Describe Strategies for Managing Change in Nursing
Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Change management and implementation planning are two descriptions of the same application. In either case, we seek to move teams, departments or whole organizations from a current state to a new state. In every case, the challenge is to understand what change is needed, to frame it in terms that can be achieved, and then move the behavior of many individuals and groups toward the desired state.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

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The Six Boxes Approach is a perfect way of conducting implementation planning or change management. First, using the Performance Chain, we work backwards from the organizational results we seek to achieve to the outputs or accomplishments that different people will need to produce. In some cases, these might be cultural end-states, while in others they might be more operational, as in process or policy implementation. Once we decide who needs to accomplish what in order for change to be deemed successful, we identify the needed behavior for each functional role and then use The Six Boxes Model to plan for the behavior influences needed to ensure and sustain the needed change.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

The results of applying The Six Boxes Approach for change management or implementation include executable programs for achieving the desired change and successful accomplishment of those programs, achieved through changes in behavior. Business results can include greater operational efficiency or customer satisfaction, successful mergers or acquisitions, increased market share or competitiveness, and so on.

Change management and implementation planning are typical projects for participants in the Six Boxes Application Program. We often work with senior management to implement new strategies as part of the Six Boxes Management Development Program. And adoption of Six Boxes Performance Thinking across an organization is an opportunity to use The Six Boxes Approach to implement itself in that organization, from the top down and from the inside out.

Strategies for Managing Change in Nursing
Navigating organizational change can cause concern in a health-care facility’s nursing staff and strain employee morale. By carefully planning strategies for implementing the changes, however, administrators can enlist the support of their nurses and even assign them roles in developing and evaluating the new plan.

Communication
Even minor changes can alarm a facility’s nursing staff, who often worry what the transition will mean for them. They may fear they could lose their jobs or that the organization will lower their salaries or increase their job duties. Communicating with nurses during change can ease their uncertainty, eliminate surprises and make them feel involved. Administrators should plan their communication strategies well in advance, designating nurse leaders to oversee the effort and determining when and how to alert nurses regarding key events. Health-care administrators can use communication strategies such as community meetings, e-mail and social media to stay connected to the nursing staff.

Education
Teaching nurses about the planned changes and their impact on the facility and nursing staff can eliminate some of the anxiety over organizational change. In addition, offering training to help nurses adjust to new policies or procedures can give them the skills they need to successfully navigate the change. It also encourages them to take a hands-on role in the transition. Seminars and workshops prepare nurses for the impending changes and ensure they’re implemented smoothly. For more intensive training, administrators can offer one-on-one coaching, assigning nurse leaders to teach nurses the skills and knowledge necessary for thriving in the new work environment.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Encourage Teamwork
Enlisting nursing staff to offer input and assist in problem-solving can prevent resistance and offer insight from those closest to the issue. Managers can organize nurses into teams, asking them to brainstorm solutions for problems or offer recommendations for implementing the proposed changes. This can draw out valuable information from the people responsible for integrating the changes. It also demonstrates that the organization values the opinions of its nurses.

Explain Your Reasons
To the nursing staff, planned changes may seem arbitrary or confusing, but administrators who explain the motivations behind them can turn the nurses into their biggest supporters. If nurses know the changes will enhance patient care, make employee’s jobs easier or offer the facility significant financial benefits, they’re more likely to champion the new structure and do whatever it takes to ensure the plan’s success. It also shows them the facility’s leadership doesn’t expect them to accept the changes without understanding the reasons for and benefits of the new way of doing things.

The only constant in healthcare is change. To facilitate organizational change — leaders need to take a step back and realize where change really begins: your people.

As the CEO of a healthcare talent management solution provider, I regularly discuss organizational development and talent management strategies with healthcare leaders. From these conversations, I’ve gathered the following six initiatives that healthcare organizations must adopt to manage the changes ahead:

1. Recruit for New Roles
New roles and skills requirements are emerging in an environment of HCAHPS, population health, ACOs, and the rapid growth of express retail and urgent care facilities. Healthcare organizations will need RNs who can effectively coordinate the provision of care post-hospitalization. You’ll need patient advocates who work with front-line staffers to promote patient satisfaction to drive HCAHPS scores. Organizations will need population health navigators with the clinical and communication skills to provide education through community outreach programs.

As many areas of forecast ed growth in healthcare are primarily occurring in “non-traditional care locations,” such as express care clinics, the demand for these new roles will be astronomically high. Hospitals and health systems will be competing head-to-head with the local pharmacy around the corner and suburban care clinics for qualified healthcare talent. Organizations will need to develop proactive HR strategies to recruit new talent to meet consumer demands or risk losing out on qualified applicants in the increasing competitive market.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

2. Train Existing Employees on Required Skills
Many critical skills that healthcare staffers need today are behavioral, such as teamwork, communication, flexibility, and critical thinking. While organizations must hire people with these inherent behavioral competencies, they also need professional development programs in place to build out these skill sets. Healthcare organizations that are able to successfully adapt to the new paradigm are training staff on population health management, the importance of patient hand offs, discharges, and follow-ups, and diagnostic and treatment approaches associated with EMRs. These are just a couple of examples of change that require focused training and education for new hires and existing employees in healthcare.

3. Implement New Performance Goals
New employee performance goals are emerging and the traditional performance appraisal process is evolving. We’re moving beyond focusing solely on pillars, VBP, reducing HAIs and readmission’s; individual performance goals should now be focused on cross-care coordination and hand offs, the effectiveness of patient communication, the timeliness of access to care, and the reduction of inpatient utilization. On the other hand, organizational goals should focus on the wellness and health of whole populations, from employees to members of the community. Individual performance goals should always be top-of-mind for employees, as they should be the driving force behind every decision made and action taken.

4. Optimize Processes Across New Entities
Given the number of mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and organizational changes in recent years, healthcare organizations must prepare to reevaluate and standardize talent management processes across the entire health system to ensure consistency. Most healthcare organizations are likely standardizing processes today for clinical protocols — why not for your talent acquisition and employee development initiatives? Despite the disruption of change, consistency is crucial.

5. Sustain Employee Engagement in Times of Change
Research shows that only 40% of hospital employees are considered “engaged.” So what negatively impacts employee engagement levels? You guessed it: Change.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Healthcare leaders must proactively manage employee engagement by focusing on the known engagement drivers of executive actions, quality of care, promotion opportunities, stress management, communication, and recognition. The solution is not a mystery, the C-suite and executive team need to take ownership of employee engagement. In this case, positive change starts at the top.

6. Develop the Leaders for Tomorrow
Having the right people in place at the top is more important than you may think. In fact a recent study showed that even just a one percent decrease in “leadership effectiveness” correlated with a 33% decrease in revenue per bed. Poor leadership decisions, no matter how minimal they may seem, actually have significant impact on the bottom line. It starts with the right leadership selection and continues through ongoing assessment and development. In fact, having the right model and programs in place for leadership selection and development is an absolute necessity and the biggest lever for organizational success.

So how does a healthcare organization implement these talent management strategies? It takes leadership to get employees engaged and encouraged to contribute to the adoption of new initiatives through clear and consistent communication. CEOs who leave talent management strategies to their Human Resources, Organizational Development, and Learning teams to handle, will not see results. Additionally, it takes technology to manage and measure the results of the processes implemented. Talent management technology solutions should be core to the management and measurement of all organizational change strategies and implementation. Remember, you can’t manage what you don’t measure.

As a healthcare leader, you must take the initiative to be proactive with your talent management strategies in order to navigate through the roadblocks that come along with change by focusing on what really matters: your employees.

The playbook for hospital and healthcare leadership has fundamentally changed. Integrated hospital systems, academic medical centers, freestanding hospitals — no provider is immune from the need to transform its delivery model to align with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and broader industry reforms. CEOs and their executive teams are tasked with reinventing their organizations to meet the call for a more patient-eccentric, value-based approach while simultaneously managing traditional, volume-based models.

What’s the score? Are CEOs and other C-suite leaders successfully adapting to this unprecedented paradigm shift, or is it too early to judge? Are there accepted paths to successful enterprise-wide transformation? What new playbook “plays” or strategies are proving most effective?

