Preview

The Kurt Lewin of Change Management

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3170 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Kurt Lewin of Change Management
International Journal of Computer and Information Technology (ISSN: 2279 – 0764)
Volume 02 – Issue 04, July 2013

Comparative Study: The Kurt Lewin of Change
Management
Bashar Hussein Sarayreh

Hassan Khudair

Amman Arab University
Amman Jordan

University of Wollongong
Dubai-UAE

Abstract— It can be to persuade that the prosperous of change management is crucial to any organization or firm in order to survive and succeed in the present highly competitive and continuously to draw out business environment. However, theories and approaches to change management currently available to academics and practitioners are often contradictory, mostly lacking empirical evidence and supported by unchallenged hypotheses concerning the nature of contemporary organizational change management. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to provide a critical review of some of the main theories and approaches to organizational change management as an important first step towards constructing a new framework for managing change.

Keywords Change Management, Kurt Lewin-3 stage model)

I. INTRODUCTION
Successful change implementation combines decisions that are centered on what are often called “hard” and “soft” areas. The so-called hard areas include project planning, implementing software, and installing new computer networks. The soft side– the people side - involves the decisions and actions designed to help employees embrace new methodology, technology and ways of working. The effects of hard-side decisions are easily observed, measured and adjusted. Because is calmer to measure assess the hard side, it is common for it to get more attention. Soft-side effects tend to be subtler and harder to observe – making them more difficult to measure and evaluate. [9]
The term Change is defined as The Information Technology
Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is the process of moving from one defined state to another. Change management is the process of planning, controlling, coordinating,



References: [1]Allport, 1948; Bargal and Bar, 1992; Kippenberger, 1998a,b; Smith, 2001). [2]Allport. G.W. (1948) Foreword, in G.W. Lewin (eds) Resolving Social Conflict, Harper & Row [3]Back, K.W. (1992) 'This business of topology '. Journal of Social Issues, Vol [4]Bargal, D. and Bar, H. (1992). ‘A Lewinian approach to intergroup workshops for Arab-Palestinianand Jewish Youth’ [5]Bechtold, B.L. (1997) 'Chaos theory as a model for strategy development ' [6]Brodbeck, P.W. (2002) 'Implications for organization design: teams as pockets of excellence ' [8]Bumes, B. (2004a) 'Kurt Lewin and the planned approach to change: a re-appraisal ' [9]Burdus,E, Management schimbrii organizational e, Bucuresti, Editura Caprarescu, Gh., Economica, 2008 Androniceanu, A. [10]Cartwright, D. (Ed.) (1952). Field Theory in Social Science. London: Social Science Paperbacks. [11]Cooke, B. (1999). ‘Writing the left out of management theory: the historiography of the management of change’.Organization, 6,1,81–105. [12]Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G. (2001) Organization 628 International Journal of Computer and Information Technology (ISSN: 2279 – 0764) Volume 02 – Issue 04, July 2013 [13]Dawson, P. (1994) Organizational Change: A Processual Approach, Paul Chapman Publishing, London. [15]Dickens, L. and Watkins, K. (1999). ‘Action research: rethinking Lewin’ [16]Eccles, T. (1993) 'The deceptive allure of empowerment ', Long Range Planning, Vol [17]EduTech Wiki, 2010, Change Management,http://edutechwiki.unige. [18]Elrod II, P.D. and Tippett, D.D. (2002) The 'Death Valley ' of change. [19]Garvin, D.A. (1993) 'Building a learning organization '. Harvard Business Review, July/August, pp [20]Hatch, M.J. (1997) Organization Theory: Modem, Symbolic and Postmodern Perspectives, Oxford University Press, [21]Hendry, C (1996) 'Understanding and creating whole organizational change through learning theory ' [26]Kanter, R.M., Stein, B.A. and Jick, T.D. (1992) The Challenge of Organizational Change, Free Press, New York. [27]Kiel, L.D. (1994) Managing Chaos and Complexity in Government, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA [28]Kippenberger, T. (1998a) 'Planned change: kurt lewin 's legacy ',77M? Antidote, Vol [29]Kotter, J.P. Leading Change, Hovard Business School Press, 1996 [30]Kotter,J.P., The Heart Of Change, Bucuresti,Ed [31]Lee, M. (1999) 'The lie of power: empowerment as impotence '. [32]Lewin, 1946; Bargal and Bar, 1992) [33]Lewin, G [34]Lewin, K. (1943a) 'Psychological ecology ', in: D. Cartwright (Ed.) (1952) Field Theory in Social Science, SocialScience Paperbacks, London. [35]Lewin, K. (1943b) The Special Case of Germany, in: G.W. Lewin (Ed.) (1948) Resolving Social Conflict,Harper & Row, London. [36]Lewin, K. (1946) 'Action research and minority problems ', in: G.W. Lewin (Ed) (1948) Resolving Social conflict. Harper & Row, London. [37]Lewin, K. (1947a) 'Frontiers in group dynamics ', in: D. Cartwright (Ed.) (1952): Field Theory in social Science ,Social Science Paperbacks: Newcomb and E.L. Hartley (eds) (1959). Reading in Social Psychology, Henry Holt, New York. [39]Lewin, M. (1992) 'The impact of kurt lewin 's life on the place of social issues in his work ', Joumal of Social Issues, Vol [40]Macintosh, R. and MacLean, D. (2001) 'Conditioned emergence: researching change and changing research’. [41] Marrow, A. J. (1969). The Practical Theorist: The Life and Work of Kurt Lewin [42] Marrow, A.J. (1969) The Practical theorist: The Life and Work of Kurt Lewin, Teachers College Press, New York. [43]Nonaka, I. (1988) 'Creating organizational order out of chaos: selfrenewal in Japanese flrms '. Harvard Business Review, NovemberDecember, pp. 96-104. [44]Pettigrew, A.M. (1990a) 'Longitudinal fleld research on change: theory and practice ' [45]Pettigrew, A.M., Hendry, C. and Sparrow, P. (1989) Training in Britain: Employers, Perspectives on HumanResources, HMSO,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Change Management

