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Running head: DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 1
Data Analysis & Change Process Paper: Organizational Change Readiness via Urgent
Development of Communication, Culture, and Structure
Dena M. Rosko Grand
Canyon University March
4, 2013
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 2
Table of Contents
Discussion ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Eight Steps for Change ............................................................................................................... 5
Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 6
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 8
References ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Appendix A: Quantitative Analysis Resource Stage II Questionnaire ........................................ 12
Appendix B: Online Focus Group Interview Questions .............................................................. 19
Appendix C: Participant Transcripts............................................................................................ 20
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 3
Data Analysis & Change Process Paper: Organizational Change Readiness via Urgent
Development of Communication, Culture, and Structure
This paper will assess organizational change readiness of Data Imports, Inc. by
explaining quantitative and qualitative data, by applying Kotter and Ratherberger's (2006) eight
steps for change (see also "Action Plan," 1997), by positing recommendations for how Data
Imports leaders can prepare employees for change, and by presenting frequency distribution
figure, results table, and Appendices of data to support conclusions. Qualitative findings
indicated a moderate to high readiness for change as openness to Kotter and Ratherberger's
(2006) steps involving communication and structure; whereas, quantitative findings suggested a
low readiness to change that leaders must offset with communication and structure.
Discussion
Qualitative findings suggested a moderate to high readiness for change of Data Imports,
Inc. (see Table 1) provided that change efforts first involved developing a communicative and
participatory culture with education and resources to help constituents enact deliverable-related
change (see Table 1). The latter effort aligns with organizational health and well-being needs for
employee resources to recontextualize stress and perform required deliverables (see Bakker &
Demerouti, 2007; Bakker & Schaufeli, 2008; Lovelace, Manz, & Alves, 2007). The
communication component concurs with Sekerka's (2009) finding that routine or everyday
communication moderates leadership efforts. The education element resonates with Senge's
(1990) emphasis on learning organizational culture. The participatory emphasis speaks to
structure and time, each of which appeals to a horizontal and collaborative model instead of a
top-down hierarchy, such as via self-managed teams with management delegates.
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 4
Table 1
Perceptions, preparations, moderator, and outcomes of constituents' readiness for change
Category Theme Specifics Compelling responsesPerception Credibility Tested or modeled
by proponent; Honesty at onset
Affective Feelings of value, support, respect, ownership, being heard, trust, anticipation, and preparation
Preparation Communication Communicated to all levels; Inquiry of all levels for consensus or suggestions; Rational content
Structure Closeness to supervisor; Collaborative; Participatory; Not top-down hierarchy
Recourse Feedback channels to state grievance or submit suggestion
Moderator Time Rational process; Not immediate
Outcome Consequences Unnecessarily high financial costs; Support via promotion or compliance; Passive resistance via compliance or neglect; Daily impact
"Capable organizations have tried the program out for themselves first. They aren't taking a program that they have never seen in action and tried to push it on you" (p. 6).
"Employees need to feel valued and respected" (p. 7).
"I think the most successful changes have to happen for clear, well-defined reasons that have been explained thoroughly to the employees" (p. 9).
"I would advise that leaders should involve all levels in the change discussions so that they have ownership of the change. When this happens, everyone feels like it is their changes that are being implemented." (p. 9).
"They provide public and private forums for receiving feedback, providing some time for people to fully formulate their questions" (p.4).
"Can the change be rolled out incrementally or is it necessary for multiple departments to implement the change simultaneously?" (p. 5).
"I went about my business as usual and ignored any changes taking place around me" (p. 7).
Note. Adapted from APA sample word table (American Psychological Association, 2010, Table 5.16, p. 149). Quotes originated from Grand Canyon University (2012).
Fre
qu
en
cy
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 5
In contrast, quantitative findings suggested a moderate to high resistance to change (f=14
and 16) primarily given that employees indicated that they resist change internally and
externally at work by speaking negatively about the change to co-workers, or voicing complaints
or concerns about the change and management to people outside of work (see Figure 1). Top
frequencies of somewhat disagree (f=16) to somewhat agree (f=14) with four strongly agreeing
indicated that respondents would passively resist change. Put together, respondents will accept
change if management implements an internal communication structure and learning culture.
