According to Pattanayak (2012), change is inevitable for
every organisation to be healthy and productive while organisational
development as a generic term embraces a wide range of intervention strategies
in both structural and social processes of an organisation. Organisational
development programmes are packaged to drive organisational change agenda.
The
changes, however, are aimed at the individual, group and total organisational
development, driven at improving overall performance and effectiveness.
Organisational development (OD) is a strategic long-term effort, led and
supported by top management to specifically improve the organisation’s
visioning, empowerment, learning and problem-solving processes through ongoing collaborative management or organisational culture.
Organisational
change is a radical transformation in the functioning of organisational
processes. It involves reshaping the organisation’s structure, culture,
processes and other design elements, and can be characterized as both systemic
and sometimes revolutionary because the entire nature of the organisation is
altered significantly and fundamentally.
Countries like Nigeria have witnessed such
radical transformations first in the 1970s when the indigenization decree of 1976
was being implemented by the administration of Murtala Mohammed-Olusegun
Obasanjo, by which time erstwhile foreign companies are being transformed into
indigenous organisations and in later years when processes of privatization and
commercialization of governmental organisations were taking place. Such
semantics as reorganisation, restructuring, reengineering, downsizing,
rationalization, rightsizing, outsources are associated with organisational
change in one way or the other.
The relationship between OC and OD is to the extent that in organisations that will manage change effectively, change becomes the driving
force that perpetuates future success and growth. This is because change
becomes an opportunity for increasing efficiency. OD is systematic OC.
What
can a manager change, aside from him/herself? He/she can change three things; the
structure, the technology and the people.
i.
Changing the
Structure. This means reworking or
redesigning the work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, the span of control, centralization, formalization, job redesign or actual
structural design.
ii.
Changing Technology. The work processes, methods and equipment are the focus of change.
iii.
Changing People. The culture, attitudes, expectations, perceptions and
behaviour of individuals and groups are the focus of change.
Theories or models provide an explanatory framework for the
relationship between variables. The theories discussed below give direction for the implementation of change programmes by organisations. The change theories are
those of Kurt Lewin, Ronald Lippit, Jeanne Watson and Bruce Wesley, Burk-Litwin
and Fagen and the Systems Theory.
Kurt
Lewin’s Model. He, in the 1940s, introduced
a model for the proper management of an effective change process. Successful change
can be planned and the change process was viewed as composing three steps; unfreezing
old behaviour; that is, the status quo, change to a new state; that
is, the new behaviour and refreezing to make the new behaviour
permanent.
i.
Unfreezing stage. During this stage preparation, motivation and readiness
are created among people to change old behaviour through the creation of discomfort
or lack of confirmation which may cause guilt or anxiety. The change agent has
to make provision for a psychological safety net while adjusting to the new
behaviour. On the whole unfreezing is to move out of the equilibrium state by
increasing the driving forces and decreasing the restraining forces.
ii.
Moving stage. The client is assisted to see things, judge them, feel
them, and react to them differently based on a new point of view using new role
models, mentors and by creating environmental scanning or new and relevant
information.
iii.
Refreezing stage. The new behaviour is institutionalized in the people’s
personality, attitudes by use of a reward system that is focused on the new
behaviour.
Expanding
Lewin’s model, they expanded the three stages into a seven-stage model
representing the consulting process as follows:
i.
Phase 1: Developing a
need for change
ii.
Phase 2: Developing a
changing relationship
iii.
Phase 3: Clarifying
the client’s systems problem
iv.
Phase 4: Examining
alternative routes and goals
v.
Phase 5: Transforming
intentions into actual change efforts
vi.
Phase 6: Generalizing
and stabilizing change
vii.
Phase 7: Achieving a
terminal relationship with clients.
These steps are logically laid out in achieving OD in
organisations by consultants.
The model is about how to create first and second-order change. The first order change occurs with some fundamental characters
remaining the same, whereas in the second-order change the nature of the
organisation is fundamentally and substantially altered leading to crucial
organisational transformation. This model identifies two key aspects of the
organisation the culture and the climate. Organisational climate is
viewed as people’s perceptions and attitudes about the organisation that is easy to change, while organisational culture is deep-seated assumptions,
values and beliefs that are enduring, unconscious and difficult to change.
Using this model OD interventions are directed towards structure, management
practices and systems in the first-order change and in the second-order change
interventions are targeted at the organisation’s vision, mission, strategy,
leadership and culture leading to enduring and fundamental change. Another
aspect of this model is the distinction it makes between transactional and
transformational leadership styles. Whereas transformational leaders inspire
followers to transcend their self-interest for the good of the organisation,
transactional leaders guide and motivate followers in the direction of
established goals by clarifying their roles and task requirements.
According to Fagen, a system is a set of objects, together
with the relationships between the objects and between their attributes.
Systems denote interdependencies and interconnectedness and interrelatedness among
elements in the set that constitutes an identifiable whole or gestalt.
Source: French & Bell (1999), adapted
A system operates within the context of an environment.
Every system has a distinct boundary. An open system interacts, has goals and
purpose and interacts with (influence and is influenced) by the enveloping
environment. The need for change can therefore be driven by internal or
external processes; that is when there is a need to realign the input,
transformational and output processes. Since outputs are often in terms of
goods and services, the customers provide useful feedback that can recommend
changes in internal processes. Equally, evaluation of the connectivity among
inputs, transformation and outputs can lead to the initiation of change.
