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Kurt Lewin’s Three stage modelApproaches to Managing Organizational Change
Prepared By
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Manu Melwin JoyAssistant Professor
Ilahia School of Management Studies
Kerala, India.Phone – 9744551114
Mail – [email protected]
Three stage model• One of the cornerstone models
for understanding organizational change was developed by Kurt Lewin back in the 1940s, and still holds true today.
• His model is known as Unfreeze – Change – Refreeze, refers to the three-stage process of change he describes.
• Kurt Lewin, a physicist as well as social scientist, explained organizational change using the analogy of changing the shape of a block of ice.
Three stage model
Unfreezing RefreezingMoving
• Provide rationale for change
• Create minor levels of guilt/anxiety about not changing
• Create sense of psychological safety concerning change
• Provide information that suspects proposed changes
• Bring about actual shifts in behavior
• Implement new evaluation systems
• Implement new hiring and promotion systems
Kurt Lewin
Three stage model
Three stage model• Unfreezing is the process which involves
finding a method of making it possible for people to let go of an old pattern that was counterproductive in some way.
• Unfreezing is necessary to overcome the strains of individual resistance and group conformity.
• Unfreezing can be achieved by the use of these three methods. – Increase the driving forces that direct
behavior away from the existing situation or status quo.
– Decrease the restraining forces that negatively affect the movement from the existing equilibrium.
– Find a combination of the two methods listed above.
Three stage model• Movement stage involves a process of
change in thoughts, feeling, behavior, or all three, that is in some way more liberating or more productive.
• Once team members have opened up their minds, change can start. The change process can be dynamic and, if it is to be effective, it will probably take some time and involve a transition period.
• In order to gain efficiency, people will have to take on new tasks and responsibilities, which entail a learning curve that will at first slow the organization down.
• A change process has to be viewed as an investment, both in terms of time and the allocation of resources: after the new organization and processes have been rolled out.
Three stage model
• Change will only reach its full effect if it’s made permanent. Once the organizational changes have been made and the structure has regained its effectiveness, efforts should be made to cement them and make sure the new organization reaches the standard.
• “Re-freezing” gives people the opportunity to thrive in the new organization and take full advantage of the change.
Changing People: Some Basic Steps
Recognizing theneed for change
Attempting tocreate a new stateof affairs
Incorporating the changes,creating and maintaining anew organizational system
Step 1: Unfreezing
Step 3: Refreezing
Step 2: Changing
Current State
New State
Case study• The oil company had three
divisional offices in the West, located in Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
• The decision was made to consolidate the divisions in to a single regional office to be located in San Francisco.
• The reorganization meant transferring over 150 employees, eliminating some duplicate managerial positions, and instituting a new hierarchy of command
UNFREEZING
• The status quo can be considered to be an equilibrium state. To move from this equilibrium to overcome the pressures of both individual resistance and group conformity unfreezing is necessary. It can be achieved in one of three ways.
• The driving forces, which direct behavior away from the status quo, can be increased.
• The restraining forces, which hinder movement from the existing equilibrium, can be decreased.
• A third alternative is to combine the first two approaches.
Movement• The oil company’s management
could expect employee resistance to the consolidation. To deal with that resistance, management could use positive incentive to encourage employees to accept the change, such as these;
• Increase in pay can be offered to those who accept the transfer.
• The company can pay liberal moving expenses.
• Management might offer low cost mortgage funds to allow employees to buy new homes in San Francisco.
Movement• Employees could be counseled individually.
Each employee’s concerns and apprehensions could be heard and specifically clarified.
• Assuming that most of the fears are unjustified, the counselor could assure the employees that there was nothing to fear and then demonstrate, through tangible evidence, that restraining forces are unwarranted.
• If resistance is extremely high, management mat have to resort to both reducing resistance and increasing the attractiveness of the alternative if the unfreezing is to be successful.
• To be effective, change has to happen quickly. Organizations that build up to change do less well than those that get to and through the movement stage quickly.
Refreezing• Once the consolidation change has
been implemented, if it is to be successful, the new situation needs to be refrozen so that it can be sustained over time.
• Unless this last step is taken, there is a very high chance that the change will be short lived and that employees will attempt to revert to the previous equilibrium state.
• The objective of refreezing, then, is to stabilize the new situation by balancing the driving and restraining forces.
