Current Change Management Theory: Models And Role Of Leaders Essay.

You need to research current change management theory to: 

• Research a range of current academic journal articles related to change management,
• Explain clearly what current research literature is saying about change management,
• Clearly interpret it to demonstrate understanding and be able to explain what it means in terms of today's organisations,
• Draw supported conclusions as to the validity of current change models.

There have been changes in the world at an extreme rate. The essential part is to pace with the rate of change. There is an urgent need of keeping up with the changes. The present organisations focus more on meeting the expectation of the people. The organisations require to change their strategies, areas of business and systems of the business, and even the expectations o the workers and their managers also encourage the organisation to make changes. It is very much essential for the management of the organisation to study the causes of the changes and the way the change occurs (Eigbe, 2009)

There is always an importance of the requirements that make changes.  There is always a need to have multi-framework by the leaders and managers of the organisation to manage the change. There are different kind approaches of the change at different levels. They are such as the individual level, team and at the original level. There are different kinds of change models by different persons (Highsmith, 2009). Each model refers to the importance of understanding the requirement of the changes and the role of leaders of the management in motivating and leading the people to the change.

The early change model was based on the job-related transitions. The employees are considered as the main agent of the change as they are required to carry out the changes.  Everett Roger states that change management focuses on the context of requirement & time, channels of the communication & how the change affects the people related to it. The focus was to see how people react to the changes when they get affected (Fred & Jonathan, 2009).

The change management in the management of any project refers to the process of the change which has been initiated for meeting the goals of the change. There are some changes initiated during the operation and functions of the project. These changes are required by the organisation and this change has been designed before or preplanned.  The preplanned framework is made in order to speed up the current state of the organisation or the project to the state of required outcomes.  The new technologies and the methodologies are used to move ahead of the objective of the changes after the useful & structural changes are made (Vogel & Davidson, 2015). There are different models of the change management discussed by the important theorists.

The change management of Lewin focuses on the change in the structure of the organisation.  The model advocates on the importance three important phases. These three important phases are:

1. Unfreeze
2. Change
3. Refreeze

Unfreeze is a phase when the organisation finds that it requires some changes in the structure of the organisation. It makes an analysis of the requirements and takes a decision for the change.  In this phase, the organisation makes a plan to get ready for the change (Fred & Jonathan, 2009). This is done as per the need of the organisation.  The phase convinces all the stakeholders about the need for the change.

Lewin's Theory of Change Management

This is the second phase of the change management.  The change phase is very important as all the change initiatives are implemented in the second stage (Project management Institute, 2013).  In this phases, the  growth of the change are assessed and the changes are initiated with the due care of the leader of the organisation.

This is the third phase of the change management. In this phase, the organisation finds that the new change management initiatives have brought good impact. Thus the organisation implements the change as the constant culture and all are required to follow. The stage indicates that the organisation has accepted the changes and this has been done as per the needs of the organisation (Barrett, 2010).

McKinsey has discussed the seven important S for the successful implementation of the change management in an organisation. The theory focuses on the strategy, structure, systems, shared value, style, staff & skills. The model focuses on the importance of the performance of the change. The model states that the core values are created for the functioning of the change.  In the model focuses on the styles which refer to the changes that are adopted by the organisation (cleverism.com, 2015).

The model advocates for the eight steps of the change management. The model focuses on the acceptance of the change and preparing for the changes rather than changing itself. The model is very important when the change implementation is initiated. The model finds that the change has not been accepted by the stakeholders of the organisation easily.  The employees of the organisation should accept the change and they should get ready prepare for the change. It discusses the change initiation for the urgency and change has to be done by the team with a clear vision. The team members should contribute in the process of the change. With adequate communication, the short term goals will be achieved (Fred & Jonathan, 2009). The long term goals are very much important for the organisation to be achieved. This will be possible when the communication in the organisation becomes successful.

The model focuses on the importance of the change management and how the goals determine the process of the change management.  Thus this model focuses on the goal. The various change management teams focus on the different activities to reach the goals. The management of the organisation knows all about the requirements and what are activities required for the change. The reasons are identified and evaluated for change (Earl, 2010). The change becomes successful when the causes of the change are properly identified.  The requirements are also assessed and they are organised properly for the implementation of the change.

The transition is very important for change management. The model focuses on the importance of the transition.  The management makes a plan to makes changes and from the plan to the implementation and outcomes of the change, the project passes through a period which is called transition (Govindarajan, 2007).  The transition is internal.  The transition brings a kind of different feelings for the employees. It happens when the people go through the change. The transition takes time but change is constant. The period of transition is carefully handled by the management of the organisation.

McKinsey's 7S Model

This is considered as the most powerful methodology of the change management.  This theory has been essential for the government. The theory discusses the needs of the shifting thinking & the behaviour of the very large groups & even the entire societies.  This theory discusses on the tendency of the employees to think emotionally instead of thinking rationally & logically (Frederic, 2014).  The theory discusses the importance of the human intelligence for the purpose of making quick decisions.  The theory says that if the people remain under pressure of the change then the change becomes very complicated for the organisation.

