I was an intern at a medium-scale international organization that focused on researching different policies regarding business and venture capital in the region. That organization was a daughter company of a large media conglomerate; therefore, many organizational decisions were channeled to us from the main office. The media conglomerate has decided to split our organization into three agencies covering very different research areas to diversify its reach. The change was met with relatively significant opposition, as the media conglomerate did not follow the basic steps of organizational change.
The company could use an entirely different organizational change by adopting the Lewin Change Model. Lewin’s Model of Change is very efficient in understanding; first, you melt the ice(unfreeze); after, you mold the iced water into the desired shape (change), solidify the new shape (refreeze) (Hughes 94). That way, current employees would first become acquainted with reasons for change and possible transformations it would imply. Then, the transition would start, with workers adjusting to the new environment and trying to figure out how the new system works. It takes quite a lot of time and effort to solidify change and establish the new norm, but it is worth the resources spent in the end.
Another suggestion would be to implement the Systems Model of Change Management, where multiple variables, ranging from people to culture, are analyzed and considered during the change management process. The higher-ups could reconsider their proposal following our office’s needs and long-established peculiarities. The essence of using this theory of organizational change in this management is that a person must move to a new way of working and not change the existing one (Burke 21). The difference lies in the concepts of “change” and “transition” because change is what happens to people, even if they disagree with them. The transition takes place in a person’s mind, and he internally agrees and accepts the changes. This simple model will also lead to the desired result that will help the employees open up entirely differently.
In conclusion, organizational change requires a lot of preparation and attention to the transformation process. It may seem unnecessary to those who believe change itself will create adaptability. Although it may seem unnecessary to some, in the long run, using appropriate models of change management will only benefit the organization and prove itself to be successful in maintaining the stability and sustainability of the organization.
Works Cited
Burke, Warner. Organization Change: Theory and Practice. SAGE Publications, 2017.
Hughes, Mark. Managing and Leading Organizational Change. Routledge, 2018.
