Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

UNIT ONE: INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP

Contents of the unit

1.1. Leadership definition

1.2. Leadership Vs Management
1.3. What makes effective leader
1.4. Importance of leadership for good governance and development
1.5. Summary

Objectives of the unit

Dear learners, after the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

 Explain the meaning of Leadership

 Distinguish between Leadership Vs Management.
 Identify the main characteristics that makes effective leader
 Explain the major importance of leadership for good governance and development

1.1. LEADERSHIP DEFINITION

Dear learners, An organization has the greatest chance of being successful when all of the
employees work toward achieving its goals. Since leadership involves the exercise of influence
by one person over others, the supervisors/managers is a critical determinant of organizational
success. The idea of leadership irrespective of different terms used as directing, executing,
supervising, ordering, commanding, etc. is to put into effect the decisions, plan and programs,
that have previously been worked out for achieving the goals of the group.

Leadership can be defined in different ways:

 Leading is the process of establishing direction and influencing others to follow that
direction. It is the process by which one person influences the thoughts, attitudes, and
behaviors of others. Leaders set a direction for the rest of us; they help us see what lies

1
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

ahead; they help us visualize what we might achieve; they encourage us and inspire us.
Without leadership a group of human being quickly degenerates into argument and
conflict, because we see things in different ways and lean toward different solutions.
Leadership helps to point us in the same direction and harness our efforts jointly.
Leader’s ability to get other people to do something significant that might not otherwise
do.
 Leadership is a dynamic relationship based on mutual influence and common purpose
between leaders and collaborators in which both are moved to higher levels of motivation
and moral development as they affect real, intended change. (Kevin Freiberg and Jackie
Freiberg, 1996).
 Leadership is the process of influencing employees to work toward the achievement of
objectives.
 A few years ago, 54 scholars from 38 countries reached a consensus that leadership is the
ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute to the effectiveness and
success of the organizations of which they are members.
 Leadership is the process by which a person exerts influence over other people and
inspires, motivates, and directs their activities to help achieve group or organizational
goals.
 Leadership is the art or process of influencing people so that they strive willingly and
enthusiastically toward the accomplishment of group goals. Influencing people so that
they will strive willingly and with zeal and confidence toward the achievement of a group
goal implies many things. Enthusiasm affects seriousness, and intensity in the execution
of work: confidence reflects experience and technical ability.

The distinction between leader and leadership. The leader is the individual who is
able to exert influence over other people to help achieve group or organizational goals;
leadership is the function or activity this individual performs. Leadership includes/involves many
activities in the manner in which a leader influences actions of subordinates such as:

Leaders apply various forms of influence-from subtle persuasion to more assertiveness- to

ensure that followers have the motivation and role clarity to achieve specified goals.

2
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Leaders also arrange the work environment-such as allocating resources and altering
communication patterns-so that employees can achieve corporate objectives more easily.
Provide meaningful direction.
Motivate workers through meeting their expectation.
Issuing of orders that are clear, complete, and practicable.
Take responsibility for the direction and actions of a team.
Accepting responsibility for mistakes/wrong decisions.
Being flexible: prepared to adapt goals in the light of changing situations.

1.2. LEADERSHIP VERSUS MANAGEMENT

Leadership and management are not the same. People tend to use the terms manager and leader
interchangeably. However, that usage is not correct. Management and leadership are related but
different concepts. Leadership is one of the five management functions (planning, organizing,
staffing, leading, and controlling). Someone can be a manager without being a true leader. There
are managers –you may know of some-who are not leaders because they do not have the ability
to influence others. There are also good leaders who are not managers. The informal leader, an
employee group member, is a case in point. The leader of the work group may emerge informally
as the choice of the group. If a manager is able to influence people to achieve the goals of the
organization, without using his or her formal authority to do so, then the manager is
demonstrating leadership.

According to John P. Kotter in his book, A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from
management (1990), managers must know how to lead as well as manage. Without leading as
well as managing, today’s organizations face the threat of extinction. Management is the process
of setting and achieving the goals of the organization through the function of management. A
manager is hired by the organization and is given formal authority to direct the activity of others
in fulfilling organization goal. Thus, leading is a major part of a manager’s job. Yet a manager
must also plan, organize, staff, and control. Generally speaking, leadership deals with the
interpersonal aspects of a manager’s job, whereas planning, organizing, and controlling deal
with the administrative aspects.

3
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Leadership deals with change, inspiration, motivation, and influence. Management deals more
with carrying out the organization’s goals and maintains equilibrium.

Management produces a degree of predictability and order. Leadership produces change. Kotter
believes that most organizations are under lead and over managed. He sees both strong
leadership and strong management as necessary for optimal organizational effectiveness,

Leadership and management are both important, but they seek to do different things. About 40
years ago Kurt Lewin put it this way. Every organization structures itself to accomplish its goals
in a way that is in tune with or responsive to its environment. Once the efficiency of the
organization is established, people go about simply maintaining the system, assuming that the
environment will stay the same. Management, then, is the main focus because it keeps the
organization going well with little change. But the thing is: the environment for any organization
is always changing. There are always shifts in consumer tastes, social attitudes, society’s culture,
technology, historic events, and so on. The world is not static as we assume. Organizations tend
not to spot these changes quickly, often because of a "management orientation" which is focused
more on "looking in" instead of "looking out". Over time, the organization can become less and
less in tune with or responsive to its environment, creating more and more management
problems. Times like this require organizations to think more in terms of leadership. Leaders
begin to ask questions like, "What is really going on here? How do we become relevant again?
How do we fulfill our goals in these new times? What will prompt people to think that what we
do is meaningful?" Leaders seek to bring their organization more in line with the realities of their
environment, which often necessitates changing the very structures, resources and relationships
of their organization which they have worked so long and so hard to manage. And yet, as they
do, leaders can bring renewed vitality to their people.

The key point in differentiating between leadership and management is the idea that
employees willingly follow leaders because they want to, not because they have to. Leaders may
not possess the formal power to reward or sanction performance. However, employees give the
leader power by complying with what he or she requests. On the other hand, managers may have
to rely on formal authority to get employees to accomplish goals.

4
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Managers plan, organize, staff, lead and control. They may or may not be effective in influencing
their subordinates or team members to set and achieve goals. Leaders, on the other hand are
involved in single function of management that is leading. Leadership involves creating and
sharing visions, generating strategies to bring visions to realize. Therefore, leaders and managers
are not necessarily the same; it is mainly leading performs only one aspect of management
functions. Managers can be leader because they can perform leading function. But may not be
effective leaders since they may not have enough ability to influence others.

In addition to the above explanations, the following table summarizes some of differences
between management and leadership.

MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP
Requires five functions: planning, organizing, A major part of a manager’s job
staffing, leading and controlling
Emerge formally. Managers need formal The leader of the work group may emerge
authority to be effective. informally as the choice of the group.
Deals with both the interpersonal and Deals with the interpersonal aspect of a
administrative aspect of a manager’s job. manager’s job.
Managers deals more with carrying out the Deals with change, inspiration, motivation and
organization’s goals and maintain equilibrium influence
Managers may have to rely on formal authority Leaders may not possess the formal power
to get employees to accomplish goals.
Groups are often more loyal to a leader than a Groups are often more loyal to a leader than a
manager manager
Managers focus of system and structures Focus on people
Managers relies on control Leaders inspires trust
Managers imitates Originates
Accepts the status quo Challenges the status quo
Managers asks how and when Leaders asks what and why

5
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

1.3. WHAT MAKES EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

Effective leadership is the process of achieving desired results through people’s willing
participation. The heart of this definition is: desired results (goals), through people, and willing
participation-people willingly follow leaders because they want them.

When leaders are effective, the influence they exert over others helps a group or organization
achieve its performance goals when leaders are ineffective, their influence does not contribute to,
and often detracts from goal attainment.

Beyond facilitating the attainment of performance goals, effective leadership increases an

organization’s ability to meet all the contemporary challenges-including the need to obtain a
competitive advantage, the need to foster ethical behavior, and the need to manage a diverse
workforce fairly and equitably.

Warren Bennis, who devoted decades to researching leadership issues, concludes that virtually
all leaders of effective groups share four characteristics in common:

1. They provide direction and meaning to the people they are leading. This means they
remind people what is important and why what they are doing makes important
difference.
2. They generate trust.
3. They favor action and risk taking. That is, they are proactive and willing to risk failing in
order to succeed.
4. They are surveyors of hope. In both tangible and symbolic ways they reinforce the notion
that success will be attained.

Some of the qualities effective leaders are the following:

Passion: An effective leader is a person with a passion for a cause that is larger than they are.
Someone with a dream and a vision that will better society or at least some portion of it. Without
passion, a leader will not make the necessary courageous and difficult decisions and carry them
into action. This is not to imply that all decisions are of this nature. But you can be sure, some of
them will be. The leader without a passion for a cause will duck.

6
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Holder of Values: Leadership implies values. A leader must have values that are life-giving to
society. It is the only kind of leadership we need. This then also implies values that are
embedded in respect for others. So, often we think of people skills or caring about people as
being “warm and fuzzy.” A leader can be of varying ‘warmth and fuzziness,” but a leader has to
respect others. You can’t lead without it. Otherwise we are back to manipulation.

Respect means also that one can deal with diversity a critical need for a leader in today’s world
probably always has been, although diversity may have been more subtle in the homogenous
societies of the past.

Vision: This is a bit different than passion, but in other ways it isn’t separable. If one doesn’t
care about a subject, an issue, a system, and then one won’t spend the time thinking about how it
could or should be different. Yet, one could have strong feelings about something and not good
ideas, particularly if she didn’t spend a good deal of time studying the topic. Thus a leader has to
have some ideas about change, about how the future could be different. Vision then is based on
two components that leaders also need: creativity and intellectual drive.

Creativity: One has to try to think out of the box to have good visions and to come up with
effective strategies that will help advance the vision. The need for a sense of humor, it’s a
creative skill that is in great need by leaders.

Intellectual Drive and Knowledge: A leader has to be a student. In general it is hard for a
leader to be around enough other leaders to pick this up just through discussion. A leader has to
be a reader and a learner.

Confidence and Humility Combined: While one can have a great vision and good ideas for
change, and even passion for it, if one isn’t confident, then action will not occur. Without action,
there is no change. Yet, paradoxically, a leader needs to have humility. No matter how creative
and bright one is, often the best ideas and thinking are going to come from someone else. A
leader needs to be able to identify that, have good people around who have these ideas. This
takes humility, or at least lack of egocentricity. The leader is focused on the ends and doesn’t
have to see him/herself always as the conduit or creator of the strategy to get to that end.

7
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Communicator: None of the above assets will work for a leader if she can’t speak or write in a
way to convince others that they should follow along, join the team, and get on board. All the
above gets to the old adage that a leader knows how to do the right thing and a manager knows
how to do things right. But a leader has to be a manager, too.

Planner/Organizer: Someone who can see what needs to be done and help the team plan and
organize the getting it done. Management is getting things done through people. While a writer
or other visionary person may be very influential, even seminal for the cause of change, this is
not quite the definition of a leader. A leader means to me, someone who is taking action, trying
to get others to do something they want to see done.
Ability to understand human behavior: A leader should be able to understand employees’
needs and problems so as to make them work with willingness and enthusiasm.
Social skill: An effective leader should know the strengths and weaknesses of people working
with him/her. If he/she is helpful friendly, encourages other to succeed, and appreciates the
group members’ viewpoints, people will certainly cooperate with him/her and work their / oral
best towards the achievement of the organizational goals.
Teaching ability (being model): The best way to lead is guiding practically. A leader should
not be in a position to push his subordinates from behind.
Readiness to accept responsibility / criticisms and to take appropriate corrective measures
– An effective leader or manager should understand that error is human but repeat is a mistake.
What so over a leader tries to be systematic, mistakes are created but he should be able to take
remedial measures and take control over the situation.
Emotional stability and fairness – The effective leader poses resolutions indiscriminately after
gathering sufficient information and investigating the possible causes. Moreover, he is relatively
free from bias and prejudice and takes consistent actions.

8
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

1.4. IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP FOR GOOD GEVERNANCE AND

DEVELOPMENT

R.J. House defines Leadership as the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable
others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are
members (House, R. J. 2004). Leadership therefore, implies relationship of power- the power to
guide others.
The term Governance describes the process of decision making and the process by which
decisions are implemented (or not implemented). It is a process whereby public institutions
conduct public affairs, manage public resources, and guarantee the realization of human rights.
By extension, Good Governance accomplishes all of the foregoing in a manner essentially free of
abuse and corruption, and with due regard for rule of law (Wikipedia). This however, has
different conceptualization to different people. Stoker (1998) purported that “the essence of good
governance is its focus on governing mechanisms which do not rest on recourse to the authority,
and sanctions of governments”.
While good governance requires mass participation in the decision making process of a country,
aims at integrating the existence and fate of others, leadership should ensure that ethical norms
and behavioral ideals not be imposed but freely embraced; motivation not be reduced to coercion
but grow out of authentic inner commitment, the search for truth not be stifled but rather
questioning and creativity should be encouraged. Followers should not be mere means to self-
satisfying ends for the leader but should be treated as ends in themselves.
Leadership, therefore, must engender in its mechanisms, institutions, and structures, a system
that fosters integrity, authenticity, credibility, visibility, honesty, loyalty and the ultimate ethical
value, justice.
Leaders are important in any form of community development because they are responsible for
shaping a Community focus, listening to the people's needs, make important decisions for the
benefit of the community have foresight, encourage fair treatment of people, and develop
partnerships that will benefit the community.
The primary focus of any community leader is to shape the peoples' needs and direct all their
actions towards it. They are a platform of voice and action whom the people can talk to, and who
will listen, making them instrumental in any progress for the community.
Leaders are also chosen because of their capability to make important decisions on behalf of the
9
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

community and in order to do this must be good listeners. There may be small groups within the
community that have conflicting issues, and both sides must be listened to and understood well
by the leader.
A leader's foresight is crucial in anticipating the outcome of their decisions and community's
actions for the rest of the groups. Good foresight means understanding the past and assessing the
present to produce a good future. People in communities can be extremely diverse, and a good
leader is essential in promoting fair treatment of everyone no matter what their stand or position
is. Each of their values and heritage plays an important role in shaping the community, which a
leader can take to mould them for development and progress. Leaders also play an important role
in fostering partnerships beyond their circle that will contribute to the betterment of their
community. These partnerships should allow for more diverse services and products that the
community can enjoy as a whole. Leadership in community development is an important role
that can make or break the progress of the people involved. They should be chosen well, and a
good leader will bring paramount success in helping their communities enjoy more services and
a better life. So, leadership is important for insuring good governance and development of the
community as well as country as a whole.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Leadership is the process of influencing employees to work toward the achievement of

objectives whereas; Leader It is the process by which one person influences the thoughts,
attitudes, and behaviors of others. Leaders set a direction for the rest of us; they help us see what
lies ahead; they help us visualize what we might achieve; they encourage us and inspire us.

Management and leadership are related but different concepts. Management is the process of
setting and achieving the goals of the organization through the function of management. A
manager is hired by the organization and is given formal authority to direct the activity of others
in fulfilling organization goal. Thus, leading is a major part of a manager’s job. Yet a manager
must also plan, organize, staff, and control. Generally speaking, leadership deals with the
interpersonal aspects of a manager’s job, whereas planning, organizing, and controlling deal
with the administrative aspects. Leadership deals with change, inspiration, motivation, and
influence. Management deals more with carrying out the organization’s goals and maintains

10
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

equilibrium. Therefore, Leadership and management are both important, but they seek to do different
things.

The qualities of effective leader are: Passion, Holder of Values, Vision, Creativity, Intellectual,
Drive and Knowledge, Confidence and Humility Combined, Communicator, Planner/Organizer,
Ability to understand human behavior, Social skill, teaching ability (being model), Readiness to
accept responsibility / criticisms and to take appropriate corrective measures, Emotional stability
and fairness.

Leaders are important in any form of community development because they are responsible for
shaping a Community focus, listening to the people's needs, make important decisions for the
benefit of the community have foresight, encourage fair treatment of people, and develop
partnerships that will benefit the community.

Checklist

Dear learners by now you have to have clear understanding on the following points, if you are
capable of describing put’ ’ mark if you don’t ‘X’ and take yourself back once again &
revise.

Definition of Leadership

Leadership Vs Management

What makes effective leader

Importance of leadership for good governance and development

11
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Unit one Self evaluation test- 1

1. Write the distinction between leader and leadership.

2. Discuss qualities of effective leader

Choose the best answer of the following questions.

_____3. One of the following is not true about leadership?

A. Groups are often more loyal to a leader than a manager

B. Deals with both interpersonal and administrative aspects of a job
C. Leaders asks how and when
D. All of the above
E. A and B

_____4. Which one of the following is not correct?

A. Manager – structured
B. Leader – independent
C. Manager – courageous
D. A and B
E. B and C

_____5.All are the features of leadership except?

A. Leaders asks what and why

B. Leadership focus on system and structure
C. Leaders inspires trust
D. A and C

12
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

UNIT TWO: LEADERSHIP THEORIES AND STYLES

2.1. Leadership style

2.2. Leadership theories

2.2.1. Great man theory

2.2.2. Trait Theory

2.2.3. Behavioral Leadership Theory

2.2.4. Contingency Leadership Theory

2.3. Transformational, transactional and servant leaders.

2.4. Summary

Objectives of the unit

Dear learners, after the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

 Explain the meaning of leadership style and describe different styles of leaders
 Describe the various theories of leadership
 Explain the Transformational, transactional and servant leaders
 Identify the major skills and competencies of leader
 Describe the behaviors of good and bad leader

2.1. LEADERSHIP STYLES

Dear learners, Leadership style is the behavior exhibited by a leader during supervision and
working with subordinates. A manager’s personal leadership style-that is, the specific ways in

13
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

which a manager chooses to influence other people- shapes the way that manager approaches
planning, organizing, and controlling. Evidences suggest that leadership styles vary not only
among individuals but also among countries or cultures. There are different leadership styles.

We can classify leadership style as negative and positive. Positive leadership styles give
emphasis to praise and recognition, monetary rewards, increase in security, and addition of
responsibility to make the work done by other people. Negative leadership style on the other
hand emphasizes penalties, loss of job, suspension, and public reprimands/critics.

Based on the extent of sharing decision making authority with subordinates there are four
leadership styles. These are autocratic, democratic, laissez fair and situational. They are
commonly known and/or practiced.

A. Autocratic/directive leadership style

An autocratic leader centralizes power and decision making authority in himself and exercise
complete control over subordinates. Such leader usually shows high concern for the task and
low concern for the people /human aspect/.

The following are the common characteristics of autocratic leaders:

- The leader make the decisions and closely supervises employees;

- Highly conscious of his /her position;
- They are sensitive about their authority; One-way communication;
- They are willing to delegate a very little decision making authority;
- The leader believes that pay is just a reward for working and the only reward that
will motivate employees.
- Orders are issued to be carried out with no questions allowed and no explanations.

Problems of autocratic style: force breeds counter-force: restriction of output,

antagonism, unionism. It impairs group moral and initiative, brings high rate of
grievance, absenteeism, turnover and dissatisfaction.

