Question 1 . a four page essay (body) that provides a short biographical sketch
ID: 394789 • Letter: Q
Question
Question 1. a four page essay (body) that provides a short biographical sketch of Kurt Lewin and describes and explains the change model that he developed.
Question 2- The author visits Field Theory, Group Dynamics, Action Research, and the 3 Step Model. The author also provides a critique of the theory and discusses present day perspectives on change theory. You can use material from the paper itself and any other material that you wish to use in your essay to expand on your discussion and analysis.
Please help.
Bernard Burnes
Manchester School of Management
The work of Kurt Lewin dominated the theory and practice of change
management for over 40 years. However, in the past 20 years, Lewin’s approach to
change, particularly the 3-Step model, has attracted major criticisms. The key ones
are that his work: assumed organizations operate in a stable state; was only suitable
for small-scale change projects; ignored organizational power and politics; and was
top-down and management-driven. This article seeks to re-appraise Lewin’s work and
challenge the validity of these views. It begins by describing Lewin’s background and
beliefs, especially his commitment to resolving social conflict. The article then moves
on to examine the main elements of his Planned approach to change: Field Theory;
Group Dynamics; Action Research; and the 3-Step model. This is followed by a brief
summary of the major developments in the field of organizational change since
Lewin’s death which, in turn, leads to an examination of the main criticisms levelled
at Lewin’s work. The article concludes by arguing that rather than being outdated or
redundant, Lewin’s approach is still relevant to the modern world.
INTRODUCTION
Freud the clinician and Lewin the experimentalist – these are the two
men whose names will stand out before all others in the history of our
psychological era.
The above quotation is taken from Edward C Tolman’s memorial address for Kurt
Lewin delivered at the 1947 Convention of the American Psychological Association
(quoted in Marrow, 1969, p. ix). To many people today it will seem strange
that Lewin should have been given equal status with Freud. Some 50 years after
his death, Lewin is now mainly remembered as the originator of the 3-Step model
of change (Cummings and Huse, 1989; Schein, 1988), and this tends often to be dismissed as outdated (Burnes, 2000; Dawson, 1994; Dent and Goldberg, 1999; Hatch, 1997; Kanter et al., 1992; Marshak, 1993). Yet, as this article will argue, his contribution to our understanding of individual and group behaviour and the role these play in organizations and society was enormous and is still relevant. In today’s turbulent and changing world, one might expect Lewin’s pioneering work on change to be seized upon with gratitude, especially given the high failure rate of many change programmes (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2001; Kearney, 1989; Kotter, 1996; Stickland, 1998; Waclawski, 2002; Wastell et al., 1994;
Watcher, 1993; Whyte and Watcher, 1992; Zairi et al., 1994). Unfortunately, his commitment to extending democratic values in society and his work on Field Theory, Group Dynamics and Action Research which, together with his 3-Step model, formed an inter-linked, elaborate and robust approach to Planned change,
have received less and less attention (Ash, 1992; Bargal et al., 1992; Cooke, 1999). Indeed, from the 1980s, even Lewin’s work on change was increasingly criticized as relevant only to small-scale changes in stable conditions, and for ignoring issues such as organizational politics and conflict. In its place, writers sought to promote a view of change as being constant, and as a political process within organizations
(Dawson, 1994; Pettigrew et al., 1992; Wilson, 1992).
The purpose of this article is to re-appraise Lewin and his work.. The article
begins by describing Lewin’s background, especially the origins of his commitment
to resolving social conflict. It then moves on to examine the main elements of his
Planned approach to change. This is followed by a description of developments
in the field of organizational change since Lewin’s death, and an evaluation of the
criticisms levelled against his work. The article concludes by arguing that rather
than being outdated, Lewin’s Planned approach is still very relevant to the needs
of the modern world.