Figure 1
Frequency of respondent self-reported predictions of readiness for change
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1 2 3 4 5 6
Score
Eight Steps for Change
This attention to structure, communication, and culture suggests that respondents
perceive their organization to lack these elements, or five of eight of Kotter and Rathgeber's
(2006) steps, i.e., create a guiding coalition, develop a vision and strategy, communicate the
change vision, empower broad-based action (two to five), and anchor changes in corporate
culture (eight; see "Action Plan," 1997), so the organization lacks the foundation to generate
short-term wins and consolidate gains while producing more change (six and seven).
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 6
Recommendations
The organization must emphasize Kotter & Rathgeber, 2006 steps two to five and eight
for communication, structure, and culture to build capacity for change, and then integrate the
remaining three steps with a tone of urgency throughout (see Kotter International, 2012,
February 6), or create a guiding coalition, develop a vision and strategy, empower broad-based
action, generate short-term wins, and consolidate gains and produce more change (see "Action
Plan," 1997; Kotter & Rathgeber, 2006). For instance, management can appeal to the urgent
need to collaboratively communicate a vision and restructure their management as participatory
(see Choi, 2011). To elaborate, management must implement communication strategies to
provide employees with recourse channels for feedback (see Table 1), and to inquire of
employees their concerns for change (see Figure 1). This way, management can fashion an
informal norm, which drives organizational culture (see Sekerka, 2009), where employees
convey concerns to management instead of to each other or outside of work.
For steps two to five and eight, or those involving structure, communication, and culture,
management must build constituent readiness for change prior to deliverable success (see Hicks
& McCracken, 2011; Soumyaja, Kamalanabhan, & Bhattacharyya, 2011). Constituent readiness
involves individuals indicating a dispositional readiness for change (see Cinite, 2006). Change
readiness involves clarity, engagement, adequate resources, systems alignment, leadership,
communication, and tracking (Bevan, 2011). Without such readiness, individuals may not adapt
to change regardless if management follows Kotter and Rathgeber's (2006) steps. Therefore,
management must utilize a variety of approaches, such as planned and iterative change, creating
a shared discourse about change, and building a flexible infrastructure and a learning culture
(Buono & Kerber, 2010). Management must fashion this learning culture by a collaborative
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 7
stakeholder approach that shares information, encourages questions and experiments, values
alternative viewpoints, and tolerates mistakes (Buono & Kerber, 2010). Note that respondents
predicted resistance to change in the event that management failed to establish the
aforementioned preparedness conditions (see Table 1). Respondents anticipated change
resistance passive aggressively (non-management) by keeping their routine and ignoring change
efforts, or privately (management) by conferring one-on-one with management, or speaking
externally (see Figure 1). Thus, the organization must monitor when all constituents shift
attitude from passive-aggressive to communicative during the preparedness process. For
instance, if employees still resist change after preparedness, then management can inquire on
perceived needs, and initiate supportive co-workers to persuade the employee of change benefits
(see Montani, Odoardi, & Battistelli, 2012). Management must establish such cooperative norms
to supply constituents with the perceived need and ability to change (see Ordanini, 2011), a
move which might reduce learning costs and time (see Claycomb, Iyer, & Germain, 2005) and
quicken implementation. Management must fashion such positive psychological conditions to
sustain change and prepare for deliverable-initiatives.
