1. 11Dr. Samta Rai1 London Centre of Marketing ( LCM) Level: Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management & Marketing Module – Leadership Lecturer : Dr. SAMTA RAI Date - 1 st Feb 2011

2. 2 THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE A good point to start is Lewin’s force field analysis developed in the late 1940s. Simply put, this states that all organisations are subject to competing forces in respect of change: ‘driving forces’ compelling change, which arise mainly from the external environment of the organisation (both general and specific), but also from the internal environment in terms of performance results and aspects of the organisation’s resources; and ‘restraining forces’, which seek to resist change and maintain the status quo, and here we can identify such features as organisational inertia, vested interests of groups and the fears of individuals, etc. Lewin maintained that the present state of any situation is an equilibrium between the forces for change and the forces resisting change. This represents the status quo. This position may be shown diagrammatically as follows, with the strength of the forces represented by the length and thickness of the arrows

3. 3 Lewin’s force field analysis STATUSQUOSTATUSQUO Driving Forces Restraining forces

4. 4 How to conduct a Force Field Analysis? Typically the following steps are taken: 1. Describe the current situation 2. Describe the desired situation 3. Identify where the current situation will go if no action is taken 4. List all the forces driving change toward the desired situation 5. List all the forces resisting change toward the desired situation 6. Discuss and interrogate all of the forces: are they valid? can they be changed? which are the critical ones? 7. Allocate a score to each of the forces using a numerical scale e.g. 1=extremely weak and 10=extremely strong 8. Chart the forces by listing (to strength scale) the driving forces on the left and restraining forces on the right

5. 5 9. Determine whether change is viable and progress can occur 10. Discuss how the change can be affected by decreasing the strength of the restraining forces or by increasing the strength of driving forces 11. Keep in mind that increasing the driving forces or decreasing the restraining forces may increase or decrease other forces or even create new ones

6. 6Dr. Samta Rai6 Change in organisations is met with resistance when: We do not understand or have not been privy to the business case for change We are not involved in the change design We feel that our opinion/views are not considered We do not see benefits for ourselves, arising from the change We do not feel the organisation would benefit from the change We do not feel the wider community and wider stakeholders would benefit from the change We like the present status quo We lack confidence about our competence in the new context

7. 7Dr. Samta Rai7 We do not trust/respect/like the person/group, proposing the change We cannot see the big picture and how the change would contribute to it We are not given support and time to adjust to the changes We are expected to change too many things at the same time Change is not carried through properly There is no clarity about change aims and objectives We believe other things need changing more urgently We believe the time is not right for this particular change The degree of change is too great to be readily assimilated

8. 8 Resistance to change Individuals resist change for a variety of reasons, such as: The shock of the new; Economic fears; Inconvenience; Uncertainty; Threat to interpersonal relationships; Threat to status or skill; Competence fears; Lack of trust; Resentment of change initiators.

9. 9 Resistance to change is natural – even inevitable – and is difficult to overcome. However, an attempt must be made and should start with an analysis of the probable effects of the change, and by whom and to what extent it may be resisted. Although resistance to change may not be entirely overcome, it can be reduced by involvement and communication.

10. 10 Resistance to Change The restraining forces essentially derive from the internal environment of the organisation, although there may be some resistance to change within the external market, particularly in respect of customers and suppliers being reluctant to accept new practices and products where these do not fit with their expectations and existing patterns of behaviour. (a) Obstacles to Change The obstacles to change are twofold: Organisational inertia This particularly strong in bureaucracies where the scale of operations and interrelationships make radical change very difficult, but it may be overcome by rational planning and managerial will.

11. 11 People and cultural barriers All change in organisations affects the people who work in them, both on an individual and group level, and people are resist change very strongly. This resistance has three key sources: (i) the challenge it represents to the core attitudes, beliefs and established patterns of behaviour which we can characterise as the culture of the organisation; (ii) the challenge it represents to the existing power relationships within the organisation and thus to the vested interests of individuals and groups in their control over what goes on; and (iii) the fears of individuals, arising from insecurity over the uncertainties of a future in which existing jobs, procedures and practices are threatened.

12. 12 Vested interests in the status quo These may be seen in relation to both the formal and informal organisation where proposed changes represent a potential loss of the power to influence organisational direction and/or the behaviour of people. We tend to think of this in relation to the middle and lower management levels, and to the role of employee representatives; but it may also be a restraining factor at the senior, strategic level in the organisation. Fears of individuals Specific reasons for individuals resisting change can be identified by reference to Maslow’s analysis of needs as the motivating force for behaviour. One should be familiar with this important concept and the way in which people are deemed to have multiple needs which are arranged in the form of a hierarchy as follows:

13. 13 Physiological Needs Safety and Security Needs Belonging and Acceptance Needs Self-esteem Needs Self - Actualisation Needs

14. 14 The model asserts that, when a particular level of need is adequately satisfied, it ceases to dominate and influence behaviour. The next level of need then becomes the important motivating factor. (i) The most basic human needs, such as hunger, thirst and sleep must be satisfied first. (ii) Once satisfied, people turn their attention to safety and security needs, such as providing shelter to protect themselves from the elements or other dangers. (iii) The next level relates to satisfying social needs, such as belonging to and being accepted by a social or work group. (iv) As soon as these needs have been met, they are replaced with a need for self-esteem, such as the desire for high status within a peer group. (v) The ultimate need resides at the top of the hierarchy: the need for self- actualisation, which refers to the need for a person to fulfil his or her potential.

15. 15 Any change in the circumstances of the individual may alter the needs that are being met and thus cause lower levels of need to come to dominate behaviour. This has considerable implications for organisational change in terms of the effect upon the individual. When faced with change, individuals will see the change as either an opportunity or a threat to achieving their needs. (i) At its worst, the proposed change may threaten the security of an individual’s job or the maintenance of existing levels of income. Even though there are safety nets in society generally, though state benefits and redundancy pay, and often within the organisation through protected levels of pay, this may be felt to threaten the family’s physiological and security needs. The very uncertainty over the future that change necessarily involves will contribute to this.

16. 16 (ii) The proposed change may also involve disturbance to the individual’s working group and relationships, particularly when organisations are restructured. This may have an effect on the individual’s belonging and acceptance needs, as a new set of social relationships will have to be formed.

17. 17 (iii) Changes to working practices will almost inevitably involve the acquisition of new skills and an individual’s sense of self-esteem may be threatened by the fear of not being able to cope with learning the necessary skills. In addition, it is possible that new structures will displace traditional pecking orders, affecting the individual’s status with the organisation and role and recognition within his/her social groups. Finally, personal resentment may be felt at the implied criticism that existing methods are inadequate.

18. 18 (iv) At the level of self-actualisation, there is the fear that the new conditions will represent less opportunity for personal fulfilment through the challenges of the job, as well as a lack of control over the future, causing resentment over lack of participation in planning and implementing changes which affect the individual personally.

19. 19 (v) While one person may be struggling to satisfy their physiological and security needs because of their family circumstances and background, it may be that a work colleague does not see these as a problem and is more concerned with their self-esteem and self-actualisation. This presents a complex process for the manager who is trying to manage the changes. Each individual is likely to see the change in different terms and react to it in different ways, and must therefore be managed differently.