To find answers to these and other questions, we recently held candid conversations with 20 CEOs across the U.S. from a diverse cross-section of healthcare delivery systems. We heard first-hand about changes they are making to transform their organizations, along with the myriad challenges they and their teams are facing along the way.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

The new world order
Unilaterally, the CEOs’ sentiments echoed what we hear during our daily work with healthcare executives: The healthcare world with which they are accustomed has turned upside down. The primary purpose of hospitals has changed from providing care within their four walls to keeping patients healthy in and out of the hospital.

CEOs must define new strategies for their organizations to succeed. They must establish a cohesive system of care by engaging physicians and improving efficiencies, quality, safety and the patient experience. These demands are forcing them to address their senior talent, as each member must be invested in the process and capable of leading an integrated system.

5 strategies for successful change
Considering the CEOs’ perspectives and our insights gained from working directly with C-level executives, we posit the following five strategies as the core of the healthcare industry’s new playbook.

1. Horizontal and vertical integration must co-exist. Regardless of a healthcare system’s size or complexity, breaking through legacy silos and diminishing traditional fragmentation of care are key to creating a successful integrated and patient- centered delivery model. An initial step is defining “integration,” with the leadership team identifying the hurdles a system needs to overcome and defining an iterative change process.

Traditionally, senior leaders have been tasked with oversight of their respective business units and some system-wide decisions. Today’s playbook calls for a “team-at-the-top” demonstrating true integration, across vertical and horizontal boundaries of care, both within and well outside of the hospital structure. Moving in this direction calls for the team to develop a shared and clear strategic direction around provision of care. Wrestling with an array of complex issues, including infrastructure requirements, organizational structure, partnerships, efficiencies and culture is central to the job of architectonic a delivery system positioned for long-term viability.

2. The CEO is the primary agent of change. In the past, a CEO was lauded for being an excellent hospital administrator with strong financial and operational acumen. Today, expectations of the CEO are undergoing a material shift.

We’ve all heard the saying that “change is always good,” right? Wrong. Change is a constant at every organization, but employees have quickly become the number one opponent of change. There are several different reasons why employees have learned to resist change, but the primary reason is the bad management of change in the workplace.

Do you love change management? If so, you most likely also hate bad management of change. In companies, the managers and advisors are the ones who have to implement change, but that’s where the problem arises. When managers are just the messengers, they don’t possess the training and knowledge necessary to be a competent “agent of change,” which leads to poor communication between the C-suite and the general employee.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Unfortunately, most employees won’t respond to change with the happiness and glee that is expected; companies need to understand that there is going to be resistance. Let’s face it: people prefer stability and comfort over change in both their personal and professional lives. Though it’s much easier to live inside the comfort of normal day-to-day life, change happens and is always going to be something that needs to be handled. Over the past few years, change has become a norm in the business world. Companies that can manage change with ease will have the upper hand over their competition.

Reasons for Resistance to Change
Although change management decisions are normally made at the C-level, it’s still very important to have the rest of the employees bought in to the change. Having employees who are opposed to what is going to be changing from the start is a major setback and one that needs to be dealt with carefully in order to be successful with the change management.

Job Loss
Job loss is a major reason that employees resist change in the workplace. In any business, there are constantly going to be things moving and changing, whether it is due to the need for more efficiency, better turnaround times, or the need for the employees to work smarter. With all these needs comes the opportunity for the company to downsize or create new jobs, and this is where the fear of job loss comes into play.

Poor Communication and Engagement
Communication solves all ills. But a lack of it creates more of them. This is another crucial reason why employees oppose change. How the change process itself is communicated to the employees is very important because it determines how they react. If the process of what needs to be changed, how it needs to be changed and what success would look like cannot be communicated, then resistance should be expected. Employees need to understand why there is a need for change, because if they are just thrown the notion that what they have been used to for a long time is going to be completely renovated, with that will come much backlash.

Lack of Trust
Trust is a vital tool to have when running a successful business. In organizations where there is a lot of trust in management, there is lower resistance to change. Mutual mistrust between management and employees will lead to the company going into a downward spiral, so trust is a must.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

The Unknown
We already mentioned communication, and a lack of it causes employees to feel like they don’t know what’s going on. If companies are constantly experiencing times where the future is unknown, there is also a good possibility that employees won’t respond to change well. When the thought of change is brought up in this case, it would come as a surprise, leading to employees being caught off guard, which makes the situation much worse.

Poor Timing
Timing is one of the biggest problems when it comes to change. A lot of the time, it’s not the act itself that creates the resistance, but how and when it is delivered.

How to Overcome Resistance and Effectively Implement Change
1. Overcome opposition
Regardless of how well companies manage a change, there is always going to be resistance. Companies should engage those who are opposed to a change. By doing this, they can actively see what their concerns are and possibly alleviate the problem in a timely manner. By allowing employees time to give their input, it assures them that they are part of a team that actually cares about its employees.

Communicating both early and often is necessary when trying to convey anything to employees. There should be a constant conversation between the C-Suite and the general employees on what is happening day to day, and for what is to come in the future. The best piece of advice that a company can take in this regard is to be truthful, straightforward, and timely with big changes in the workplace. Company-wide emails and intranets are great tools to utilize and this allows for employees to ask questions and stay informed.

An explanation for why the change is needed is always a good idea. By helping employees better understand why a change is important for the company, it’s easier to get them on board with the change, and it can also encourage them to become an advocate for change. With this, an explanation of “what’s in it for me?” helps employees see the big picture and the benefits of the change, instead of only giving them a narrow view of what is to happen in the near future.

Innovation and improvement are two things that are occurring on a daily basis. With new ideas and suggestions there are always ways to improve as a company, whether it be changing the outlook on an assignment, or changing the way the office dynamic is on a day-to-day basis. Regardless of what it is, there are always ways to improve, and this could really affect how employees look at change management in the workplace.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

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2. Effectively engage employees
Listen, listen, listen. If there is another piece advice that a company should take, it’s to receive and respond to the feedback that is provided by the employees. They are the ones making sure that all the clients are happy and that all the work gets done, so keeping them in the loop is vital. Ask employees probing questions: Is the change working? What can we do to make it work better? Do employees have any questions or concerns? These are all great questions to ask, but if feedback is going to be collected, it actually needs to be read and utilized. These answers can be used to change the plan accordingly, and show employees that their ideas and concerns are being heard.

Understanding that no two employees are the same is another important tactic to use when trying to understand the employee’s concern. Being able to realize that there are going to be many different reasons for opposition depending on the person is pertinent, because then managers can tailor ways to work out these problems.

3. Implement change in several stages
Change doesn’t happen all at once. Companies should first prepare for the change, then take action on the change and make a plan for managing the change, and third, support the change and assure that all is going as planned.

4. Communicate change effectively
The best way that you as an employer can communicate change is to explicitly tell employees what is going on. Using a blend of formal and informal communication allows you to ensure that all employees receive the news about the change in some way or another. With all the communication outlets such as email, company intranets, town halls, and face-to-face meetings, the message is going to get across the company. Employing several different ways to communicate change helps explain the vision, goals and expectations for what needs to happen and why.

Conclusion
Companies of all types constantly experience change, because as industries grow, businesses have to evolve. Changes such as switching to a new HR plan can affect your business in every way, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to change for the worst. Change needs to be dealt with in an effective and responsible manner, and if done correctly, it will seriously benefit the company and make it a smooth transition.

Company culture is the foundation on which an organization is built. Regardless of its size, culture drives motivation and engagement and supports a company’s overall strategy toward success.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

For hospitals, creating a culture of safety is critical to prevent errors and to improve the quality of care; however, organizations must practice patience and also understand that it’s an ongoing process. Ana Pujols, MD, Executive Vice President and CMO for The Joint Commission, states, creating a high-reliability safety culture is probably the most challenging work for any healthcare organization. Similar to any other significant change in healthcare, accelerating the development of a culture of safety begins with a clear strategy that involves creative leadership, effective communication and ongoing collaboration across all departments.

Here are four things your healthcare organization should consider to achieve cultural change with long-term success.

1. Developing a Clear Strategy
The first thing an organization must do is to develop a clear strategy that everyone can understand. Something as important as changing culture requires thoughtful planning from all top influence rs within the organization. Everyone must recognize their responsibilities during this transformation and how their actions will affect the organization as a whole.