LEWIN’S BACKGROUND
Few social scientists can have received the level of praise and admiration that
has been heaped upon Kurt Lewin (Ash, 1992; Bargal et al., 1992; Dent and
Goldberg, 1999; Dickens and Watkins, 1999; Tobach, 1994). As Edgar Schein
(1988, p. 239) enthusiastically commented: There is little question that the intellectual father of contemporary theories of applied behavioural science, action research and planned change is Kurt Lewin.
His seminal work on leadership style and the experiments on planned change
which took place in World War II in an effort to change consumer behaviour
launched a whole generation of research in group dynamics and the implementation
of change programs.
For most of his life, Lewin’s main preoccupation was the resolution of social conflict
and, in particular, the problems of minority or disadvantaged groups. Underpinning
this preoccupation was a strong belief that only the permeation of
democratic values into all facets of society could prevent the worst extremes of
social conflict. As his wife wrote in the Preface to a volume of his collected work
published after his death:
Kurt Lewin was so constantly and predominantly preoccupied with the task of
advancing the conceptual representation of the social-psychological world, and
at the same time he was so filled with the urgent desire to use his theoretical
insight for the building of a better world, that it is difficult to decide which of
these two sources of motivation flowed with greater energy or vigour. (Lewin,
1948b)
To a large extent, his interests and beliefs stemmed from his background as a
German Jew. Lewin was born in 1890 and, for a Jew growing up in Germany, at
this time, officially-approved anti-Semitism was a fact of life. Few Jews could expect
to achieve a responsible post in the civil service or universities. Despite this, Lewin
was awarded a doctorate at the University of Berlin in 1916 and went on to teach
there. Though he was never awarded tenured status, Lewin achieved a growing
international reputation in the 1920s as a leader in his field (Lewin, 1992).
However, with the rise of the Nazi Party, Lewin recognized that the position of
Jews in Germany was increasingly threatened. The election of Hitler as Chancellor
in 1933 was the final straw for him; he resigned from the University and moved
to America (Marrow, 1969).
In America, Lewin found a job first as a ‘refugee scholar’ at Cornell University
and then, from 1935 to 1945, at the University of Iowa. Here he was to embark
on an ambitious programme of research which covered topics such as child-parent
relations, conflict in marriage, styles of leadership, worker motivation and performance,
conflict in industry, group problem-solving, communication and attitude
change, racism, anti-Semitism, anti-racism, discrimination and prejudice, integration-
segregation, peace, war and poverty (Bargal et al., 1992; Cartwright, 1952;
Lewin, 1948a). As Cooke (1999) notes, given the prevalence of racism and anti-
Semitism in America at the time, much of this work, especially his increasingly
public advocacy in support of disadvantaged groups, put Lewin on the political
left.
During the years of the Second World War, Lewin did much work for the
American war effort. This included studies of the morale of front-line troops
and psychological warfare, and his famous study aimed at persuading American
housewives to buy cheaper cuts of meat (Lewin, 1943a; Marrow, 1969). He
was also much in demand as a speaker on minority and inter-group relations
(Smith, 2001). These activities chimed with one of his central preoccupations,
which was how Germany’s authoritarian and racist culture could be replaced
with one imbued with democratic values. He saw democracy, and the spread
of democratic values throughout society, as the central bastion against authoritarianism
and despotism. That he viewed the establishment of democracy as a
major task, and avoided simplistic and structural recipes, can be gleaned from the
following extracts from his article on ‘The special case of Germany’ (Lewin,
1943b):
. . . Nazi culture . . . is deeply rooted, particularly in the youth on whom the
future depends. It is a culture which is centred around power as the supreme
value and which denounces justice and equality . . . (p. 43)
To be stable, a cultural change has to penetrate all aspects of a nation’s life. The
change must, in short, be a change in the ‘cultural atmosphere,’ not merely a
change of a single item. (p. 46)
Change in culture requires the change of leadership forms in every walk of life.
At the start, particularly important is leadership in those social areas which are
fundamental from the point of view of power. (p. 55)
With the end of the War, Lewin established the Research Center for Group
Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The aim of the Center
was to investigate all aspects of group behaviour, especially how it could be
changed. At the same time, he was also chief architect of the Commission on
Community Interrelations (CCI). Founded and funded by the American Jewish
Congress, its aim was the eradication of discrimination against all minority groups.