For step seven, or consolidating gains and producing more change, the organization needs
to develop a large and broad base of supporters, such as by engagement and inclusion of all
levels, and skilled leadership groups, such as by demonstrating expertise, communicating
frequent information, and fostering collaboration and participation (see McNamara, 2010; Table
1) while celebrating step six's short-term wins (Kouzes & Posner, 2003). Organizations drive
this momentum by cultivating a supportive ethos on teams where constituents bond with each
other via horizontal relationships of employee to employee, and not just vertically from
management to employee (see Montani, et al., 2012). The passive-aggressive resistance (see
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 8
Figure 1; Table 1) suggests the need to assess constituents' intentionality as a key aspect of
change readiness (see Robitschek, Ashton, Spering, Geiger, Byers, Schotts, & Thoen, 2012). For
instance, management can align organizational change with personal growth intentions by
integrating constituents' self-interest, e.g., career goals or satisfaction, with the change effort so
that constituents desire the change (see Robitschek, et al., 2012), such as via efficacy
expectations (Robitschek, 1998) for personal growth (Robitschek, 2003). Here, management
must inquire with a coaching stance to gain insight and seek clarification for what employees
want from the change, and then positively reinforce this desire by expressing optimism about the
employee's ability to change (see Hicks & McCracken, 2012). Management must model this
positive intentionality by cultivating and humanizing change capacity in others (see Senge,
Scharmer, Jaworkski, & Flowers, 2004; Soumyaja, et al., 2011). Building from Quader (2011),
doing so might impart perceptions of experience to improve trust in peers as leaders, and so
offset passive-aggressive resistance if a constituent feels dissatisfied with change efforts.
Respondents indicated that they would market the change once on-board (see Table 1), so such
helpers will likely be in ample supply.
Conclusion
Data Imports, Inc. must develop a communication and collaborative, learning, and
participatory organizational structure as a foundation for their change efforts provided that
management relays a tone of urgency throughout. Constituents will likely regard these changes
as improvements, which will then ready the organization for its deliverable-related change effort.
Then, management can integrate Kotter and Ratherberger's (2006) remaining steps.
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 9
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Bakker, A.B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The job demands-resources model: State of the art.
Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22, 309-328.
Bakker, A.B., & Schaufeli, W.B. (2008). Positive organizational behavior: Engaged employees
in flourishing organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29, 147-154.
Bevan, R. (2011). Keeping change on track. Journal for Quality & Participation, 34(1), 4-9.
Buono, A.F., & Kerber, K.W. (2010). Creating a sustainable approach to change: Building
organizational change capacity. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 75(2), 4-21.
Choi, M. (2011). Employees' attitudes toward organizational change: A literature review. Human
Resource Management, 50(4), 479-500.
Cinite, I. (2006). Measurement of perceived organizational readiness for change and employees'
attitudes toward change in the public sector (Doctoral dissertation). ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses. (NR13391)
Claycomb, C., Iyer, K., & Germain, R. (2005). Predicting the level of B2B e-commerce in
industrial organizations. Industrial Marketing Management, 34(3), 221-234.
Grand Canyon University. (2012). Qualitative analysis resource. Available from
https://lc.gcu.edu/
Hicks, R., & McCracken, J. (2011). Readiness for change. Physician Executive, 37(1), 82-84.
Hicks, R., & McCracken, J. (2012). A coaching blueprint. Physician Executive, 38(1), 62-64.
"John Kotter's action plan for change." (1997). Strategy & Leadership, 25(1), 21-21.
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 10
Kotter International. (2012, February 6). The biggest mistake I see: Strategy first, urgency
second. Retrieved from h t t p: / /ww w . y outube. c om / w a tch ?v=Qx46Z2daVtQ
Kotter, J., & Rathgeber, H. (2006). Our iceberg is melting: Changing and succeeding under any
conditions. New York, NY: St. Martin.
Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (2003). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people
demand it. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Lovelace, K. J., Manz, C. C., & Alves, J. C. (2007). Work stress and leadership development:
The role of self-leadership, shared leadership, physical fitness and flow in managing
demands and increasing job control. Human Resource Management Review, 17(4), 374-
387.
McNamara, K. H. (2010). RESEARCH ARTICLE: Fostering sustainability in higher education:
A mixed-methods study of transformative leadership and change strategies.
Environmental Practice, 12(1), 48-58.
Montani, F., Odoardi, C., & Battistelli, A. (2012). Explaining the relationships among supervisor
support, affective commitment to change, and innovative work behavior: The moderating
role of coworker support. Bollettino di Psicologia Applicata, 264, 43-57.