While following a timeline is needed to carry out an effective strategy, every leader and manager must recognize that the work doesn’t end after implementation—it’ll require ongoing commitment across all departments in the healthcare organization.

2. Including the Leadership Team
Changing or improving the culture of a company or team requires focus, accountability and consistency—and it must be led from the top, says Forbes contributor Brent Gleeson. Without complete buy-in from the senior leadership team, your strategy will fail and even possibly leave lasting damages.

According to Gleeson, some of the best practices leaders must own include:Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

1. establishing accountability across the organization;
2. defining the results needed from the culture change (What are we trying to accomplish?);
3. developing a cultural beliefs statement;
4. developing and communicating the case for change; and
5. consistently ensuring alignment across the leadership team.

For leaders to master the ability to lead change, it requires learning and practicing the tools, planning what to do and what to say, and internal and external coaching.

3. Delivering Effective Internal Communication
After leadership adopts a comprehensive approach that provides the organization with a common language, set of goals and the tools for driving change, they must clearly define and communicate employee roles and their responsibilities. This will empower their team with tools for decision-making, rapid change and long-term process improvement, says Anita M. Yelton, a senior consultant and master change agent at GE Healthcare.

Successful leaders must not only clearly map out what, how and when they want to communicate, they must also stay on track by delivering a consistent ongoing message. Forbes contributor Rodger Dean Duncan suggests a more integrated approach that includes:

A communication system with a well-conceived strategy and appropriate tactics
A learning system to show people how to do what you’re asking them to do
A reinforcement system that emphasizes the behaviors and practices required to accelerate the change and implementation
Communication should be used to encourage staff and remind them of their successes toward effective change. Leadership’s ultimate goal should be to make sure employees feel valued and understand how they contribute to the overall success of the organization.

4. Fostering Ongoing Collaboration
There is a necessary and practical partnership between leaders, human resources, and marketing. While leadership and HR executives collaborate to rethink the company’s organizational culture, marketing’s internal rebranding influences how employees are receptive to that change. “Branding affects not only external perceptions, but also internal employee relationships with the business – and thereby influences culture,” says Rebecca Newton, business psychologist, leadership advisor, and Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “And culture influences an organization’s ability to deliver on its brand promise.”

When change leaders across the organization work together to deliver a well-defined, compelling message, it enables your team to bring greater clarity, lead more effectively, and drive more success. In what ways has your organization effectively created and accelerated cultural change? Please share your story!

1960, healthcare spending has climbed from roughly 5 percent of U.S. GDP to nearly 18 percent as of 2012, and the rising costs show no sign of abating. According to data from America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), healthcare is on track to hit 19.9% of GDP in 2021, with $4.8 trillion in spending per year.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

These costs are unsustainable and jeopardize America’s fiscal solvency and long-term ability to support programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

While preventative medicine and managed care programs have gained significance in recent years and are important solutions to pursue, I believe that we must address how healthcare organizations manage and spend their resources. As president and CEO of Amerinet, a national healthcare solutions organization, I have seen firsthand how our members are reducing healthcare costs while maintaining quality. It is fascinating to collaborate with healthcare providers, both large and small, in taking a proactive role in managing healthcare reform and the future of their organizations. Three critical areas that facilities can look to in an effort to bring savings and efficiency to their operations include price accuracy and collaboration, population health and patient engagement and the use of data to promote standardization and purchasing consolidation.

1. Price Accuracy and Collaboration

Although healthcare organizations contract prices for a wide range of medical supplies, often times what they pay and what they negotiated don’t match up. When Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH), an organization with over 3,000 employees and 300 physicians, confronted this issue last year, the key was to create a task force that included representatives from the healthcare organization, distributor and Amerinet.

This team was tasked with rooting out cost discrepancy and identifying why they existed. The team met regularly to proactively review expiring contract issues. By working together using various reports provided from each company, they identified problem areas and worked with suppliers as needed to prevent inaccurate future price increases. NAH also worked internally to address open purchase orders and invoice issues. Amerinet made adjustments in their contracting and reporting processes in order to facillitate more timely responses, action and communication. Within a couple months, they developed a standardized process for identifying expired contracts and communicating price changes.

In NAH’s case, price matching increased to 98% and days sales outstanding (DSO) rates were reduced by half. The savings are significant. NAH achieved $450,000 in cost avoidance through correct pricing, approximately $25,000 in annual savings from days sales outstanding (DSO) reduction, and $132,000 in savings from price change validation.

The next step is to bring manufacturers and suppliers directly into this process. On a national scale, a transparent pricing process can reduce enormous amounts of waste and inefficiency.

Operations management refers to a focus on the practices designed to monitor and manage all of the processes within the production and the distribution of products and services. The largest activities that operations management focuses on are product creation and service development, and the efficiency with which both are distributed.

Managing purchases, monitoring inventory, and preserving quality are the primary goals. Operations management often includes analyzing a company’s internal processes. Ultimately, the way that an organization carries out operations management depends upon the nature of products or services that it offers.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

What Is Operation Management in Health Care?
Health care is an extremely diverse industry. It primarily includes institutions and practitioners that offer services for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of injury, illness, disease, and other physical and mental impairments. There is a wide variety of specialties that focus on specific treatments. Health care refers to primary, secondary, and tertiary care, as well as to public health. Social and economic conditions largely affect access to health care, as do the policies and management of services. For a health-care system to function efficiently, necessary aspects include generous financing, a well-trained and well-paid workforce, credible information on which policies can be structured, and health facilities that are well-maintained and reliably managed.

Key Takeaways
Operations management is essential for the efficient functionality and provision of health services, a growing field in the midst of reform.
Prominent examples of operations management in health care include controlling costs and improving the quality of service provided to patients.
The goal of operations managers in health care is to streamline costs and to create necessary funding to maintain adequate levels and quality of services offered.
Because the health care sector is currently undergoing a considerable amount of reform, the jobs of those who manage health care operations are changing as well. Some of the most prominent examples of operations management in health care include controlling costs and improving the quality of service provided to patients.

Operations Managers and Cost Control
One of the first areas of focus for operations managers is cost control. The current health-care system overuses expensive, technological, and emergency-based treatment. High costs from care often remain uncompensated due to patients being uninsured. A prevalence of services in expensive settings creates a burden on taxpayers, health insurance holders, and health-care institutions themselves.

The goal for operations managers is to help strike a balance between necessary high-tech treatment and community centers that offer preventative services. Primary care institutions are also a part of keeping patients from needing expensive emergency services.

Cost control also affects the levels and quality of services that are provided to clients. Inefficiently managed costs cut down on budgets, limiting the technology and equipment that can be purchased and used to provide necessary services. For operations managers, the goal is to streamline costs and to create necessary funding to maintain adequate levels and quality of services offered.

Change is inevitable…The question is: Are you ready for it? In today’s fast-paced world, transformation is happening in every aspect of our lives—from the ever-evolving technology that holds us forever behind and racing to keep up with tomorrow to the evidence-based research that steers healthcare through a constant state of regenerating policies to ensure that we’re providing quality care to our patients. Although some of us might fight to hang on to the way things “used to be done,” others embrace the revolving door of change.

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With nurses working longer into their careers, there’s a more noticeable hesitance among them to accept transitions. Even if research shows that some healthcare practices need to change, the older generation of nurses may resist new policies. Evidence-based practices, the move to accountable care organizations and new models of care, and the shift toward a paperless healthcare environment present seasoned nurses with challenges they might not immediately embrace. “It’s not how we used to do things” or “one more thing to learn” may sound all too familiar.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

To facilitate and affect positive change, you must set the example of a change agent. The truth? Staff members, particularly experienced staff, respond to practice changes as a threat to their comfort and confidence. Often, this fear will present itself as being inflexible or even hostile, and the result can be harmful to the overall culture of the organization. By including staff members in the decision-making process, you can turn “enemies” into allies and reduce anxiety and resistance to change.

Most important, change doesn’t need to be perceived as negative. With coaching and mentoring, it can become a new opportunity to achieve greatness. The secret to success? It’s all in the presentation. When we welcome change as a familiar process that can positively affect our practice, we empower our staff members to do the same.

Change is always around the corner. Be prepared by understanding the reasons your staff members react the way they do and help them shore up for future developments.