    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages

    XYZ, Inc. is a high-end retail chain that sells luxury watches, jewelry, and hand bags. The company plans to open its first international store in Shanghai, China, which will act as a stepping stone for its further planned expansion in Brazil, Russia, India & China (BRIC Countries). This project would lead to a short-term change in the organization.…

    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Managing Change

    • 2917 Words
    • 12 Pages

    ** Mitigating Circumstances ***If you require an extension or mitigating circumstances please state your reasons in the box opposite. **…

    • 2917 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to summarize several change theories and assumptions about the nature of change. The author shows how successful change can be encouraged and facilitated for long-term success. The article compares the characteristics of Lewin’s Three-Step Change Theory, Lippitt’s Phases of Change Theory, Prochaska and DiClemente’s Change Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and the Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior to one another. Leading industry experts will need to continually review and provide new information relative to the change process and to our evolving society and culture. here are many change theories and some of the most widely recognized are briefly summarized in this article. The theories serve as a testimony to the fact that change is a real phenomenon. It can be observed and analyzed through various steps or phases. The theories have been conceptualized to answer the question, “How does successful change happen?” Lewin’s Three-Step Change Theory Kurt Lewin (1951) introduced the three-step change model. This social scientist views behavior as a dynamic balance of forces working in opposing directions. Driving forces facilitate change because they push employees in the desired direction. Restraining forces hinder change because they push employees in the opposite direction. Therefore, these forces must be analyzed and Lewin’s three-step model can help shift the balance in the direction of the planned change (http://www.csupomona.edu/~jvgrizzell/best_practices/bctheory.html).…

    • 2567 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Paton, R. and Mc Calman, J. (2000) Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation, Sage publications, Retrieved on 11th January 2009.…

    • 2863 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Leading Change--Jack Welch

    • 1606 Words
    • 7 Pages

    will be compared with a change model example on page 257 in the textbook, Practicing Organization Development for this paper. There are many similarities in the change management theories in the case study and the textbook. The case study contains eight stages…

    • 1606 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    change management