Ordanini, A. (2011). The ties that bind: How cooperative norms and readiness to change shape
the role of established relationships in business-to-business e-commerce. Journal of
Business-to-Business Marketing, 18(3), 276-304.
Quader, M.S. (2011). Perception of leadership styles and trust across cultures and gender: A
comparative study on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. South Asian Journal of
Management, 18(2), 30-59.
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 11
Robitschek, C. (1998). Personal growth initiative: The construct and its measure. Measurement
and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 30, 183-198.
Robitschek, C. (2003). Validity of personal growth initiative scale scores with a Mexican
American college student population. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50, 496-502.
Robitschek, C., Ashton, M.W., Spering, C.C., Geiger, N., Byers, D., Schotts, G.C., & Thoen,
M.A. (2012). Development and psychometric evaluation of the personal growth initiative
scale-II. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59(2), 274-287.
Sekerka, L. E. (2009). Organizational ethics education and training: A review of best practices
and their application. International Journal of Training & Development, 13(2), 77-95.
Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New
York, NY: Doubleday Currency.
Senge, P., Scharmer, C.O., Jaworkski, J., & Flowers, B.S. (2004). Presence: Human purpose and
the field of the future. Cambridge, MA: Society for Organizational Learning.
Soumyaja, D., Kamalanabhan, T.J., & Bhattacharyya, S. (2011). Employee readiness to change
and individual intelligence: The facilitating role of process and contextual factors.
International Journal of Business Insights & Transformation, 4(2), 85-92.
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 12
Appendix A: Quantitative Analysis Resource Stage II Questionnaire
Data Imports, Inc. is a company located in San Antonio, Texas. Organizational leaders
recently decided to consider a sweeping change initiative that will significantly change daily
operations at the company.
In order to determine whether the time is right for this change, the company’s CEO,
David Long, decided to collect some data. First, he asks the employees to complete a Likert
Scale survey designed to measure individual employees’ readiness for change.
Employees were instructed to answer the questions based on how they personally had behaved
towards change (based on a survey from Cinte, 2006). The survey went to 12 employees; 8
returned the survey.
Respondent #1
Question StronglyDisagree
1
Disagree
2
SomewhatDisagree
3
SomewhatAgree
4
Agree
5
StronglyAgree
6I complain about change to
my coworkers. X
I speak negatively about
change to everybody at
work. X
I complain about change to
people outside of work. X
I voice concerns about my
boss to my friends. X
I voice concerns about X
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 13
managers above me in the
hierarchy to my friends.
Respondent #2
Question StronglyDisagree
1
Disagree
2
SomewhatDisagree
3
SomewhatAgree
4
Agree
5
StronglyAgree
6I complain about change to
my coworkers. X
I speak negatively about
change to everybody at
work. X
I complain about change to
people outside of work.X
I voice concerns about my
boss to my friends.X
I voice concerns about
managers above me in the
hierarchy to my friends.
X
Respondent #3
Question StronglyDisagree
1
Disagree
2
SomewhatDisagree
3
SomewhatAgree
4
Agree
5
StronglyAgree
6I complain about change to X
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 14
my coworkers.
I speak negatively about
change to everybody at
work. X
I complain about change to
people outside of work. X
I voice concerns about my
boss to my friends. X
I voice concerns about
managers above me in the
hierarchy to my friends.
X
Respondent #4
Question StronglyDisagree
1
Disagree
2
SomewhatDisagree
3
SomewhatAgree
4
Agree
5
StronglyAgree
6I complain about change to
my coworkers. X
I speak negatively about
change to everybody at
work.
X
I complain about change to
people outside of work.X
I voice concerns about my X
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 15
boss to my friends.
I voice concerns about
managers above me in the
hierarchy to my friends.
X
Respondent #5
Question StronglyDisagree
1
Disagree
2
SomewhatDisagree
3
SomewhatAgree
4
Agree
5
StronglyAgree
6I complain about change to
my coworkers. X
I speak negatively about
change to everybody at
work. X
I complain about change to
people outside of work. X
I voice concerns about my
boss to my friends. X
I voice concerns about
managers above me in the
hierarchy to my friends.