As Lewin wrote at the time, ‘We Jews will have to fight for ourselves and we will
do so strongly and with good conscience. We also know that the fight of the Jews
is part of the fight of all minorities for democratic equality of rights and opportunities
. . .’ (quoted in Marrow, 1969, p. 175). In pursuing this objective, Lewin
believed that his work on Group Dynamics and Action Research would provide
the key tools for the CCI.
Lewin was also influential in establishing the Tavistock Institute in the UK and
its Journal, Human Relations ( Jaques, 1998; Marrow, 1969). In addition, in 1946,
the Connecticut State Inter-Racial Commission asked Lewin to help train leaders
and conduct research on the most effective means of combating racial and religious
prejudice in communities. This led to the development of sensitivity training
and the creation, in 1947, of the now famous National Training Laboratories.
However, his huge workload took its toll on his health, and on 11 February 1947
he died of a heart attack (Lewin, 1992).
LEWIN’S WORK
Lewin was a humanitarian who believed that only by resolving social conflict,
whether it be religious, racial, marital or industrial, could the human condition be
improved. Lewin believed that the key to resolving social conflict was to facilitate
learning and so enable individuals to understand and restructure their perceptions
of the world around them. In this he was much influenced by the Gestalt psychologists
he had worked with in Berlin (Smith, 2001). A unifying theme of much
of his work is the view that ‘. . . the group to which an individual belongs is the
ground for his perceptions, his feelings and his actions’ (Allport, 1948, p. vii).
Though Field Theory, Group Dynamics, Action Research and the 3-Step model
of change are often treated as separate themes of his work, Lewin saw them as a
unified whole with each element supporting and reinforcing the others and all of
them necessary to understand and bring about Planned change, whether it be at
the level of the individual, group, organization or even society (Bargal and Bar,
1992; Kippenberger, 1998a, 1998b; Smith, 2001). As Allport (1948, p. ix) states:
‘All of his concepts, whatever root-metaphor they employ, comprise a single wellintegrated
system’. This can be seen from examining these four aspects of his work
in turn.
Field Theory
This is an approach to understanding group behaviour by trying to map out the
totality and complexity of the field in which the behaviour takes place (Back, 1992).
Lewin maintained that to understand any situation it was necessary that: ‘One
should view the present situation – the status quo – as being maintained by certain
conditions or forces’ (Lewin, 1943a, p. 172). Lewin (1947b) postulated that group
behaviour is an intricate set of symbolic interactions and forces that not only affect
group structures, but also modify individual behaviour. Therefore, individual
behaviour is a function of the group environment or ‘field’, as he termed it. Consequently,
any changes in behaviour stem from changes, be they small or large, in
the forces within the field (Lewin, 1947a). Lewin defined a field as ‘a totality of
coexisting facts which are conceived of as mutually interdependent . . .’ (Lewin,
1946, p. 240). Lewin believed that a field was in a continuous state of adaptation
and that ‘Change and constancy are relative concepts; group life is never without
change, merely differences in the amount and type of change exist’ (Lewin, 1947a,
p. 199). This is why Lewin used the term ‘quasi-stationary equilibrium’ to indicate
that whilst there might be a rhythm and pattern to the behaviour and processes
of a group, these tended to fluctuate constantly owing to changes in the forces or
circumstances that impinge on the group.
Lewin’s view was that if one could identify, plot and establish the potency of
these forces, then it would be possible not only to understand why individuals,
groups and organizations act as they do, but also what forces would need to be
diminished or strengthened in order to bring about change. In the main, Lewin
saw behavioural change as a slow process; however, he did recognize that under
certain circumstances, such as a personal, organizational or societal crisis, the
various forces in the field can shift quickly and radically. In such situations, established
routines and behaviours break down and the status quo is no longer viable;
new patterns of activity can rapidly emerge and a new equilibrium (or quasistationary
equilibrium) is formed (Kippenberger, 1998a; Lewin, 1947a).
