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Abstract
In our turbulent world, there is nothing more permanent than change. Organizations face the continuous prospect of change as they fight to stay afloat and compete in an increasingly competitive and globalized economy. The question is, how do organizations manage this change? This article provides a brief overview of the history of change theory, followed by a discussion on differing change agent strategies and techniques to managing change and stability in organizations, including an introduction into the emergence of role of the change agent, a discussion of the implications for agents of change or stability, and a discussion of the need for anticipating how people will be affected by change. Finally, I provide some specific tools for change agents, and discuss how to be an effective change agent in organizations.
Introduction
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, "There is nothing permanent except change." Change is an even greater reality in contemporary life; it is occurring at an accelerated pace, and there is almost no likelihood of slowing the pace of change. No longer is it possible to focus on "business as usual." As organizational environments exert pressure for change, organizations must adjust if they are to survive and prosper. The challenge for today's managers is to learn to manage change effectively.
In what follows, I will provide a brief overview of the history of change theory, followed by a discussion on differing change agent strategies and techniques to managing change and stability in organizations.
Brief Overview of the History of Change Theory
Changes exist in both the external and internal environments. To be successful in dynamic environments, organizations must be willing to expend considerable amounts of energy in examining fundamental questions to the organization. In the last half century, there has been great interest in the process of planned change and the role of individuals in creating change. Kurt Lewin (1947), described it in three phases: unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. Since his early contributions, a large body of literature on the theory of planned change has developed, including strategies for overcoming resistance to change and for the process of creating change in a variety of organizations (Bennis, Benne, & Chin, 1969). This growing interest in the theory of planned change and resistance to...