Which of the following steps in the Kotters eight step plan for implementing change represents the refreezing stage in the Lewins three step model?

Kurt Lewin’s Three Stages model or the Planned Approach to Organizational is one of the cornerstone models which is relevant in the present scenario even. Lewin, a social scientist and a physicist, during early 1950s propounded a simple framework for understanding the process of organizational change known as the Three-Stage Theory which he referred as Unfreeze, Change (Transition) and Freeze (Refreeze).

According to Lewin, Change for any individual or an organization is a complicated journey which may not be very simple and mostly involves several stages of transitions or misunderstandings before attaining the stage of equilibrium or stability.

For explaining the process of organizational change, he used the analogy of how an ice block changes its shape to transform into a cone of ice through the process of unfreezing.

Source: www.strategies-for-managing-change.com

Stage 1 - Unfreezing: This is the first stage of transition and one of the most critical stages in the entire process of change management. It involves improving the readiness as well as the willingness of people to change by fostering a realization for moving from the existing comfort zone to a transformed situation. It involves making people aware of the need for change and improving their motivation for accepting the new ways of working for better results. During this stage, effective communication plays a vital role in getting the desired support and involvement of the people in the change process.

Stage 2 - Change: This stage can also be regarded as the stage of Transition or the stage of actual implementation of change. It involves the acceptance of the new ways of doing things. This is the stage in which the people are unfrozen, and the actual change is implemented. During this stage, careful planning, effective communication and encouraging the involvement of individuals for endorsing the change is necessary. It is believed that this stage of transition is not that easy due to the uncertainties or people are fearful of the consequences of adopting a change process.

Stage 3 - Freeze (Refreezing): During this stage, the people move from the stage of transition (change) to a much more stable state which we can regard as the state of equilibrium. The stage of Refreezing is the ultimate stage in which people accept or internalize the new ways of working or change, accept it as a part of their life and establish new relationships. For strengthening and reinforcing the new behaviour or changes in the way of working, the employees should be rewarded, recognized and provided positive reinforcements, supporting policies or structures can help in reinforcing the transformed ways of working.

The three stages of Change Management can be aptly explained through the aid of an example of Nissan Motor Company which was on the stage of bankruptcy due to the issues of high debts and dipping market share.

During that period, Carlos Ghosn took charge as the head of the Japanese automaker who was faced with the challenge of implementing a radical change and turning around the operations of Nissan, yet by keeping the resistance to change under control which was inevitable under such circumstances by forming cross-functional teams to recommend a robust plan of change in different functional areas. For facing the business challenges, he developed a change management strategy and involved the employees in the process of change management through effective communication and reinforcement of desired behaviours. For refreezing the behavioural change of the employees, he introduced performance-based pay, implemented an open system of feedback for guiding and facilitating the employees in accepting the new behaviour patterns at work.

According to Branch (2002, p. 4), Lewin’s change management model can be implemented in three ways:

1. Changing the behaviour, attitudes, skills of the individuals working in the organization.
2. Changing the existing organizational structures, systems and processes
3. Changing the organizational climate, culture and interpersonal style.

Lewin’s model stressed on the interdependence of various units as well as subunits in an organization. This model assumes that organizations function under static conditions and move from one state of stability to another state of stability in a planned way, but the present day organizations function in turbulent scenarios and uncertain business environments. Furthermore, several critics criticized Lewin’s planned approach to change management for the following reasons:

• It was criticized for being too simple and mechanistic, as a result of which it may not be applicable for the present organizational scenario.
• Lewin’s Planned change model fails to take into consideration the radical or transformational change; it is only useful if incremental change is implemented in an organization
• This model ignores the role of Power & Politics and conflicts. Moreover, it ignores the importance of feelings and experiences of employees which play a crucial role in the entire change process. The model is very plan or goal driven.
• This model supports top-down approach to change management and ignores the importance of bottom-up approach in the change management process.

Lewin’s Force Field Analysis

Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Analysis attempts to explain how the process of change works by diagnosing the driving and the restraining forces that lead to organizational change. One side of the model represents the driving forces, and the other side represents the restraining forces. The driving forces push the organizations towards the new state, and the restraining forces are the factors which provide resistance to change or are regarded as the behaviours of the employees that block the process of change. According to Lewin, stability can be achieved when both the driving and restraining forces reach a stage of equilibrium, which should be approximately of equal strength from the opposite directions.