Despite its obvious value as a vehicle for understanding and changing group
behaviour, with Lewin’s death, the general interest in Field Theory waned (Back,
1992; Gold, 1992; Hendry, 1996). However, in recent years, with the work of
Argyris (1990) and Hirschhorn (1988) on understanding and overcoming resistance
to change, Lewin’s work on Field Theory has once again begun to attract
interest. According to Hendry (1996), even critics of Lewin’s work have drawn on
Field Theory to develop their own models of change (see Pettigrew et al., 1989,
1992). Indeed, parallels have even been drawn between Lewin’s work and the work
of complexity theorists (Kippenberger, 1998a). Back (1992), for example, argued
that the formulation and behaviour of complex systems as described by Chaos
and Catastrophe theorists bear striking similarities to Lewin’s conceptualization of
Field Theory. Nevertheless, Field Theory is now probably the least understood
element of Lewin’s work, yet, because of its potential to map the forces impinging
on an individual, group or organization, it underpinned the other elements of
his work.
Group Dynamics
. . . the word ‘dynamics’ . . . comes from a Greek word meaning force . . . ‘group
dynamics’ refers to the forces operating in groups . . . it is a study of these forces:
what gives rise to them, what conditions modify them, what consequences they
have, etc. (Cartwright, 1951, p. 382)
Lewin was the first psychologist to write about ‘group dynamics’ and the importance
of the group in shaping the behaviour of its members (Allport, 1948; Bargal
et al., 1992). Indeed, Lewin’s (1939, p. 165) definition of a ‘group’ is still generally
accepted: ‘. . . it is not the similarity or dissimilarity of individuals that constitutes
a group, but interdependence of fate’. As Kippenberger (1998a) notes,
Lewin was addressing two questions: What is it about the nature and characteristics
of a particular group which causes it to respond (behave) as it does to the forces
which impinge on it, and how can these forces be changed in order to elicit a more
desirable form of behaviour? It was to address these questions that Lewin began
to develop the concept of Group Dynamics.
Group Dynamics stresses that group behaviour, rather than that of individuals,
should be the main focus of change (Bernstein, 1968; Dent and Goldberg,
1999). Lewin (1947b) maintained that it is fruitless to concentrate on changing
the behaviour of individuals because the individual in isolation is constrained by
group pressures to conform. Consequently, the focus of change must be at the
group level and should concentrate on factors such as group norms, roles, interactions
and socialization processes to create ‘disequilibrium’ and change (Schein,
1988).
Lewin’s pioneering work on Group Dynamics not only laid the foundations for
our understanding of groups (Cooke, 1999; Dent and Goldberg, 1999; French and
Bell, 1984; Marrow, 1969; Schein, 1988) but has also been linked to complexity
theories by researchers examining self-organizing theory and non-linear systems
(Tschacher and Brunner, 1995). However, understanding the internal dynamics of
a group is not sufficient by itself to bring about change. Lewin also recognized the
need to provide a process whereby the members could be engaged in and committed
to changing their behaviour. This led Lewin to develop Action Research
and the 3-Step model of change.
Action Research
This term was coined by Lewin (1946) in an article entitled ‘Action research and
minority problems’. Lewin stated in the article:
In the last year and a half I have had occasion to have contact with a great
variety of organizations, institutions, and individuals who came for help in the
field of group relations. (Lewin, 1946, p. 201)
However, though these people exhibited . . .
