Posted: February 15th, 2015

Coping With Change: Change Management Models and Philosophies

Coping With Change: Change Management Models and Philosophies

Amateur and professional cooks who enter competitions will often spend hours searching for just the right ingredients for the perfect recipe. They have likely formed philosophies about cooking and food that either consciously or unconsciously guide their efforts. After they are satisfied, they present their dish to judges and tasters, who often try to guess the secret ingredients in the winning recipe.
In a similar fashion, change management researchers spend considerable time trying to find the perfect recipe or model for managing change because they realize that managing change effectively can mean the difference between business success and failure. To test assumptions based on underlying philosophies about change, researchers carefully analyze businesses that have successfully or unsuccessfully managed change. Using these analyses, they put forth models as their recipes for change management. A multitude of sometimes conflicting philosophies and models has emerged. Business professionals, searching for advice on effective change management, must be knowledgeable about the models available in order to choose a model or combination of models that best aligns with their own philosophies and beliefs about change.
1.    To prepare: Consider both successful and unsuccessful organizational changes of which you have been a part and the ways they support or refute the philosophies and models offered by this module’s Learning Resources.
2.    Use both the Learning Resources and your own experiences with organizational change to respond to the Discussion post. Your experience with organizational change could be as small as dealing with a change in your day-to-day routine or as large as dealing with a corporate merger.
3.    Write an explanation of what you believe to be the drivers of organizational change.
4.    Then, identify the keys to successful organizational change.