10.1 Managing Change

Question 1

Internal change (causes of/ pressures for change)

Answer 1

• Happens within the business
• Identified as a result of SWOT analysis (sometimes)

Question 2

Examples of internal change

Answer 2

• Employee attitudes
• Change of leadership
• Restructuring

Question 3

External changes (causes of/ pressures for change)

Answer 3

• Happens because of forces outside a business
• Might be identified by SWOT analysis

Question 4

Examples of external changes

Answer 4

• Changing consumer tastes
• Political changes e.g. lifting sanctions
• Government action e.g. Brexit
• Economic influences e.g. changes in the business cycle/ exchange rates
• Competition e.g. due to globalisation
• Technological changes e.g. greater use of digital technologies

Question 5

Disruptive change

Answer 5

Involves radical change, often rethinking or redesigning a business or project.
- Likely to be transformational
- May change the existing organisation structure/ culture
- Relatively high risk
- Examples include new innovations and technological breakthroughs

Question 6

Incremental change

Answer 6

Involves introducing many small, gradual changes in a business or a project.
- Aimed at making many small-scale improvements
- Unlikely to challenge existing assumptions and culture
- Relatively low risk

Question 7

Lewin’s force field analysis

Answer 7

Addresses the issue of change according to the balance of driving and restraining forces

For a change to occur, the driving forces need to be greater than the restraining forces, thereby changing the balance or equilibrium.

Question 8

What are driving forces?

Answer 8

Positive forces for change.

Question 9

What are restraining forces?

Answer 9

Obstacles against the change.

Question 10

How to conduct a force field analysis:

Answer 10

1. Identify the current situation
2. Identify the desired situation
3. List all the driving forces
4. List all the restraining forces
5. Evaluate each of the driving forces and the restraining forces, giving each one a value on a scale of 1-10
   1= Very weak and 10 = Very strong
6. If change is viable, develop a strategy to strengthen the key driving forces and weaken the key restraining
   forces

Question 11

Value of change:

Answer 11

• Flexibility
• Progress
• Opportunities
• Customer needs
• Challenging the current situation

Question 12

Value of a flexible organisation:

Answer 12

• Competitiveness
• Efficiency
• Teambuilding

Question 13

What is restructuring?

Answer 13

Involves a fundamental internal organisational change that alters the roles and relationships of those involved.

Question 14

What is delayering?

Answer 14

Delayering is the process of reducing the number of levels of hierarchy in an organisational structure.

Question 15

Flexible employment contract examples:

Answer 15

• Part time
• Zero hour
• Temporary
• Flexible hour contracts

Question 16

Organic structure

Answer 16

One that is decentralised with flatter and wider spans of control and likely to be flexible and able to adapt easily to change.

Question 17

Mechanistic structure

Answer 17

One that is hierarchical and bureaucratic with centralised authority and formal procedures and practices.

Question 18

What does Knowledge focus on?

Answer 18

Focuses on knowledge, understanding and wisdom.

Question 19

What does Information management focus on?

Answer 19

Focuses on retrieving, organising and analysing data and information.

Question 20

What is the link between knowledge and information management?

Answer 20

Effective knowledge management and resulting decisions result from a solid foundation of data and information management.

Question 21

Barriers to change

Answer 21

• Employee resistance
• Management behaviour
• Inadequate resources
• Organisational structure

Question 22

What are Kotter and Schlesinger’s four reasons for resistance to change

Answer 22

Parochial self-interest:
- where people feel they will lose something and so focus on their own self interest rather than the organisation’s interest

Misunderstanding and lack of trust:
- occur when people do not fully understand the implications of change and perceive it might cost them more than they will gain

Different assessments:
- occur when people assess the situation differently to managers and and see more costs than benefits - not just to themselves but also to the organisation

Low tolerance of change:
- occurs where people feel they will not be able to develop the new skill and behaviour required of them - there is a limit to how many people can change and sometimes it might demand too much of them

Question 23

Kotter and Schlesinger’s six ways of overcoming resistance to change

Answer 23

1. Education and communication
2. Facilitation and support
3. Participation and involvement
4. Manipulation and co-option
5. Negotiation and bargaining
6. Explicit and implicit coercion