Adaptation to change has become a common agenda for organizations of all types – health care, business, social, governmental, educational, and cultural. The later decades of the twentieth century will go down in history as an “era of perpetual change.” In all organizations, the effects of change are multifaceted. “New competitors enter the marketplace and sweep away established customer bases, technology changes the rules of how business can be undertaken, legislation demands changes to the way in which products and services are delivered, and deregulation throws up whole new trading blocks and industry sectors. Behind it all the expectations of customers grow as they become ever more knowledgeable and demanding,” (Bainbridge, 1996, p. vii).

Traditional ways of doing business are quickly going out the window. Bureaucracy, control, rigidity and functionalism have become outmoded, and are actual obstacles to change management. Perhaps the biggest obstacle is people’s attitude toward change, which are often fixed and resistant. Yet, businesses must continue to function as new capabilities and ways of dealing with change after change are cultivated. Capabilities and resources are the heart of an organization, and are all susceptible to changes: the people, the information technology (IT) systems, the procedures and the management characteristics.

Change within organizations occurs on a myriad of levels. New international and national legislation, aware and discerning customers, the global marketplace, sophistication in IT development, new industries, markets and knowledge sectors, a move towards a flexible, short-term workforce and uncertainty about the future all impact on business and social organizations across the globe. The combination of these widespread changes can create a pressure-cooker environment within organizations struggling to adapt and prosper.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

The Phenomenon of Change
Lewin (1951) produced the first viable model of change in his force field model. In this model, change was characterized as a state of imbalance between driving forces and restraining forces. If these forces were balanced or in equilibrium, no change could take place. Change is inherent in every context and is a relative concept. “Every phenomenon is subject to change, however apparently stable its nature,” (Wilson, 1992, p. 8). That change exists is a predictable notion. “In every industry and business, change ebbs and flows in recurring cycles that to at least some extent can be charted and therefore anticipated and managed,” (Nadler & Nadler, 1998, p. 45).

Change is disruptive, messy, and complicated. Even with the best laid plans, events rarely occur exactly as they were predicted. “Real change in real organizations is intensely personal and enormously political,” (Nadler & Nadler, 1998). Change processes entail not only structures and ways of doing tasks, but also the performance, expectations and perceptions of all involved parties. Change has become widespread and unpredictable, but is still manageable (Bainbridge, 1996). An inherent characteristic of change is that it is risky, especially when it encompasses many different sectors within an organization or society. Change can also be planned or emergent. Wilson pointed out that a shift from emergent models of change to planned ones has steadily occurred over the past two decades. A total shift is not advised though, since the political and economic context of the surrounding environment can not be ignored, and must also be adapted to. Strategies to deal with unplanned change are just as necessary as planned ones.

Effects of Change on Organizations
To effectively adapt to change, most established organizations have a daunting task ahead of them in a variety of operational and procedural areas. Business processes must be redefined and redesigned and adapted to specific geographical and cultural settings. The workforce needs to be retrained to be ready for changes in how work is done, what skills and knowledge is needed, and how to relate to global collaborators and customers. The very culture of an organization needs to be reshaped to properly support the new processes introduced. Structures, reward systems, appraisal measurements and roles need redefinition (Bainbridge, 1996). Leadership styles and management procedures must shift and adapt, and ways of relating with customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders need refining. Technological advances and capabilities must be introduced, and preparation of the workforce to work with the new IT structures is needed.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Successful adaptation to change necessitates “an understanding about how to convert and rebuild from the complexities and legacies of the old, as well as generate designs about the new,” (Bainbridge, 1996, p. 12). Change necessitates that organizations realistically move beyond antiquated processes, empower and retrain employees, and incorporate advances in IT into the everyday work setting. No longer are organizations reacting to sequential or occasional change. New changes now occur as organizations are in the throes of initiating the change process. Change has become perpetual. In order to cope, organizations need a design process with strategies and guidelines for thriving amongst a multitude of changes. “Real change is an integrated process that unfolds over time and touches every aspect of an organization,” (Nadler & Nadler, 1998, p. 6).

The Role and Issues of Leaders in Guiding Change
The creation and design of change processes within an organization is most often a role of the leaders within it. Change processes which encompass human resources, IT adoption and upgrades, tools and techniques, as well as the basic rules and controls within the organization are the mandate of leaders engaged in the management of change (Bainbridge, 1996). It is up to the leaders to make these change initiatives tangible rather than abstract and to awaken enthusiasm and ownership of the proposed changes within the corporate milieu. Leaders are responsible for bridging the gap between strategy decisions and the reality of implementing the changes within the structure and workforce of the organization. A myriad of details and effects must be acknowledged and addressed for successful adaptation to change in all sectors of a firm.

“Underlying this principle is the fact that almost everything in an organization’s infrastructure has an influence on some other part of it. Management style affects culture, technology affects the way staff interact with customers, internal communication methods affect how people work together,” (Bainbridge, 1996, p. 37). A holistic approach to change management encourages the redesign and adaptation to change at all organizational levels. In essence, process itself can become the platform for change to occur, as well as the protector of the existent daily operations.

A clear picture of how the business operates currently is afforded, as well as a picture of how the business must plan, schedule, and undergo the change process.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Nadler and Nadler (1998) emphasized the importance of leaders in organizing and maintaining a climate for change within organizations. Although participation of all players is necessary, the role of the leader in the change process is crucial. Dubbed the “champions of change” it is the leaders, – the top management players who keep the change process moving while maintaining the operational integrity of the organization. Adaptive leaders provide direction, protection, orientation, conflict control, and the shaping of norms while overseeing the change process within the corporate structure (Conger, Spreitzer & Lawler, 1999). Priorities need to be set which encourage disciplined attention, while keeping a keen eye focused for signs of distress within the company members.

Steps to transform an organization were identified by Conger et al (1999). The steps included: a) establishing a sense of urgency; b) forming a powerful guiding coalition; c) creating a vision; d) communicating the vision; e) empowering others to act on the vision; f) planning for and creating short-term wins; g) consolidating improvements and producing still more change and h) institutionalizing new approaches.

A new model of organizational learning is important for survival and adaptation in the new century. Learning is a key requirement for both leaders and followers for any effective and lasting change to occur. “Without learning, the attitudes, skills and behaviors needed to formulate and implement a new strategic task will not develop, nor will a new frame by which selection and promotion decisions are made,” (Conger, Spreitzer & Lawler, 1999, p. 127). The authors proposed an action learning process, called Organizational Fitness Profiling to help leaders to learn how to skillfully transform the particular business they are managing. Scheduled dialogues with followers provide information on how leadership style and behaviors impact on values, organizational design, strategies, and follower perceptions. Organizational success is a process of mutual adaptation between leader values and behaviors, existing people, culture, and organizational design amidst an environment of continual and prolific change. This profiling process requires that leaders are courageous enough to learn about their own assumptions and values about change, leadership and management roles and tasks. In essence, “…a paradigm shift in management thinking about leadership and organization development is needed,” (Conger, Spreitzer & Lawler, 1999, p. 158).Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Types and Complexities of Change
According to Wilson (1992) technology has become the engine of change for many organizations. Nadler and Nadler (1998) credited increased competition and globalization as the most sweeping factors in the new global change environment. Eccles (1994) outlined six contexts of change common to the corporate world. Takeover change, injection change, succession change, renovation change, partnership change, and catalytic change were all identified as inherent and challenging for most modern organizations. Takeover change primarily entails a change in management players. Injection change purports a change in CEO or the top senior manager. Succession change is felt when the top management layer is succeeded by current members who move up the ladder as the existent management retires or moves on. Renovation change entails the planned change process set by management, while partnership change occurs when the decisions for change is shared across the spectrum of organizational players. “Finally, and in a different style to the other five contexts, there is catalytic change in which an agency, typically a set of consultants or advisors, intervenes on behalf of one or more stakeholders, usually the management,” (Eccles, 1994, p. 88).