The leader of the organisation takes care of the change. The change initiative taken by the organisation is managed by the individuals of the organisation. The employees of the organisation remain at the receiving end.  The change initiatives become a success or may be failure depending on the contribution of the individuals.  The contribution of the individuals helps to manage the organisation and the large scale change effectively.  During the change, the leader and the group work play a vital role (Lim, et al., 1996) (Zhu, 2008). The success of the change in the organisation happens when all activities are done in collaboration.  Laloux has defined the role of leader in the process of the change.  The achievement of the leader lies in inventing the strategy that will be applied in the future and that will also meet the needs of the present time.  This shows that there is a joint collaboration of the individual, team and all the aspects of the organisation that integrated to work for the change in the organisation (cnx.org, 2017).

The leaders of the current organisation face different kinds of challenges. There is always a need for balancing the challenges.  The leader needs to keep the records of the success of the organisation during the changes and the failures as well.  The leader requires admitting the faults. There is always a need of making a balance between short term and long term goals. The visionary & pragmatic approaches of the leader make him or her stand firmly during the change.  The global & local issues are needed to be handled (summary.com, 2017)

The leader remains vigilant to the issues. The accountability of the employees in the workplace is increased when the leader encourages the employees.  During the change process, the leader requires focusing on three important points.  The outcomes of the change have to be judged. The leader must develop successful outcomes of the change (connection.ebscohost.com, 2017). The leader also requires having an interest in the change process. It means the leader should have authority and power.  The leader requires leading the people emotionally and enabling them to adopt the changes. The change in the organisation depends on the leader and development of the strategy is required to manage the change in an organisation.

Recommendation & Conclusion

Change is very much required for every organisation. In the context of the modern organisation, change is inevitable as the organisation requires doing their work as per the demand of the global situations.  There is always a risk associated with change. Managing the risk is always a challenge for the management of the organisation.  The change plan should be well framed. If the plan becomes unsuccessful then the change does not get success. The failure of the change will not only bring financial losses related to the change but also bring huge losses to the human resources (Drucker, 2014). Change occurs due to the intentional movement of the process from one state to another state by the management. There is always a need of motivating the people regarding the need of the change. The change cannot be done unless the employees and all the stakeholders do not know the need of the change. The success of the project depends on the contribution of the employees, leaders and all the stakeholders. Thus it is very important to communicate all about the need of the change, the process of the change and the outcomes of the change. This will give a good result at the end.

Barrett, R., 2010. Reinventing Organizations. [Online]
Available at: www.socialskills4you.com/wp-content/Reinventingorganization.pdf
[Accessed 20 04 2017].

cleverism.com, 2015. Major Approaches & Models of Change Management - Cleverism. [Online]
Available at: https://www.cleverism.com/major-approaches-models-of-change-management/
[Accessed 20 04 2017].

cnx.org, 2017. Barron & Barron Project Management for Scientists and Engineers,. [Online]
Available at: https://cnx.org/content/col11120/1.4/
[Accessed 20 04 2017].

connection.ebscohost.com, 2017. 11/30 - "Reinventing Organisations" and the Teal impulse. [Online]
Available at: connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/.../11-30-reinventing-organisations-teal-impulse
[Accessed 20 04 2017].

Earl, M., 2010. Knowledge Management Strategyies. Journal of managemrnt Information Systems, Volume 181, pp. 215-223.

Eigbe, B. J. S. a. A. P., 2009. A systems approach to achieving world-class system integration and test capability.”. International Test and Evaluation Association Journal, Volume 30, pp. 91-98.

Frederic, L., 2014. Reinventing Organisations: A guide to Creating Organisations inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness. Kindle ed. Kindle location: Nelson Parker.

Fred, L. & Jonathan, P., 2009. International management: culture, strategy, and behaviour. New York: McGraw.

Govindarajan, V., 2007. The Importance of Strategic Innovation.. [Online]
Available at: https:/www.vijaygovindarajan.com/2006/03/the_importance_of_strategic_in.htm.
[Accessed 20 04 2017].

Highsmith, J., 2009. Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products,. s.l.:Addison-Wesley.

Lim, J., Sharkey, T. W. & Kim, K., 1996. Competitive environemntal scanning and export involvement: an inital inquiry. International market Review, 13(65-80).

Project management Institute, 2013. A Guide to the project management body of knowledge(PMBOK guide). 5th ed. Newtown Square: PA.

Vogel, M. & Davidson, S., 2015. Review of Reinventing Organisations: A guide to Creating Organisations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness. [Online]
Available at: https://new.coachingnetwork.org.uk/book_review/review-of-reinventing-organisations-a-guide-to-creating-organisations-inspired-by-the-next-stage-of-human-consciousness/
[Accessed 20 04 2017].

Zhu, Z., 2008. knowledge Management: Towards a universaal cocept or cross cultural context?. Knowledge Management Research and Practice, Volume 2, pp. 67-79.