X
Respondent #6
Question StronglyDisagree
Disagree SomewhatDisagree
SomewhatAgree
Agree StronglyAgree
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 16
1 2 3 4 5 6I complain about change to
my coworkers. X
I speak negatively about
change to everybody at
work. X
I complain about change to
people outside of work. X
I voice concerns about my
boss to my friends. X
I voice concerns about
managers above me in the
hierarchy to my friends.
X
Respondent #7
Question StronglyDisagree
1
Disagree
2
SomewhatDisagree
3
SomewhatAgree
4
Agree
5
StronglyAgree
6I complain about change to
my coworkers. X
I speak negatively about
change to everybody at
work. X
I complain about change to X
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 17
people outside of work.
I voice concerns about my
boss to my friends. X
I voice concerns about
managers above me in the
hierarchy to my friends.
X
Respondent #8
Question StronglyDisagree
1
Disagree
2
SomewhatDisagree
3
SomewhatAgree
4
Agree
5
StronglyAgree
6I complain about change to
my coworkers. X
I speak negatively about
change to everybody at
work. X
I complain about change to
people outside of work. X
I voice concerns about my
boss to my friends. X
I voice concerns about
managers above me in the
hierarchy to my friends.
X
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 18
Summary Table
Question StronglyDisagree
1
Disagree
2
SomewhatDisagree
3
SomewhatAgree
4
Agree
5
StronglyAgree
6I complain about change to
my coworkers.
4 2 1 1
I speak negatively about
change to everybody at
work.
1 3 3 1
I complain about change to
people outside of work.
1 4 3
I voice concerns about my
boss to my friends.
3 3 1 1
I voice concerns about
managers above me in the
hierarchy to my friends.
1 2 3 1 1
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 19
Appendix B: Online Focus Group Interview Questions
1. When you experienced a change initiative at work that you felt committed to, what did
you do to demonstrate your commitment?
2. When you experienced a change initiative at work that you were indifferent to, what did
you do to demonstrate your indifference?
3. When you experienced a change initiative at work that you were resistant to, what did
you do to demonstrate your lack of support for the change?
4. In general, what do you think organizations that are capable of implementing successful
change do? (specific examples of actions would be great here)
5. What kinds of things do organizations do that would lead you to think they are not ready
or capable of implementing successful change? (specific examples of actions would be
great here).
6. Think of an organizational change that you have experienced. What advice would you
give to organizations with regard to successful change management and unsuccessful
change management?
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 20
Appendix C: Participant Transcripts
The number listed before each response corresponds to the number of the interview
question (see Grand Canyon University, 2012).
Participant 1:
Gender: male
Age: 62
Education: college degree
Management experience: senior manager
1. I emphasized the change and supported it to my full ability.
2. I voiced my indifference if asked and supported it.
3. Any change I was resistant to received my full verbal opposition to with reason if asked
or not and then supported it. If too onerous would have resigned except while in the
military.
4. They have leaders with established creditability that get all the facts, listen, and make
changes. A major expensive shift in power plant fuel from natural gas to coal and oil.
Today it should be just the opposite.
5. Organizations with poor leadership who lack experience and credibility. Bexar Met in
San Antonio, a provider of water, compared to SAWS is with the same conditions, rates
are 50% higher than SAWS.
6. Again, good leaders with established credibility, who get all the facts and “sell” their
changes to subordinates.
Participant 2:
Gender: female
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 21
Age: 55
Education: college degree
Management experience: project manager
1. Jumped right in. Learned what I needed to do to help make the initiative a success.
Cooperated. Positive Attitude. Did whatever needed to be done. Encouraged others to get
on board and prove what we could do.
2. My answer here is pretty much the same as an initiative that I’m committed to. Positive
attitude, Cooperate, do what needs to be done to be successful.
