
organisational frame-breaking and the destruction of some elements of
the system. It can be a very disorienting process.

The most common type of change is either fine-tuning or adaptation but it
is not unusual for a single organisation to be involved in more than one
type of change at the same time.


Characteristics

Origin
Nadler, Shaw & Walton (1995)
Approach
Core concepts
Implications
Different types of change can affect the focus for change efforts, the
sequence of steps in the change process and the locus for change. While
tuning or adaptation can involve minor or major changes, they are bounded
by the existing paradigm. Re-orientation and re-creation, on the other
hand, are types of change that target the playing field and the rules of
the game rather than the way a particular game is played
Applications
Primary: Understanding & Identifying;
Secondary: Diagnosing & Analysing.
Requirements
Basic understanding of organisations and organisational processes
Benefits
The extent to which change involves incremental adjustments or radical
change and the extent to which the organisation's response to change is
proactive or reactive provides a useful typology of organisational change



References

Nadler, Shaw & Walton: Discontinuous Change (Jossey-Bass, 1995)
2. Change versus Transition

|Change |Transition |
|External |Internal |
|Situational |Psychological |
|Event-based |Experience-based |
|Defined by outcome |Defined by pr