Lasting change must occur on many levels within an organization (Nadler and Nadler, 1998). The people, the work, and the formal as well as the informal organization are all key factions to be considered and worked on. Nadler and Nadler (1998) identified four different types of organizational change. Incremental or continuous change is the orderly sequence of change that is expected as time and growth progress. Step by step continuous improvement is the most logical reaction to incremental change. Discontinuous or radical change is another matter. “Complex, wide-ranging changes brought on by fundamental shifts in the external environment are radical, or discontinuous, changes,” (Nadler & Nadler, 1998, p. 50). Discontinuous change requires radical departures in approach and strategy, often leading to a complete overhaul of the organization.

Anticipatory change is done in the absence of threat, and in preparation for anticipated environmental changes. Reactive changes represent the opposite of anticipatory change, and are responses to threats and competition in the environment. Nadler,

Shaw and Walton (1995) warned that the present era is swiftly becoming one of discontinuous change. “The core competency for business leaders in the twenty-first century will be change management,” (p. 273). Leaders will need both skill and the motivation to become constant visionary change agents. Discontinuous change profoundly affects three key areas of any organization: leadership capability, organizational architecture, and corporate identity. Improvisation, innovation and visionary awareness will be the name of the game for successful firms. Planned spontaneity and deliberate opportunism will be the key to survival in a turbulent global environment. Changes may occur in several different sectors of an organization simultaneously. Strategic, structural, cultural, technological, merger and acquisition, breakup and spin-off, downsizing, and expansive changes are all common, complex, and challenging to incorporate into the organizational milieu (Nadler & Nadler, 1998).Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Leadership Change Tools and Strategies
Bainbridge (1996) outlined a five step process of redesign for organizations undergoing planned change. The five steps included:

a) the design stage to determine overall requirements;

b) the definition stage where the design is specified and documentation of the design stage requirements occurs;

c) the development stage, where new capabilities are cultivated through training, education and restructuring;

d) the dismantling stage, where redundant parts of the organization are removed or converted into new capabilities;

and e) the deployment stage, where new capabilities are introduced into the new organizational environment, both internally and externally.

This design process is accomplished within a carefully arranged change process architecture. “This includes the link to strategic objectives, the definition of measures and the production of the high-level design itself,” (Bainbridge, 1996, p. 53). The vision of change must be expressed as clearly as possible and used consistently to spearhead every step of the change design process, including the specification of design principles. Design principles reflect the context and also the content of both internal and external desired change outcomes. Specification and communication of these principles by leaders are necessary to facilitate adoption and adaptation within the organizational culture. Pettigrew ( 1987) pointed out the wisdom of considering the content, the context (inner and outer) and the process of change within organizations. There is a need to “explore content, context and process linkages through time,” (p. 6).

Strategies of organizational change have become a viable vehicle for business success and the creation of competitive performance. The ability to handle strategic change is now a defining characteristic of successful post-industrial organizations. “The leitmotiv of modern management theory is that of understanding, creating and coping with change. The essence of the managerial task thus becomes one of establishing some rationality, or some predictability, out of the seeming chaos that characterizes change processes,” (Wilson, 1992, p. 7).

An open systems approach can facilitate emergent change processes within an organization (Wilson, 1992). The linkages and interdependencies between the organization and the external environment can be used to create a pattern for emergent change adaptation. Galpin (1996) described a process for implementing planned change at a grassroots level, using the strengths and capabilities of the human resources within an organization as the central hub for change. This process included stages of a) setting goals; b) measuring performance; c) providing feedback and coaching and d) instigating generous rewards and recognition. Galpin also outlined the strategic steps leaders needed to employ in order to initiate the change process. These steps were:

“a) defining the need to change; b) developing a vision of the result of change; c) leveraging teams to design, test, and implement changes; d) addressing the cultural aspects of the organization that will help and sustain change; and e) developing the essential attributes and skills needed to lead the change effort,” (p. 123).

Cognitive mapping and computer assistance for group decision support are alternative change strategies that can help to cultivate group support for the planned initiatives (Hendry, Johnson & Newton, 1993). The cognitive maps or strategic belief systems of managers and employees can have a profound effect on how change is planned and implemented. Cognitive maps become a practical tool “by acting as a device for representing that part of a person’s construct system they are able and willing to make explicit,” (p. 121). However, the cognitive map is “significantly biased by the necessary social interaction, or social gaze, that is the basis of elicitation through interview,” (p. 122). Still, cognitive maps can be a strategic tool for negotiation and decision making in the change planning and implementation process.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Flamholtz and Randle (1998) identified strategic transformational planning as a key tool for change in an organization. This process describes the planning necessary to transform an organization into what it needs to become to maximize the fit and reduce the gaps between corporate size, environment, business concept and organizational design. Flamholtz and Randle labeled these transformations as First, Second, and Third kinds. A First kind transformation related to professional management transformation. Planning revitalization or second kind transformation related to all layers of the corporate pyramid, while business vision transformations (third kind) focused on changes needed to address new markets and the firm’s role in the existing markets. All three of these transformations were addressed by using the transformational planning process: a) assessing the environment; b) reviewing the existing business; c) resolving core transformational issues and d) developing the written strategic transformational plan. Organizational managers at the top must exhibit leadership, commitment, and conviction to the change and transformation process (Caravatta, 1998).

Incremental change, often the result of a carefully thought out analysis and planning process, has been the most common form of planned change within organizations (Quinn, 1996). A feeling of control is afforded, enough time and commitment are present, and each step of the process can be trialed and adapted to. However, with the advent of technology and globalization, a deep change is necessary. “Deep change differs from incremental change in that it requires new ways of thinking and behaving. It is change that is major in scope, discontinuous with the past and generally irreversible. Deep change means surrendering control,” (Quinn, 1996, p. 3). Deep change on any level entails inherent risk. To adapt to the profound changes of our times, leaders must be willing to go out on a limb, to take some big risks by stepping outside of well-established boundaries.

Effects and Consequences of Change
Noer (1997) cautioned leaders to not rely too heavily on external tools for change. “The futile quest for an external, objective tool is a dysfunctional heritage of the old paradigm; the outgrowth of the erroneous attempt to graft the objectivity of the scientific method onto the subjective phenomena of the human spirit. It is a fundamental mismatch,” (p. 15). According to Noer, the leader, as a person, is the most important tool for change. The leader’s spirit, insight, wisdom, compassion, values, and learning skills are all important facets in the capabilities to lead others to embrace change and redesign.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

To be lasting, deep change must not only be made amidst organizational layers, but within each of the players themselves. Deep personal change can be uncomfortable, yet the need for each member of an organization to become empowered, and internally driven is essential for success in this era of change and evolvement. Quinn cautions that if players are not willing or able to make these deep personal changes, then”slow death” is the alternative. Slow death, “a meaningless and frustrating experience enmeshed in fear, anger, and helplessness, while moving surely toward what is most feared” is the consequence of resistance to change. Burnout can occur if this resistance to change persists, resulting in loss of employment or even destruction of the organization as a whole.

The leader who instigates change within a firm is often subject to speculative suspicion. “Because resistance is so common, learning to overcome it is crucial to managing change at every level,” (Nadler & Nadler, 1998, p. 84). The transition stage where the change process is instigated must be handled expertly and with enthusiasm. Leaders must own and align the proposed changes, setting expectations, and modeling and communicating the rationale to all members of the organization. The processes of engaging and rewarding help to motivate members, smoothing the transition period, and attempting to win the hearts and minds of all involved to the change process.

Preparing for and Thriving in the Continuous Change of the Future
Quinn (1996) enthused that “We are all potential change agents. As we discipline our talents, we deepen our perceptions about what is possible. Having experienced deep change in ourselves, we are able to bring deep change to the systems around us,” (p. xiii). Leaders who have embraced deep change personally are able to design change processes that reflect a heroic yet enlightened leader stance, one that imparts enthusiasm and vitality into the other members and creates a new perspective of the logic and wisdom of moving with the flow of change. Nadler and Nadler (1998) described a four part matrix of responses to change: tuning, adapting, redirecting and overhauling. “Tuning” represents an anticipatory change process in response to incremental or continuous change, while “adapting” represents a reactive response. “Redirecting” is an anticipatory response to discontinuous, radical change, while “overhauling” represents a reactive response to discontinuous change.