. . . a great amount of good-will, of readiness to face the problem squarely and
really do something about it . . . These eager people feel themselves to be in a
fog. They feel in a fog on three counts: 1. What is the present situation? 2. What
are the dangers? 3. And most importantly of all, what shall we do? (Lewin, 1946,
p. 201)
Lewin conceived of Action Research as a two-pronged process which would allow
groups to address these three questions. Firstly, it emphasizes that change requires
action, and is directed at achieving this. Secondly, it recognizes that successful
action is based on analysing the situation correctly, identifying all the possible alternative
solutions and choosing the one most appropriate to the situation at hand
(Bennett, 1983). To be successful, though, there has also to be a ‘felt-need’. Felt- need is an individual’s inner realization that change is necessary. If felt-need is low
in the group or organization, introducing change becomes problematic. The theoretical
foundations of Action Research lie in Gestalt psychology, which stresses
that change can only successfully be achieved by helping individuals to reflect on
and gain new insights into the totality of their situation. Lewin (1946, p. 206) stated
that Action Research ‘. . . proceeds in a spiral of steps each of which is composed
of a circle of planning, action, and fact-finding about the results of the action.’ It
is an iterative process whereby research leads to action and action leads to evaluation
and further research. As Schein (1996, p. 64) comments, it was Lewin’s view
that ‘. . . one cannot understand an organization without trying to change it . . .’
Indeed, Lewin’s view was very much that the understanding and learning which
this process produces for the individuals and groups concerned, which then feeds
into changed behaviour, is more important than any resulting change as such
(Lewin, 1946).
To this end, Action Research draws on Lewin’s work on Field Theory to identify
the forces that focus on the group to which the individual belongs. It also draws
on Group Dynamics to understand why group members behave in the way they
do when subjected to these forces. Lewin stressed that the routines and patterns
of behaviour in a group are more than just the outcome of opposing forces in a
forcefield. They have a value in themselves and have a positive role to play in
enforcing group norms (Lewin, 1947a). Action Research stresses that for change
to be effective, it must take place at the group level, and must be a participative
and collaborative process which involves all of those concerned (Allport, 1948;
Bargal et al., 1992; French and Bell, 1984; Lewin, 1947b).
Lewin’s first Action Research project was to investigate and reduce violence
between Catholic and Jewish teenage gangs. This was quickly followed by a
project to integrate black and white sales staff in New York department stores
(Marrow, 1969). However, Action Research was also adopted by the Tavistock
Institute in Britain, and used to improve managerial competence and efficiency in
the newly-nationalized coal industry. Since then it has acquired strong adherents
throughout the world (Dickens and Watkins, 1999; Eden and Huxham, 1996;
Elden and Chisholm, 1993). However, Lewin (1947a, p. 228) was concerned
that:
A change towards a higher level of group performance is frequently short
lived; after a ‘shot in the arm,’ group life soon returns to the previous level.
This indicates that it does not suffice to define the objective of a planned change
in group performance as the reaching of a different level. Permanency at
the new level, or permanency for a desired period, should be included in the
objective.
It was for this reason that he developed his 3-Step model of change. 3-Step Model
This is often cited as Lewin’s key contribution to organizational change. However,
it needs to be recognized that when he developed his 3-Step model Lewin was not
thinking only of organizational issues. Nor did he intend it to be seen separately
from the other three elements which comprise his Planned approach to change
(i.e. Field Theory, Group Dynamics and Action Research). Rather Lewin saw the
four concepts as forming an integrated approach to analysing, understanding and
bringing about change at the group, organizational and societal levels.
A successful change project, Lewin (1947a) argued, involved three steps:
• Step 1: Unfreezing. Lewin believed that the stability of human behaviour was
based on a quasi-stationary equilibrium supported by a complex field of
driving and restraining forces. He argued that the equilibrium needs to be
destabilized (unfrozen) before old behaviour can be discarded (unlearnt) and
new behaviour successfully adopted. Given the type of issues that Lewin was
addressing, as one would expect, he did not believe that change would be easy
or that the same approach could be applied in all situations:
The ‘unfreezing of the present level may involve quite different problems
in different cases. Allport . . . has described the ‘catharsis’ which seems necessary
before prejudice can be removed. To break open the shell of complacency
and self-righteousness it is sometimes necessary to bring about an
emotional stir up. (Lewin, 1947a, p. 229)
Enlarging on Lewin’s ideas, Schein (1996, p. 27) comments that the key to
unfreezing ‘. . . was to recognise that change, whether at the individual or
group level, was a profound psychological dynamic process’. Schein (1996)
identifies three processes necessary to achieve unfreezing: disconfirmation of
the validity of the status quo, the induction of guilt or survival anxiety, and
creating psychological safety. He argued that: ‘. . . unless sufficient psychological
safety is created, the disconfirming information will be denied or in other
ways defended against, no survival anxiety will be felt. and consequently, no
change will take place’ (Schein, 1996, p. 61). In other words, those concerned
have to feel safe from loss and humiliation before they can accept the new
information and reject old behaviours.