14
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Strength of autocratic style: it is useful in certain situations. Some situation may call
urgent action in such situation autocratic leadership may be appropriate. In emergency
situations autocratic leadership style may be effective if the leader is wise.

B. Democratic or participative leadership style

Democratic leadership style is characterized by participation of the group and utilization of

its opinions. A manager with this style usually shares decision making authority with the
group and encourages participation and supports the task efforts of subordinates.

Democratic leadership style has the following characteristics:

- Share decision making authority with subordinates;

- A leader appreciate suggestions from subordinates;
- The leader shows high concern for both task and people;
- Leaders are not sensitive about their authority;
- New ideas/change proposed by a group is respected;
- Develops a feeling of responsibility within the group;
- Motivates subordinates;
- Generally increases the quality of work and productivity;
- If forced to make a decision alone the leader explains his/her reason to the
group/subordinates.
C. Laissez faire/free-rein/ abdicative leadership style

A laissez faire leader develops a frame work for subordinates in which they can act and leave
decision making authority to the subordinates and remain for consultation.

Free-rein leadership style has the following features:

- The leader gives full decision making authority to the group and shows little interest
in the work process or its results;
- Leader exercise little control over the group/ subordinates;
- Individuals may have little interest in their work;
- Morale and team work are generally low.

15
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Free rein leadership style can apply in organizations with highly skilled and well-
trained professional.

D. Situational leadership style

It is now being recognized that effectiveness of one or the other leadership style depends on
the situation. Leaders can utilize the combination of the above three styles depending on the
situation.

The manager need not restrict his choice from among a limited class of style or approaches.
The style a manger chooses may depend upon the following situations;

 Forces in the manager such as his value system, his confidence in subordinates.
 Forces in subordinates, example, subordinates expectation s.
 Forces in the situation, example, type of organization, the nature of the problems, the
pressure of time, etc.

For example, an autocratic leader may behave democratically when the success of a change,
program, policy, or decision is critically dependent on employee acceptance and cooperation. A
democratic leader may find it wiser to behave autocratically when a decision is associated with a
high degree of risk and uncertainty, or when he is facing a crisis or an emergency situation, etc.
nevertheless, leadership behavior should be viewed along a continuum from work centered to
people concerned.

2.2. LEADERSHIP THEEORIES

2.2.1 GREAT MAN THEORY

Great man theory assumes that the capacity for leadership is inherent-that great leaders are born
not made. These theory often portray great leaders are heroic, mythic and destined to rise to
leadership when needed. This theory believes that, leaders are exceptional people, born with
innate qualities, destined to lead.

The term “great man” was used because leadership was thought of primarily as male quality. The
gender issues were not on the table when the great man theory was proposed. Moreover, most

16
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

leaders and researchers were also male, and concerns about andocentric bias were a long way
from being realized.

2.2.2 TRAIT THEORY OF LEADERSHIP

In the early 1900’s, an organized approach were studying leadership began. The early studies
were based on the assumption that leaders are born, not made. This concept was later called the
“Great man” theory of leadership.

In the 1920’s and 1930’s leadership researchers focused on trying to identify the traits that
differentiate leaders from non-leaders. Researchers wanted to identify a set of characteristics, or
traits that distinguished leaders from followers or effective from ineffective leaders. Trait theory
claims that people are born with inherited traits. Some traits are particularly suited to leadership.
People who make good leaders have the right (sufficient) combination of traits.

Leadership trait theory assumes that there are distinctive physical and psychological
characteristics accounting for leadership effectiveness. This approach also assumed that a finite
number of individual traits-intellectual, emotional, physical, and other traits- of effective leaders
could be found. This leadership theory focused on ‘what’ an effective leader is, not on ‘how’ to
effectively lead.

The table below lists the main leadership traits and skills identified by Stogdill in 1974.

Traits Skill

- Adaptable to situations - Persistent - Clever (intelligent)

- Alert to social environment - Decisive - Conceptually skilled

- Ambitious and achievement-orientated - Cooperative - Creative

- Assertive - Dependable - Diplomatic and tactful

17
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

- Dominant (desire to influence others) - Fluent in speaking

- Energetic (high activity level) - Self-confident - Knowledgeable about group task

- Tolerant of stress -Organized (administrative ability)

- Willing to assume responsibility - Persuasive

- Socially skilled

Set of traits and characteristics were identified to assist in selecting the right people to become
leaders. The list of traits was to be used as a prerequisite for promotion of candidates to
leadership positions. Only candidates possessing all the identified traits were to be given
leadership positions. The trait approach to understanding leadership supports the use of tests and
interviews in the selection of managers and/or leaders. The interviewers typically attempt to
match the traits and characteristics of the applicant to the position. For example, most
interviewers attempt to evaluate how well the applicant works with people.

Decades of research (beginning in the 1930s) and hundreds of studies indicate that certain
personal characteristics do appear to be associated with effective leadership (see below for a list
of these).

o Intelligence: it assumed that leaders generally are lightly more intelligent than the
average of their followers. The leader’s above-average cognitive ability to process
enormous amount of information, help leaders to understand complex issues and solve
problems. Intellectual breadth able the leader to understand a wide range of areas, rather
than having a narrow (and narrow-minded) area of expertise.
o Inner motivation and achievement drives: leaders have a strong drive to accomplish
goals. When they achieve one thing, they seek out another.
o Supervisory ability: getting the job done through others.

18
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

o Emotional stability and composure: calm, confident and predictable, particularly when
under stress.
o Integrity and honesty: helps leaders behave ethically and earn their subordinates trust
and confidence.
o Social traits: such as cooperativeness skill
o Admitting error; owning up to mistakes, rather than putting energy into covering up.
o Good interpersonal skills: able to communicate and persuade others without resort to
negative or coercive tactics.

Shortcoming or Criticisms of Trait Theory: even though traits identified by some studies
differentiated effective leaders from ineffective leaders, research finding are still contradictory
for a number of reasons. These are:

Not all leaders possess all of the traits identified.

List of potentially important traits is endless. Every year new traits are added to physical,
personal and intelligence characteristics.
No consistent patterns have been found that distinguish effective leaders from the
ineffective one.
Difficult to measure traits. How much of a trait a person should have is also confusing
question.
All traits are not equally important for all situations. The importance of certain trait
depending on the situation.

In general, traits alone are not the key to understanding leadership effectiveness, however. Some
effective leaders do not possess all of these traits, and some leaders who do possess them are not
effective in their leadership roles. This lack of a consistent relationship between traits and leaders
effectiveness led researchers to shift their attention away from traits and to search for new
explanations for effective leadership. Rather than focusing on what leaders are like (the traits
they possess), researchers began looking at what effective leaders actually do-in other words, at
the behaviors that allow effective leaders to influence their subordinates to achieve group and
organizational goals.

2.2.3 BEHAVIORAL LEADERSHIP THEORIES

19
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

By the late 1940’s most leadership research had changed from trait theory and focused on what
the leader did. They attempt to identify the differences in the behavior of effective leaders vs.
ineffective leaders.

Behavioral leadership style assumes that there are distinctive styles that effective leaders use
consistently, that is, that good leadership is rooted in behavior. Behavioral theory is a big leap
from trait theory, in that it assumed that leadership capability can be learned, rather than being
inherent.

I. TWO DIMENSIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLES

A) Initiating Structure And Consideration Styles

In 1945, Ohio State University began a study to determine effective leadership styles. And can
identify two distinctive leadership dimensions.

 Initiating structure: the extent to which the leader takes charge to organize and define
the relationship in the group, tend to defined patterns and channels of communication,
and spells out ways of getting the job done.

 Consideration: the extent to which the leader communicates to develop friendship,

mutual trust, respect, warmth.

B) Job centered and employee centered styles

At approximately the same time the Ohio State University began, the University of Michigan’s
survey research centered began leadership studies. Their research identified the same two
dimensions, or styles, of leadership behavior. However, they called the two styles by different
names.

Job centered: this is the same as initiating structure. Job centered style refers the extent
the leader focusing on completing task and uses close supervision so that subordinates
perform their task using specified procedure. So they focused on plan and defining work,
assigning task responsibilities, clear work standard, urge for task accomplishment,
technical aspect of the job.

20
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Employee centered: focus on people doing the work and believe in delegating decision
making and aiding employee in satisfying their need by creating a supportive work
environment. Employee centered is the same as consideration.

Different combination of the two dimensions of leadership results in four leadership styles. The
following managerial grid shows the relationship between two dimensions. Note that the
managerial grid refers to job centered refers as concern for production and the managerial grid
consideration refers as concern for people.

High
High consideration High structure
And And
Consideration
Low structure High consideration

Low consideration High structure

And And
Low structure low consideration

Low
Initiating structure
Low High

II. BASIC LEADERSHIP STYLES

In the 1930’s, before behavioral theory became popular, studies at the University of Iowa
concentrated on the manner or style (behavior) of leaders. The studies identified three basic
leadership styles:

Autocratic: the leader makes the decisions and closely supervises employees.

Democratic: the leader allows participation in decisions and does not closely supervise
employees.

Laissez-faire: the leader takes a leave-the employees-alone approach.

21
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

III. THE LEADERSHIP /MANAGERIAL GRID

The leadership grid is based on the two leadership dimensions called concern for production and
concern for people. The Managerial Grid developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton focuses
on task (production) and employee (people) orientations of managers, as well as combinations of
concerns between the two extremes. They published it in 1964 and updated it in 1978 and 1985
and it becomes leadership grid in 1991.

The leadership grid is Blake and Muoton’s model identifying the ideal leadership style as having
a high concern for both production and people.

The horizontal axis of the grid (see the figure below) represents the concern for production, and
the vertical axis represents the concern for people. Each axis is a point scale of 1 to 9. The 1
indicates low concern, while the 9 indicates high concern.

Through grid training, which is still being used today, managers fill in an instrument that
indicates what they would do in certain situations. The results are scored to indicate where
they are on the leadership grid, one of the 81 combinations of concern for production and people.
They go through training designed to help them become ideal 9,9 managers, having a high
concern for both production and people.

Although the grid has 81 possible combinations of concern for production and people, the model
identifies five major styles:

22
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid

(Blake & Mouton, 1964)

a) (1,1) the impoverished manager: this leader has low concern for both production and people.
The leader does the minimum required to remain employed in the position.

b) (9,1)The sweatshop managers/authority obedience: this leader has a high concern for
production and a low concern for people. The leader uses position power to coerce
employees to do the work. People are treated like machines.

c) (1,9)The country club manager: this leader has a high concern for people and a low concern
production. The leader strives to maintain good relations and a friendly atmosphere.

d) (5,5)The organized-person manager: this leader has balanced, medium concern for both
production and people. The leader strives to maintain satisfactory middle-of-the-road
performance and moral.

e) (9,9)The team manager: this leader has a high concern for both people and production. This
leader strives for maximum performance and employee satisfaction. Participation,
commitment, and conflict management are emphasized.

2.2.4 CONTINGENCY/SITUATIONAL THEORY

23
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

According to situational theories, assume that the appropriate leadership style varies from
situation to situation. Contingency theories do not deny the importance of the leader’s
characteristics or the leader’s behavior. Both must be taken into account in the context of the
situation.

In this section we discuss some of the most popular contingency leadership theories.

A. Fiedler's Contingency Model

Fred E. Fiedler was among the first leadership researchers to acknowledge that effective
leadership is contingent on, or depends on, the characteristics of the leader and of the situation.
Fiedler’s contingency model helps explain why a manager may be an effective leader in one
situation and ineffective in another; it is also suggests which kinds of managers are likely to be
most effective in which situations.

In 1951, Fiedler began to develop the first situational leadership theory. He called the theory
“Contingency theory of Leader Effectiveness.” Fiedler believed that one’s leadership style a
reflection of one’s personality (trait theory-oriented) and is basically constant. Managers cannot
change their style, nor can they adopt different styles in different kinds of situation. According to
Fiedler performance of groups is dependent on the interaction between leadership style and
situational favorableness. If there is no match, Fiedler recommends that the leader change the
situation, rather than the leadership style.

 Determining Leadership Style: Fiedler hypothesized that personal characteristics can

influence leader effectiveness. He used the term leader style to a manager’s characteristic
approach to leadership and identified two basic leader styles: relationship-oriented and
task-oriented. All managers can be described as having one style or the other.
To determine whether one’s leadership style is task-oriented or relationship-oriented, the
leader fills in the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scales. This is followed by
determining the favorableness of the leader’s situation.
 Determining Situational Favorableness: situational favorableness refers to the degree
to which a situation enables the leader to exert influence over the followers.
Fiedler identified three situational characteristics that are important determinants of how
favorable a situation is for leading. The three variables, in order of importance are:

24
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

1. Leader-member relations: is the relationship good or poor? Do the followers trust,

respect, accept, and have confidence in the leader? Is it a friendly, tension-free
situation? Leaders with good relation have more influence. The better the relations,
the more favorable the situation.
2. Task structure: is the task structured or unstructured? Do employees perform
routine, unambiguous, standard tasks that are easily understood? Leaders in a
structured situation have more influence. The more structured the jobs are the more
favorable the situation.
3. Position power: is position power strong or weak? Does the leader have the power to
assign work, reward and punish, hire and fire, and give praises and promotions? The
leader with position power has more influence. The more power, the more favorable
the situation.
 Determining the appropriate leadership style: to determine whether task or
relationship leadership is appropriate, the user answers the three questions pertaining to
situational favorableness, using the Fiedler’s contingency theory model.
Question 1: are leader-member relations good or poor?
Question 2: is the task structured or unstructured?
Question 3: is position power strong or weak? By answering these three questions
consecutively we can determine the situation and appropriate leadership style. See the
Fiedler’s model below.

25
Leader-member relations

Task structure Task

Position power
 Kinds of relationship I II III IV V VI VII VIII

Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Good Poor

High Low High Low

Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak

Figure 2.2 Fiedler’s contingency theory of leadership

B. LEADERSHIP CONTINUUM

Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schemdit stated that leadership behavior is on a continuum
from autocrat (or boss-centered) to democrat (or employee centered) leadership. Their model
focuses on who makes the decisions. They identify seven major styles based on the use of boss-
centered versus employee centered. As one moves away from the autocratic extreme, the amount
of subordinates participation and involvement in decision making increases.

Before selecting one of the seven leadership styles, the user must consider the following three
factors, or variables:

- The manager: what is the leader’s preferred style, based on experience,

expectation, values, background, knowledge, feeling of security, and confidence in
the subordinates?

26
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

- The subordinates: what is the subordinates’ preferred style for the leader, based on
experience, expectation, and son on? Generally, the more willing and able the
subordinates are to participate, the more freedom to participate should be given.
- The situation: what are the environmental considerations, such as the
organization’s size, structure, climate, goals, and technology? Upper-level
managers also influence leadership styles.

Figure 2.2 show their model, which lists the seven styles.

Autocratic style Participative style

Leader Leader Leader Leader Leader Leader Leader

makes sells presents presents presents defines permits
decision decision ideas and tentative problem, limits and subordinates
and invites decision gets asks group to function
announces questions subject to suggestions, to make within
it change and makes decision limits
decision defined by
4 leaders.
2 3 5 6 7
1

Figure [Link] continuum

As you read about situational variables, you will realize that they are descriptive; the model does
not state which style to use in a situation.

Autocratic/Telling Style: the leader makes the decisions and announces them, expecting
subordinates to carry out without question. In an emergency, a telling style may be most
appropriate and would normally be considered justified by the group (as long as the general
climate of that group is supportive and mature).

27
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Selling or Persuasive Style: the leader takes the decisions for the group without discussion
and consultation but he believes that people will be better motivated if they are persuaded
that the decisions are good ones. So the leader does a lot of explanations to overcome any
possible resistance and to persuade that the decisions are good.
The selling style would tend to fit situations in which the group leader alone possesses all the
information on which the decision must be based and which at the same time calls for a very
high level of commitment and enthusiasm on the part of group members if the task is to be
carried through successfully.
The leader presents his/her decision and invites subordinates to ask questions about the
decision. Here also the leader makes the decision without discussion and consultation with
subordinates.
The leader presents tentative decision subject to change. The leader confers with the group
members after taking decisions and asks their feelings and their suggestion. If the
subordinates’ advices are appropriate and can enhance the decision, the leader may change
his tentative decision.
Consultative style: leader presents problem, gets suggestions, and makes decision. The
leader confers with the group members before taking decision and, in fact, considers their
advice and their feelings when framing decision. The leader may not always accept the
subordinates’ advice but they (subordinates) are likely to feel that they can have some
influence. Under this leadership style the decision and the full responsibility for it remain
with the leader.
The consulting style is likely to be most appropriate when there is time in which to reach a
considered decision and when the information on which the decision needs to be based lies
among the members of the group.
The leader defines the decision limits and asks groups to make decision within the limit.
Democratic/Joining Style: leader permits subordinates to function within limits defined by
leader. The leader will allow the decision to emerge out of the process of group discussion,
instead of imposing it on the group as its boss. The leader’s role is that of conference leader,
or chair, rather than that of decision taker.

C. SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP MODEL

28
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

One of the most popular contingency theories is the situational leadership model, developed by
Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. The model suggests that effective leaders vary their style with
the maturity/readiness of followers. This model posits that the developmental levels of a leader’s
subordinates play the greatest role in determine which leadership style is appropriate.

Employee readiness or maturity refers to the employee’s or work team’s ability and willingness
to accomplish a specific task and take responsibility for directing his/her/its own behavior.
People tend to have varying degrees of maturity, depending on the specific task, function, or
objective that a leader is attempting to accomplish through their efforts. Ability refers to the
extent that the follower’s has the skills and knowledge to perform the task without the leader’s
guidance. Willingness refers to the follower’s self-motivation and commitments to perform the
assigned task.

For the most part, this model (situational leadership model) takes the two dimensional leadership
styles and the four quadrants, and develops four leadership styles based on amount of directive
and supportive behavior provided, which they call telling, selling, participating, and delegating.
Hersey and Blanchard went beyond the behavioral theory by developing a model that tells the
leader which style to use in a given situation.

Telling: telling has high task behavior and low support behavior. The leader provides
clear instructions and specific directions. This style is appropriate when followers’
readiness/maturity level is low.
Selling: it has high task and high supportive behavior. Selling style is appropriate if the
employees’ readiness/maturity level is from moderate to low.
Participating: it has high supportive behavior and low task behavior. It is best matched
with a moderate to high employee readiness/maturity level.
Delegating: it has low task and supportive behavior. This style is best match with high
employee readiness level.

2.3. TRANSFORMATIONAL, TRANSACTIONAL AND SERVANT PERSPECTIVE OF

LEADERSHIP

2.3.1. Transformational Leadership

29
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Transformational leadership is a contemporary view of leadership. Transformational

leadership is a leadership perspective that explains how leaders change teams or organizations
by creating, communicating, and modeling a vision for the organization or work unit, and
inspiring employees to strive for that vision. Transformational leader can make subordinates
aware of the importance of their jobs and performance to the organization and aware of their
needs for personal growth and that motivates subordinates to work for the good of the
organization.

