Managing Change Bm 303
Managing Change BM 303
Critically evaluate how organizations may approach change in the 21st century.
The aim of this paper is critically evaluate the models used by organisations to manage change in the 21st century. Hard model systems and soft model systems will be assessed in order to ascertain which model is applicable to a 21st century business environment.
In the 21st century the pace and scale of the change demanded of organisations and those who work within them are enormous. Global competition and the advent of the information age, where knowledge is the key resource, have thrown working practices into disarray. Many organisations have had to abandon the processes, skills and systems of the agricultural era to meet the demands of the industrial era, so we now have to shed ways of working honed for the industrial era to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the information age Jones (1996)
Change has always been a feature of organisational life; however the frequency and magnitude of change are greater in the 21st century than ever before Burns (2004). The Hard Systems Model of Change (HSMC) is a method for designing and implementing change in situations that have the characteristics of ‘hard complexity’, i.e. situations where the presenting problems are understood and agreed by most people in the situation. Hard model system may also be used in situations where quantitative criteria can be used to test options for change and they are useful in environments where unitarist ideology of relationships prevail Senior (2002).
There are some drawbacks to Hard Systems Model of change as it does not take into account the fact that, all the information that decisions makers ideally would like to have is not always easily and quickly available. Testing out options can be a time-consuming process, particularly if models have to be built and tested.
The planned approach to organisational change developed by Kurt Lewin comprises of four
Critically evaluate how organizations may approach change in the 21st century.
The aim of this paper is critically evaluate the models used by organisations to manage change in the 21st century. Hard model systems and soft model systems will be assessed in order to ascertain which model is applicable to a 21st century business environment.
In the 21st century the pace and scale of the change demanded of organisations and those who work within them are enormous. Global competition and the advent of the information age, where knowledge is the key resource, have thrown working practices into disarray. Many organisations have had to abandon the processes, skills and systems of the agricultural era to meet the demands of the industrial era, so we now have to shed ways of working honed for the industrial era to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the information age Jones (1996)
Change has always been a feature of organisational life; however the frequency and magnitude of change are greater in the 21st century than ever before Burns (2004). The Hard Systems Model of Change (HSMC) is a method for designing and implementing change in situations that have the characteristics of ‘hard complexity’, i.e. situations where the presenting problems are understood and agreed by most people in the situation. Hard model system may also be used in situations where quantitative criteria can be used to test options for change and they are useful in environments where unitarist ideology of relationships prevail Senior (2002).
There are some drawbacks to Hard Systems Model of change as it does not take into account the fact that, all the information that decisions makers ideally would like to have is not always easily and quickly available. Testing out options can be a time-consuming process, particularly if models have to be built and tested.
The planned approach to organisational change developed by Kurt Lewin comprises of four