Organizations undergo various changes in their internal and external business environment throughout their life cycles. The ability to manage change and make it useful is crucial to an organization's sustainability. Various change management models are established to lead change focusing on different parts. Kotter’s change model views change in phases as either continuous or stepped change, while others view change in terms of whether it is planned or emergent like Lewin’s Unfreezing and refreezing model (Stouten et al., 2018) . The size and impact of the organization's change is also a consideration while beginning to effect change in organizations. The force field analysis is a fundamental tool used to determine causes for and against change and enable organizations to implement change (Heinert & Galindo-Gonzalez, 2020) successfully. It is instrumental in minimizing a major inhibiting factor in planned organizational change models, resistance to change, which bodes failure (Rosenbaum et al., 2018) .
Lewin’s Force Field Theory of Change
Kurt Lewin developed the concept of the force-field analysis to improve understanding of change and improve change outcomes. The tool enables individuals to approach change situations by examining both the driving factors and restraining factors that influence change (Heinert & Galindo-Gonzalez, 2020) . The diagnosis process identifies priority factors on either side of the issue and determines whether the desired change can be achieved. The beginning phase involves identifying the current situation and determining the goal of the institutional transformation. The goal is highlighted between two columns. Next, the factors that drive change are listed in one column, and those that restrain change are grouped in the opposite column (Muldoon, 2020) . Each force is prioritized according to its importance in influencing change. A number is assigned to each point, and organizational leaders develop strategies to minimize the restraining forces and exploit driving modifications.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Examples of forces that Influence Change
Management
Organizational management with good leadership qualities and belief in change is a driving force, while a form of autocratic management type leads to change resistance in the organization.
Employees
Those employees in an organization that are part of the positive corporate culture and support change help drive the change. In contrast, those with the culture of fearing the unknown and feel that change is being forced upon them then are resistant to change.
Time
Timing of change regarding the business environment, like the trends of its economy, mostly supports that change. Again, organizations that sacrifice enough time to implement the difference is a driver to change. On the other hand, an organization with no time to implement the change will resist the change.
Competitors
An organization that lacks competitors in the market does help in supporting the change. New competitors at most times make it hard to implement the change.
Legislation
An organization may be forced to change as a result of changes in legislation. Laws may make it difficult for an organization to implement a change and maybe a significant problem for an organization to handle.
Cost
For a change to occur, it needs to be budgeted. If the change results in a lowered cost, it is meant to support that change, and if the change happens to incur more fees than what is budgeted, it may hinder the vision.
Productivity
A change that results in increased productivity can provide support for that change. Still, if the change negatively impacts the implementation stage or brings low productivity, it can cause resistance to change.
Organizational inertia
It refers to a lack of response from the management when they are faced with the proposed changes. When a change is proposed, some staff may reject it if it will affect them in one way or the other. Thus, depending on their response, they can either drive the change or resist it.
Change Initiative Process
An example of a change initiative within an organization is the completion of acquisition with another company. Acquisitions refer to obtaining ownership and management control of one organization over another. Both organizations continue operations after an acquisition is done. However, the range of autonomy is affected. The acquiring company gains a controlling and decisive influence while the acquired company attains a subsidiary role. Such change is bound to impact stakeholders, including organizational employees, human resources, top-level management, suppliers, and customers.
Both mergers and acquisitions mandate the restructuring of business operations, the board of directors' composition, and employees. Acquisitions may also influence the product or service outcomes since the absorbed company may need to undergo rebranding. The driving forces for acquisition include financial stability, achieving overall synergies, experiencing decreased costs, and having common goals. Financial stability refers to an organization’s ability to maintain its operations, manage its expenses, and experience growth, while synergy refers to the idea that two organizations are worth more together than when valued separately.
Restricting powers in acquisitions include job insecurities for employees and the board of directors of the firm getting acquired, fear, differences in organizational culture, and lack of an acquisition strategy after the acquisition process is completed. Fear and job insecurities occur because some employees may have to be let go after an acquisition happens (Stouten et al., 2018) . Organizational culture refers to the values and shared beliefs and values set by an organization’s leadership, then communicated and reinforced through different strategies. Organizational culture shapes the perceptions of employees and their conduct. Organizational cultures are dynamic, and leaders need to investigate how organizations with tight cultures can embrace some looseness and how looser organizations can add tight features. Finally, an acquisition strategy refers to the method that acquiring companies utilize to obtain companies and generate value for themselves.
Conclusion
Change is a constant happening in organizations brought about by forces in the internal and external business environment. Change is difficult to implement as a result of the resistance it faces from the key stakeholders. The first step in considering change according to the force-field analysis model is highlighting the current state and the desired goal. Determining the driving and restraining forces of the particular change enables change managers to strategize how to improve the driving forces and implement change.
References
Capatina et al. (2017). Leveraging intellectual capital through Lewin's Force Field Analysis: The case of software development companies. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge , 2 (3), 125-133.
Heinert, S., & Galindo-Gonzalez, S. (2020). Making Decisions Using Force Field Analysis. EDIS , 2016 (1), 4-4.
Rajan, R., & Ganesan, R. (2017). A critical analysis of John P. Kotter's change management framework. Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management , 7 (7), 181-203.
Rosenbaum et al. (2018). Planned organizational change management: Forward to the past? An exploratory literature review. Journal of Organizational Change Management .
Shrivastava et al., (2017). Force field analysis: An effective tool in qualitative research. Journal of Current Research in Scientific Medicine , 3 (2), 139.
Stouten et al. (2018). Successful organizational change: Integrating the management practice and scholarly literature. Academy of Management Annals , 12 (2), 752-788.