The focus of transformational leadership is on top-level managers, primarily chief executive

officers of large organizations. Transformational leadership is about change, innovation, and
entrepreneurship. Transformational leaders are agents of change. They develop a vision for the
organization or work unit, inspire and collectively bond employees to that vision, give them a
“can do” attitude that makes the vision achievable.

Some of the characteristics, or traits, of transformational leaders are the following:

- They see themselves as change agents;

- They are courageous individuals who take risks;
- They believe in people and motivate them;
- They are value-driven;
- They have the ability to deal with complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty; and
- They are visionaries. These traits are evident during leader-member exchange.

Transformational leaders perform, or take the organization through, three acts, on an ongoing
basis. These are shown in the graph below.

Figure 2.4: elements/acts of transformational leadership

Creating A
Vision
Recognizing
the need for Transformational Leadership
change

30
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Institutionalizing Change:

- Communicating the vision

- Modeling the vision
- Building commitment to the
vision

Act1: Recognizing the Need for Revitalization

The transformational leader recognizes the need to change the organization in order to keep up
with the rapid changes in the environment and to keep ahead of the global competition, which is
becoming more competitive all the time. So transformational leaders are change agents.

Act 2: Creating a New Vision

The transformational leader visualizes the changed organization and motivates people to make
it become a reality. They are visionary leaders. Visions are the most important part of the
transformational leader.

Transformational leaders shape a strategic vision of a realistic and attractive future that bonds
employees together and focuses their energy toward a super-ordinate organizational goal.
Strategic vision reflects a future for the company or work unit that is ultimately accepted and
valued by organizational members. A vision might originate with the leader, but it is just as
likely to emerge from employee, clients, suppliers, or other constituents. It typically begins as an
abstract idea that becomes progressively clearer through critical events and discussions with staff
about strategic and operational plans. Visions are typically described in a way that distinguishes
them from the current situation, yet makes the goal both appealing and achievable.

Act 3: Institutionalizing the Change

The transformational leader guides people as they make the vision become a reality. To realize
the vision the transformational leader will do the following:

a) Communicating the Vision: transformational leader communicate meaning and elevate

the importance of the visionary goal to employees. Transformational leaders makes
subordinates aware of how important their jobs are for the organization and how

31
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

necessary it is for them to perform those jobs as best they can so that the organization can
attain its vision and goals.
b) Modeling the Vision: transformational leaders not only talk about the vision; they enact
it. They “walk the talk” by stepping outside the executive suite and going things that
symbolize the vision.
To succeed as a leader, you need to act consistently with your statements. If you don’t
walk the talk, you lose your credibility. The greater the consistency between the leader’s
words and actions, the more employees will believe and follow the leader. Walking the
talk also builds employee trust because trust is partly determined by the consistency of
the person’s actions.
c) Building Commitment to the Vision: transforming a vision into a reality requires
employee commitment. Transformational leaders motivate their subordinates to work for
the good of the organization as a whole. Their words, symbols, and stories build a
contagious enthusiasm that energizes people to adopt the vision as their own. Leaders
demonstrate a “can do” attitude by enacting their vision and staying on course. Their
persistence and consistency reflect an image of honesty, trust, and integrity.
Transformational leaders build commitment by involving employees in the process of
shaping the organizations vision.
Transformational leaders also aware their subordinate by telling them growth of the
organization is growth of employees. Transformational leaders make their subordinates
aware of their own need for personal growth, development and accomplishment.
Employees make aware of their own need through numerous workshops and training
sessions, empowerment of employees throughout the company, the development of fast-
track career programs, and increase reliance on self-managed work teams.

2.3.2. Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership has been contrasted with transformational leadership. The transactional
leadership is based on the principle of “you do this work for me and I will give this reward to
you.” Transactional leadership focuses more on middle and first-line managers who help the
transformational leader take their unit through the three acts.

32
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Transactional leader motivates subordinates by rewarding them for high performance and
reprimand or punish low performers. Such mangers use reward and coercive powers to
encourage high performance. They link job performance with valued rewards. Transactional
leadership can improve organizational efficiency.

2.3.3. Servant Leadership

Servant leadership emphasizes the leader’s duty to serve his/her follower. Leadership thus arises
out of a desire to serve rather than a desire to lead. It begins with the natural feeling that one
wants to serve first.

Robert Greenleaf, founder of the Center for Servant Leadership describes it as follows:

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to
serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. He or she is sharply different from
the person who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or
to acquire material possessions. For such it will be a later choice to serve – after leadership is
established. The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are
shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.

The difference manifest itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other
people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do
those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more
autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least
privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, will they not be further deprived?”

Characteristics of Servant Leaders are as follows:

“Servant-Leadership is a practical philosophy which supports people who choose to serve first,
and then lead as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions. Servant-leaders may
or may not hold formal leadership positions. Servant-leadership encourages collaboration, trust,
foresight, listening, and the ethical use of power and empowerment.”

33
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

The emphasis on serving a higher purpose has made this model popular within the religious
institutions.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Leadership style is the behavior exhibited by a leader during supervision and working with
subordinates. A manager’s personal leadership style-that is, the specific ways in which a
manager chooses to influence other people- shapes the way that manager approaches planning,
organizing, and controlling.

Based on the extent of sharing decision making authority with subordinates there are four
leadership styles. These are autocratic, democratic, laissez fair and situational. They are
commonly known and/or practiced. These are: Autocratic/directive leadership style, Democratic
or participative leadership style, Laissez faire/free-rein/ abdicative leadership style, Situational
leadership style.

Great man theory assumes that the capacity for leadership is inherent-that great leaders are born
not made, trait theory assumes that there are distinctive physical and psychological
characteristics accounting for leadership effectiveness. This approach also assumed that a finite
number of individual traits-intellectual, emotional, physical, and other traits- of effective leaders
could be found. Whereas Behavioral leadership style assumes that there are distinctive styles that
effective leaders use consistently, that is, that good leadership is rooted in behavior, in that it
assumed that leadership capability can be learned, rather than being inherent. But, situational
theories, assume that the appropriate leadership style varies from situation to situation.
Contingency theories do not deny the importance of the leader’s characteristics or the leader’s
behavior.

Transformational leadership is a leadership perspective that explains how leaders change teams
or organizations by creating, communicating, and modeling a vision for the organization or work

34
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

unit, and inspiring employees to strive for that vision, but The transactional leadership is based
on the principle of “you do this work for me and I will give this reward to you.” Transactional
leadership focuses more on middle and first-line managers who help the transformational leader
take their unit through the three acts. Whereas, Servant leadership emphasizes the leader’s duty
to serve his/her follower. Leadership thus arises out of a desire to serve rather than a desire to
lead. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve first.

Checklist

Dear learners by now you have to have clear understanding on the following points, if you are
capable of describing put’ ’ mark if you don’t ‘X’ and take yourself back once again &
revise.

Leadership style

Leadership theories

Transformational, Transactional and Servant leaders.

Unit Two Self Evaluation Test- 1

1. What does leadership style mean

2. List down the four leadership styles
3. List and explain the two dimensional leadership style

35
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

UNIT THREE: CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Contents of the unit

3.1 Meaning and implication of change

3.2 Forces for organizational change

3.3 Process of organizational change

3.4 Resistance to change

3.5 Managing resistance to change

3.6 Planned organizational change

3.7 Strategies for planned organizational change

Objectives of the unit

Dear learners, after the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

 Explain the meaning and implication of change

 Forces for organizational change
 Process of organizational change
 Resistance to change
 Managing to resistance to change
 Planned organizational change
 Strategies for planned organizational change

36
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

3.1. MEANING AND IMPLICATION OF CHANGE

Dear learner, what is change?

Change means making things different. When an organization makes things in it

different, an organization change is occurred.

Thus, Organizational change is the movement of an organization away from its present state
and toward some desired future state to increase its efficiency and effectiveness. Organizational
change is the alteration of an organization’s structure, culture, technology, or people.

Organizational success depends on the organization’s adaptations to environmental changes.

Some organizations cannot change or adopt in response to a changing environment while others
can change in any way that make them more effective.

3.1.1. Organization Metaphors

We can view organizations in four different ways – and those different ways can lead us towards
a greater understanding of organizational dynamics and what might or might not work when it
comes to trying to change the organization:
1. Organizations as machines
This metaphor reflects upon the idea that an organization functions like a machine – if all the
parts are properly constructed and connected and force applied in the right place and right
direction then the machine will start to move and continue to move until it needs repair or
replacement or encounters resistance. It feeds into the notion that it is possible to design a perfect
well-oiled machine and to plan a change that will take the organization from state A to state B in
clearly defined stages with the likelihood of success as long as everyone does what’s in the plan.
You can see this as the ideal metaphor for a simple project management approach to change
where everything not only can be put onto a Gantt chart but everything and everyone will
perform as if it really were a piece of machinery.
37
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Of course the organization as a machine metaphor has its place because many products and
services rely on clear, predictable, reliable and compliant processes:
Fast-food restaurants and service organizations of many kinds operate… with every action
preplanned in a minute way, even in areas where personal interactions with others are
concerned… Even the most casual smile, greeting, comment, or suggestion by a sales assistant is
often programmed by company policy and rehearsed to produce authentic results.

2. Organizations as political systems

This metaphor suggests that everyone who inhabits an organizational space is in the midst not
only of a human system but one where there are competing forces and pulls on scarce resources
and where different players have different degrees of power. It is the awareness and management
of these forces and these players that allow work to be achieved. There is an understanding of
who is an enabler and who is a disabler; who stands to gain and who stands to lose; who is
supporting you and who might be against you. These are all factors you need to consider when
you want to effect change and enter this reality:
Organizational goals, structure, technology, job design, leadership style, and other seemingly
formal aspects of organizational functioning have a political dimension as well as the more
obvious political power plays and conflicts.

38
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

3. Organizations as organisms
This metaphor posits that organizations are not discrete singular entities but are composed of a
number of internal subsystems operating in an external environment and there are flows and
interaction throughout. It is an open systems approach. Operating within this metaphor an
organization would be organizing itself around the changing environment – the more turbulence
in the environment the greater the need for adaptability. Its internal subsystems – structural,
human, managerial, informational – would all need to be capable of receiving data from the
environment and other parts of the system and responding intelligently: organizations are open
systems and are best understood as ongoing processes rather than as collections of parts… Thus,
we see strategy, structure, technology, and the human and managerial dimensions of organization
as subsystems with living needs that must be satisfied in a mutually acceptable way.

39
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

4. Organizations as flux and transformation

Entering into the metaphor of flux and transformation can be a disconcerting experience. We are
moving into a world where we need to review our understanding of what an organization
actually is. Rather than a machine or a social system of power bases, or an organism that
interacts symbiotically with the environment, it is a place that has form and movement but events
which cannot be predictable. There is a dynamism that can lead to equilibrium or disequilibrium
depending on factors or ‘attractors’ at play.
Organizations are characterized by multiple systems of interaction that are both ordered and
chaotic. Because of this internal complexity, random disturbances can produce unpredictable
events and relationships that reverberate throughout a system… despite all the unpredictability,
coherent order always emerges out of the randomness and surface chaos.
So we can see quite early on that when approaching change it may be that you are operating
within one particular metaphor and you will attempt to enact change through that particular lens,
regardless of the circumstances prevailing at the time. Or it may be that the organization is
operating within one particular metaphor and will only accommodate one way of thinking about
change and what needs to be done.

40
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

3.1.2. Paradigms of change

de Caluwé and Vermaak (2004) identified five different ways in which we can conceptualize
what happens when we want to make change interventions. They have given colours to each of
these approaches. Some of them relate to the four organizational models and indeed to the three-
ball model of outputs, interests, and emotions and culture that we met in the introduction.
Blue – change through design – is most often the one we see occurring in organizations. It is the
project management approach to change and involves careful planning and detailed analysis
before the change happens. It links quite well with the machine metaphor of organizations and
leading outcomes in the three-ball model. It is very much about the rational way to enact change.
If we have done the initial analysis well enough and can plan the steps and stages
comprehensively enough then the inputs that we make will produce the outputs that we want.
Yellow – change through addressing interests – addresses the political aspect of organizations,
recognizing that there are winners and losers in all change situations and that directly addressing
the different wants and needs of the various stakeholders is a necessary element in getting
positive movement forward in the driving forces for change and a useful way of attending to
those forces that are restraining or against the change. This is most closely aligned to the political
metaphor and also leading interests in the three-ball model.
Red – change through people – recognizes that change in an organization is predominately done
through people, and for the outcome of any change initiative to be successful it will not only
need to have addressed the concerns of the organization’s people but to have engaged with them

41
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

in order for new attitudes, skills and behaviors to have been acquired or learnt and certainly
demonstrated.
White – change through emergence – is about creating the conditions for change to occur
without specifying the exact nature of the changes. Drawing on the flux and transformation
metaphor it suggests that we cannot logically and rationally design, plan and manage change in a
linear way. What is required is an enabling environment, people to make sense of what is
happening, and to spot where the organizational energy is and take steps to removing hindrances
and obstacles. Perhaps requiring a leap of faith, this approach is based around the belief that
systems will self-organize and, even in the midst of chaos, order and evolution will occur.
Green – change through learning – is concerned with change happening as a direct result of
learning. Here we are talking about individual and team learning and also the concept of the
learning organization. The key focus is on creating the environment necessary for individuals
and teams to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to step into the new state
and also how collectively the organization can embed any new knowledge for sustained
performance. This also covers the single-loop and double-loop learning of Argyrols ways in
which the organization can monitor and evaluate itself throughout the changes.

3.2. Forces For Organizational Change

Many internal and external changes attack the modern organizations and make change inevitable.
Today organizations are operating in the ever changing environment.

Organizations and their managers need to be able to control their activities and make their
operations routine and predictable. At the same time, however, organizations have to be
responsive to the need to change. A modern manager is change conscious and operates in the
constantly changing environment.

In general there are two main forces drive organizations toward change: internal and external
forces.

3.2.1 External Forces for Organizational Change

42
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

A. Customer demand: customers are more sophisticated and demanding; knowledgeable about
their own needs; customers often change over time. Customers are exerting ever greater pressure
on their supplier. They will no longer accept poor service or low quality.

To be competitive, organizations have to respond more rapidly to customer’s needs.

Since the early 1980s, in the United States and other developed countries, the dominant force in
the seller-customer relationship has shifted. Sellers no longer have the upper hand; customers do.
Customers now tell suppliers what they want, when they want it, how they want it, and what they
will pay. This new situation is unsetting to companies that have known life only in the mass
market.

B. Intense Competition: competition is intensifying, and becoming more global. More

organizations are compelled to attain the standards of quality and cost achieved by the
pacemakers in the industry. The company that could get to market with an acceptable product or
service at the best price would get a sale.

Large companies faced competition from both large and small companies. Small companies are
competing large companies by serving niche market better than larger firms. Today companies
are also working not only to satisfy customers but also to delight them.

C. Technology: Technology changes have increased the rate of speed at which change takes
place. Technology is a commonly used method of increasing productivity to gain competitive
leverage. The rate of technological change is greater today than any time in the past and
technological changes are responsible for changing the nature of jobs performed at all levels in
the organization.

D. Reduction of Government Regulations: governments are reducing interference in the

market place and regulating business activities. Government barriers have fallen dramatically in
the last years to further facilitate the globalization of markets and the activities of companies
within them. Deregulation, reduction of trade barriers, privatization, free market economy,
economic integration, and other related issues are the result of reduction of government
regulations; and all these factors leads organizations toward change.

43
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

E. Social Change: related to diversity of work force within the organization, cultural changes,
education level, etc.

3.2.2 Internal Forces for organizational change

a) Changes in the managerial personnel: these changes include the retirement of the old
managers, transfer and promotion of mangers and placement of old and static managers by a
more versatile, dynamic and young lots. Changes also include increasing training of the existing
personnel so as to make them fit to function in their perspective places effectively. With change
each manager generally brings his/her own ideas and the way of working in the organization. So,
a change in the managerial personnel is, thus, a constant pressure for change.

b) Certain deficiencies in the existing system: such as;

Unmanageable span of control;

Lack of coordination between the departments;
Obstacles in communication;
Lack of uniformity in the policies (as you know policies are guidelines for decision
making);
Non cooperation between line and staff member, etc.

c) Certain other forces: like changes in machinery, equipment, methods, and procedures,
working standard, changes in authority and responsibility.

3.2.3 The Domino Effect

Another main source of changes is the change itself. Change has become pervasive and
persistent. The pace of change is extremely fast, that is, what was unthinkable yesterday is
routine today. It may emanate from internal or external sources.

Most of the managers fail to consider the potential domino effects. Such an oversight might lead
to the problems of coordination and control. Before any significant change is made, the possible
consequences of that change must be evaluated and examined to see whether undesirable chain
reactions occur.

3.2.4. Change formula

44
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Beckhard and Harris (1987) developed a change formula which identified the factors that need to
be in place for change to occur:
C = [D x V x FS] > R
Where: C is the change that will occur;
D is the level of dissatisfaction with the status quo;
V is the desirability of the proposed change, the end state or vision;
FS is the first practical steps of the change; and
R is the resistance to change.
Although very simple, the formula does capture the essence of many a change project. Indeed if
ever your change initiative is stalling, a quick check of the status of the factors will reveal where
the potential problems lie. As in any such equation the basic premise is that factors D, V and FS
must be greater than the resistance or cost of the change for progress to occur.
The multiplication signs imply that if any one factor is not present (i.e zero) then the change
effort itself will definitely be faltering as the product of the equation will also be zero. So if there
is very little dissatisfaction with the status quo, or if there is no compelling vision, or if there is
no clearly understandable plan then momentum is unlikely to build.
Beckhard and Pritchard (1992) later added a further factor of believability (credibility that
there’s something wrong with the status quo, that the new vision is realistic and there are cogent
plans in place) and De Woot (1996) added the concept of capability (the organization has the
means to make the change). From my own work with organizations going through rapid change,
I would also add capacity (the resources available).
Dissatisfaction with the status quo
When we look at the organizational case studies in Chapter 3, we see that they all had significant
internal or external drivers for change, or that the change emerged from a continuous process of
engagement and dialogue with stakeholders (principally customers/end users and staff). Each had
taken the chance to formally or informally review the changing nature of their operating
environments and assess their internal capability to maintain momentum or change direction. In
Beckhard’s terms we are looking at a felt need to change, either because something right now is
causing discomfort, or something looming will. There may be a preferred way of doing things
that has been spotted or an opportunity emerging. Our stakeholders may well have said they are

45
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

dissatisfied or want something better. All these in effect are saying we are motivated to move
from where we are. Quo
3.2.5. Force field analysis

As part of Lewin’s model of organizational change in which he said you needed to unfreeze the
current situation, make the changes and then refreeze the organization, he highlighted the
importance of spotting and working with the forces at play. In order to do this he devised his
force field analysis. Starting from the premise that any given present situation represents
equilibrium between forces driving change and forces resisting change, which are in tension (ie,
a force field) the point is to identify those forces, their direction, nature and strength, and how
they can be modified. This is an effective tool in change situations as it helps picture ‘the whole’
system at play. One of the key aspects is that you work on both sides – the driving forces, yes,
but also those restraining forces.
What we can see appearing is the desire to move away from the current situation and the need to
have an understanding of the end state to which you have to be moving. When you start taking
the first steps to increase the driving forces and reduce the restraining forces you will get
movement towards the end state.
There are a number of stages to the process:
1. Make a clear statement about where you want to be or your outcome.
2. Identify and list all those elements that are driving forces, and restraining forces. These are
likely to include personal, interpersonal, group, inter-group, cultural, administrative,
technological and environmental forces. (Make sure you include yourself!)
3. Analyze each of the forces. How influential/strong are they and have you any control over
them? What are the connections between the forces, eg if you influenced one would it affect
another? Rank those that you can influence in order of importance. Identify practical actions that
you could take which will build on driving forces, and reduce resisting forces.
It is important to note that building the driving forces alone will generally have the effect of
increasing the resisting forces. A classic example of this is increasing management force in an
industrial dispute, which will normally have the effect of increasing union/staff resistance. A
government taking an intransigent line during a fuel shortage crisis will increase resistance! At
this stage it is often the case that managers discover that the outcome identified at the beginning

46
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

is too large scale and complex to deal with in one analysis, and the individual ‘forces’ have their
own force fields to be identified.
4. Develop a detailed action plan with target dates. Remember that making small steps on a
number of fronts is usually more effective in the long run than trying to achieve too much in a
short space of time.
3.2.6. From > To analysis
From > to analysis is a technique designed to help bring into focus the possible consequences
and actions resulting from adopting one strategy rather than another. It helps to simplify strategic
choices in the change process to enable clear business decisions to be evaluated and taken. It
primarily contrasts existing and potential future characteristics of the organization and
encourages evaluation of the consequences of alternative actions. It is particularly useful when
sketching out the intended future state to get a clearer picture of that state, and also to ensure that
there’s shared understanding between the initiators of the change. It is also a way of engaging
with stakeholders either to start the mobilization and engagement process or to involve them in
deciding what the future will look like. Finally, it is an important tool in beginning to flesh out a
set of objectives and supporting activities necessary for the change to happen.
At this stage a preliminary exercise is useful to ensure that the orientation is correct by defining
what the current situation and the preferred future state are. The level of detail of this analysis
will vary according to the type of change. A business process change may have to define exactly
the nature of the end process so that software can be written to deliver the process. A
restructuring may be detailed to an outline level – perhaps the top two tiers – so that people know
in general what the new departments are, but the actual working through of the finer detail of job
roles and accountabilities may be best left to local line managers. In culture change, where the
new culture is defined as primarily one of enhanced customer service, this may well start with a
statement of guiding principles but these will need to be interpreted very differently in different
parts of the organization with different segmented customers.

