Management of change: Recognizing a need or opportunity for change
Abstract
Management of change is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, projects and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. It is a vital aspect of organizational transformation, as it helps to mitigate the potential risks and impacts associated with change. It involves ensuring that changes are smoothly and efficiently implemented, and that the impact of changes on employees, customers, and other stakeholders, is minimized. Many different theories, tools, and models have been made in the field to provide a conceptual framework that those managing change can use to identify the issues they need to address, if they are to secure the desired outcome. The model presented by John Hayes conceptualized the management of change as a purposeful, constructed and often contested process that involves attending seven core activities to achieve a successful change. [1]
- Recognize a need or opportunity for change.
- Diagnosing what needs to be changed and formulating a vision of a preferred future state.
- Leading and managing the people issues.
- Planning how to intervene in order to achieve the desired change.
- Implementing plans and reviewing progress.
- Sustaining the change.
- Learning.
This article explores the first activity “recognize a need of opportunity for change”. The concept of change in work groups, projects and organizations, discussing the different approaches and paradigms that organizations adopt in responding to changes. The four types of change, reactive and proactive and incremental or continuous, are identified and their implications for change management are discussed [2] . The sources of change are also discussed, including external factors such as PEST and Stebel's cycle of competitive behavior [3] and internal factors such as Greiner's organizational life cycle [4]. The article also focuses on the issues involved in recognizing the need for change, monitoring indicators, and formulating the change agenda, highlighting the importance of involving individuals at multiple levels of the hierarchy in the change process.
References
- ↑ Hayes, J. (2022). The theory and practice of change management. Bloomsbury Publishing.
- ↑ Nadler, D. A., & Tushman, M. L. (1995). Types of organizational change: From incremental improvement to discontinuous transformation. Discontinuous change: Leading organizational transformation, 15-34.
- ↑ Strebel, P. (1998). The change pact: Building commitment to ongoing change. Financial Times Pitman Pub.
- ↑ Greiner, L. E. (1989). Evolution and revolution as organizations grow (pp. 373-387). Macmillan Education UK.