3. Asked questions, voiced concern, had less of a positive attitude. However, once decision
was made and answers received, continued to do what needed to be done to meet the
timelines and to make the project a success.
4. Educate the workers about the change and explain why the change is needed, how they
anticipate the change to help, and where they see the company headed. Answer questions
from workers, being as truthful and honest as allowed at that time. Encourage and
respond to questions. Let the workers know “what’s in it for them.” Companies have
feedback boxes where suggestions actually are considered and/or implemented.
Management appears to be ‘in sync’ with each other.
5. They don’t share a vision for the company. They don’t encourage workers to ask
questions or give the reasons/importance of the need for change. No requests for
feedback are asked for. Upper management doesn’t seem to get along with each other.
6. For successful changes - Meet with all levels of workers to explain the change and the
reasons for the change. Let the workers know how they can contribute and why the
change needs to be successful. Answer questions. Communication and openness are the
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 22
key. For Unsuccessful changes – Management stays ‘tight-lipped’, doesn’t explain why
the changes are needed. The change is just pushed down the line, with little
communication.
Participant 3:
Gender: male
Age: 56
Education: unknown
Management experience: yes
1. First, I communicated to the management chain that I believed in the new direction and
offered whatever services I could provide to the cause. Second, I emphasized to my
subordinates the importance of the change. Third, I tried to communicate progress toward
the goal both to my subordinates as well as to management.
2. Many times decisions are made for which I do not have all the relevant information,
therefore when a change is made that I do not understand (and therefore am indifferent
to) I do not try to visibly express that indifference. I will however seek to question the
wisdom of the decision with my management and try to gain clarification. Occasionally
changes are made that management cannot control. For example, if your company is
merged with another then some changes are inevitable and those changes may not be
optimal for one's specific situation. However, one should pick battles where one has a
chance to make a difference and rebelling against change for the simple reason of
inconvenience is not wise.
3. I discuss the matter with my manager, in private. The goal would be to understand the
motivation, explain my concerns, and determine if the initiative might be modified in
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 23
some way to be more accommodating. If my manager cannot convince me that the
change is in the best interest of our common goals, I discuss it with his manager, using
the same goal. If I cannot change the initiative or modify it to make it more palatable
after two or more escalations in management, I either accept the change or find a new
job.
4. a) They explain to their people why change is necessary and listen to their concerns about
it. b) They provide public and private forums for receiving feedback, providing some
time for people to fully formulate their questions. c) They address concerns expressed in
the forums with explanations of why the change is necessary and if or how it can be
modified to address the more serious concerns expressed. d) They identify the most
troublesome resistors and either convert them or eliminate them.
5. Signals that a company is not ready or capable of implementing successful change:
Has the company considered how the change will affect day-to-day operations of
their employees?
How will the change affect loosely related processes or operations?
If the change involves a supply line, how will the change affect vendors? Is it
compatible with their systems?
Who are the key people affected by the change? Have they been consulted to
determine compatibility with other operations?
Can the change be rolled out incrementally or is it necessary for multiple departments
to implement the change simultaneously?
6. My experience of this is most vivid in the occasions where my company was purchased
and merged into a larger company. In some cases the purchaser may have a corporate
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 24
climate that is vastly different from the purchased company. If the purchaser determines
to force the purchased company into a new "mold" then the results may be devastating
resulting in key employees leaving and generally poor moral. Another example is when
the purchaser starts integrating the purchased company's IT and business systems into the
purchaser's systems. This will always lead to procedural changes that disrupt the
purchased company's operations, and if this activity is not well planned and well
advertised it can lead to large losses in productivity. My advice is:
Change for its own sake is usually bad.
Always consider the impact of the change on the people you depend on to execute
it.
Sometimes change is difficult for some people. Consider what you will do with
these people if they have difficulty with the change - and firing them is not the
answer.
Consider carefully the entire cost of the change, including equipment required to
carry it out. For example, moving to a new CRM system may be enticing for the
flexibility it provides, but it might also cost you dearly in IT support costs and staff
sizes. Look at the whole picture.