47
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

3.3. PROCESS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

To improve efficiency and effectiveness it is vital that mangers develop the skills necessary to
manage change effectively. Most people go from side to side four distinct stages in the change
process.

1st Assessing the Need for Change

Change can affect organizational structure, culture, strategies, controlling system, and way of
managing. So, organizations should assess the need for change properly.

Assessing the need for change calls for two important activities:

- Recognize that there are problems that require change. The real problem/s, not the
symptom.
- Identify the sources of the problem/s.

2nd Decide On the Change to Make

Decide what the organization’s ideal future would be. Decide where they would like their
organization to be in the future: decide what kinds of goods and services it should making,
what its business-level strategy should be, how structure should be change and develop
strategy.
What can change agents change? Change agents can change the options essentially fall into
four categories: structure, technology, physical setting, and people.
Plan how to attain organization’s ideal future state.
Identifying sources of resistance for change and how to overcome them.

3rd Implementing the Change

Under this stem the manager introduce and mange the change. The manger should decide
whether change will occur from the top down or from the bottom up.

 Top down change: when the change is required to implement quickly top-down
approach is appropriate. It is revolutionary in nature. The top manger will identify the
need for change, decide what to do, and then move quickly to implement the changes

48
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

throughout the organization. Usually mangers use this approach for restructuring and
downsizing the organization.
 Bottom up change: it is more gradual and evolutionary. Top mangers consult with
middle and first-line managers about the need for change. Then, over time, managers at
all levels work to develop a detailed plan for change. Such approach is important to
overcome resistance.

4th Evaluating the Change

Evaluate how successful the change effort has been in improving organizational performance.
Managers can evaluate change effect using measures such as improvements in market share and
profits, in the ability of managers to meet their goal. We can also use benchmarking-the process
of comparing one company’s performance on specific dimensions with the high performing
organizations.

3.4. RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

Resistance to change in organizations means employee behavior that block the change process.
Resistance to change can come in many forms and at different times during the change process.
In previous section we looked briefly at Lewin’s force field analysis and how, in order to ensure
that the driving forces for change do indeed achieve their stated intent, the restraining forces are
reduced. These restraining forces can be seen as the resistances to change, and as we have seen
from the change equation they need to be less that those forces on the other side of the equation.
When dealing with resistance to change during the mobilization process it is important to at least
hold the possibility that what you label ‘resistance’ might actually be something quite different.
Remember we discussed the thoughtful realists who have as a motto, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix
it’ and sometimes, ‘Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.’ These people value what
currently is, especially if it works. Do not imagine they are resisting change because they are
Luddites – they may well be making a plea not to rush headlong into change without think
through all the implications. Others, based on their knowledge and experience, may genuinely be
alerting you to the fact that the proposed changes won’t work. I believe a key process is to
establish where you think resistance is and to discover what the views of these people are. Let
them inform your choices and your designs. It may be because of some of the reasons just stated

49
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

or it may be because of issues such as fear of change; lack of security; fear of conflict; reluctance
of think strategically; having too narrow a perspective (job-only focus), or it might be the
ownership of outdated processes. A key question to ask is, how might we use this information to
reduce the restraining forces or fine tune the change plan itself?
Schein (2002) suggests that there are two fundamental anxieties that people have when facing
change – the anxiety to survive set against the anxiety of whether they will be able to learn the
new ways of doing things: Learning anxiety comes from being afraid to try something new for
fear that it will be too difficult, that we will look stupid in the attempt, or that we will have to
part from old habits that have worked for us in the past. Learning something new can cast us as
the deviant in the groups we belong to. It can threaten our self-esteem and, in extreme cases,
even our identity… You can’t talk people out of their learning anxieties; they’re the basis for
resistance to change. Survival anxiety, however, works in creating pressure for change within the
individual in relation to the consequences of not changing – being sacked, appearing incompetent
or unwilling. Schein suggests that for change to occur, survival anxiety has to outweigh the
learning anxiety. Of course to do this you can either raise the level of survival anxiety (for
example through threats of punishment) or reduce the levels of learning anxiety. From our
understanding of force field analysis we can perhaps come to a similar conclusion to Schein in
that it’s best to reduce the learning anxiety by ensuring that there’s an environment conducive to
learning.
Change, no matter how beneficial, is generally resisted and is always difficult to implement.
Basically people resist change for several reasons, and your task as a manager is to try to identify
those reasons and manage them appropriately, to reduce or eliminate the negative effects and to
correct misperceptions.

In every change effort there is resistance to change. In spite of the change good ideas, many
people will see them in a different light. They believe that the change is not in their own best
interest or the companies. They then act on the belief, doing whatever they can to stop the
change from happening. At the last, they try to make the change as minimal as possible.

3.4.1. Forms of resistance to change

 Overt and immediate: Voicing complaints, engaging in work slowdown

50
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 Implicit and deferred: Loss of employee loyalty and motivation, increased errors or
mistakes, increased absenteeism
3.4.2. Variables of resistance to change

Before making changes, mangers should anticipate how employees will react to or resist change.
Resistance to change involves the variables of intensity, source, and focus, and explains why
people resist change. Ken Hultman identifies these three variables as the major variables of
resistance to change.

A. Intensity: resistance to change doesn’t necessary surface in standard ways. Resistance

intensity can be varying from strong to week or somewhere in between. Resistance can be
overt, implicit, immediate, or deferred.
It is easier for management to deal with resistance when it is overt and immediate. For
instance, a change is proposed and employees quickly respond by voicing complaints,
engaging a work slowdown, threatening to go on strike, or the like. The greater challenge is
managing resistance that is implicit or deferred. Implicit resistance efforts are more subtle-
loss of loyalty to the organization, loss of motivation to work, increased errors or mistakes,
increased absenteeism due to “sickness” –and hence more difficult to recognize.
Managers should anticipate the intensity of resistance to change and effectively plan to
overcome it.
B. Sources: there are three major sources of resistance: facts, beliefs, and values.
Facts: the facts (statements that identify reality) of change are often circulated through
the grapevine inaccurately. People tend to use facts selectively (i.e. the problem of
selective perception) to prove their point. Facts used correctly help overcome fear of the
unknown.
Beliefs: facts can be proved; beliefs cannot. They are subjective. Our beliefs are our
opinions that lead us to think and feel that a change is correct or incorrect, good or bad.
Values: values are what people believe are worth pursuing or doing. Values are accepted
principles. What we value are important us. Values are priorities. Our values meet our
needs and affect our behavior.

51
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

People analyze the facts presented from all sources and determine if they believe the change
is of value to them. When the facts are clear and logical and people believe the change is of
value to them, they tend to have lower resistance to the change.

C. Focus: there are three major focuses of resistance: self, others, and the work environment.
Self: it is natural for people to want to know, “what’s in it for me? What will I gain or
loss?” when the fact of change have a negative effect on an employee’s economic
well-being, such as lower pay or longer hours without additional compensation,
employees tend to resist the change.
Other: after considering what is in it for them, or when they are not affected by the
change, people tend to consider how the change will affect their friends, peers (peer
pressure), and colleagues. If employees analyze the facts and believe the change will
affect others negatively, they may be resisting the change.
Work environment: the work environment includes the job itself and the physical
setting and the climate. People like to be in control of their environment, and they
resist changes that take away their control. Employees’ analysis of the facts about the
current versus the changed work environment will affect their resistance to the
change.

Generally people resist change for a variety of reasons, some of which include:

Maintain the status quo: people like things the way they are now, view the change as an
inconvenience, or don’t agree that a change is needed,
Uncertainty: people tend to fear the unknown and wonder how the change will affect
them,
Learning anxiety: the prospect of learning something new itself produces anxiety, and
Fear: people often fear they may lose their jobs; the friends they work with may change,
that they will not be successful with learning new ways, or that they may lose control
over how they do their jobs.
3.4.3. Stakeholder interests

When we looked at the need for change we saw the importance of establishing who the
stakeholders were and where they stood in relation to the change. In terms of mobilizing people

52
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

for change it is crucial to use your stakeholder analysis to inform how you will manage and
communicate with them throughout the change. Stakeholder analysis can look at stakeholders
from a number of perspectives including the level of power, energy, interest and commitment
they have for the change. Or we can look at the analysis from the perspective of the impact that
the change will have on them. One can sometimes assume that those with the highest interest
would be those who will be most impacted. However, this isn’t always the case so a separate
analysis would bring additional benefits. We can also look at the levels of trust and agreement
we have with them. The purpose in establishing these things is to be able to accomplish your
aims of successful change whilst at the same time being mindful of the wants and needs of other
communities of interest. Stakeholder analysis can look at stakeholders from perspectives of;
1. The level of power, energy, interest and commitment.
2. The impact that the change will have on them.
3. The levels of trust and agreement we have with them.
[Link]. Stakeholders classification
A further important point to note is that stakeholders may well have ongoing relationships with
each other, or they may form relationships because of this change. This can affect their attitudes
to change – positively or negatively. Let us look at some generic positioning of stakeholders
across some of the possible axes.
Blockers (high energy/low commitment and high power/low commitment)
These are people who can obstruct or prevent the change happening in some way. They have an
interest in the change but a low commitment to it. Given we’ve defined them as blockers, this
implies that they have some power to impede. Alternatively it may be that they have the energy
to oppose the change even though they may not have any power.
Key questions that will inform your strategy here are:
• What are their motivations?
• What is their legitimacy?
• What are their arguments?
• What is their source of power?
• What is their source of energy?
Possible strategies include winning the arguments; reducing their power and energy;
circumventing their power; escalating to a higher authority; or engaging them in dialogue.

53
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Sponsors (high power/high commitment)

These may indeed be nominated sponsors for this change project – but they may not be for two
reasons. One is that the nominated project sponsor may not be totally committed to the project
for whatever reason (time, interest or politics, for example) and the other is that there may not be
a project management methodology operating within the organization. With those provisos we
can however say that all the research suggests that the successful change management projects
are the ones that have a sponsor who is committed and who has the necessary power and
authority to intervene, for example, to escalate issues, to secure resources, and to open doors and
such like.
The same set of questions need to be answered as for the blockers, but this is to ensure that they
stay onside and are kept informed to the degree with which they are comfortable. If they are in a
formal role then the governance procedures should go some way to providing a framework for
this.
Champions (high energy/high commitment)
These are the people who are advocates for change and may well be active implementers of
change. They may have specific power and authority; they may have a specific role within the
change process; they may have a visible leading role within the business; or they may be middle
managers wanting change to happen. They will naturally want to be fully involved in the change
and would most likely be able to take other people along with them. A key need will be for them
to have enough information and resource and also enough support to keep their momentum.
Change is an exhausting business and can sap the energy and motivation of any of us. Sometimes
the change champions can bear the brunt of this and so require nurturing and sustaining, even
though they may not realize it.

Preachers (low energy/high commitment)

Preachers are people who are in positions of power or opinion leaders whose view counts within
the organization. They are committed yet for some reason do not have the energy to make this
their number one priority. Given the need for clear, visible sponsorship one may argue that
someone who just preaches might have an unforeseen negative impact on perceptions about the
change. If you look at the typical chief executive of a local government authority having to
juggle competing demands on their time (perhaps being responsible for housing, social services,

54
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

education, sport and recreation, the environment and planning) or a global leader implementing
both internal and customer facing initiatives, perhaps you can understand that they may have
limited time for this particular change. What is key is that the project is sponsored – perhaps by
someone with access to the top person – and that the preacher is kept focused on this change, so
that the limited amount of time they have available is well directed. They can either act as an
ambassador for the change, or as someone who asks the right questions, or stays on message in
the right forums. Keeping them informed is important and also watching for signs of lack of
interest (and the possible repercussions thereof).

Willing workers (low power/high commitment)

What I’ve called the ‘willing workers’ are those who may not have any particular power base but
are nonetheless committed to the change and willing to pursue and progress it. These may be
people intimately affected by the change or they may be onlookers. Your task will be to focus
their energies into useful work and also to protect them from those who do have power but who
may not be behind the change and may seek to disrupt it. Willing workers shouldn’t ever be
taken for granted: if their enthusiasm wanes you know you have a problem.

Sleepers (low energy/low commitment and low power/low commitment)

Sleepers are people who probably can’t be bothered about the change. Perhaps they are just not
interested, or maybe they are not aware of it. It could be that they’re not interested because
they’ve never been invited to be involved. When those leading the change are racing ahead with
enthusiasm and inspiration these may be seen as the silent majority. The task here is to wake
them up and ensure that they are supportive of the change. Remember the way you wake them up
might determine the degree of support they give to the change! Understanding why they are
asleep might be a good place to start – change initiative fatigue; feelings of powerlessness; too
much pressure in the day job; lack of awareness about the change; being comfortable as they are.
Developing a communication and engagement strategy based on the change equation would be
the second step.
[Link]. The impact/influence matrix
The four categories in the impact/influence matrix are based on the degree to which the
stakeholders are impacted by the change and the degree to which they may have some influence
over the course of the change. Typically we can position the people who are driving through the

55
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

change as naturally being at the high end of the influence dimension, which immediately creates
issues of power and authority and how they are exercised.
Often in changes – due to time pressures, conflicting priorities and perhaps lack of interest on
their part – the change agents tend to minimize the attention to those in the low impact/low
influence quadrant. However, they are stakeholders, and in that sense they do have an interest
even if they are not interested. At the minimum, making them aware of the changes and keeping
them informed seems sensible. Those who are in the low impact/high influence quadrant can fall
into two categories: those who are in positions of power within the organization but who will not
be affected personally or professionally by the change; and those who are perhaps guardians or
watchdogs outside of the organization who have the potential to exercise power and influence,
though normally on behalf of others. Clearly it is important to establish where these groups stand
on the change (in terms of their interest, energy and commitment) and then to ensure there is
some buy-in from them. This can often be done by addressing their concerns directly.
The high impact/low influence quadrant is often where the majority of the recipients of the
changes can be located – be they citizens or employees. Interestingly, individuals can often have
little or no influence but when they come together they can be a real force for or against the
change. Just because they have little influence at the beginning of the change doesn’t mean to
say that they can’t affect its successful outcome. Good management practice would suggest you
want buy-in and engagement from this group if you want the changes to work. Some
involvement is required, and communication and engagement are important.
Those people in the high impact/high influence quadrant are critical to the success of the change.
You would not just be looking for approval or token support but high degrees of ownership.
Clearly any concerns they may have need to be addressed but more than that, active engagement
is required because of their position and their being intimately affected.

[Link]. Trust/agreement matrix

Block (1991) uses the two dimensions of trust and agreement to plot stakeholder groups and
individuals and to develop appropriate strategies of engagement – or disengagement.
The first step in negotiating agreement and trust is to identify the key stakeholders and any
onlookers, plot them on the matrix and then develop an appropriate approach for each grouping.
However, a health warning accompanies this – we will typically discover the levels of trust and

56
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

agreement through dialogue, not by preconception or prejudice. We mustn’t assume someone is

in a particular box because we think so or someone else suggests they are, or that they were there
in the previous change. It’s fine to have a hypothesis and plan a strategy on that, but remain open
to other possibilities. In general, to establish where people are you will need to exchange
understanding about the change vision, purpose, goals and allocation of resources, affirm or
negotiate agreement, and affirm or negotiate levels of trust.
High trust/high agreement
These people are onside with what you are trying to achieve. The main aim therefore is to do
enough to ensure that the levels of trust and agreement remain high. Don’t take these people for
granted: treat them as you would any friend or valued colleague – you have to nurture and
sustain the relationship.
High trust/low agreement
It’s always good to have someone you can trust enough to give you critical feedback – in both
senses of the word ‘critical’. They may not be a friend – they could be on the other side of the
political divide – but you value their opinion. One of the great things about having an honest
opponent is that you can engage in dialogue with them about the change to sharpen your views;
practice your arguments, unearth any faults or failures in the plan; and also have the opportunity
of bringing them around to your view.
In order to do this you need to start where you both agree – on the bedrock of the trust you have
with each other. You can then outline where you stand and seek to understand what views they
hold. Dialogue and collaborative problem solving can then occur.
Low trust/high agreement
These ‘fair-weather friends’ are those people who you find are supportive of the change but who
you don’t have a particularly trusting relationship with, and therefore you are unsure how long
they will support the change, whether they will support the next change and what their
motivations are.
Naturally you are more guarded with them. They are onside and therefore should be a force for
change and need to be involved in the change. Perhaps the level of openness and frankness and
the degree to which you discuss any difficulties may be less than with your allies and honest
opponents.

