Please respond to the following discussion questions:

You can ask technical questions or respond generally to the overall experience. Be objective, clear, and concise. Always use constructive language, even in criticism, to work toward the goal of positive progress.

Discussion #1

One model of change is Lewin's Three-Step Model for Change. This model includes unfreeze, change and freeze. During the unfreeze phase, an organization recognizes it's need for change, communicates need to those who can assist and begins working on strategies that will to create desired results.

In the Three-Step Model for Change Kurt Lewin speaks about Force Field Analysis. The Force Field Analysis states there are many factors or forces that must be examined to determine if change is necessary. If factors are in favor of transformation, then organizational change has a higher probability of success; however, if the factors against change outweigh factors for change it may be unsuccessful.

During the change phase, new ways of working in the organization are introduced. This phase requires coaching, training and even expectation of errors (Connelly, 2016). While workers are implementing strategies, there may be a level of fear and uneasiness due to possibility of errors happening. Leaders should be aware of this uneasiness, but while motivating workers to move forward even if errors occur. The final stage in this change model is freeze. During this time, workers implement strategies set and begin their routine of working according to new changes.

I understand change to be inevitable in every area of life. Change truly is the only thing we can ensure will happen. As organizations mature, they must also transform to guarantee complacency does not occur and they do not lose their market edge. While the vision and mission may remain the same, new tactics to meet these goals may be determined as tactics used years ago may not work in today's organizational environment.

My organization's capacity for change was low as they were reactive to what needed to happen. Change became mandatory when leadership completed an audit and identified we were severely over budget. As a result, the team I am on was formed to assist with bringing the budget back to order.

Initially when I joined the team, decisions made were temporary solutions. As time passed, the leadership team set goals and created strategies to assist in meeting those goals that yielded permanent results. While it will take time to get the budget completely back in order, if the team adheres to strategies created they will be successful.

I agree with how leadership is handling this change for several reasons. One main reason is because several people are working together instead of one person making the decisions. Also, during times of change it is important that leaders remain ethical. Our team was newly developed and at times we were unsure of what to do or what was happening. Our leaders led by example, were readily available and were honest about new change initiatives which eased some tension in the work environment. This is important because it impacts employees trust toward their leader. "Employees require leaders' guidance regarding critical issues associated with change. They also depend on the integrity of management during uncertain times" (Sharif and Scandura, 2014, p. 185).

References

Connelly, M. (2016). The kurt lewin change model.

Sharif, M. M., & Scandura, T. A. (2014). Do perceptions of ethical conduct matter during organizational

change? ethical leadership and employee involvement. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(2), 185-196.

Discussion #2

Evaluate your own understanding of organizational change and explain whether it is the same or different from your readings of the text and researched articles. What is your mind-set and skill set for leading and accepting change?

Prior to beginning this assignment, my understanding was that the term organizational change referred to the actual changes that an organization must make in order to survive in the constantly changing world around it, as well as the processes utilized to determine what changes need to be made, when these changes should occur, and how these changes should be implemented.

Research concerning Stage Theory, which suggests that change is composed of stages that must be recognized in order for the organization to successfully implement change, aligns with my understanding organizational change; this theory helps to support my idea that the term organizational change also refers to the processes used to identify what changes should be made, determine the appropriate time to implement these changes, and establish a plan for implementing changes by identifying the various stages that each of these activities occur in.

For instance, Stage Theory suggests that the first stage that must be recognized when working to successfully implement change requires the organization to become aware that there is a problem and begin to develop potential solutions while the second stage requires the organization to determine when to begin implementing change; these stages strengthen the argument that organizational change includes the processes utilized to identify the changes that must occur of the organization wishes to survive, as well as develop a plan to implement change and determine when to begin putting these plans into action. In addition to this, the third stage identified by stage theory involves implementing the actual change while stage four suggests that the organization must continuously work to implement change that will improve it's ability to meet the needs of the continuously changing population that it serves. (Butterfoss, Kegler & Francisco, n.d.)

It is important to note that the information presented in the Module 1 course lecture also supports my belief that the term organizational change refers to the changes an organization makes in order to survive in the constantly changing world by stating that organizations must undergo change if they wish to "survive and remain viable" due to changes in the organization's customers and employees, as well as the technology being utilized when providing services and the overall business environment (2018).

Evaluate your organization's capacity for change. Explain how the organization perceives and justifies change. Do you agree with the organization's viewpoints? Why or why not?

The last organization I worked for demonstrated a low capacity for change despite the fact that most of the organization's employees were generally willing to implement new policies and practices that would allow them to better meet the needs of customers and the organization's culture was not only positive, but also inclusive of diverse team members.

This is because the organization's leaders failed to identify the changes that needed to be made and develop a plan to implement these changes at the appropriate time. In addition to this, the company's managers were unable to effectively lead employees through the process of implementing change; the managers were unable to foster a sense of trust from their employees and failed to help them see the potential benefits of the changes being implemented which led to a higher employee turnover rate. It is important to note that this also led to employees experiencing work overload, as well as heightened stress levels which ultimately caused the organization's attempts to implement change to be unsuccessful and hindered its ability to survive.

Personally, I agreed with the majority of the organization's employees who were ready to implement change in order to better meet the needs of diverse employees and customers; this is because these changes would have benefited the organization as a whole and also helped to improve customer satisfaction levels.

However, I did not agree with the organization's leaders that insisted on using the same policies and practices that had been developed when the organization was established decades ago because this did not allow the organization to meet the needs of younger customers and prevented it from surviving in the constantly changing environment surrounding it.

References:

Argosy University. (2018). Leading Through and Beyond Change.