The Process for Change

Change initiatives do not naturally spring into existence because there is extra funding. Coughlan & Rashford (2006) indicate these five stages or process activities of large-scale change within an organization: 1) determining the need; 2) establish the vision of the future; 3) assess the present state; 4) manage the change - beginning to end; 5) institutionalize the new state through sustaining the change. The stages are similar to Kotter's approach and are complimentary when developing a change initiative strategy. These stages use a cyclical approach to moving a change initiative from the earliest stages to the completed, sustaining stages. Each stage is critical to success; failure at any one stage will derail the project, perhaps permanently.

The first stage involves recognizing the need and benefit of a change. The need and benefit may involve political influence within the organization, as well as understanding the right time to suggest the project. For instance, if the organization is experiencing a poor economic return on investments and revenue indicators are performing poorly, it would be a bad idea to recommend using financial resources on a change that may not show a near-term return on investment. Timing is everything in an organization.

The second stage involves establishing the vision of the future state in the people's minds in the organization. The second stage is essentially the process of developing a shared vision, as discussed by Senge (2006). Establishing a shared vision is a tremendously powerful method of gaining active participation within an organization. People begin to "see" the future through the constant reminders of what will be after the change is completed. Remember, not all members of the organization will share the same perspective within the organization. A line worker will likely have a different perspective than the CEO of the organization.

The third stage is to fully assess the present state of affairs in the organization, to include all levels of the organization. Assessing the present state allows the change agents to understand the situation above, below, and laterally of the specific business unit involved in the proposed change. It is necessary to look up and down the organizational structure to ensure an accurate picture is established and a crystal clear understanding of the people is determined. Resistance to change is one of the most critical issues surrounding a change initiative; it must be addressed before the change begins.

The fourth stage is to manage the change initiative from beginning to end. As noted in the third stage, it is necessary to prepare for resistance by preventing it from starting. It is necessary to include organizational members, perhaps all of them, in the change initiative to ensure inclusion in the discussions and the planning activities. Resistance to change is addressed in the next section of this paper.

The fifth and final stage is the new state's institutionalization by sustaining the change within the organization. Institutionalization involves the marketing efforts developed in the early stages to communicate the need for the project; there is a need to communicate the change's ongoing value. Showing people how they and the organization benefit from the change are essential to fix the change in the people's minds - remind them why it was necessary. This stage involves organizational learning and relates to Lewin's (1948) refreezing stage and the sustaining stage identified by Coughlan and Rashford (2006). It is valuable to note that change is a learning process in all organizations and is continuously taking place in many forms. Coughlan and Rashford (2006) indicate the importance of feedback activities throughout the process of change, focusing on the behaviors and actions, the strategic underpinnings of the behaviors, and finally, the strategies' intentions, as mentioned earlier. Constant review and honest assessments of the actions will significantly benefit the organization.

Transformational Strategies

Transformational change involves organization-wide initiatives affecting most employees and involves new ways of doing things to include new behaviors (Carlstrom, 2012). It is essential to understand the transformative change initiative strategic approach used to realize the change. The change initiative determines the appropriateness of a strategic approach. The focus on the strategic approach to achieve transformative change acknowledges the challenges associated with all change initiatives. For example, strategic organizational values lead to transformational change through participative efforts (Munro, 1992). The strategic approach drives the achievement of a transformative change by identifying, planning, communicating, implementing, and monitoring a change initiative.