57
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

There is a paradox here – the more guarded you are the less likely that trust will develop. On the
other hand, if you satisfactorily develop the relationship during the course of this change,
perhaps the more trust there will be in the future.
Once again you need to enter into dialogue and affirm your levels of agreement, though you may
need to be quite specific about what it is that you agree and, because of the nature of the
relationship, you might need this to be ‘on the record’. You need to acknowledge, at least to
yourself, the caution that exists and that both sides have some reservations. But there is no reason
why you cannot be clear about what you want from them in terms of working together on the
changes, and you can also discuss how you like to work together.
Low trust/low agreement
Some may call these people enemies. If they are an important stakeholder group they need to be
brought on board if at all possible. Remember that you don’t know that they are definitely
against you unless you have tried to engage them and your attempts at negotiating agreement and
trust have failed. By definition, because you don’t trust them you are in the worst possible
position to exert influence with them. Block’s view is that once you’ve tried to move them to one
of the other quadrants and failed, the answer is to let go of them! Perhaps a little more strongly
than that, you may well have to marginalize them when it comes to the changes. Block’s advice
is to reduce the tension and threat that exist in the relationship and this can be achieved by either
eliminating contact with them or reducing the threat from them by helping them feel understood.

3.5. MANAGING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

The major methods managers can use to overcome resistance to change are the following:

Education/Communication: if the employees do not have adequate information or if the

information they have is inaccurate, then it is necessary to educate them about the
change, its process, its working and its results. Communication is the highest priority and
first strategy required for any organizational change. It reduces the restraining forces by
keeping employees informed about what to expect from the change effort.
Communication improves the change process in at least two ways. First, it is the conduit
through which employees typically learn about the driving forces for change. Second,
communication clarifies an otherwise uncertain future. The more corporate leaders

58
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

communicate their images of the future, the more easily employees can visualize their
own role in that future.
Develop a positive climate for change: develop and maintain good human relations.
Because change and trust are so closely intertwined, the manger’s first concern should be
to develop mutual trust.
Encourage interest in improvement: continually give employees opportunities to
develop new skills, abilities, and creativity. Constantly look for better ways to do things.
Encouraging employees to suggest changes and listening to and implementing their ideas
are important part of continuous improvement.
Give facts: get all facts and plan how you will presents them to employees. Clearly state
why change is needed and how it will affect employees positively and negatively.
Involve employees: employees who participate in developing changes are more
committed to them than employees who have changes assigned to them.
Provide support: allow employees to express their feelings in a positive way. Since
training is very important to successful changes, give as much advance notice and
training as possible before the change takes place. Giving thorough training helps reduce
learning anxiety and helps employees realize they can be successful with the change.
Avoid direct confrontation: confrontation tends to make people emotional and more
resistant to change. A subtle approach is preferable to most people.
Negotiation and agreement: buying out active and potential resisters. Negotiation is a
form of exchange, in which the promise of benefits or resources is exchanged for the
target person’s compliance with influencer’s request.
Use power: if other strategies are ineffective, leaders rely on forcing people to accept the
change.
3.5.1. The change or transitions curve
The change or transitions curve describes a typical trajectory through these stages though we
should recognize that not everyone will necessarily experience all these stages nor necessarily in
this sequence. Indeed it is possible for people to get stuck and not move on, or move through the
curve and then find themselves back at the beginning.
Even when change comes as no surprise it is often experienced as a shock.

59
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

The change may have been on the horizon and you had mentally understood that it was
approaching, but this doesn’t allow for the bodily and emotional feeling when it does come. It’s
the conversion into reality which makes people close down and switch off, resulting in
numbness. This can be experienced in expressions such as ‘the walking wounded’. See someone
who has just had bad news – say that they have been made redundant – and they really have
brought the shutters down between them and the world. This can then move into a stage of denial
where somehow they haven’t been able to take in the news or the consequences and it’s
somehow easier to pretend to them-selves that it hasn’t actually happened. These first few stages
I believe are a prerequisite to people being able to begin thinking and feeling about the change.
We are talking about change that can severely disrupt one’s life and the means to having a
livelihood. Change can challenge the notion of who you are and it can also turn your world
upside down.
When individuals allow feelings about their circumstances to arise (and this isn’t necessarily a
conscious process, remember) then a typical emotion will be one of anger. People are annoyed at
someone else for imposing this change, or taking away their role, or their prospects. They may
well be angry with the organization, their line manager or their work colleagues, but they may
also be angry with themselves for allowing this to happen. Even though it isn’t their fault they
may shoulder some of the blame – ‘If only I had worked harder, or seen it coming’. These
feeling of anger, blame, irritation and frustration can then subside only to be replaced by feelings
of anxiety. Once again the intensity may vary, but these feelings can range from the merely
nervous through to dread and panic. We have already seen what Schein has to say about anxiety
and some of the contributing factors. Clearly on this emotional roller coaster there will be real
feelings of worry about the destabilization to the present and concern about the ability to survive
into the future, whatever it may bring. This will be accompanied by the anxieties about
competence, the ability to learn and step into a role which they may not know about, and may not
want.
These anxieties can run their course, and leave a sense of depression and perhaps apathy. There’s
a realization that what you have had has probably gone forever and you may not have the
appetite to accept anything new at this point. In some ways this stage replicates some of the
qualities of the initial stages of numbness and denial, but this has been transformed into a sense

60
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

of loss. There’s often no inclination to do much about the situation, maybe just passing time or
‘treading water’.
All of these stages are marked by an internal focus (of what’s happening to me) and most likely
rather negative emotions about the present and future. And then something happens. It may be
the gradual realization that you have to continue with your life, or perhaps it’s been the support
or challenge of family, friends or even your manager. But at some stage you start looking
outward and acknowledge that the past is over and there becomes an acceptance that something
else needs to be done. This looking towards the future can take a number of guises but will
generally be characterized by the idea that you can explore options and test some of them out. It
might be a new role recently advertised, or a training programe that is particularly relevant. It
might be going down the pub with some co-workers, and you find yourself with the new team.
With this comes some optimism that the worst is over. Exploring these possibilities leads to
learning more about what needs to be done and how well you can do it.
Focusing on this leads to more of an immersion in the new order of things and a connection with
the ‘new’ organization. As time goes by you find yourself integrating these new behaviors, ideas
and attitudes into your world view. The transitions curve can take many forms, but going through
it is a normal and natural process. Knowing about it helps – but doesn’t mean you don’t go
through it! Being someone responsible for others’ well-being means that you can assist people in
going through the process. Suggests certain generic strategies as you move through the curve.

3.6. PLANNED ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Planned organizational change is the intentional attempt by an organization to alter its status quo
(present position) and move to the desired one. Planned change is an essential element to growth.

61
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Planned changes are made by the organization with the purpose of achieving something that
might otherwise be unattainable, or accomplishable with great difficulty. Through planned
changes organizations reach new frontiers and progress move rapidly toward given set of goals
and objectives. Through planned change, organizations can decide in advance why change is
necessary, for what purpose, what to change and how to achieve the desired change.

3.6.1 Approaches to Manage Planned Organizational Change

There are several popular approaches to managing change. This section introduces five of the
leading approaches to organizational change: Lewin’s three step models, action research,
appreciate inquiry, parallel learning structures, and lessiers change model.

A. Lewin’s Three Step Change Model

In the early 1950s, Kurt Lewin developed technique, still used today, for changing people’s
behavior, skilled and attitudes. Lewin argued that successful change in an organization should
follow three steps: unfreezing the status quo, moving to the desired condition, and then
refreezing the new change to make it remains in the desired state.

i) Unfreezing: the focus of this stage is to create the motivation to change. It refers to
making individuals (employees) aware that the present behavior is inappropriate,
irrelevant and inadequate. Unfreezing introducing information that shows discrepancies
between desired performance and actual performance. Unfreezing is the first part of the
change process whereby the change agent produces disequilibrium between the driving
and restraining forces. This may occur by increasing the driving forces, reducing
restraining forces, or having a combination of both.
Driving forces push organizations toward a new state of affairs. One side of the Lewin’s
model represents the driving forces as shown on graph below. Section 3.2 of this handout
described some of the driving forces in the external and internal environment. Restraining
forces maintain the status quo. These restraining forces are commonly called “resistance
to change” because they appear as employee behavior that block the change process.
ii) Changing: it is the second phase where new learning occurs. Because changes involve
learning, this stage entails providing employees with new information, new behavior

62
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

model, or new way of looking at things. This stage shifts the employees’ behavior to a
new level. Employees learn the new desirable behavior, values, and attitudes.
Structural, task, technological, and people change may take place to reach desirable
performance level.
iii) Refreezing: it occurs when the organization’s systems and structure are aligned with the
desired behavior. Refreezing enables to remain in the desirable state. The desirable
performance becomes the permanent way of doing things. This is the new status quo.
Refreezing often takes place through reinforcement and support for the new behavior or
role. During this phase individuals internalize the new beliefs, feelings and behavior
learned in the changing phase. That is to say, refreezing focuses on reinforcing the new
behaviors usually be positive result, feeling of accomplishment and/or rewards from
others. Supports involve training the new methods and behaviors until they are learned
and then making sure that new work procedure become permanent.

Desired

Restraining forces
Condition

Driving forces
Restraining forces
Restraining forces
Driving forces

Driving forces

Current
Condition

Before change after change

Figure 3.3: Lewin three step change model

B. Action Research Approach

Action research refers to a change process based on systematic collection of data and then
selection of a change action based on what the analyzed data indicates. Action research takes the
view that meaningful change is a combination of action oriented (changing attitude and

63
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

behavior) and research oriented (testing theory). Action research approach involves the following
processes.

Diagnose need Introduce Evaluate and

Establish consultant and client relationship Disengage consultant’s service
for change intervention establish
change
Gather data, Implement desired Determine
analyze data, and incremental and effectiveness of
decide intervention quantum change change and
objectives refreeze new
conditions

Figure 3.4: the action research process

Establish Client-Consultant Relationship: action research usually assumes that change

agent originates outside the system (such as a consultant), so the process begins by
forming the client-consultant relationship. Consultants need to determine the client’s
readiness for change, including whether people are motivated to participate in the
process, are open to meaningful change, and possess the ability to complete the process.
Many change management consultants prefer to adopt the role of process consultant
rather than that of technical expert. Process consultation is a method of helping them
within the system solve their own problems by making them aware of organizational
process, the consequences of those processes, and the means by which they can be
changed.
Diagnose The Need For Change: action research is a problem-oriented activity that
carefully diagnoses the problem through systematic analysis of the situation. The
consultant will gather and analyze the information about the current system problem
though interview, survey of employees, review records, and soon. The consultant then
decides the intervention objectives and actions.
Introduce intervention: this stage in the action research model applies one or more
actions to correct the problem.
Evaluate and stabilize change: this stage need to evaluate the effectiveness of
intervention action against the standard established in the stage. If intervention actions

64
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

have desired effect, then the change agent and participants need to stabilize the new
conditions. This refers to the refreezing process.
Disengage consultant’s service: it is about the separation of the consultant’s service
from the organization.
C. Lessier’s Change Model

This model consists of five steps:

Step1: Define Change: clearly state what the change is. Decide what to change-is it a task,
structure, technological, or people change? Set the change objectives.

Step 2: Identify Possible Resistance to the Change: determine the intensity, source, and focus
of possible resistance to the change.

Step 3: Plan The Change: plan the change implementation. Use the appropriate supervisory
style for the situation.

Step 4: Implement Change: This Step Has Three Parts:

- Give facts: give the facts about the change and explain why it is necessary as far in
advance of the change as possible. Explain how the change will affect the employees.
Relate the change to their values.
- Involve employees: use as much employee involvement as you can. But use the
appropriate supervisory style for the situation.
- Provide support: allow employees to express their thoughts and feelings in a positive
way. Answer their questions openly and honestly. Make sure that they receive proper
training in how to implement the changed method.

Step 5: Control The Change: follow up to ensure that the change is implemented, reinforced,
and maintained. Make sure the objective is met. If not, take corrective action. For major changes,
be sure to change performance appraisals to reflect new jobs accurately.

D. Appreciate Inquiry Approach

Appreciate inquiry tries to break out of the problem-solving mentally by framing relationships
around the positive and the possible. It is an organizational change process that directs attention

65
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

away from the group’s own problem and focuses participants on the group’s potential and
positive elements. Appreciate inquiry process involves the following steps.

Discovery Dreaming Designing Delivering

Identifying the Envisioning Engaging in Dev eloping
best of “what “what might dialogue about objectives
is” be” “what should about “what
be” will be”

Figure 3.5: the appreciative inquiry process

Discovery: identifying the positive elements of the observed events or organization. This
might involve documenting positive customer experiences elsewhere in the organization.
Or it might include interviewing members of another organization to discover its
fundamental strengths. As participants discuss their findings, they shift into the dreaming
stage.
Dreaming: participants envision what might be possible in an ideal organization. By
directing their attention to a theoretically ideal organization or situation, participants feel
safer revealing their hopes and aspirations than if they were discussing their own
organization or predicament.
Designing: as participations make their private thoughts public to the group, the process
shifts into the third stage, called designing. Designing involves the process of dialogue, in
which participants listen with selfless receptivity to each other’s model and assumptions
and eventually form a collective model for thinking within the team. In effect, they create
a common image of what should be. As this model takes shape, group members shift the
focus back to their own situation.
Delivering: participants establish specific objectives and direction for their own
organization based on their model of what will be.
E. Parallel learning structure approach

66
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Parallel learning structures are highly participative arrangements, composed of people from most
levels of the organization who follow the action research model to produce meaningful
organizational change. They are social structures developed alongside the formal hierarchy with
the purpose of increasing the organization’s learning. Ideally, parallel learning structure
participants are sufficiently free from the constraints of the larger organization so that they can
more effectively solve organizational issues.

III.7. STRATEGIES FOR PLANNED ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

The general strategies in managing of organizational change are:

1. Create a favorable environment: an environment of trust and shared commitment

should be created by involving staff in decisions and actions, which affect them. Team
management, a cooperative spirit among staff and workers, and a genuine feeling of
shared involvement will create a greater willingness to accept change. A participative
style of management and management by objectives (MBO) are useful approaches.
2. Define a set of goals: they provide a framework to measure the progress. It defines what
the organization wants to accomplish and provide employees with a sense of direction.
3. Establish what cannot be changed: identify the bedrocks that the employees can always
depend on as they work their way through the change process. The “things that do not
change” can be viewed as parameters for the action area, giving individuals the freedom
to act within those limits.
4. Create a change plan: After identification of the bedrocks, the organizations have to
plan about the change.
5. Move decisively and with speed: The organization by using this strategy able to decide
quickly with confidence.
6. Communicate with employees: All the decision about the change should be
communicated to the employees of the organization.
7. Employee motivation: The organization should employ different kinds of motivation to
successfully implement the change.
8. Create favorable organization and methods: The final strategy is used to create
favorable environment in the organization in which employees cooperated with top
management bodies.
67
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Organizational change is the movement of an organization away from its present state and
toward some desired future state to increase its efficiency and effectiveness. Organizational
change is the alteration of an organization’s structure, culture, technology, or people

de Caluwé and Vermaak (2004) identified five different ways in which we can conceptualize
what happens when we want to make change interventions. They have given colors to each of
these approaches. Some of them relate to the four organizational models and indeed to the three-
ball model of outputs, interests, and emotions and culture that we met in the introduction.

External Forces for Organizational Change are: Customer demand, Intense Competition,
Technology, Reduction of Government Regulations, and Social Change where as the Internal
Forces for organizational change are: Changes in the managerial personnel, Certain deficiencies
in the existing system: such as; Unmanageable span of control; Lack of coordination between the
departments; Obstacles in communication; Lack of uniformity in the policies (as you know
policies are guidelines for decision making); Non cooperation between line and staff member,
etc. and Certain other forces. Another main source of changes is the change itself.

Checklist

Dear learners by now you have to have clear understanding on the following points, if you are
capable of describing put’ ’ mark if you don’t ‘X’ and take yourself back once again &
revise.

Meaning and implication of change

Forces for organizational change

Process of organizational change

Resistance to change

Managing resistance to change

Planned organizational change

68
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Strategies for planned organizational change

Unit Three Self Evaluation Test- 1

1. List down the external and internal factors to organizational change

2. Discuss the general strategies in managing of organizational change
3. The movement of an organization away from its present state toward a desired state to
increase its efficiency and effectiveness is
A. Organizational success B. Organizational change C. Competition D. None
4. Which one of the following cannot be considered as external forces for an organization?
A. Customer demand B. Technology C. Social and cultural change
D. None
5. Which one of the following can be an example of implicit and deferred resistance?
A. Loss of motivation to work B. work slowdown C. Increased errors D. A&C
E. None
6. Which one of the following approach is useful to create favorable environment of an
organization?
A. Participative style B. Management By objectives C. Democratic style D. All
E. None
7. In parallel learning structure approach of managing planned organizational change the first
step is to
A. Establish consultant and client relationship B. Identify possible resistance to
change
C. Evaluate and establish change D. All E. None

69
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

UNIT FOUR: TYPES OF CHANGE

Contents of the unit:

4.1. Introduction
4.2. Major Types of Organizational Change
4.2.1. Organization-wide Versus Subsystem Change
4.2.2. Transformational Versus Incremental Change
4.2.3. Remedial Versus Developmental Change
4.2.4. Planned versus unplanned change
4.2.5. Revolutionary versus evolutionary change

[Link] Evolutionary change

[Link] Revolutionary change

[Link].1. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)

[Link].2. Business Process Re-engineering process

[Link].3. Business Process Re-engineering techniques and tools

4.3. Other kinds of change

Objective of the unit:

Dear learners, after the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

 Know different types of change

 Describe the process of BPR
 Assist organizations to in changing their organization to accommodate the changing
world.
 Manage changes
 Identify the different techniques and tools of change.

70
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

4.1. INTRODUCTION

Dear learner, We all approach change in different ways. That’s partly because of our different
personalities and it’s partly because of our individual histories. We see the world in different
ways and also react to it in different ways. The whole area of change management is one where
these ideas have a particular relevance and resonance.
If we conceptualize change in a particular way then perhaps we will try to manage it in a way
that is seemingly logical within our reality, whilst leaving no room for the idea that it’s just our
reality or certainly just one way of looking at the world.
In this chapter we will look at different types of change about how organizations work and tools
& techniques of change.

Dear learner, please list downs the major types of organizational change with an
example.

4.2 MAJOR TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Typically, the phrase “organizational change” is about a significant change in the organization,
such as reorganization or adding a major new product or service. This is in contrast to smaller
changes, such as adopting a new computer procedure. Organizational change can seem like such
a vague phenomena that it is helpful if you can think of change in terms of various dimensions as
described below.

4.2.1 Organization Wide Vs Subsystem Change

Examples of organization-wide change might be a major restructuring, collaboration or

“rightsizing.”
Usually, organizations must undertake organization-wide change to evolve to a different level in
their life cycle, for example, going from a highly reactive, entrepreneurial organization to one
that has a more stable and planned development. Experts assert that successful organizational

71
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

change requires a change in culture – cultural change is another example of organization-wide

change.
Examples of a change in a subsystem might include addition or removal of a product or service,
reorganization of a certain department, or implementation of a new process to deliver products or
services.
4.2.2 Transformational Vs Incremental Change

An example of transformational (or radical, fundamental) change might be changing an

organization’s structure and culture from the traditional top-down, hierarchical structure to a
large amount of self-directing teams. Another example might be Business Process Re-
engineering, which tries to take apart (at least on paper, at first) the major parts and processes of
the organization and then put them back together in a more optimal fashion. Transformational
change is sometimes referred to as quantum change.
Examples of incremental change might include continuous improvement as a quality
management process or implementation of new computer system to increase efficiencies. Many
times, organizations experience incremental change and its leaders do not recognize the change
as such.