To survive the effects of continuous change, leaders need to accomplish three major tasks: a) to shape the political dynamics of the change process; b) to motivate change; and c) to manage the transition period (Nadler & Nadler, 1998). Pasmore (1994) identified flexibility as a key trait for successful change implementation. “Another strategy must be employed, one that prepares the organization for continuous change in a world that provides no stability and accepts no excuses for being unprepared; a strategy based on flexibility. Being flexible means being able to change everything, all at the same time,” (p. 5). In today’s world, this flexibility relates to people, technology, ways of thinking, ways of leading, and to the actual organizational design. The trick it seems, is to realize that once a change is achieved, change is not finished. It is ongoing and perpetual (Hambrick, Nadler, & Tushman, 1998).

“Norms, values, and common operating principles rather than rules and direct supervision will furnish the cohesion necessary to provide direction and coordination,” (Nadler, Shaw & Walton, 1995). The effective leader will shape the vision and values of the organization, and spend considerable time in developing team leaders and members. A strongly developed and integrated culture and network of individuals who use their own sense of leadership will boost the organizational capabilities for successful adaptation to changes of all kinds and magnitudes.

Conger, Spreitzer and Lawler, (1999) warned that old ways of shaping behaviors in employees, namely rational persuasion and coercion are outmoded and will not work in the future. In the past these have rarely been successful in perpetuating lasting change. In the future, they could be deadly to any organization. Instead, a change style reminiscent of the behaviors used by Martin Luther King, and M. Gandhi are suggested: an empowering self-modification strategy.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

This technique is based more on a moral-relational premise rather than a political-technical paradigm, which “requires the change agent to employ a high level of cognitive, behavioral, and moral complexity,” (p. 164). To shake people out of complacent stances, or from taking “the path of least resistance” true empowerment must be experienced. Members must feel both challenged and supported for feelings of empowerment to develop. In effect, this entails leaders who are willing to model the desired behaviors: the ability to walk at the edge of chaos by stepping outside the comfort zone and letting go of control. The internal discipline, vision, expectation and sensitivity of the leader is enhanced, which is apparent to followers and peers alike. “In freeing self from external sanctions through personal modification, the change agent obtains increased understanding, enlightenment, or vision about direction and strategy,” (Conger, Spreitzer & Lawler, 1999, p. 170).

Analysis reveals 10 commonly occurring barriers to bottom-up change

Confusing strategies
Our organizational strategies hold us back, they fail to provide a clear ‘call to action to change things from the bottom-up. They reinforce our inflexibility in business structures and controlling leadership. Often there are so many priorities, it isn’t clear what we should do. This leaves us fearful of stepping up without the autonomy to deliver change effectively.

2. Over-controlling leadership

Despite some efforts we still rely on command-and-control leadership rather than coaching and nurturing. We perceive we do not have the freedom or trust to create change from the bottom up. It’s not that our leaders are bad – they just do not have the rights skills. This leaves many staff feeling afraid of speaking up, which restricts bottom-up change.Often our leaders communicate at us, rather than with us. We are not open and transparent with each other. We also do not have enough formal/informal ways of connecting creative people. Part of this is because there is a lack of both soft-skills training and technical systems to support communication.

4. Poor workforce planning

It feels like we either don’t have enough people or enough time to get involved in driving change from the bottom up. Some of this is because we often don’t have the right mix of skills in our teams. We have a skills deficit because we are failing to nurture our people and organize the right mix of talent. Having the right number of people with the right skills requires us to work in partnership with organizations outside our own, something we are not very good at.

5. Stifling innovation

There is no shortage of ideas among health and care staff. The challenge is a shortage of processes to capture ideas and a lack of leaders who truly empathize with the needs that we see. Senior leaders are trapped in inflexible processes. We fail to embrace ways of taking part in low cost, low risk experiments to test ideas. We must utilize the diverse experiences of stakeholders including our patients.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

6. Playing it safe

Our hierarchical centralized structures either make it too difficult to access funding and support for ideas or we end up funding too many projects with not enough resources. It seems that a lack of clarity on what’s needed from leaders plus a fear of doing something new from the bottom up leaves us supporting low-risk ideas, involving the usual suspects.

7. Poor project management

When developing and implementing projects we tend to value inputs and action rather than value and outcomes; this means we’re kept busy with no room for effective bottom-up change. We underestimate the complexity of the system in which we are working. We blame inflexible processes and lack of resources. However, how change is led from the top and explained to all, and how we are trained to manage and implement projects, ultimately undermines bottom-up change too.

8. Undervaluing staff

For us to have a positive mind-set – and ultimately ensure the well being of our people – we need to treat each other with compassion, as much as we would our patients; alas we don’t always do this. All too often we do not feel connected to our organizations purpose and do not feel we have a real stake in its future. Feeling like a cog in the engine rather than a value-adding individual makes us feel undervalued, disengaged and even ill. Why would we proactively get involved in change?

9. Inhibiting environment

Our physical environment can stop us meeting people and sharing ideas. The closure of sites has put a burden on the remaining organizations. And, as we all know, our IT systems do not help us access knowledge and share information.

10. Perverse incentives

The incentive system and performance management regime creates disincentives to support bright ideas, which might create better outcomes for patients but will lose the organization income. It creates incentives that leave us stuck habitually supporting self-serving projects. Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

What is Change Management?
Change Management is the intersection of change and project management. It represents how business leaders manage processes, systems, organizational structure, job roles, and overall morale during a time of transition within a company.

Changes can be anything from realigning goals to become more efficient for customers or dealing with a mass turnover situation. These can be “make-or-break” times where business leaders decide how they are going to guide departments through the designated shake-up. One of the largest feats associated with change management is getting everyone from senior leadership to employees of all levels to accept and become comfortable with the change. If people cannot see their way clearly, then systems and structures within the business can collapse. This makes it critical for every organization to have someone who is adept at managing all of the processes associated with the change.

One of the most critical aspects of change is conveying the messaging of what exactly is changing. If people are in the dark about what a new project will bring or how the company will fill new roles that have suddenly been left vacant, people can make up their own opinions about what is going to happen.

Change management also requires leaders to identify key stakeholders; these can be department heads, senior management, and influential employees. Then leaders need to create a coalition involving these people to help convey the messaging of the change and how the organization is preparing to address it. This type of management also allows leaders to make a case for why the change is needed and set the expectation for what employees can expect going forward.

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Adaptation to change has become a common agenda for organizations of all types – health care, business, social, governmental, educational, and cultural. The later decades of the twentieth century will go down in history as an “era of perpetual change.” In all organizations, the effects of change are multifaceted. “New competitors enter the marketplace and sweep away established customer bases, technology changes the rules of how business can be undertaken, legislation demands changes to the way in which products and services are delivered, and deregulation throws up whole new trading blocks and industry sectors. Behind it all the expectations of customers grow as they become ever more knowledgeable and demanding,” (Bainbridge, 1996, p. vii).

Traditional ways of doing business are quickly going out the window. Bureaucracy, control, rigidity and functionalism have become outmoded, and are actual obstacles to change management. Perhaps the biggest obstacle is people’s attitude toward change, which are often fixed and resistant. Yet, businesses must continue to function as new capabilities and ways of dealing with change after change are cultivated. Capabilities and resources are the heart of an organization, and are all susceptible to changes: the people, the information technology (IT) systems, the procedures and the management characteristics.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Change within organizations occurs on a myriad of levels. New international and national legislation, aware and discerning customers, the global marketplace, sophistication in IT development, new industries, markets and knowledge sectors, a move towards a flexible, short-term workforce and uncertainty about the future all impact on business and social organizations across the globe. The combination of these widespread changes can create a pressure-cooker environment within organizations struggling to adapt and prosper.

The Phenomenon of Change
Lewin (1951) produced the first viable model of change in his force field model. In this model, change was characterized as a state of imbalance between driving forces and restraining forces. If these forces were balanced or in equilibrium, no change could take place. Change is inherent in every context and is a relative concept. “Every phenomenon is subject to change, however apparently stable its nature,” (Wilson, 1992, p. 8). That change exists is a predictable notion. “In every industry and business, change ebbs and flows in recurring cycles that to at least some extent can be charted and therefore anticipated and managed,” (Nadler & Nadler, 1998, p. 45).

