Managing Organizational Change
Chapter 2Images of Managing Change
Images of Organizations
Affect our interpretations of what we think is going onWhat we think needs to happenHow we think things should happenaka “metaphors”, “frames”, or “perspectives”Mental models (Senge)Eg. Organizations as “machines” leads to “breakdowns” – strive to use multiple perspectives
Images of Managing Change: Where they Come From
Images of ManagingManagement ascontrolPlanning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, controllingTop-down, hierarchical view of managingManagement asshaping
P. 24 – Table 2.1 –Images of Managing Change
Management as Shaping
More recent approachAssociated with a perceptive style of managing in which people are encouraged to be involved in decisions and to help identify how things can be done betterShaping employee behaviour in ways that encourage them to take actions of most benefit to the organization
P. 25 –Corporate Capabilities
“Corporate capabilities are embedded in the fabric of the organization – in its practices, processes, systems, structures, culture, values, know-how and technologies.”“While personal capabilities leave the organization when their owner does, corporate capabilities tend to endure, despite the comings and goings of individuals”
Images of Change Outcomes
Intended Change OutcomesIntended change outcomes can be achievedChange is treated as the realization of prior intent through the action of change managers
3 Strategies for Producing Intentional Change(Chin & Benne, 1976)
Empirical-Rational StrategiesAssume people are rational and follow their own self-interestEffective change occurs when a change can be demonstrated as desirable and aligned with the interests of the group affected by the changeNormative-Re-educative StrategiesAssume that changes occur when people dispense with their old, normative orientations and gain commitment to new ones
3 Strategies for Producing Intentional Change(Chin & Benne, 1976) -- continued
Power-Coercive StrategiesRely upon achieving intentional change by those with greater power gaining compliance in behaviour from those with lesser powerCan be through legitimate authority or more coercive means
Partially Intended Change Outcomes
In this image, some, but not all, change intentions are achievableThe link between what is intended and what is the final outcome is not necessarily direct(Mintzberg& Waters, 1985)This is due to the fact that both intended and unintended consequences may emerge from the actions of change managers
Unintended Change Outcomes
There is less attention paid to this image within the change literature although it is common in the mainstream organizational theory literatureA variety of forces that either lead to:Change outcomes that are not intended by managers, orInhibit the ability of managers to implement the changes that they desireForces may be internal or external to an organization
Six Images of Managing Change
Image 1: Change Manager as DirectorImage 2: Change Manager as NavigatorImage 3: Change Manager as CaretakerImage 4: Change Manager as CoachImage 5: Change Manager as InterpreterImage 6: Change Manager as Nurturer
Image 1: Change Manager as Director
Based on an image of management as control and of change outcomes as being achievableIt is up to the change manager to direct the organization in particular ways in order to produce the required changeAssumption – change is a strategic choiceAn optimistic view that intentional change can be achieved– as long as the change manager follows the correct steps that need to be taken
Image 2: Change Manager as Navigator
Control is seen as at the heart of management action, although a variety of factors external to managers mean that while they may achieve some intended change outcomes, others will occur over which they have little controlOutcomes are at least partially emergent/controllableThe change unfolds differently over time and according to the context in which the organization finds itselfChange managers are urged to incorporate bottom-up involvement of staff in their approach
Image 3: Change Manager as Caretaker
The ideal image of management is still one of control, although the ability to exercise control is severely constrained by a variety of forces, both internally and externally driven, that propel change relatively independent of a manager’s intentions3 organizational theories reinforce the caretaker image of managers of change: life-cycle, population ecology, and institutional
Image 4: Change Manager as Coach
The assumption is that change managers are able to intentionally shape the organization’s capabilities in particular waysThe coach relies upon building in the right set of values, skills, and “drills” that are deemed to be the best ones that organizational members, as players, will be able to draw on adeptly in order to achieve desired organizational outcomesTraditional organizational development (OD) theory reinforces the manager as coach image
Image 5: Change Manager as Interpreter
The change manager creates meaning for other organizational members, helping them to make sense of various organizational events and actionsManagers “need to be able to provide legitimate arguments and reasons for why their actions fit within the situation and should be viewed as legitimate”Better change managers are those who are able to dominate stories and understandings about the meaning of a specific change (and don’t allow speculation to take over)
Image 6: Change Manager as Nurturer
Assumes that even small changes may have a large impact on the organization and managers are not able to control the outcome of these changesManagers enable positive self-organizing to occurChaos theory supports this image – change is non-linear, is fundamental rather than incremental, and does not necessarily entail growth
Three Key Uses of the Six-Images Framework
Surfacing Our Assumptions about ChangeAssessing Dominant Images of ChangeUsing Multiple Images and Perspectives of Change
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