4.2.3 Remedial Vs Developmental Change

Change can be intended to remedy current situations, for example, to improve the poor
performance of a product or the entire organization, reduce burnout in the workplace, help the
organization to become much more proactive and less reactive, or address large budget deficits.
Remedial projects often seem more focused and urgent because they are addressing a current,
major problem. It is often easier to determine the success of these projects because the problem
is solved or not.
Change can also be developmental – to make a successful situation even more successful, for
example, expand the amount of customers served, or duplicate successful products or services.
Developmental projects can seem more general and vague than remedial, depending on how
specific goals are and how important it is for members of the organization to achieve those goals.

72
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Some people might have different perceptions of what is a remedial change versus a
developmental change. They might see that if developmental changes are not made soon, there
will be need for remedial changes. Also, organizations may recognize current remedial issues
and then establish a developmental vision to address the issues. In those situations, projects are
still remedial because they were conducted primarily to address current issues
4.2.4 Unplanned Vs Planned Change

Unplanned change usually occurs because of a major, sudden surprise to the organization, which
causes its members to respond in a highly reactive and disorganized fashion. Unplanned change
might occur when the Chief Executive Officer suddenly leaves the organization, significant
public relations problems occur, poor product performance quickly results in loss of customers,
or other disruptive situations arise.
Planned change occurs when leaders in the organization recognize the need for a major change
and proactively organize a plan to accomplish the change. Planned change occurs with successful
implementation of a Strategic Plan, plan for reorganization, or other implementation of a change
of this magnitude.
Note that planned change, even though based on a proactive and well-done plan, often does not
occur in a highly organized fashion. Instead, planned change tends to occur in more of a chaotic
and disruptive fashion than expected by participants.
Managers continually face choices about how best respond to the forces for change. There are
several types of change that managers can adopt to help their organizations achieve desired
future states. In general, types of change fall into two broad categories: evolutionary change and
revolutionary change.

4.2.5 Evolutionary Vs Revolutionary Change

[Link] Evolutionary Chang:

Evolutionary change is gradual, incremental, and narrowly focused. Evolutionary change is not
dramatic or sudden but, rather, is a constant attempt to improve, adapt, and adjust strategy and
structure incrementally to accommodate to changes taking place in the environment. Such
improvements might entail utilizing technology in a better way or reorganizing the work process.

73
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Total quality management and organizational development are among the known evolutionary
changes.

[Link].1. Total quality management

What is quality?

Dictionary has many definitions: “Essential characteristic,” “Superior,” etc.

Some definitions that have gained wide acceptance in various organizations: “Quality is
customer satisfaction,” “Quality is Fitness for Use.”

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the American Society for Quality (ASQ)
define quality as: “Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service
that bears on its ability to satisfy given needs.”

Why Quality?

Reasons for quality becoming a cardinal priority for most organizations:

 Competition – Today’s market demand high quality products at low cost. Having `high
quality’ reputation is not enough! Internal cost of maintaining the reputation should be
less.
 Changing customer – The new customer is not only commanding priority based on
volume but is more demanding about the “quality system.”
 Changing product mix – The shift from low volume, high price to high volume, low price
have resulted in a need to reduce the internal cost of poor quality.
 Product complexity – As systems have become more complex, the reliability
requirements for suppliers of components have become more stringent.
 Higher levels of customer satisfaction – higher customers’ expectations are getting
spawned by increasing competition.

Overview of Total Quality Management (TQM:

TQM: An integrated effort designed to improve quality performance at every level of the
organization.

74
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Now-a-days, customers demand products/services with greater durability and reliability at the
most economic price. This forces producers to strictly follow quality procedures right from
design till shipment and installation of the products. So that goal of any competitive industry is
to provide a product or service at the most economical costs, ensuring full customer satisfaction.
This can be achieved through Total Quality Management (TQM), because, quality is not a
technical function, but a systemic process extending throughout all phases of the business, e.g.,
marketing, design, development, engineering, purchasing, production/operations.

As per Feigebaum, “Total Quality Management is an effective system of integrating the quality
development, quality maintenance and quality improvement efforts of various groups in an
organization so as to enable marketing, engineering, production and service at the most
economical levels which allow for full customer satisfaction”.

Benefits of TQM:

The benefits of TQM can be classified into the following two categories:

 Customer satisfaction oriented benefits.

 Economic improvements oriented benefits.

Customer satisfaction oriented benefits: The benefits under this category are listed below:

 Improvement in product quality.

 Improvement in product design.
 Improvement in production flow.
 Improvement in employee morale and quality consciousness.
 Improvement of product service.
 Improvement in market place acceptance.

Economic improvements oriented benefits: The benefits under this category are as follows:

 Reductions in operating costs.

 Reductions in operating losses.
 Reductions in field service costs.
 Reductions in liability exposure.

Total quality management (TQM) or kaizen is a management technique that focuses on finding
the ways to continuously make incremental improvements to work procedures that drive down
cost and drive up quality of organization’s products or services. TQM is a comprehensive,
75
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

organization-wide effort to improve the quality of products and services, applicable to all
organizations.

TQM focuses on improving the quality of an organization’s products and stresses that all of an
organization’s value-chain activities should be directed toward this goal. Value-chain is the
coordinated series or sequence of functional activities necessary to transform inputs such as new
product concepts, raw materials, component parts, or professional skills into the finished goods
or services customers’ value and want to buy. Each functional activity along the chain adds value
to the product when it lowers costs or gives the product differentiated qualities.

TQM requires the cooperation of managers in every function of an organization, and across
functions, if it is to be succeeded. The following steps are necessary for mangers to implement a
successful TQM program.

Build organizational commitment to quality.

Focus on customers: TQM see customers as the starting point. It requires:
i) To identify what customers want from the good or service that the company
provides;
ii) To identify what the company actually provides to customers;
iii) To identify the gap that exists between what customers want and what they actually
get (the quality gap); and
iv) To formulate a plan for closing the quality gap.
Find ways to measure quality: TQM requires the development of a measuring system
that managers can use to evaluate quality.
Set goals and create incentives: once a measure has been devised, mangers’ next step is
to set a challenging quality goal and to create incentives for reaching that goal. Such as
reducing consumers’ complaints by 50%, six-sigma, and so on. Regarding incentives-
give bonus and promotional opportunities for contributions and goal attainment.
Solicit input from employees: create an environment in which employees will not be
afraid to report problems or recommend improvements. Quality circle is the one among
the mechanism. Quality circles –group of employees who meet regularly to discuss ways
to increase quality-are often created to achieve this goal.

76
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Identify defects and trace them to their sources: identify defects in the work process,
trace those defects back to their source, find out why occurred, and make corrections so
that they do not occur again.
Design for ease of production: designing product that have fewer parts or finding ways
to simplify providing a service should be linked to fewer defects or customer complaints.
Because the more steps required assembling a product or providing a service, the more
opportunities there are for making a mistake.
Break down barriers between functions: successful implementation of TQM requires
substantial cooperation between the different value-chain functions.

[Link] Revolutionary Change

Revolutionary change is a rapid, dramatic, and broadly focused change. It involves a bold
attempt to quickly find new ways to be effective. Organizations faced with dramatic, unexpected
changes in the environment (for example, a new technological breakthrough) or with an
impending disaster resulting from mismanagement, an organization might need to act quickly
and decisively.

Revolutionary change is a radical shift in ways of doing things, new goals, and new structure for
the organization.

Reengineering, restructuring, and quantum innovation are the three important instruments for
revolutionary change.

[Link].1 Business Process Reengineering

Business process reengineering (BPR) is the fundamental rethinking and radical

redesign of business process to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary
measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed.

There are four key words in this definition. These are:

Fundamental Rethinking: ask basic questions about the company and how they operate.
Like:

77
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

- Why do we do what we do?

- Why do we do it the way we do it?

Make people to look at the tacit rules and assumptions that underlie the way they conduct
their business. Often the rules turn to be obsolete, erroneous, or inappropriate.

Radical redesign: reengineering is about throwing the already existing system away and
starting with a clean slate and redesign how you do your work. Thus, reengineering is
about business reinvention not business improvement or modification.
Dramatic improvement: it is about achieving quantum performance growth.
Reengineering is not making marginal improvements to the business.
Business process: process is the core of the reengineering. Process is an organized group
of related activities that together create value to customers. It is about how work is done.

Why Reengineer?

The three Cs – customers, competition, and change- have created a new world for business,
and it is becoming increasingly apparent that organizations designed to operate in one
environment cannot be fixed to work well in another. These three forces, separately and in
combination, are driving today’s companies deeper and deeper into territory that most of
their executives and managers find frightening unfamiliar.

A) Customers: customers have become much more sophisticated and demanding; much
more knowledgeable about their own needs; and are exerting ever greater pressure on
their suppliers.
B) Competition: now, the competition is strong and many different in kind.
C) Change: whether in geopolitical realities, technology, or customer preferences, the pace
of change is extremely fast, that is, what was unthinkable yesterday is routine today.

Comparison of BPR and TQM

Aspects TQM BPR

Level of change Incremental Dramatic and Radical
Starting points Exiting process Clean slate

78
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Frequency of change Continuous One-time

Time required Long Short
Risk Moderate High
Participation Bottom-up Top-down
Typical scope Narrow, within functions Broad, cross functional

Who need BPR?

The experience shows that there are three kinds of companies/organizations that have to
undertake reengineering.

First: companies that find themselves in deep trouble. E.g. costs are higher than business
sales and competitors; customers are dissatisfied about the product/services the company
offer and openly rail against it, etc. these companies have no choice, no time.

Second: organizations that are not yet in trouble, but whose management has the foresight to
see trouble coming. Even though they are in healthy financial condition –attractive
profitability level-, but management see that new competitors entering the market, changing,
customers characteristics changing regularly, change in economic development, the
technological development, etc.

Third: organizations in peak condition. They have no discernible difficulty, either now or in
the horizon, but their management is ambitious and aggressive. They need reengineering as
an opportunity to further their lead over their competition, to keep their position.

What is not reengineering:

The following are some of the misconceptions about the nature of reengineering.

Reengineering is not downsizing: downsizing means getting rid of people and jobs to
improve short term financial results. Reengineering is about rethinking work from the ground
up in order to eliminate work that is not necessary and to find better ways of doing work.
Reengineering eliminates unnecessary work, not jobs or people. Reengineering may or may
not affect the number of people employed.

79
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Reengineering is not restructuring: reengineering is centered on how work is done. While

restructuring focuses on how an organization is structured around an organizational chart or
business unit.
Reengineering is not automation: reengineering focus is the customer not automation or
computerization. Automation is a reengineering tool to help you provide value to customers.
So, first reengineer, and then automate.
Reengineering is not outsourcing: the purpose of outsourcing is driven by the theory that
groups outside the organization can perform some operations more efficiently. However,
reengineering makes no such assumption. It simply determines what work needs to be done
and finds the best way to accomplish it.

Stages to Reengineering:

There are numerous methodologies being proposed, but all share common elements. Typically
the reengineering project takes the form of several discrete phases. However, the following four
stages are the most common ones.

Phase One: Preparation For Change/Planning Stages/

Reengineering in this phase requires the following:

Assessing the preconditions for change: fundamental changes in an organization typically

requires the following conditions:
- There must be real pain, either current or anticipated;
- Senior leader must articulate the pain in a way that does not blame the staff for the
problems;
- Senior leadership must be actively involved, not just lend verbal support.
Leadership commitment: the process of reengineering, the most important issue that comes
first is the issues of leadership. As reengineering follows top-down change, leadership is
required right from the beginning. Strong, committed, executive leadership is the absolute
since essential condition for reengineering.
Identifying the business process: identifying business process is one of the difficult tasks in
reengineering effort.

80
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

- The first step and perspectives the leader and organization pursue when identifying
the business processes is to start from the mission of the organization that determines
its very existence.
- And then we must start from the outcome and think of the process backward.
- Once processes are identified the next step is choosing the processes to be
reengineered. Since organization cannot reengineer all of its process all together at a
time. The following are the major criterion of choosing this process:
Dysfunctional-processes: that are broken and in the deepest trouble;
Important processes: that are the greatest impact on the company’s
customer and highest link to its mission; and
Feasibility: are most susceptible to successful redesign at the moment.
Forming organizational structure: the key roles to be filled during redesign project
include:
a) Design team: the design team redesigns the way work is done. It takes the current (as-is)
process, analyzes it, and comes up with a fundamentally new design.
b) Team leader or facilitator: is the leader of the designing team.
c) Subject matter experts (czar): they are not on the design team, but they are familiar
with the process being redesigned and provide specific skill and expertise not available
on the team. Subject matter experts are invited to work with the team for a period of time.
d) Steering team: it is made up of senior people who have major responsibilities for leading
the organization. This team doesn’t do the redesign work; rather it oversees all redesign
effort.
e) Process owner: is the person with the responsibility and authority to manage the newly
designed process. The process owner is a coach and advocate for the process, overseeing
and measuring its performance over time and helping to redesign it as needed.
Preparing TOR (terms of reference): the leader with his core staff should have over all plan
and direction of reengineering. Reengineering teams with their process owners should
prepare TOR that guides their operation. It shall cover all the study, the redesign process and
up to implementation stages.
The TOR should explicitly specify:
- The objective of the reengineering project,

81
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

- Methodology of reengineering, and

- Have concrete action plan indicating what to do, when, how and by whom.

Phase Two: Understanding the Current Business Process (As-Is)

Once the process has been identified and selected in phase one, the next step understands, not
analyzing, these process. The goal of understanding the existing business process is to get a high
level view of the existing process in order to produce superior business process from a clean
sheet of paper.

In this stage, the reengineering team should be able to:

To understand the customers’ need with the processes output.

Show where the process begins and ends,
Describe the specific inputs and outcomes of the process.
Map the current process-gives a picture of how work flows through the organization. It is
very helpful in viewing the existing process. Produces an accurate picture of the process
and its current performance i.e. baseline of the current performance. Shows how the “end-
to-end” process actually works.
Map the current process helps to identify steps, costs, and cycle time; look for bottlenecks
and identify current assumptions.
Show sub-process (if there is): when a process is too large or complex to compute, sub-
process is needed. Each sub-process converts inputs into outputs (if it is the last, it has an
outcome), and has its own process owner. Each core and support process may or may not
have sub process.

Phase Three: Redesigning the Business Process

The key issues of the third stage are:

o Establish the desired outcomes: there are several steps involved to start at the end with the
desired outcomes. These are:
- Identify the key customers and/or stakeholders: the design team begins by
brainstorming a list of external and internal customers/stakeholders.
- Choose a way of learning about customers/stakeholders’ needs and expectations.

82
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

- Interview or survey customers/stakeholders to determine desired outcomes.

- Compare and analyzed data from customers/stakeholders, synthesizing desired
outcomes. Compare the customers/stakeholders requirement with the current
performance or benchmarked performance.
- Decide whether you are ready to move on to the next design step.

Now it’s time to focus more specifically on the future. You need to take the desired outcomes
you have identified and translate them into concrete goals. And these goals need to be so high
that they force the design team to become innovative, to get out of the box. Such goals are called
“starched objectives.”

o Setting stretched objectives: stretch objectives reach far beyond what process currently
produces. Stretched objectives are another name for performance measures. They are usually
(but not necessarily) stated in quantitative terms and should always be stated in a concrete
way that is easily measured.
Stretched objective should be related to the customers’ problems because its purpose is to
solve the problems of the customers in the process. As a guideline, stretched objectives
should require performance improvements of 50 percent or more.
Here are the sub-steps involved in creating stretched objectives:
i) Review customers/stakeholders needs and expectation.
ii) Identify the needs and expectations that form the foundations of stretch objectives.
iii) Brainstorm possible stretched objectives: they can come from
 Benchmarking the same processes performed by leading organizations.
 Customer and stakeholders requests and preferences.
 The organization’s its own best performance of the process.
iv) Decide whether you are ready to move on to the next design step
o Breaking old assumptions
o Design from clean sheet: note that the task of redesigning does not have specific formal or
mechanical procedures. The purpose of designing the new process from a clean sheet is to
help the team come up with ideas that lead to a dramatically improved process. It’s difficult
if not impossible to make a fundamental change if we start with our current process firmly
fixed in our minds and ask ourselves how to improve it. Generating alternative ideas from

83
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

designing team, benchmarking, and generating wacko ideas are some of the mechanisms to
develop breakthrough ideas.

Phase Four: Successful Implementation and Building Process Centered Organization

At this stage, implementing the new process design and installing new form of organization i.e.
the business system diamond will be realized. The business system diamond shows the features
of new form of reengineered organization. It illustrates that reengineering is making systematic
organizational change (a paradigm shift). It is not a fragmented change. In reengineered
organization the four aspects shown on the figure are interrelating.

Business process

Job and structure values and belief

Management and measurement systems

Figure 4.1: the business system diamond

All four points on the business system diamond have to fit together. If they are not together the
new form of reengineered organization does not exist. Note that one of a common reengineering
failure is make process redesign without doing anything on the management system such as
development system, payment structure, people’s values and beliefs etc.

Effective implementation of the newly redesigned process requires the following:

Prepare implementation plan: it should be developed that spells out the work that needs to
be done with time frames, milestones, training, workforce issues, decision points,
resource allocation, etc.
Pilot testing: it is an effective tool that allows the organization to
Evaluate the soundness of the proposed process in actual practice

84
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Identify and correct trouble spot or problems with the new process
Refine performance measures and generate support for full scale implementation
from employees, outside stakeholders, public, etc.
Adjust goals and develop improvement plan
Implement and monitor the progress

[Link].2 BPR Process

The Business process reengineering comprises of following steps:

1. Define Objectives and Framework: First of all, the objective of re-engineering must be
defined in the quantitative and qualitative terms. The objectives are the end results that
the management desires after the reengineering. Once the objectives are defined, the need
for change should be well communicated to the employees because, the success of BPR
depends on the readiness of the employees to accept the change.
2. Identify Customer Needs: While, redesigning the business process the needs of the
customers must be taken into prior consideration. The process shall be redesigned in such
a way that it clearly provides the added value to the customer. One must take the
following parameters into the consideration:
 Type of Customer and customer groups.

85
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 Customer’s expected utilities in product and services

 Customer requirements, buying habits and consuming tendencies.
 Customer problems and expectations about the product or service.
3. Study the Existing Process: Before deciding on the changes to be made in the existing
business process, one must analyze it carefully. The existing process provides a base for
the new process and hence “what” and “why” of the new process can be well designed by
studying the right and wrongs of the existing business plan.
4. Formulate a Redesign Business Plan: Once the existing business process is studied
thoroughly, the required changes are written down on pieces of a paper and are converted
into an ideal re-design process. Here, all the changes are chalked down, and the best
among all the alternatives is selected.
5. Implement the Redesign: Finally, the changes are implemented into the redesign plan to
achieve the dramatic improvements. It is the responsibility of both the management and
the designer to operationalize the new process and gain the support of all.

