Organizational Change Anywhere Is Never Easy, in Essay

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Organizational Change

Change anywhere is never easy, in fact most people in an organization usually have a difficult adjustment when it comes to that. However, it is a process that cannot be avoided, it must happen. An organization may have no other choice but to change. When this occurs, it is important to make sure that the employees are all on the same page and that this change is good and scary at the same time. There are so many various reasons for an organization to change, for instance a sudden change of the financial climate or the arising threat of competition. Through getting a good understanding of the procedure and theory of organizational change, an organization such as the Fairfax Media Group can manage change in the best conceivable way.

In Jennifer M. George's and Gareth R. Jones book, Contemporary Management, organizational change is well-defined as "the crusade of an association away from its present state and toward some anticipated future state to increase its competence and helpfulness." During organizational change, managers have to be able to balance the need to progress existing procedures with the need to answer to new and random events. With that said, this essay will explore by using the field theory the causes for change, and the change and the effective management needed to control the change at the Fairfax Media Group.

Cause of Fairfax Exchange

One of the things was that they decided get rid of some people in order to keep the organization healthy. 1900 people will be leaving the business over the next three years. Regrettably, that means that they had to make a variety of positions redundant. However, a variety of positions could mean anything from 400 to 1500 fewer workers at News Ltd. -- but the manager was not really giving out numbers, he was not saying how many, and his newspapers surely were not dwelling on it. It appears from day one that there has been a huge difference in mood in the two camps. The metro mastheads in Fairfax Media -- particularly The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald -- have underwent chaos after chaos of dismissals going back to the late 1980's -- particularly in current years, as they became more prosperous over the internet. Now they are dealing with more: 70 journalists each to leave from the SMH and The Age will also follow in the next few months. Apparently, to be able to keep up with the competition, people had to be cut.

Consequences of the change

It is quite clear that the organization understands that "While it will be hard, it will change the business for the better. I urge people to think twice before challenging the changes," Hywood told staff, adding it is "the greatest chance to be a profitable or sustainable business in the future." (Crook, 2012). There are negative consequences of the change and positive consequences. The positive consequence are the fact that the changes are going to ensure they will have the business model and cost base to match and to be able ensure the total of their business is in the shape it must be. The negative over this change is the fact that some people will no longer have their jobs anymore. In the next three years that organization plans to downsize everything which also means that some people will have to be switched around the company and perform certain jobs that they may not be all that accustomed to be doing.

Effective management needed to control the change: Lewin's Force-Field Theory of Change

The Fairfax Media Group will be using the Lewin's Force-Field Theory of Change in their vital process and control the change. First just to give a little background on this theory it needs to be understood that Kurt Lewin developed this philosophy about organizational change called the force-field theory (Pearse, 2010). Jones and George define the force-field theory as the following: a "wide variety of forces that ascend from the way business functions, from its organization, culture and regulator systems that cause it to become resistant to change. Together, a widespread diversity of forces comes up from changing assignment and general surroundings that will shove establishments in the direction of change (Pearse, 2010). These important two groups of forces are continuously in resistance in an institute." For a business to accept the change, managers have the job of discovering fresh methods to boost the forces for change, lessen the resistance of change, or if possible implement them both at the same time.

Figure 1: Force Field Analysis

Stage 1: Unfreezing

The Unfreezing stage Fairfax Media Group will probably be one of the more significant stages to recognize in the world of change that the business live in today.

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This period for Fairfax Media Group will be about them getting ready to change. It will involve Fairfax Media Group getting to a point of accepting that change is necessary, and getting prepared to move away from the companies present comfort zone. This first stage is about preparing the company, right before the change (and preferably generating a condition in which we want the change).

The more the company really feels that change is necessary, the more urgent it will be for them to carry it out. Also, it will prepare Fairfax Media Group to become more motivated and make the change right. If the company understands procrastination then they will easily recognize that the nearer the deadline, the more probable they will be able to snap into action and truly get the things started. Of course the company would also need to know that with the deadline comes some sort of reward or punishment linked to the job (Macri, Tagliaventi, & Bertolotti, 2002). If they do not use a deadline, then the impulse to change will be lower than the need to change. Fairfax Media Group will need to understand that there is a much lower motivation to make a change and move forward. (Vickie, 2008). For Fairfax Media Group unfreezing and getting inspired for the change is all about assessing up the 'cons' and 'pros' and determining if the 'pro's outstrip the 'con's right before the organization takes any action. This is the foundation of what Kurt Lewin mentioned the Force Field Analysis (Fisher, 2000).

Stage 2: Change - or Transition

Kurt Lewin was conscious that change is not an occurrence, but somewhat a progression (Ford, 2004). Lewin noted that process as a transition. In Fairfax Media Group, they will recognize that Transition is the inner movement or journey that they will make in response to a change. This second part in the process happens as the company starts to make changes that are needed.

People in the Fairfax Media Group are typically 'unfrozen' and going towards a new method of being. With that said, this stage is frequently the toughest as individuals are hesitant or even appalling. A good example for the company is to imagine bungey jumping or maybe even something such as parachuting. Those in the organization can even convince themselves that there is an abundant advantage for them to make the jump, nonetheless now they discover themselves on the edge looking all the way down. At first it is scary, however, in the end everybody will learn a lot of new things about themselves.

This is not an easy time Fairfax Media Group as people will learn about the changes and need to be provided some time to recognize and work with them. Support is actually significant here and can be in the procedure of training, coaching, and supposing mistakes that happen along the journey. Expending role models and permitting individuals to mature their own explanations also aid to make the changes. It is likewise certainly valuable to keep communicating a perfect image of the anticipated change and the profits to individuals so they don't lose vision of where they are going.

Figure 2: Kurt Lewin 3 Phases Change Management Model

Stage 3: Freezing (or Refreezing)

Kurt Lewin denotes to this phase as freezing even though a lot of individuals refer to it as 'refreezing' (Macri, Tagliaventi, & Bertolotti, 2002). As the name proposes this phase is around creating constancy once the modifications have taken place. The changes are acknowledged and turn into the new norm for Fairfax Media Group. People in the organization will form new relationships and become contented with their procedures. This does not happen overnight. It is frequently at this point that persons laugh and tell me that faithfully there is never time for this 'freezing' phase. And of course it's just this that's drawn censure to the Kurt Lewin model.

Fairfax Media Group, in today's world of change the next new change for this company could occur in weeks or less. There is just no time to relax into contented routines for the Fairfax Media Group. This inflexibility of cold does not fit with contemporary thinking about modification being an unceasing, sometimes disordered procedure….....

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