Stages Of Change Management, Their Effectiveness, Failure And Success (Research Paper Sample)

Management Name Institution Introduction Stages of Change Management Due to external and internal forced that impedes organizations, need for change constantly for organization’s own economic benefits is always championed for by the managements. In fact, change always becomes all round features for an organization life cycle, both at operational and strategic levels (Burnes, 2004). Under these reasons, studying how to implement an organization change has always become subject of discussion across every business scenario. A lot of studies show that only below 20 percent of the organizational change becomes successful (Haines, S., Aller-Stead, G. & McKinlay, J. 2005).). Thus with failure to successfully implement the changes, scholars including Susan M. Heatfield have jumped to provide prescriptions by describing an organizational change model which if followed step by step then success of an organization can easily be experienced. This paper will therefore undertake the task of implicitly analyzing the “Six Life Cycle Model” for a change in management to successfully take place in a given firm. But even with the application of the six life cycle model for a change in an organization, some ends up a success while others ends up dead on arrival. The model emphasized on in this paper forms the basis for all methods of a project or firm management that managers of any given project needs to undertake in leading an organizational change. Putting more weight on the organizational change, be it from analogue to e-business way of doing business, managements have resort to taking in to account the wide range of the organization’s goals where for a change to be undertaken, different factors must be taken into account including the employees reactions and the general acceptances for these six stages to be successful. These stages include initiation stage, investigation stage, intention stage, introduction stage, implementation stage and integration stage. ADKAR Model Application ADKAR model, which stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement focuses fully on foundation of change that is mostly effective on an individual, a larger group of people or an organization (Hiatt, 2006). Each wording in the ADKAR model represents a step in the change management that should be adhered to in order to achieve the below six steps; Initiation stage This is the first phase in the change management since it involves starting from no-where to a specific place. Here, the pioneer team will have to define the main objective of bringing the change, purpose and its expected results to an individual employee and to the organization at large. To initiate a change, this paper will involve ADKAR model theory so that the initiation stage can broadly be understood. Initiation stage is the stage where need for change is made aware of from the pioneering team or an individual leading the change. A person may find it easy to explore an organization problem or a gap within the organization that needs to be filled by finding a solution to it. To initiate a change, the pioneering team must know exactly what need to be changed and for what reason. For instance, AXIS Bank in India did announced that it will cut down its manpower to give a room for digital and automation banking. For such a change to be initiated, one critical concern is always on how it will benefit the company and the employees as a whole (Kreitner, Robert, & Kinicki, Angelo 2007). Borrowing from successful industries such as Amazon.com who have digitalized their operations can also influence the organizational changes. This is the stage where just few members of the management is involved where mangers have to lead from the front side since most changes will always touch on financial stability of the organization. The pioneering team therefore gets resolution on how to go about the change it should be through departmental meetings or through a supervisory. For change to be adapted, adequate planning must be put in place at this stage, and more so sharing of information from all backgrounds of a firm. There can never be a change in a firm without the involvement of human resource department, and mostly the methods being applied for a change must always be decided upon within a time frame. Change is mostly regarded as a process and not an event since it goes through several stages (Kotter, 1995). Barriers to Initiation stage * Resistance to change: Most employees do not resist change as per se, but they are more concerned with the uncertainties that come with the change itself. They are mostly afraid of unwanted way of coping up with the new environment brought about by the change. Using AXIS Bank limited for instance, it was evident that by the time it decided to digitalize most of its operations, most employees became fearful either for losing the job or unwanted way of coping with the new ways of banking. This mostly require employees to have a given set skills to be able to perform their jobs effectively (Waddell and Sohal, 1998) * Fear of unfamiliarity in a new working environment; this is due to lack of open discussion between employees, management and the pioneering team who are championing the change. But, instead of the management to strategically manage the resistance, they keep on fighting it always. * Lack of knowledge on the needed changes; management may have untrained employees whom they might regard as the pioneering team for change. This mostly leads to a failed start for change since most firms will always want to achieve change within a specific time frame but the problem is the expertise. Strategies for Achieving Initiation stage * Management should devote a good percentage of the company’s resource, time and energy in the change initiative. This can be achieved through rewarding and encouraging idea generating individuals thus helps to reduce resistance. * Understanding why the former change that was initiated within the firm failed. This can be achieved through encouraging employees to attend seminars and conferences by providing financial support to them. This helps to encourage clear understanding of the company missions and visions thus reduces uncertainties. * Management and employees should accept the diverged interdependency social system within the organization. This can be achieved through implementing suggestion programs that encourages employees to give ideas concerning the same change. Investigation Stage Once employees and the management have been made aware of the importance of a change in the organization, it is prudent to support them in order to embrace the change. This should be done through investigating the potential problems that the firm is facing and find the solutions to it. Without the support from within and the pioneering team who most always share the information with the employees, a lot of resistance will always be witnessed against the team carrying out the change from the employees. Hiatt (2006) noted that the greater mistake that most organization make is to assume that once they build awareness for change then it is automatic that a desire for change will be witnessed. The vision for the organization to have a change is mostly from the executive level where they need a total cooperation from every employee so that a successful change can be felt. Investigation stage mostly occurs through a cross-functional groups in an organization where collaboration with stakeholders is bound as a must process. This is because without collaboration, any change introduced in an organization will always fail. Collaboration comes with a mutual respect amongst all employees and the executive thus helped to strengthen the needed change in an organization (Kotter, 1996) Investigation stage is the most difficult stage within the firm. This is because the pioneering team will have to investigate whether employees really desire to change or not. Desire is an inborn need that every an individual employee will have to make but it can be influenced pending on the decisions that the management make. For it to be achieved, the leading team must always clarify the vision of the firm and state whether some changes have been implemented before or not. They must also weigh different options on whether to improve the current system to accommodate everyone or adjust to fully new system that needs n overall overhaul (Puccio, G.J., Mance, M. & Murdocke, Mc (2011). Barriers to Investigation stage * Due to lack of understanding on the vision, priorities and directions of the change in the organization, employees might not be willing to disclose their desire t...