Thus, the business process reengineering is collection of interrelated tasks or activities designed
to accomplish the specified outcome

[Link].3 BPR Techniques and Tools

BPR Techniques:

☆ Process Visualization
☆ Process Mapping / Operational method study
☆ Change Management
☆ Benchmarking
☆ Process and Customer focus
PROCESS VISUALIZATION:
Definition of visualization:
a). Visualization is:
☆ moving a process from an “As-Is” to a “To-be” state
☆ the creative process of developing achievable vision of the To-be state
b). Visualizing involves:
 understanding what others do

86
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 deciding attainable but tough improvement targets (stretch goals)

 thinking ahead of the competition to achieve competitive edge
 a high level design to pragmatic solutions for the current business state

PROCESS MAPPING:

PRINCIPLES:
 Simplify
 Test using metrics
 Minimize hand-offs
 Integrate tasks/activities
 Look at I.T as an enabler
 Focus on the logical work flow first
 Work backwards from outputs to inputs
 Have a single point of contact-ownership
 Place decision making close to the customer
87
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 What is the first, then who, when, where and how

 See the business through the customers eyes

CHANGE MANAGEMENT:
Key change management issues:
 Schedule – what are the suitable stages for introducing change?
 Budget – how do we cost e-business?
 Resources needed – what type of resources do we need, what are their responsibilities
and where do we obtain them?
 Organizational structures – do we need to revise organizational structure?
 Managing the human impact of change – what is the best way to introduce large-scale e-
business change to employees?
 Technologies to support e-business change – the role of knowledge management,
groupware and intranets are explored.
Risk management approaches to e-business led change

Benchmarking:
Benchmarking is the search for the “best practices” that will lead to superior performance
of an organization.
Benchmarking Process:
1. Getting Organized
☼ Obtain management buy-in
☼ Communicate and educate benchmarking concepts
☼ Plan the overall benchmarking process
Address fear and concerns
2. Preparing to Benchmark
 Identify process to benchmark
 Establish benchmark team
 Understand existing process
 Determine process metrics
3. Conduct Research

88
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

☆ Who performs similar processes

☆ Who performs the best
☆ What information is needed
4. Select the organization to Benchmark
 Establish a relationship
 Reach an agreement on the exchange
5. Collect Data and Information
 Identify sources of data/information
 Site visits
 Interviews
 Third parties
 Documents
 Plan and collect data/information
6. Analyze and Adapt the Process
☆ Compare the data/information
☆ Determine process gaps
☆ Establish improvement goals
☆ Design the improved process
☆ Estimate the improvement
7. Implement the New Process
 Train the affected staff
 Implement the process on a trial basis
 Monitor the results
 Adjust and adapt
 Adopt the process
 Celebrate

BPR Techniques:

BPR tools & techniques support the validation and verification of process model. It also aids in
the modeling, analyzes and redesign of the strategic relationships behind business process.

Tools Purpose
89
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Purpose analyzes To identify the objectives

Flow charting To identify current/future information, material and document flows
Wastage analyses To identify current wastage in current process
Ownership analysis To identify change of ownership of material, information or document
Benchmarking To identify alternative strategies, organization, process, procedures
Resource consumption To identify what product consumes what resources
analysis
Product life cycle To identify whether investment in particular products and processes
analysis are worthwhile
Segmentation To virtually or actually segmenting the business process
Input/output/diagrams To define a process
System controls To identify a appropriate control systems techniques for new situation
Performance To identify how new process will be measured
measurements
Impact analysis To identify the appropriate things to develop and how to control their
development
Risk analysis and To identify which aspects of the process are risky and which need
SWOT close monitoring or preventive measures to avoid problems
Simulation To test the new design prior to implementation

4.3 .OTHER KINDS OF CHANGE

4.3.1 Balanced Score Card

The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around
us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man”

The Balanced Scorecard Focuses on Factors that Create Long-Term Value

Traditional financial reports look backward

 Reflect only the past: spending incurred and revenues earned

 Do not measure creation or destruction of future economic value

90
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

The Balanced Scorecard identifies the factors that create long-term economic value in an
organization, for example:

 Customer Focus: satisfy, retain and acquire customers in targeted segments

 Business Processes: deliver the value proposition to targeted customers

 innovative products and services

 high-quality, flexible, and responsive operating processes

 excellent post-sales support

 Organizational Learning & Growth:

 develop skilled, motivated employees;

 provide access to strategic information

 align individuals and teams to business unit objectives

Customers

Processes People

The Four Perspectives Apply to Mission Driven As Well As Profit Driven Organizations

Profit Driven

• What must we do to satisfy our shareholders?

• What do our customers expect from us?

91
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

• What internal processes must we excel at to satisfy our shareholder and customer?

• How must our people learn and develop skills to respond to these and future challenges?

Mission Driven

• What must we do to satisfy our financial contributors?

• What are our fiscal obligations?

• Who is our customer?

• What do our customers expect from us?

• What internal processes must we excel at to satisfy our fiscal obligations, our customers
and the requirements of our mission?

• How must our people learn and develop skills to respond to these and future challenges?

Why are Companies Adopting a Balanced Scorecard?

 Change: Formulate and communicate a new strategy for a more competitive environment
 Growth: Increase revenues, not just cut costs and enhance productivity
 Implement: From the 10 to the 10,000. Every employee implements the new growth
strategy in their day-to-day operations

4.3.2 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

It attempts to integrate all data and processes of an organization into a unified system. A typical
ERP system will use multiple components of computer software and hardware to achieve the
integration. A key ingredient of most ERP systems is the use of a unified database to store data
for the various system modules

Overview of it:

92
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Some organizations choose to only implement portions of an ERP system and develop an
external interface to other ERP or stand-alone systems for their other application needs. This is
very common in the retail sector, where even a mid-sized retailer will have a discrete Point-of-
Sale (POS) product and financials application, then a series of specialized applications to handle
business requirements such as warehouse management, staff fostering, merchandising and
logistics.

Ideally, ERP delivers a single database that contains all data for the software modules, which
would include:

 Manufacturing: Engineering, Bills of Material, Scheduling, Capacity, Workflow

Management, Quality Control, Cost Management, Manufacturing Process,
Manufacturing Projects, Manufacturing Flow
 Supply Chain Management: Inventory, Order Entry, Purchasing, Product Configuration
Supply Chain Planning, Supplier Scheduling, Inspection of goods, Claim Processing,
Commission Calculation
 Data Warehouse: and various Self-Service interfaces for Customers, Suppliers, and
Employees

ERPs are cross-functional and enterprise wide. All functional departments that are involved in
operations or production are integrated in one system. In addition to manufacturing,
warehousing, logistics, and Information Technology, this would include accounting, human
resources, marketing, and strategic management

Advantages of ERP
 ERP delivers a single database that contains all data for the software modules across an
entire company. People in different departments all see the same information and can
update it.
 Computer security is included within an ERP system to protect against both outsider and
insider crime
 ERP systems tie together varied processes using data from across the company. For
instance, a typical ERP system manages functions and activities as different as the bills of

93
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

materials, order entry, purchasing, accounts payable, human resources, and inventory
control, to name just a few of the modules.
 ERP software combined the data of formerly separate applications. These made the worry
of keeping information in synchronization across multiple systems disappear. It
standardized and reduced the number of software specialties previously required
 ERP systems allow companies to replace multiple complex computer applications with a
single integrated system.
 ERP systems replace two or more independent applications and eliminate the need for
external interfaces previously required between systems and provide additional benefits
that range from standardization and lower maintenance to make reporting capabilities
easier.
Disadvantages of ERP:

There are several disadvantages to enterprise resource planning:

 Cost
 Implementing ERP is very expensive; price can range from $30,000 -
$500,000, depending on the size of the company.
 ERP vendors can charge a license renewal fee annually which can also be
costly for any business.
 Consultants may need to be used for installation or to maintain the ERP.
 Employees may need to be trained in ERP so they can fully utilize the
system. Training times takes away from work time and can also cost
additional funds.
 Expertise
 Success of ERP depends on the skill level and experience of the
company’s work force.
 Enterprises view cutting training funds as a way to cut costs.
 Smaller companies may even need to underfund training this means their
ERP system is often operated by personnel with inadequate education in
ERP and the ERP vendor package being used.
 Proper training of the workforce is dependent to success with ERP.

94
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 New employees must be trained before they can properly start working
because of the ERP system
 Flexibility
 ERP’s can be very rigid and may not fit the business flow of the company trying
to use it.
 Companies’ may need to customize their ERP package which isn’t allowed by
most ERP vendors.
 Change
 Employees may be needed to change the way they work to become more efficient.
They may feel resistant to change which can be a negative.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Dear learner, remember that you have learned different types of change. These are organization
wide, subsystem, transformational, incremental, remedial, developmental, unplanned, planned,
evolutionary, revolutionary Change. Organization conducts change by re-structuring its
organizational structure which is known as organizational wide change. Transformational change
changing an organization’s structure and culture from the traditional top-down, hierarchical
structure to a large amount of self-directing teams and incremental change might include
continuous improvement as a quality management process. Organization deals with remedial
change when project often seem more focused and urgent because they are addressing a current,
major problem. Unplanned change usually occurs because of a major, sudden surprise to the
organization, which causes its members to respond in a highly reactive and disorganized fashion .
Planned change occurs when leaders in the organization recognize the need for a major change
and proactively organize a plan to accomplish the change. Evolutionary change makes a constant
attempt to improve, adapt, and adjust strategy and structure incrementally to accommodate to
changes taking place in the environment by applying TQM. Revolutionary change is a radical
shift in ways of doing things, new goals, and new structure for the organization. Reengineering,
restructuring, and quantum innovation are the three important instruments for revolutionary
change.

95
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Remind that change management is used for one reason, I.e. to ensure organization’s success.
Without change management, the risks of missing project objectives, losing productivity, or
complete project failure all increase and threaten a business’s future. Lacking effective,
thorough, and timely change management is extremely hazardous to an organization.

Checklist

Dear learners by now you have to have clear understanding on the following points, if you are
capable of describing put’ ’ mark if you don’t ‘X’ and take yourself back once again &
revise.

Meaning of organizational change

Major Types of Organizational Change

Meaning of Business process Re-engineering

Business Process Re-engineering process

Business Process Re- engineering techniques and tools

Other kinds of changes

Unit Four Self Evaluation Test- 1

1. TQM is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business process to achieve
dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance.
2. BPR focuses on improving the quality of an organization’s products and stresses that all
of an organization’s value-chain activities should be directed toward this goal.
3. Planned change usually occurs because of a major, sudden surprise to the organization,
which causes its members to respond in a highly reactive and disorganized fashion.
4. Incremental change might include continuous improvement as a quality management
process or implementation of new computer system to increase efficiencies.

96
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

5. __________might be a major restructuring, collaboration or rightsizing.

A. Organization-wide change
B). Subsystem Change
C). Planned change
D). Unplanned change
E). None of the above
6. _________might be changing an organization’s structure and culture from the traditional
top-down, hierarchical structure to a large amount of self-directing teams.
A). Unplanned
B). Radical change
C). Incremental change
D). Organization-wide change
E). None of the above
7. To improve the poor performance of a product or the entire organization, reduce burnout
in the workplace, help the organization to become much more proactive and less reactive,
which change is appropriate?
A). Organization-wide change
B). Remedial Change
C). Planned change
D). Unplanned change
E). None of the above
8. ________change based on a proactive and well-done plan.
A). Planned change
B). Radical change
C). Incremental change
D). Organization-wide change
E). None of the above
9. ________change bring improvements that might entail utilizing technology in a better
way or reorganizing the work process.
A). Planned change
B). Evolutionary change

97
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

C). Incremental change

D). Revolutionary change
E). None of the above
10. From the following which one is not necessary for mangers to implement a successful
TQM program?
A). Set goals and create incentives
B). Solicit input from employees
C). Identify defects and trace them to their sources
D). Break down barriers between functions
E). All of the above
11. When organizations facing with dramatic, unexpected changes in the environment or with
an impending disaster resulting from mismanagement, an organization might need to act
quickly and decisively which change?
A). Planned change
B). Evolutionary change
C). Incremental change
D). Revolutionary change
E). None of the above
12. Which one is not true about reengineering?
A). Reengineering is not downsizing
B). Reengineering is not restructuring
C). Reengineering is not automation
D). Reengineering is outsourcing
E). None of the above
13. List down the steps of Business process reengineering?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

98
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

UNIT FIVE: CONFLICT AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Contents of the unit:

5.1 Introduction
5.2 Meaning and nature of conflict
5.3 Sources of conflict
5.4 Conflict outcomes
5.5. Level of conflict
5.6. Conflict stimulation
5.7. Conflict management
5.8. Summary

Objectives of the unit

Dear learners, after the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

 Identify the sources of conflict

 Know conflict management styles
 Identify the outcomes of conflict
 Explain levels of conflict
 Explain conflicting techniques

99
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

5.1. INTRODUCTION

Dear Learner, Conflict is being taken as an inevitable aspect of modern life. For any
organizations to perform effectively, interdependent individuals and groups must establish
working relationships across organizational boundaries, between individuals and among groups.
Individuals or groups may depend on one another for information, assistance or coordinated
action. Such interdependence may foster cooperation or conflict. It is worth repeating here that
the conflict-free company has never existed and never will exist. Antagonisms, tensions,
aggressions, stereotypes, negative attitudes and the frustrations of perceived conflicting needs
will always be present wherever men are forced to live and work together. Therefore, this unit
gives you highlights about nature of conflict, its sources, and its management/resolution styles
and so on.

5.2 .MEANING AND NATURE OF CONFLICT

Conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interest are being opposed or
negatively affected by another party.

In organizations, a conflict exits whenever two or more parties are in disagreement. Conflict is
inherent in an organization system, and as the work force becomes more diverse, conflict can
increase.

Conflict is defined as an incompatibility of goals or values between two or more parties in a

relationship, combined with attempts to control each other and antagonistic feelings toward each
other. The incompatibility or difference may exist in reality or may only be perceived by the
parties involved. Nonetheless, the opposing actions and the hostile emotions are very real
hallmarks of human conflict.

Conflict has the potential for either a great deal of destruction or much creativity and positive
social change (Kriesberg, 1998). Therefore, it is essential to understand the basic processes of
conflict so that we can work to maximize productive outcomes and minimize destructive ones.

100
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Conflict occurs between people in all kinds of human relationships and in all social settings.
Because of the wide range of potential differences among people, the absence of conflict usually
signals the absence of meaningful interaction. Conflict by itself is neither good nor bad.
However, the manner in which conflict is handled determines whether it is constructive or
destructive (Deutsch & Coleman, 2000).

Conflict has the potential for either a great deal of destruction or much creativity and positive
social change. However, people often think of conflict as fighting and view it as disruptive.
Conflict, however, can be beneficial. A balance of conflict is essential to all organizations. Too
little or too much conflict is usually a sign of management’s unwillingness or inability to adapt to
a diversified environment.

The question today is not whether conflict is good or bad rather, how to manage conflict to
benefit the organization. Therefore, it is essential to understand the basic processes of conflict so
that we can work to maximize productive outcomes and minimize destructive ones.

Dear learner, what are the conditions that causes conflict in an organization

5.3. SOURCES OF CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATION

Some of the conditions that cause conflict in organizational setting are:

A. Incompatible Goals: a common source of conflict is goal incompatibility. Goal

incompatibility occurs when personal or work goals seem to interfere with another person’s
or department’s goals.
B. Different Values And Beliefs: incompatibility in any of life, ideologies-the preferences,
principles and practices which people believe. Cultural diversity, and different backgrounds
and experiences makes indifferent to understand or accept the beliefs and values that other
people hold toward organizational decisions and events.
C. Power conflict occurs when each party wishes to maintain or maximize the amount of
influence that it exerts in the relationship and the social setting. It is impossible for one party
to be stronger without the other being weaker, at least in terms of direct influence over each
other. Thus, a power struggle ensues which usually ends in a victory and defeat, or in a
“stand-off” with a continuing state of tension.

101
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Power conflicts can occur between individuals, between groups or between nations,
whenever one or both parties choose to take a power approach to the relationship. Power also
enters into all conflict since the parties are attempting to control each other.
D. Task Interdependence: conflict tends to increase with the level of task interdependence.
Task interdependence exists when team members must share common inputs to their
individual tasks, need to interact in the process of executing their work, or receive outcomes
(such as rewards) that are partly de3termined by the performance of others. The higher the
level of task interdependence, the greater the risk of conflict, because there is a greater
chance that each side will disrupt or interfere with the other side’s goals.
E. Unclear job boundaries: unclear line of responsibility within an organization can be a
source for conflict.
F. Scarce resources/economic conflict: scarce resources generate conflict because scarcity
motivates people to compete with others who also need those resources to achieve their
objectives.
G. Communication problem: conflicts often occur due to lack of opportunity, ability, or
motivation to communicate effectively. When two parties lack the opportunity to
communicate, they tend to use stereotypes to explain past behaviors and anticipate future
actions. Some people lack the necessary skills to communicate in a diplomatic, non
confrontational manner.

5.4 .CONFLICT OUTCOMES

Positive Outcomes of Conflict

 Increased motivation and creativity.

 Healthy interactions/involvement stimulated.
 Number of identified alternatives increased.
 Increased understanding of others.
 People forced to clarify ideas more effectively.
 Feelings aired out.
 Opportunity to change bothers some things.

Negative Outcomes of Conflict

102
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 Decreased productivity.
 Relevant information not being shared.
 Unpleasant emotional experiences.
 Environmental stress.
 Excessive consumption of time.
 Decision-making process disrupted.
 Poor work relationships.
 Misallocation of resources.
 Impaired organizational commitments.

5.5 LEVELS OF CONFLICT

It is possible to identify four types of conflict that might occur in organizations. Conflict can
occur on several levels in an organization. These are:

1st: Intrapersonal Conflict: conflict between an individual’s values, goals, and needs are
intrapersonal conflicts. Intrapersonal conflicts arise when acting in accordance with one value,
goal, or need makes it impossible to fulfill some other value, goal, or need.

Types of intrapersonal conflicts are:

- Approach-approach conflict occurs when a person has to make a choice between two
equally attractive alternatives. For example, employed parents routinely experienced
approach-approach conflicts between their dual roles of parent and employee.
- Avoidance –avoidance conflict occurs when a person has to make a choice between two
equally unattractive alternatives. For example, chief executive officer may decide
between to decrease employees’ salary or to fire few employees to stay in the market.
- Approach-avoidance conflict occurs when a person has to make a choice among a set of
options that have good and bad outcomes. For example, many employees face this
conflict between the desire for career success and the desire for more personal time.

2nd Interpersonal Conflict: occurs when two people have incompatible needs, goals, or
approaches in their relationship. Interpersonal conflict is likely occurring when individuals are
competing for the same resources, such as promotions, work facilities, or work assignments.

103
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Interpersonal conflict is also likely in groups that are heterogeneous. Heterogeneous could be
either diversity of the work force or people representing different functions (for example cross
functional team).