Change is disruptive, messy, and complicated. Even with the best laid plans, events rarely occur exactly as they were predicted. “Real change in real organizations is intensely personal and enormously political,” (Nadler & Nadler, 1998). Change processes entail not only structures and ways of doing tasks, but also the performance, expectations and perceptions of all involved parties. Change has become widespread and unpredictable, but is still manageable (Bainbridge, 1996). An inherent characteristic of change is that it is risky, especially when it encompasses many different sectors within an organization or society. Change can also be planned or emergent. Wilson pointed out that a shift from emergent models of change to planned ones has steadily occurred over the past two decades. A total shift is not advised though, since the political and economic context of the surrounding environment can not be ignored, and must also be adapted to. Strategies to deal with unplanned change are just as necessary as planned ones.

Effects of Change on Organizations
To effectively adapt to change, most established organizations have a daunting task ahead of them in a variety of operational and procedural areas. Business processes must be redefined and redesigned and adapted to specific geographical and cultural settings. The workforce needs to be retrained to be ready for changes in how work is done, what skills and knowledge is needed, and how to relate to global collaborators and customers. The very culture of an organization needs to be reshaped to properly support the new processes introduced. Structures, reward systems, appraisal measurements and roles need redefinition (Bainbridge, 1996). Leadership styles and management procedures must shift and adapt, and ways of relating with customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders need refining. Technological advances and capabilities must be introduced, and preparation of the workforce to work with the new IT structures is needed.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Successful adaptation to change necessitates “an understanding about how to convert and rebuild from the complexities and legacies of the old, as well as generate designs about the new,” (Bainbridge, 1996, p. 12). Change necessitates that organizations realistically move beyond antiquated processes, empower and retrain employees, and incorporate advances in IT into the everyday work setting. No longer are organizations reacting to sequential or occasional change. New changes now occur as organizations are in the throes of initiating the change process. Change has become perpetual. In order to cope, organizations need a design process with strategies and guidelines for thriving amongst a multitude of changes. “Real change is an integrated process that unfolds over time and touches every aspect of an organization,” (Nadler & Nadler, 1998, p. 6).

The Role and Issues of Leaders in Guiding Change
The creation and design of change processes within an organization is most often a role of the leaders within it. Change processes which encompass human resources, IT adoption and upgrades, tools and techniques, as well as the basic rules and controls within the organization are the mandate of leaders engaged in the management of change (Bainbridge, 1996). It is up to the leaders to make these change initiatives tangible rather than abstract and to awaken enthusiasm and ownership of the proposed changes within the corporate milieu. Leaders are responsible for bridging the gap between strategy decisions and the reality of implementing the changes within the structure and workforce of the organization. A myriad of details and effects must be acknowledged and addressed for successful adaptation to change in all sectors of a firm.

“Underlying this principle is the fact that almost everything in an organization’s infrastructure has an influence on some other part of it. Management style affects culture, technology affects the way staff interact with customers, internal communication methods affect how people work together,” (Bainbridge, 1996, p. 37). A holistic approach to change management encourages the redesign and adaptation to change at all organizational levels. In essence, process itself can become the platform for change to occur, as well as the protector of the existent daily operations.

A clear picture of how the business operates currently is afforded, as well as a picture of how the business must plan, schedule, and undergo the change process.

Nadler and Nadler (1998) emphasized the importance of leaders in organizing and maintaining a climate for change within organizations. Although participation of all players is necessary, the role of the leader in the change process is crucial. Dubbed the “champions of change” it is the leaders, – the top management players who keep the change process moving while maintaining the operational integrity of the organization. Adaptive leaders provide direction, protection, orientation, conflict control, and the shaping of norms while overseeing the change process within the corporate structure (Conger, Spreitzer & Lawler, 1999). Priorities need to be set which encourage disciplined attention, while keeping a keen eye focused for signs of distress within the company members.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Steps to transform an organization were identified by Conger et al (1999). The steps included: a) establishing a sense of urgency; b) forming a powerful guiding coalition; c) creating a vision; d) communicating the vision; e) empowering others to act on the vision; f) planning for and creating short-term wins; g) consolidating improvements and producing still more change and h) institutionalizing new approaches.

A new model of organizational learning is important for survival and adaptation in the new century. Learning is a key requirement for both leaders and followers for any effective and lasting change to occur. “Without learning, the attitudes, skills and behaviors needed to formulate and implement a new strategic task will not develop, nor will a new frame by which selection and promotion decisions are made,” (Conger, Spreitzer & Lawler, 1999, p. 127). The authors proposed an action learning process, called Organizational Fitness Profiling to help leaders to learn how to skillfully transform the particular business they are managing. Scheduled dialogues with followers provide information on how leadership style and behaviors impact on values, organizational design, strategies, and follower perceptions. Organizational success is a process of mutual adaptation between leader values and behaviors, existing people, culture, and organizational design amidst an environment of continual and prolific change. This profiling process requires that leaders are courageous enough to learn about their own assumptions and values about change, leadership and management roles and tasks. In essence, “…a paradigm shift in management thinking about leadership and organization development is needed,” (Conger, Spreitzer & Lawler, 1999, p. 158).

Types and Complexities of Change
According to Wilson (1992) technology has become the engine of change for many organizations. Nadler and Nadler (1998) credited increased competition and globalization as the most sweeping factors in the new global change environment.

Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Eccles (1994) outlined six contexts of change common to the corporate world. Takeover change, injection change, succession change, renovation change, partnership change, and catalytic change were all identified as inherent and challenging for most modern organizations. Takeover change primarily entails a change in management players. Injection change purports a change in CEO or the top senior manager. Succession change is felt when the top management layer is succeeded by current members who move up the ladder as the existent management retires or moves on. Renovation change entails the planned change process set by management, while partnership change occurs when the decisions for change is shared across the spectrum of organizational players. “Finally, and in a different style to the other five contexts, there is catalytic change in which an agency, typically a set of consultants or advisors, intervenes on behalf of one or more stakeholders, usually the management,” (Eccles, 1994, p. 88).

Lasting change must occur on many levels within an organization (Nadler and Nadler, 1998). The people, the work, and the formal as well as the informal organization are all key factions to be considered and worked on. Nadler and Nadler (1998) identified four different types of organizational change. Incremental or continuous change is the orderly sequence of change that is expected as time and growth progress. Step by step continuous improvement is the most logical reaction to incremental change. Discontinuous or radical change is another matter. “Complex, wide-ranging changes brought on by fundamental shifts in the external environment are radical, or discontinuous, changes,” (Nadler & Nadler, 1998, p. 50). Discontinuous change requires radical departures in approach and strategy, often leading to a complete overhaul of the organization.

Anticipatory change is done in the absence of threat, and in preparation for anticipated environmental changes. Reactive changes represent the opposite of anticipatory change, and are responses to threats and competition in the environment. Nadler,

Shaw and Walton (1995) warned that the present era is swiftly becoming one of discontinuous change. “The core competency for business leaders in the twenty-first century will be change management,” (p. 273). Leaders will need both skill and the motivation to become constant visionary change agents. Discontinuous change profoundly affects three key areas of any organization: leadership capability, organizational architecture, and corporate identity. Improvisation, innovation and visionary awareness will be the name of the game for successful firms. Planned spontaneity and deliberate opportunism will be the key to survival in a turbulent global environment. Changes may occur in several different sectors of an organization simultaneously. Strategic, structural, cultural, technological, merger and acquisition, breakup and spin-off, downsizing, and expansive changes are all common, complex, and challenging to incorporate into the organizational milieu (Nadler & Nadler, 1998).Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Leadership Change Tools and Strategies
Bainbridge (1996) outlined a five step process of redesign for organizations undergoing planned change. The five steps included:

a) the design stage to determine overall requirements;

b) the definition stage where the design is specified and documentation of the design stage requirements occurs;

c) the development stage, where new capabilities are cultivated through training, education and restructuring;

d) the dismantling stage, where redundant parts of the organization are removed or converted into new capabilities;

and e) the deployment stage, where new capabilities are introduced into the new organizational environment, both internally and externally.

This design process is accomplished within a carefully arranged change process architecture. “This includes the link to strategic objectives, the definition of measures and the production of the high-level design itself,” (Bainbridge, 1996, p. 53). The vision of change must be expressed as clearly as possible and used consistently to spearhead every step of the change design process, including the specification of design principles. Design principles reflect the context and also the content of both internal and external desired change outcomes. Specification and communication of these principles by leaders are necessary to facilitate adoption and adaptation within the organizational culture. Pettigrew ( 1987) pointed out the wisdom of considering the content, the context (inner and outer) and the process of change within organizations. There is a need to “explore content, context and process linkages through time,” (p. 6).