    • 3456 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Change had become part of life in today fast paced world. From introducing new technology to evidence based practises. In the Health care setting, change is needed to increase quality of patient care therefore change is inevitable. It is something that we have to adapt to or risk being left behind ( Costello and Benman, 2009). With the vision of providing quality care to patient, nurses are at the frontline in Change Management. This position expose us to different roles required to implementing change( Salmela, Eriksson and Fagerstrom, 2011). As a nurse leader, selecting the right leadership style is challenging. Knowing what roles to play and when to incorporate changes in the culture of an organisation is crucial. In this article, we will discuss the changes had been introduced to reduce central line blood stream infection, the importance of leadership and how it affects change management.…

    • 3456 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Change Management

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Explain the role of HR/L&D in your organisation or one that you are familiar in supporting individuals during organisation change?…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    change management

    • 2453 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Kurt Lewin's change theory is widely used in nursing and involves three stages: the unfreezing stage, moving stage, and refreezing stage. Lewin's theory depends on the presence of driving and resistant forces. The driving forces are the change agents who push employees in the direction of change. The resistant forces are employees or nurses who do not want the proposed change. For this theory to be successful, the driving force must dominate the resistant force.…

    • 2453 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    To begin any successful change process, you must first start by understanding why the change must take place. As Lewin put it, "Motivation for change must be generated before change can occur. One must be helped to re-examine many cherished assumptions about oneself and one…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Kurt Lewin

    • 1247 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Kurt Lewin was a great innovater at his time in the field of Psychology. The theories he developed, the methods of reserch he used and the people he influenced all have had a profound impact on Psychology and even more specifically on Social Psychology.…

    • 1247 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Managing Through Change

    • 6879 Words
    • 28 Pages

    During times of change and chronic stress a wide range of medical and behavioral problems can have an adverse affect on an employee’s job performance. Balancing the…

    • 6879 Words
    • 28 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Change Management

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Changes arise because of the problems, but many changes can come from proactively seeking business such as reducing cost or improving services. The prime goal of the change management process is to ensure that the standardised methods and procedures are followed in an efficient and prompt handling manner. At NHS the change request entails to consider approach to the assessment which is for the risk and the service providing to the customers. NHS is one of the largest organizations in the world which can be defined with employees more than 1.3 million and annual budget more than £80 billion (NHS, 2012).…

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    management of change

    • 1363 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Dislike to change- addressing this reason for resistance to change the management need to communicate the change to the workforce early in advance. The management should explain the change in details to the workers that will be affected (Cameron, 2012). Communicating change in advance will help those prepare both physically and mentally for the change and hence they will be calmer.…

    • 1363 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Managing Change

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are several models of change available for use when organizations begin the process of implementing change. The stakeholder analysis model focuses on the position of key stakeholders in regard to the planned change. Stakeholders in a company include individuals or groups inside or outside the company who can influence the success of the change (Palmer, Dunford, and Akin, 2006). This review involves a six step process and includes identifying stakeholders, recognizing the capacity to influence change, checking stakeholder track record, interest in change, ability to affect change, and determine position on change. The main purpose of the stakeholder analysis is to inform the change manager of the likelihood of the change being successful and widely accepted. As a supplement to the analysis, the change manager may use the power-interest matrix to plot the level of stakeholder interest against stakeholder power. The matrix can identify specific action to be taken based on the classification of specific stakeholders. Upon concluding the analysis and power-interest matrix, if the change manager determines weak favorability by key stakeholders, steps can be taken to improve the projection of the change initiative (Palmer, Dunford, and Akin, 2006). The change manager can take action by adding agreeable stakeholders, removing oppositional individuals, or modifying the proposed change to address stakeholder concerns without compromising the initiative. As with all things, there are pros and cons of the stakeholder analysis. A pro is that this analysis is a thorough way to review the business and needs of stakeholders. In addition, it helps to determine the appropriate changes that would benefit the majority. This detailed approach to implementing a change may lead to better results with respect to stakeholder acceptance of the change. A con to…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ullman, D. (2000) 'Kurt Lewin: His Impact on American Psychology, or Bridging the Gorge between Theory and Reality ' [Online] http://www.sonoma.edu/psychology/os2db/history3.html [Accessed 10/01/2006]…

    • 2760 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays