Oral Exam Question 3

Why is Change so difficult to manage?

- The reason why change is so difficult to manage is because it could be complex, costly, uncertain, and resistive

How are employees threatened by change and how can you help them adjust?

Ten reasons employees resist change are as follows: (1) individuals' predisposition toward change; (2) surprise and fear of the unknown; (3) climate of mistrust; (4) fear of failure; (5) loss of status or job security; (6) peer pressure; (7) disruption of cultural traditions or group relationships; (8) personality conflicts; (9) lack of tact or poor timing; and (10) nonreinforcing reward systems

What will you do as a manager to overcome a resistance to change by your subordinates?

inputs, target elements of change, and outputs, plus a feedback loop. (1) Inputs answer two questions: Why should we change? How willing and able are we to change? -To answer the first question requires the organization's mission statement, vision statement, and strategic plan. -To answer the second question requires knowing an organization's readiness for change—the staff's beliefs, attitudes, and intentions as to the extent of the changes needed and how willing and able they are to implement them. (2) Target elements of change represent the four levers that managers need to use to diagnose problems— people, organizational arrangements, methods, and social factors. (3) Outputs represent the desired goals of change, which should be consistent with the organization's strategic plan. (4) There is a feedback loop to determine how the change is working and what alterations need to be made. Making sure that employees understand, making sure that they all follow your steps of the system approach

How does Lewin's approach to handling the change process facilitate change?

unfreezing, changing, and refreezing — to explain how to initiate, manage, and stabilize planned change (1) In the unfreezing stage, managers try to instill in employees the motivation to change. (2) In the changing stage, employees need to be given the tools for change, such as new information. (3) In the refreezing stage, employees need to be helped to integrate the changed attitudes and behavior into their normal behavior.