Participant 4:
Gender: female
Age: 25
Education: unknown
Management experience: none
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 25
1. When I am committed to a change initiative at work, I get started with it right away.
Usually it is something that I am excited about and have been wanting and waiting for. I
immediately sit down with my team or by myself (depending on the situation) and start
making a plan in which to implement the change successfully. As we're implementing the
change I'm studying its effects on all the people involved and am continually adapting my
plan to the needs I see.
2. In these situations, I would probably wait until some sort of accountability or plan to
make the change were put into place for me. I might try the change initiative but I
probably wouldn't put too much of my time into trying to make it work.
3. Usually, I don't do anything. I might implement a piece of the change but because I don't
have much belief in it, it doesn't work. Then I will sometimes take that data back to the
people trying to make the change and share my frustration about the change with them
through that outlet.
4. Capable organizations have tried the program out for themselves first. They aren't taking
a program that they have never seen in action and tried to push it on you. My specific
example would be of a classroom management program that was introduced to us this
past year. The first thing the teacher presenting the program said was that she used the
program in her classroom (while she was still in the classroom) and that she recently took
time away from presenting to be a long term sub in a classroom to see if she could
successfully still use the program and could use it in a different environment than what
she had previously used it in. Every time she presented a new piece of the program, she
gave specific and recent examples of how she used it. Because of her experiences, I was
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 26
able to see how it might work in my classroom and I was excited to experiment with it
myself.
5. These types of organizations, talk to you about what you should be doing. Sometimes
they almost try to guilt you into seeing that what you're doing is not working. Then they'll
give you random information that might sound great but in the back of your head, you're
thinking, "This person has no idea what I'm working with. They don't know my students.
They don't know the system my school follows. They don't even know what I'm supposed
to be teaching." They usually come across as pretty harsh to me. They are like the used
car sales man that doesn't really know what's under the hood of the car. They are just so
ready to make a deal (probably because they are ready to taste some success and haven't
had the opportunity to yet). They can't give you specific examples of how to make their
program work and they don't take the time to hear your real life situations so that they can
help you tailor their program to your reality.
6. Recently, our principal completely reorganized our grade level teams. She made sure that
every team had a change implemented in their staffing. The successful part of her change
was with the people that were actually being moved to new grade levels. They were all
called into her office and she gave them her reasoning for the change. These people were
comfortable and willing to be part of her team and help out by moving to a new grade.
The rest of us were left without any explanation which led us to create our own
explanations. We immediately started to think that the people who were being moved
were being moved because they had had problems with their previous teams. We were
very hesitant and unwelcoming to the new team member. Because of our attitudes, we
couldn't function as a team for a long time because we weren't sure about this other
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 27
person. We had a lot of trust issues, not only with the new team member but with the
principal because we never heard her reasoning for making the change. Since then, we
have had to overcome some major issues that probably wouldn't have even been existent
had we had the same conversation that the people who did the moving had with the
principal.
Participant 5:
Gender: female
Age: 52
Education: unknown
Management experience: none
1. I went to the leadership people and offered to help in any way I could.
2. I went about my business as usual and ignored any changes taking place around me.
When management approached me, I told them I was too busy to help with anything, and
asked if they needed me to do something.
3. I went about my business as usual and ignored any changes taking place around me. I
told them I was busy and didn't have time to help them. Then I asked them about the
changes, and they had a discussion with me as to why these changes were needed and
basically had to sell me on the idea. I wanted them to hear my perspective as well.
4. As I learned from my HR Mgmt classes, organizations do not take into account the
people who they expect to make those changes happen. Before change is even
announced, management needs to sit with each department, and ask how things are going,
and see if there are any ideas for changes that would help make their department more
efficient. Good communicators can target areas they know are going to be affected, and
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 28
sneak in some suggestions to get the employees talking and thinking of ways to improve
their area. This way the employees feel valued and that they are a part of the change.
5. When some guy at decided our school needed to be co-located, they didn't realize until it
was too late how much money they would have to write off in furniture that we owned.