3rd Inter Group Conflicts: are conflicts between two or more groups in the same organization.
Intergroup conflict occurs when there are differences in values, goals, or needs between two or
more groups in the organization. Competition for scarce resources is a common source of
intergroup conflict.

Intergroup conflicts in organizations also often arise between line employees and staff
employees. Line and staff conflict is conflict arising from the role and perceptual differences
between the two groups.

Intergroup conflicts occur for four reasons:

- The groups are interdependent;

- The groups have different goals;
- The groups perceptions are different;
- The groups share the common resources; and
- The organization increasingly needs specialists.

In general intergroup conflicts are common in organizations.

4th Inter-Organizational Conflicts: are conflicts between two or more organizations. An

example of inter-organizational conflict is corporate takeover attempt whereby one organization
tries to take control over another organization. Such conflict may also arise because of
competition and controlling resources among organizations.

5.6 CONFLICT STIMULATION

The current view is that in certain circumstances there can be benefits in stimulating a degree of
conflict within an organization. Conflict is important especially if the conflict in the organization
is too low.

104
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

The following are the some of the conflict techniques:

Stimulating competition: it is probably the list risky strategy to stimulate conflict. Many
organizations may have measures of this type in place. A fairly common one is the use of
incentives, such as awards, and bonuses for outstanding performance.
Communication: this is the more risky way of stimulating competition. The tactics here
is using ambiguous or threatening messages to increase conflict levels.
Changing organizational structure: this is another measure that contains pronounced
risks. The following changes can stimulate conflict in the organization: altering rules and
regulations, increasing interdependence, and making similar structural changes can
disrupt the status quo in the organization. A healthy degree of competition between
subunits can encourage innovation and improved performance.
Bringing in outside person: if someone with different background values and attitudes is
imported, that the person will be a source of inspiration to current employees and pull
them out of their contentment or complacency.

5.7. CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES/CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Conflict situations are an important aspect of the workplace. A conflict is a situation

when the interests, needs, goals or values of involved parties interfere with one another. A
conflict is a common phenomenon in the workplace. Different stakeholders may have different
priorities; conflicts may involve team members, departments, projects, organization and client,
boss and subordinate, organization needs vs. personal needs. Often, a conflict is a result of
perception. Is conflict a bad thing? Not necessarily. Often, a conflict presents opportunities for
improvement. Therefore, it is important to understand (and apply) various conflict resolution
techniques.

Some people enter a conflict with a win-win orientation while others have a win-lose orientation.

Win-win orientation: is the belief that the parties will find a mutually beneficial solution
to their disagreement. Win-win orientation is a systematic attempt to maximize the goals
of both parties.
Win-lose orientation: they adopt the belief that conflicting parties are drawing from a
fixed pie, so the more one party receives, the less the other party will receive. Conflict
105
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

tends to escalate when the parties develop win-loss orientation because they rely on more
assertive influence tactics to gain advantage. A win-loss orientation may occasionally be
appropriate when the conflict really is over a fixed resource, but few organizational
conflicts are due to perfectly opposing interests with fixed resources.
Lose-lose orientation: both parties loss due to the conflict.

Adopting a win-win or win-lose orientation influences our conflict management style, that is,
how we act toward the other person. Researchers have recognized five interpersonal styles of
approaching the other party in a conflict situation. The most recent variations of this model
appear in the graph below.

Figure 5.1 interpersonal conflict management styles

High
Forcing problem- solving
Assertiveness

(Motivation to satisfy ones

Own interests)
Compromising

Avoiding yielding
Low

Low High

Cooperativeness (motivation to satisfy other party’s

interests)

Each conflict resolution style can be placed in a two-directional grid reflecting the person’s
degree of concern for his or her own interests and concern for the other party’s interests. Problem
solving is the only style that represents a purely win-win orientation. The other four styles

106
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

represent variations of the win-lose approach. For effective conflict management, we should
learn to apply different conflict management styles to different situations.

Problem solving: It is also known as problem confronting or win-win (collaboration).

Problem solving tries to find a mutually beneficial solution for both parties. Information sharing
is an important feature of this style because both parties collaborate to identify common ground
and potential solutions that satisfy both (or all) of them. Collaboration involves an attempt to
work with the other person to find a win-win solution to the problem in hand - the one that most
satisfies the concerns of both parties. The win-win approach sees conflict resolution as an
opportunity to come to a mutually beneficial result. It includes identifying the underlying
concerns of the opponents and finding an alternative which meets each party's concerns.

Examples of when collaborating may be appropriate:

 When consensus and commitment of other parties is important

 In a collaborative environment
 When it is required to address the interests of multiple stakeholders
 When a high level of trust is present
 When a long-term relationship is important
 When you need to work through hard feelings, animosity, etc
 When you don't want to have full responsibility

Possible advantages of collaborating:

 Leads to solving the actual problem

 Leads to a win-win outcome
 Reinforces mutual trust and respect
 Builds a foundation for effective collaboration in the future
 Shared responsibility of the outcome
 You earn the reputation of a good negotiator

For parties involved, the outcome of the conflict resolution is less stressful (however, the process
of finding and establishing a win-win solution may be very involved – see the caveats below)

Some caveats/warnings of collaborating:

107
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 Requires a commitment from all parties to look for a mutually acceptable solution
 May require more effort and more time than some other methods. A win-win solution
may not be evident
 For the same reason, collaborating may not be practical when timing is crucial and a
quick solution or fast response is required

Once one or more parties lose their trust in an opponent, the relationship falls back to other
methods of conflict resolution. Therefore, all involved parties must continue collaborative efforts
to maintain a collaborative relationship

Withdrawing: It is also known as avoiding. Avoiding tries to smooth over or avoid

conflict situations altogether. It represents a low concern for both self and the other party;
in other words, avoiders try to suppress thinking about the conflict. For example, some
employees will arrange their work area or tasks to minimize interaction with certain co-
workers.

This is when a person does not pursue her/his own concerns or those of the opponent. He/she
does not address the conflict, sidesteps, postpones or simply withdraws.

Examples of when withdrawing may be appropriate:

 When the issue is trivial and not worth the effort

 When more important issues are pressing, and you don't have time to deal with it
 In situations where postponing the response is beneficial to you, for example –
 When it is not the right time or place to confront the issue
 When you need time to think and collect information before you act (e.g. if you are
unprepared or taken by surprise)
 When you see no chance of getting your concerns met or you would have to put forth
unreasonable efforts
 When you would have to deal with hostility
 When you are unable to handle the conflict (e.g. if you are too emotionally involved or
others can handle it better)

Possible advantages of withdrawing:

108
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 When the opponent is forcing / attempts aggression, you may choose to withdraw and
postpone your response until you are in a more favorable circumstance for you to push
back
 Withdrawing is a low stress approach when the conflict is short
 Gives the ability/time to focus on more important or more urgent issues instead
 Gives you time to better prepare and collect information before you act

Some caveats/warnings of withdrawing:

 May lead to weakening or losing your position; not acting may be interpreted as an
agreement. Using withdrawing strategies without negatively affecting your own position
requires certain skill and experience
 When multiple parties are involved, withdrawing may negatively affect your relationship
with a party that expects your action

Forcing: It is also known as competing. Forcing tries to win the conflict at the other’s expense.
This style, which has the strongest win-lose orientation, relies on some of the “hard” influence
tactics to get one’s own way.

An individual firmly pursues his or her own concerns despite the resistance of the other person.
This may involve pushing one viewpoint at the expense of another or maintaining firm resistance
to another person’s actions.

Examples of when forcing may be appropriate:

 In certain situations when all other, less forceful methods, don’t work or are ineffective
 When you need to stand up for your own rights, resist aggression and pressure
 When a quick resolution is required and using force is justified (e.g. in a life-threatening
situation, to stop an aggression)
 As a last resort to resolve a long-lasting conflict

Possible advantages of forcing:

 May provide a quick resolution to a conflict

109
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 Increases self-esteem and draws respect when firm resistance or actions were a response
to an aggression or hostility

Some caveats/warnings of forcing:

 May negatively affect your relationship with the opponent in the long run
 May cause the opponent to react in the same way, even if the opponent did not intend to
be forceful originally
 Cannot take advantage of the strong sides of the other side’s position
 Taking this approach may require a lot of energy and be exhausting to some individuals

Smoothing/Yielding: yielding involves giving in completely to the other side’s wishes, or at

least cooperating with little or no attention to your own interests. This style involves making
unilateral concessions and unconditional promises, as well as offering help with no expectation
of reciprocal help.

It is also known as accommodating. Smoothing is accommodating the concerns of other people

first of all, rather than one's own concerns.

Examples of when smoothing may be appropriate:

 When it is important to provide a temporary relief from the conflict or buy time until you
are in a better position to respond/push back
 When the issue is not as important to you as it is to the other person
 When you accept that you are wrong
 When you have no choice or when continued competition would be detrimental

Possible advantages of smoothing:

 In some cases smoothing will help to protect more important interests while giving up on
some less important ones
 Gives an opportunity to reassess the situation from a different angle

Some caveats/warnings of smoothing:

110
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 There is a risk to be abused, i.e. the opponent may constantly try to take advantage of
your tendency toward smoothing/accommodating. Therefore it is important to keep the
right balance and this requires some skill.
 May negatively affect your confidence in your ability to respond to an aggressive
opponent
 It makes it more difficult to transition to a win-win solution in the future
 Some of your supporters may not like your smoothing response and be turned off

Compromising: It involves looking for a position in which your losses are offset by equally
valued gains. Compromising looks for an expedient and mutually acceptable solution which
partially satisfies both parties.

It involves matching the other party’s concessions, making conditional promises or threats, and
actively searching for a middle ground between the interests of the two parties.

Examples of when compromise may be appropriate:

 When the goals are moderately important and not worth the use of more assertive or more
involving approaches, such as forcing or collaborating
 To reach temporary settlement on complex issues
 To reach expedient solutions on important issues
 As a first step when the involved parties do not know each other well or haven’t yet
developed a high level of mutual trust
 When collaboration or forcing do not work

Possible advantages of compromise:

 Faster issue resolution. Compromising may be more practical when time is a factor
 Can provide a temporary solution while still looking for a win-win solution
 Lowers the levels of tension and stress resulting from the conflict

Some caveats/warnings of using compromise:

 May result in a situation when both parties are not satisfied with the outcome (a lose-lose
situation)

111
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 Does not contribute to building trust in the long run

 May require close monitoring and control to ensure the agreements are met

HEALTHY AND UNHEALTHY WAYS OF MANAGING AND RESOLVING CONFLICT

Conflict triggers strong emotions and can lead to hurt feelings, disappointment, and discomfort.
When handled in an unhealthy manner, it can cause irreparable rifts, resentments, and breakups.
But when conflict is resolved in a healthy way, it increases our understanding of one another,
builds trust, and strengthens our relationship bonds.
Unhealthy responses to conflict are characterized by:
 An inability to recognize and respond to matters of great importance to the other person
 Explosive, angry, hurtful, and resentful reactions
 The withdrawal of love, resulting in rejection, isolation, shaming, and fear of
abandonment
 The expectation of bad outcomes
 The fear and avoidance of conflict
Healthy responses to conflict are characterized by:
 The capacity to recognize and respond to important matters
 A readiness to forgive and forget
 The ability to seek compromise and avoid punishing
 A belief that resolution can support the interests and needs of both parties

FOUR KEY CONFLICT RESOLUTION SKILLS

The ability to successfully manage and resolve conflict depends on four key skills. Together,
these four skills form a fifth skill that is greater than the sum of its parts: the ability to take
conflict in stride and resolve differences in ways that build trust and confidence.
1. Quickly relieve stress
The capacity to remain relaxed and focused in tense situations is a vital aspect of conflict
resolution. If you don’t know how to stay centered and in control of yourself, you may become
emotionally overwhelmed in challenging situations. The best way to rapidly and reliably relieve

112
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

stress is through the senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. But each person responds
differently to sensory input, so you need to find things that are soothing to you.
2. Recognize and manage your emotions.
Emotional awareness is the key to understanding yourself and others. If you don’t know how you
feel or why you feel that way, you won’t be able to communicate effectively or smooth over
disagreements. Although knowing your own feelings may seem simple, many people ignore or
try to sedate strong emotions like anger, sadness, and fear. But your ability to handle conflict
depends on being connected to these feelings. If you’re afraid of strong emotions or if you insist
on finding solutions that are strictly rational, your ability to face and resolve differences will be
impaired.
3. Improve your nonverbal communication skills
The most important information exchanged during conflicts and arguments is often
communicated nonverbally. Nonverbal communication includes eye contact, facial expression,
tone of voice, posture, touch, and gestures. When you’re in the middle of a conflict, paying close
attention to the other person’s nonverbal signals may help you figure out what the other person is
really saying, respond in a way that builds trust, and get to the root of the problem. Simply
nonverbal signals such as a calm tone of voice, a reassuring touch, or a concerned facial
expression can go a long way toward defusing a heated exchange.
4. Use humor and play to deal with challenges
You can avoid many confrontations and resolve arguments and disagreements by communicating
in a playful or humorous way. Humor can help you say things that might otherwise be difficult to
express without creating a flap. However, it’s important that you laugh with the other person, not
at them. When humor and play are used to reduce tension and anger, reframe problems, and put
the situation into perspective, the conflict can actually become an opportunity for greater
connection and intimacy.

TIPS FOR MANAGING AND RESOLVING CONFLICT

Managing and resolving conflict requires emotional maturity, self control, and empathy. It can be
tricky, frustrating, and even frightening. You can ensure that the process is as positive as possible
by sticking to the following conflict resolution guidelines:

113
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 Make the relationship your priority: Maintaining and strengthening the relationship,
rather than “winning” the argument, should always be your first priority. Be respectful of
the other person and his or her viewpoint.
 Focus on the present. If you’re holding on to old hurts and resentments, your ability to
see the reality of the current situation will be impaired. Rather than looking to the past
and assigning blame, focus on what you can do in the here and now to solve the problem.
 Pick your battles. Conflicts can be draining, so it’s important to consider whether the
issue is really worthy of your time and energy. Maybe you don't want to surrender a
parking space if you’ve been circling for 15 minutes. But if there are dozens of spots,
arguing over a single space isn’t worth it.
 Be willing to forgive. Resolving conflict is impossible if you’re unwilling or unable to
forgive. Resolution lies in releasing the urge to punish, which can never compensate for
our losses and only adds to our injury by further depleting and draining our lives.
 Know when to let something go. If you can’t come to an agreement, agree to disagree.
It takes two people to keep an argument going. If a conflict is going nowhere, you can
choose to disengage and move on.
 Fair fighting: Ground rules
 Remain calm: Try not to overreact to difficult situations. By remaining calm it will be
more likely that others will consider your viewpoint.
 Express feelings in words, not actions: Telling someone directly and honestly how you
feel can be a very powerful form of communication. If you start to feel so angry or upset
that you feel you may lose control, take a "time out" and do something to help yourself
feel steadier.
 Be specific about what is bothering you: Vague complaints are hard to work on.
 Deal with only one issue at a time: Don't introduce other topics until each is fully
discussed. This avoids the "kitchen sink" effect where people throw in all their
complaints while not allowing anything to be resolved.
 No "hitting below the belt: Attacking areas of personal sensitivity creates an
atmosphere of distrust, anger, and vulnerability.
 Avoid accusations: Accusations will cause others to defend themselves. Instead, talk
about how someone's actions made you feel

114
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

 Don't generalize: Avoid words like "never" or "always." Such generalizations are
usually inaccurate and will heighten tensions.
 Avoid "make believe: Exaggerating or inventing a complaint or your feelings about it
will prevent the real issues from surfacing. Stick with the facts and your honest feelings.
 Don't stockpile: Storing up lots of grievances and hurt feelings over time is
counterproductive. It's almost impossible to deal with numerous old problems for which
interpretations may differ. Try to deal with problems as they arise.
 Avoid clamming up: When one person becomes silent and stops responding to the
other, frustration and anger can result. Positive results can only be attained with two way
communication.

115
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interest are being opposed or
negatively affected by another party. In organizations, a conflict exits whenever two or more
parties are in disagreement. Conflict is inherent in an organization system, and as the work force
becomes more diverse, conflict can increase. Conflict is an inherent part of personal relations,
and even though it is stressful, it can serve a positive purpose. For example, it can release
emotions and frustrations, while opening the door to a wider discussion about common
problems.

Conflict is a perpetual given of life, although varying views of it may be held. Some may view
conflict as being a negative situation which must be avoided at any cost. Others may see conflict
as being a phenomenon which necessitates management. Still others may consider conflict as
being an exciting opportunity for personal growth and so try to use it to his or her best advantage
It occurs in an organization because of different reasons. These are: incompatible goals, different
values & beliefs, power conflict, task interdependence, and so on.

There are a number of conflict management styles when it occurs. These are: win-win orientation
which deals with belief that the parties will find a mutually beneficial, win-lose orientation
which deals with belief that conflicting parties are drawing from a fixed pie, so the more one
party receives, the less the other party will receive, lose-lose orientation which deals with parties
loss due to the conflict, avoiding which tries to smooth over or avoid conflict situations
altogether, forcing/competing which tries to win the conflict at the other’s expense,
compromising which involves looking for a position in which your losses are offset by equally
valued gains, and so on.

116
 Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

Checklist

Dear learners by now you have to have clear understanding on the following points, if you are
capable of describing put’ ’ mark if you don’t ‘X’ and take yourself back once again &
revise.

Meaning and nature of conflict

Sources of conflict

Conflict outcomes

Conflict management

Interpersonal relations management

Unit Five Self Evaluation Test- 1

True /False questions

1. Conflict occurs between people in all kinds of human relationships and in all social
settings.
2. Forcing decreases self-esteem and draws respect when firm resistance or actions were a
response to an aggression or hostility.
3. In some cases smoothing will help to protect more important interests while giving up on
some less important ones.
4. Withdrawal involves matching the other party’s concessions, making conditional
promises.

Multiple choice questions

5. Sources of conflict that causes when personal or work goals seem to interfere with
another person’s or department’s goals is:
A). Goal incompatibility
B). Power conflicts

117
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

C). Different values and beliefs

D). Task Interdependence
E). None of the above
6. A source of conflict that causes scarce resources generate conflict because scarcity
motivates people to compete with others who also need those resources to achieve their
objectives is:
A). Unclear job boundaries
B). Economic conflict
C). Communication problem
D) . Task interdependence
E). None of the above
7. Collaborating conflict management style may be appropriate when:
A). Consensus and commitment of other parties is important
B). A high level of trust is present
C). A long-term relationship is important
D). You don't want to have full responsibility
E). All of the above
8. Which one is not possible advantage of withdrawing:
A). When the opponent is forcing you may choose it to postpone your response
B). Withdrawing is a high stress approach when the conflict is short
C). Gives the ability/time to focus on more important or more urgent issues instead
D). Gives you time to better prepare and collect information before you act
E). None of the above
9. Smoothing conflict management style may be appropriate when:
A). It is important to provide a temporary relief from the conflict
B). When the issue is not as important to you as it is to the other person
C). When you accept that you are wrong
D). When you have no choice or when continued competition would be detrimental
E). All of the above

118
Debre Berhan University, Management Program Leadership and Change Management

10. What are the four key conflict resolution skills?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

119