According to the Force Field Analysis model of Kurt Lewin, effective change happens by unfreezing the existing state of affairs or the current situation, moving to a changed or a desired situation and then refreezing for making the change relatively permanent. During the stage of Unfreezing, the driving forces should be made stronger to motivate a change in the behaviour or ways of working, while the restraining forces should be made weaker or removed. Driving forces create a sense of urgency for the change. The driving forces from the external environment could be Globalization, Technological Development and IT revolution, changes in the workforce, etc. Apart from this, the driving forces may originate within the organization through the efforts of the corporate leaders.

Any change process should start with informing the employees about the influence of the external driving forces like competitors, changing trends in the consumer demands and preferences, regulatory compliances and various other factors. Apart from this for implementing change effectively, the restraining forces should be reduced or removed.

The restraining forces or the resistance from the employees can be controlled by way of effective communication and involvement of the employees in the process, training initiatives for strengthening the new set of knowledge and skills, implementation of stress management techniques to help employees in coping with the stressors, negotiation for ensuring compliance and the last method is implementation of coercive measures if all the other measures fail and the need for change is urgent in nature.

Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

The article is Written By “Prachi Juneja” and Reviewed By Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.

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John Kotter (1996), a Harvard Business School Professor and a renowned change expert, in his book “Leading Change”, introduced 8 Step Model of Change which he developed on the basis of research of 100 organizations which were going through a process of change.

The 8 steps in the process of change include: creating a sense of urgency, forming powerful guiding coalitions, developing a vision and a strategy, communicating the vision, removing obstacles and empowering employees for action, creating short-term wins, consolidating gains and strengthening change by anchoring change in the culture. Kotter’s 8 step model can be explained with the help of the illustration given below:

(Source: Adapted from Kotter 1996)

1. • Identifying and highlighting the potential threats and the repercussions which might crop up in the future.
   • Examining the opportunities which can be tapped through effective interventions.
   • Initiate honest dialogues and discussions to make people think over the prevalent issues and give convincing reasons to them.
   • Request the involvement and support of the industry people, key stakeholders and customers on the issue of change.

2. This can be achieved in the following ways:

   • Identifying the effective change leaders in your organizations and also the key stakeholders, requesting their involvement and commitment towards the entire process.
   • Form a powerful change coalition who would be working as a team.
   • Identify the weak areas in the coalition teams and ensure that the team involves many influential people from various cross functional departments and working in different levels in the company.

3. This can be achieved by:

   • Determining the core values, defining the ultimate vision and the strategies for realizing a change in an organization.
   • Ensure that the change leaders can describe the vision effectively and in a manner that people can easily understand and follow.

4. • Communicate the change in the vision very often powerfully and convincingly. Connect the vision with all the crucial aspects like performance reviews, training, etc.
   • Handle the concerns and issues of people honestly and with involvement.

5. • Ensure that the organizational processes and structure are in place and aligned with the overall organizational vision.
   • Continuously check for barriers or people who are resisting change. Implement proactive actions to remove the obstacles involved in the process of change.
   • Reward people for endorsing change and supporting in the process.

6. • By creating short term wins early in the change process, you can give a feel of victory in the early stages of change.
   • Create many short term targets instead of one long-term goal, which are achievable and less expensive and have lesser possibilities of failure.
   • Reward the contributions of people who are involved in meeting the targets.

7. • Achieve continuous improvement by analysing the success stories individually and improving from those individual experiences.

8. • Discuss the successful stories related to change initiatives on every given opportunity.
   • Ensure that the change becomes an integral part in your organizational culture and is visible in every organizational aspect.
   • Ensure that the support of the existing company leaders as well as the new leaders continue to extend their support towards the change.

Advantages of Kotter’s Model

• It is an easy step by step model which provides a clear description and guidance on the entire process of change and is relatively easy for being implemented.
• Emphasis is on the involvement and acceptability of the employees for the success in the overall process.
• Major emphasis is on preparing and building acceptability for change instead of the actual change process.

Disadvantages of Kotter’s Model

• Since it is a step by step model, skipping even a single step might result in serious problems.
• The process is quite time consuming (Rose 2002).
• The model is essentially top-down and discourages any scope for participation or co-creation.
• Can build frustration and dissatisfaction among the employees if the individual requirements are given due attention.

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Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

The article is Written By “Prachi Juneja” and Reviewed By Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.