Organisational
change is triggered by the need to respond to new challenges or opportunities
presented by the external and internal environment, or in anticipation of the
need to cope with potential future problems. The need for reorganisation
arising as a result of growth or decline may be a major impetus
for change. The basic underlining objectives in general terms are:
Organisational Change can be traced to factors external or internal to the organisation.
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<
p style=”margin-left: 15pt; text-align: justify;”>The goal of OD is to stabilise the new system to achieve more effective interpersonal work relationships and the techniques used are important to achieving this goal. The techniques
are:
i.
Team Building. Create
the type of activities that help team members learn how each member thinks and
works.
ii. Inter-group Development. Intergroup development involves changing the attitudes,
stereotypes, and perceptions that workgroups have about each other.
iii.
Process Consultation.
The outside consultant helps managers to understand how interpersonal processes are
affecting the way work is being done.
iv.
Survey Feedback. This
means putting in place a technique for assessing attitudes and perceptions,
identifying discrepancies in these, and resolving the differences by using
survey information in feedback groups.
v.
Sensitivity Training.
Have in place a method of changing behaviour through unstructured group
interaction.
Resistance
to change – or the thought of the implication of the change – appears common
because it brings with it what may be described as ‘psychological shock’, which
makes people to be naturally wary of change. It may also be said that a grossly
inadequate and despondent situation, such as the threat to the very survival of the organisation, the inability of organisation to meet contractual obligations like
payment of wages, overhead and customers and threats to jobs can bring about a
clamour for change.
In 2014, the recurrent terrorist attacks by Boko Haram in
North-Eastern Nigeria, kidnapping and general state of insecurity and perceived
helplessness of the government to live up to its responsibilities of protection of
lives and properties brought at the political level a rousing clamour for change.
Change can bring about positive or negative outcomes. Despite potential
positive outcomes, change is often resisted for a number of individual and
organisational related reasons:
1.
Individual
resistance. Individual resistance to change may be a result of the
following:
i.
Selective perception.
Peoples’ interpretation of stimuli presents a unique picture and image of their
real world. But perception is selective and can lead to a biased view of the
change being introduced; especially the intention and purpose of the proposed change.
Trade unions are often sceptical of changes originating from management, especially where the view exists that managers cannot be trusted.
ii.
Habit. People tend to
respond to novel albeit innovative situations in an established or accustomed
manner. Habits serve as a sort of comfort and security, rendering decision
making easy. Flexible or reduction in work hours may be resisted except there is
a guarantee that there will be no loss of pay.
iii.
Inconvenience or loss
of freedom. If the proposed change is viewed as likely to prove inconvenient, make
life difficult, reduce freedom of action or result in increased control, it may
be resisted.
iv.
Economic implication.
People are likely to resist change that will bring about, directly or
otherwise, a drop in livelihood. An increase in work at the same pay level, the threat
to job security and other vested interests are easily resisted.
v.
Security in the past.
Some find a sense of security in the carefully laid out past. They do not like
the present and the future to toss them out in the cold or increase the
likelihood of needing new knowledge and skills to cope with challenges posed by
change.
vi.
The need to cover up.
People who had a history of clandestine activities, who may be displaced by the
new epoch brought by the change being introduced will work against the current
of change for purpose of selfpreservation. This has been the commonest
obstacle to the change agenda of Buhari’s fight against corruption and has been
described in the expression if you fight corruption, corruption will fight
back.
vii.
Fear of the unknown.
Changes that confront people with elements of the unknown, in which the future is
not clearly demarcated, can generate anxiety or fear. Since OC always come with
some degree of uncertainty, there is bound to be resistance.
2.
Organisational
resistance. Although an organisation has
to adapt to changing internal and external conditions, there goes with the
changes certain measures of apprehension about the operation of the new structure,
processes, policies and procedures, and people’s response to the changes. Some
of the reasons for organisational resistance to change are:
i.
Organisation culture.
Culture develops over time, and once settled and done, it is difficult to
dislodge existing and pervasive ways of life. ‘This is how things are done
around here is not easily dispensed with. Also when the new culture being
engendered is perceived as inflexible, ineffective and ‘inferior’ to the old
practice, it will breed the seeds of resistance.
ii.
Maintaining stability.
Large scale organisations pay attention to maintaining stability and
predictability. This is actually the need for formal structure, division of
labour, established rules, methods of work and all other regimented and
sedimented aspects of work. The more bureaucratic/mechanistic an organisation
is, the greater the resistance to change; in other words, organic structures
are easily adaptable to changes.
iii.
Investment in
resources. Change comes with costs; often time large amount of resources need
to be committed. Assets such as buildings, machines and equipment and people
cannot be easily altered.
iv.
Past contracts or
agreements. Organisations enter into contracts and agreements which cannot be
dispensed with without consequent legal challenges, until their tenure expires.
Contracts and agreements can limit the extent of changes that can be embarked
upon by an organisation.
v.
Threats to power and
influence. Fear of loss of influence or erosion of authority arises if proposed
change meant that hierarchies may be delayered leading to loss of position and
authority or span of control, managers who will be affected will work to resist
such changes. The fear of losing both political and expert power is real among
managers.
Organisational development is given birth in the course
of organisational change. Change is a constant dimension of organisational life
and can be disruptive to the normal ways of doing things. For many reasons,
change is resisted chiefly because of the inability to effectively communicate to
allay the fears, deal with misconceptions and overcome resistance using
appropriate developmental strategies. This is the main challenge of modern
managers; how to implement OC and OD processes at minimum costs, resistance to greater organisational outcomes.
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