Because they were afraid the people would be upset that we had nicer furniture, we had
to buy all new furniture, and then give away all of our solid wood furniture. Corporate
didn't seem to realize how much we had spent and how much they would have to write
off. The initial savings they thought they would have, ended up being much less than they
had hoped. The guy who came up with the idea sold them on his idea, made a bunch of
money based on the idea, and retired to an island somewhere. In the end, we ended up
splitting up and having separate campuses like we should have always had.
6. Employees need to feel valued and respected. Don't just say you want our support and
hold meetings and say you will tell the upper management, and then not tell the powers
that be. They treat employees like children who don't have a clue, and are doing nothing
but blowing smoke at us. They fail to realize how much of our lives are invested in our
work, and how much those jobs mean to us. All the secrecy about upcoming change is
toxic and causes nothing but bad feelings towards the company and the leadership team.
Be up front with employees from the beginning.
Participant 6:
Gender: female
Age: 45
Education: unknown
Management experience: none
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 29
1. I worked as hard as I could to help with the change and encourage others to do the same.
I researched different ways that the change could be implemented and shared them with
colleagues.
2. I suppose I was slow to respond and gave it only half my attention. If I felt it was not
really relevant, I ignored it as much as possible.
3. I spoke up against it to my superiors and discussed it with my other teachers to try to find
an alternative that was more palatable.
4. Organizations that are capable of implementing successful change involve their
employees in decision making – employees on all levels, not just in supervisory
positions. Employees need to believe they have a voice in their work lives/work spaces.
Our school held regular faculty meetings to discuss problems and solutions to those
problems. When we changed to individualized reading instruction headed by a UT
professor, teachers and principals were part of the planning for the program and received
intensive training to prepare us for the change.
5. Those organizations hand down orders from the top management without input from
employees. Our school district supervisors decided that all teachers would implement
computer teaching, but did not require or offer training to all teachers to prepare them to
do this. Some teachers were technologically phobic and resisted or refused to do the
teaching. (Of course, you realize that this was over 18 years ago! Most of those teachers
are retired now.)
6. To make successful change, an organization must have the support of those who will
implement it. Or it must educate the workers of the necessity of the change. If all this
fails, an organization must work with the resistant ones to convert them, relocate them, or
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 30
fire them. The route to unsuccessful change management is an edict from upper
management with no advance warning, preparation, or education.
Participant 7:
Gender: male
Age: 22
Education: college degree
Management experience: none
1. If I am personally committed to a change, then I am going to try my best to get all of the
other employees to see the change from my perspective. I feel like this will make the
transition easier and the change last.
2. I hop on the bandwagon that has the most support.
3. I try to express my discomfort with the change but try to be careful not to step on too
many toes. If I don't get my way, I don't want to have created any enemies.
4. I think the most successful changes have to happen for clear, well-defined reasons that
have been explained thoroughly to the employees. The desired outcome of the changes
must also be explained to demonstrate how the proposed changes will solve or help to
reduce the problems that were present in the first place.
5. Organizations that try to implement change unilaterally without any support from the
employees or customers are generally not successful. In order to make successful changes
that last, all parties involved need to see the reasons that brought about the change as well
as understand how the proposed changes will solve the problem.
DATA ANALYSIS AND CHANGE PROCESS PAPER 31
6. Make sure that everyone understands the reasons behind needing to make a change as
well as how these changes will solve the problem that is at hand. Mandating change from
on high will cause resistance and resentment regardless of the reasons for the change.
Participant 8:
Gender: Male
Age: 48
Education: college degree
Management experience: CEO
1. I try to encourage others to see the reasons or benefits of the change.
2. I guess I would look at both sides of the change and probably cooperate if it would
benefit those that had influence over me.
3. I probably did not actively not support it, but did not do anything to help either.
4. They get everyone to see the benefits to them individually or the group in whole, thus
benefiting the individuals.
5. If the leaders are not committed and on the same page, it shows to the rest of the
organization.
I would advise that the leaders should involve all levels in the change discussions so that they
have ownership of the change. When this happens, everyone feels like it is their changes that are
being implemented.