Organizational Management Models Change Management Models There Essay

Organizational Management Models

Change Management Models

There are several change management models that have been advanced as useful for most organizations in their daily operations. Though there are numerous change management models companies may choose from, there are three models which a company is likely to select as far as change is concerned. Nonetheless, a company only selects the model best meeting its needs after the strengths and weaknesses have been compared. Presented in this paper are three change management models; McKinsey 7-S model, Lewin's change management model, and Kotter's 8-step change model. The models' differences as well as similarities are compared; but, only one of model can be considered as a best fit for a company needing a large amount of change.

The first model; the McKinsey 7-S model is a holistic approach to company organization, which collectively determines how the company will operate. This model has seven different factors; shared values, strategy, structure, systems, style, staff, and skills, working together to form the model. Shared values are what the organization believes in and may be the mission of the company (12Manage, 2007). Strategy portrays the company's plans based on changes in the external environment. Structure is a reference to the organizational structure of the company while systems represent procedures, processes and routines that characterize how the work should be done. Staff is a representation of people employed by the organization and what they do within the organization. Style signifies the organizational culture and management styles that are utilized within the organization. Skills indicate the abilities and competencies of either the employees.Lewin's change management model was created in 1950 by a psychologist; Kurt Lewin who recognized three stages of change widely used today; unfreeze, transition, and refreeze. This model highlights that employees tend to stay within certain safe zones and are hesitant to change. As a result, they tend to become comfortable in this unchanging environment and become uncomfortable with any change that occurs (Mind Tools, 2007). In order to overcome this frozen state, they are required to initiate an unfreeze period, which is done through motivation. The transition period is when the change is occurring, which is a voyage and not a step. The transition period takes time because people do not like change; this is when leadership is critical for the change process to work. At the end of the transitional voyage, comes the next stage; refreeze. This is the stage where the company once again becomes stable.

The third model is the Kotter's 8-step change model. This model is divided into eight steps; step one being increasing urgency for change. According to the first step, the organization should convince the employees that this change is necessary for the company to survive. The next step is building a team for the change, which has to be of some respected employees within the company (Rose, 2007). The third step entails construction of the vision, which will show clear direction to how the change will better the future of the company and their jobs. The fourth step is….....