Strategies of organizational change have become a viable vehicle for business success and the creation of competitive performance. The ability to handle strategic change is now a defining characteristic of successful post-industrial organizations. “The leitmotiv of modern management theory is that of understanding, creating and coping with change. The essence of the managerial task thus becomes one of establishing some rationality, or some predictability, out of the seeming chaos that characterizes change processes,” (Wilson, 1992, p. 7).

An open systems approach can facilitate emergent change processes within an organization (Wilson, 1992). The linkages and interdependencies between the organization and the external environment can be used to create a pattern for emergent change adaptation. Galpin (1996) described a process for implementing planned change at a grassroots level, using the strengths and capabilities of the human resources within an organization as the central hub for change. This process included stages of a) setting goals; b) measuring performance; c) providing feedback and coaching and d) instigating generous rewards and recognition. Galpin also outlined the strategic steps leaders needed to employ in order to initiate the change process. These steps were:Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

“a) defining the need to change; b) developing a vision of the result of change; c) leveraging teams to design, test, and implement changes; d) addressing the cultural aspects of the organization that will help and sustain change; and e) developing the essential attributes and skills needed to lead the change effort,” (p. 123).

Cognitive mapping and computer assistance for group decision support are alternative change strategies that can help to cultivate group support for the planned initiatives (Hendry, Johnson & Newton, 1993). The cognitive maps or strategic belief systems of managers and employees can have a profound effect on how change is planned and implemented. Cognitive maps become a practical tool “by acting as a device for representing that part of a person’s construct system they are able and willing to make explicit,” (p. 121). However, the cognitive map is “significantly biased by the necessary social interaction, or social gaze, that is the basis of elicitation through interview,” (p. 122). Still, cognitive maps can be a strategic tool for negotiation and decision making in the change planning and implementation process.

Flamholtz and Randle (1998) identified strategic transformational planning as a key tool for change in an organization. This process describes the planning necessary to transform an organization into what it needs to become to maximize the fit and reduce the gaps between corporate size, environment, business concept and organizational design. Flamholtz and Randle labeled these transformations as First, Second, and Third kinds. A First kind transformation related to professional management transformation. Planning revitalization or second kind transformation related to all layers of the corporate pyramid, while business vision transformations (third kind) focused on changes needed to address new markets and the firm’s role in the existing markets. All three of these transformations were addressed by using the transformational planning process: a) assessing the environment; b) reviewing the existing business; c) resolving core transformational issues and d) developing the written strategic transformational plan. Organizational managers at the top must exhibit leadership, commitment, and conviction to the change and transformation process (Caravatta, 1998).

Incremental change, often the result of a carefully thought out analysis and planning process, has been the most common form of planned change within organizations (Quinn, 1996). A feeling of control is afforded, enough time and commitment are present, and each step of the process can be trialed and adapted to. However, with the advent of technology and globalization, a deep change is necessary. “Deep change differs from incremental change in that it requires new ways of thinking and behaving. It is change that is major in scope, discontinuous with the past and generally irreversible. Deep change means surrendering control,” (Quinn, 1996, p. 3). Deep change on any level entails inherent risk. To adapt to the profound changes of our times, leaders must be willing to go out on a limb, to take some big risks by stepping outside of well-established boundaries.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Effects and Consequences of Change
Noer (1997) cautioned leaders to not rely too heavily on external tools for change. “The futile quest for an external, objective tool is a dysfunctional heritage of the old paradigm; the outgrowth of the erroneous attempt to graft the objectivity of the scientific method onto the subjective phenomena of the human spirit. It is a fundamental mismatch,” (p. 15). According to Noer, the leader, as a person, is the most important tool for change. The leader’s spirit, insight, wisdom, compassion, values, and learning skills are all important facets in the capabilities to lead others to embrace change and redesign.

To be lasting, deep change must not only be made amidst organizational layers, but within each of the players themselves. Deep personal change can be uncomfortable, yet the need for each member of an organization to become empowered, and internally driven is essential for success in this era of change and evolvement. Quinn cautions that if players are not willing or able to make these deep personal changes, then”slow death” is the alternative. Slow death, “a meaningless and frustrating experience enmeshed in fear, anger, and helplessness, while moving surely toward what is most feared” is the consequence of resistance to change. Burnout can occur if this resistance to change persists, resulting in loss of employment or even destruction of the organization as a whole.

The leader who instigates change within a firm is often subject to speculative suspicion. “Because resistance is so common, learning to overcome it is crucial to managing change at every level,” (Nadler & Nadler, 1998, p. 84). The transition stage where the change process is instigated must be handled expertly and with enthusiasm. Leaders must own and align the proposed changes, setting expectations, and modeling and communicating the rationale to all members of the organization. The processes of engaging and rewarding help to motivate members, smoothing the transition period, and attempting to win the hearts and minds of all involved to the change process.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

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Preparing for and Thriving in the Continuous Change of the Future
Quinn (1996) enthused that “We are all potential change agents. As we discipline our talents, we deepen our perceptions about what is possible. Having experienced deep change in ourselves, we are able to bring deep change to the systems around us,” (p. xiii). Leaders who have embraced deep change personally are able to design change processes that reflect a heroic yet enlightened leader stance, one that imparts enthusiasm and vitality into the other members and creates a new perspective of the logic and wisdom of moving with the flow of change. Nadler and Nadler (1998) described a four part matrix of responses to change: tuning, adapting, redirecting and overhauling. “Tuning” represents an anticipatory change process in response to incremental or continuous change, while “adapting” represents a reactive response. “Redirecting” is an anticipatory response to discontinuous, radical change, while “overhauling” represents a reactive response to discontinuous change.

To survive the effects of continuous change, leaders need to accomplish three major tasks: a) to shape the political dynamics of the change process; b) to motivate change; and c) to manage the transition period (Nadler & Nadler, 1998). Pasmore (1994) identified flexibility as a key trait for successful change implementation. “Another strategy must be employed, one that prepares the organization for continuous change in a world that provides no stability and accepts no excuses for being unprepared; a strategy based on flexibility. Being flexible means being able to change everything, all at the same time,” (p. 5). In today’s world, this flexibility relates to people, technology, ways of thinking, ways of leading, and to the actual organizational design. The trick it seems, is to realize that once a change is achieved, change is not finished. It is ongoing and perpetual (Hambrick, Nadler, & Tushman, 1998).

“Norms, values, and common operating principles rather than rules and direct supervision will furnish the cohesion necessary to provide direction and coordination,” (Nadler, Shaw & Walton, 1995). The effective leader will shape the vision and values of the organization, and spend considerable time in developing team leaders and members. A strongly developed and integrated culture and network of individuals who use their own sense of leadership will boost the organizational capabilities for successful adaptation to changes of all kinds and magnitudes.Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper

Conger, Spreitzer and Lawler, (1999) warned that old ways of shaping behaviors in employees, namely rational persuasion and coercion are outmoded and will not work in the future. In the past these have rarely been successful in perpetuating lasting change. In the future, they could be deadly to any organization. Instead, a change style reminiscent of the behaviors used by Martin Luther King, and M. Gandhi are suggested: an empowering self-modification strategy.

This technique is based more on a moral-relational premise rather than a political-technical paradigm, which “requires the change agent to employ a high level of cognitive, behavioral, and moral complexity,” (p. 164). To shake people out of complacent stances, or from taking “the path of least resistance” true empowerment must be experienced. Members must feel both challenged and supported for feelings of empowerment to develop. In effect, this entails leaders who are willing to model the desired behaviors: the ability to walk at the edge of chaos by stepping outside the comfort zone and letting go of control. The internal discipline, vision, expectation and sensitivity of the leader is enhanced, which is apparent to followers and peers alike. “In freeing self from external sanctions through personal modification, the change agent obtains increased understanding, enlightenment, or vision about direction and strategy,” (Conger, Spreitzer & Lawler, 1999, p. 170). Change Implementation and Management Plan Paper