• Step 2: Moving. As Schein (1996, p. 62) notes, unfreezing is not an end in itself;
it ‘. . . creates motivation to learn but does not necessarily control or predict
the direction’. This echoes Lewin’s view that any attempt to predict or identify
a specific outcome from Planned change is very difficult because of the
complexity of the forces concerned. Instead, one should seek to take into
account all the forces at work and identify and evaluate, on a trial and error
basis, all the available options (Lewin, 1947a). This is, of course, the learning
approach promoted by Action Research. It is this iterative approach of
research, action and more research which enables groups and individuals to
move from a less acceptable to a more acceptable set of behaviours. However,
as noted above, Lewin (1947a) recognized that, without reinforcement, change
could be short-lived.
• Step 3: Refreezing. This is the final step in the 3-Step model. Refreezing seeks to
stabilize the group at a new quasi-stationary equilibrium in order to ensure that
the new behaviours are relatively safe from regression. The main point about
refreezing is that new behaviour must be, to some degree, congruent with the
rest of the behaviour, personality and environment of the learner or it will
simply lead to a new round of disconfirmation (Schein, 1996). This is why
Lewin saw successful change as a group activity, because unless group norms
and routines are also transformed, changes to individual behaviour will not be
sustained. In organizational terms, refreezing often requires changes to organizational
culture, norms, policies and practices (Cummings and Huse, 1989).
Like other aspects of Lewin’s work, his 3-Step model of change has become
unfashionable in the last two decades (Dawson, 1994; Hatch, 1997; Kanter et al.,
1992). Nevertheless, such is its continuing influence that, as Hendry (1996, p. 624)
commented:
Scratch any account of creating and managing change and the idea that change
is a three-stage process which necessarily begins with a process of unfreezing
will not be far below the surface.
LEWIN AND CHANGE: A SUMMARY
Lewin was primarily interested in resolving social conflict through behavioural
change, whether this be within organizations or in the wider society. He identified
two requirements for success:
(1) To analyse and understand how social groupings were formed, motivated
and maintained. To do this, he developed both Field Theory and Group
Dynamics.
(2) To change the behaviour of social groups. The primary methods he developed
for achieving this were Action Research and the 3-Step model of
change.
Underpinning Lewin’s work was a strong moral and ethical belief in the importance
of democratic institutions and democratic values in society. Lewin believed
that only by strengthening democratic participation in all aspects of life and being
able to resolve social conflicts could the scourge of despotism, authoritarianism
and racism be effectively countered. Since his death, Lewin’s wider social agenda
has been mainly pursued under the umbrella of Action Research (Dickens and
Watkins, 1999). This is also the area where Lewin’s Planned approach has been
most closely followed. For example, Bargal and Bar (1992) described how, over
a number of years, they used Lewin’s approach to address the conflict between
Arab-Palestinian and Jewish youths in Israel through the development of intergroup
workshops. The workshops were developed around six principles based on
Lewin’s work:
(a) a recursive process of data collection to determine goals, action to implement
goals and assessment of the action; (b) feedback of research results to trainers;
(c) cooperation between researchers and practitioners; (d) research based on
the laws of the group’s social life, on three stages of change – ‘unfreezing,’
‘moving,’ and ‘refreezing’ – and on the principles of group decision making; (e)
consideration of the values, goals and power structures of change agents and
clients; and (f) use of research to create knowledge and/or solve problems.
(Bargal and Bar, 1992, p. 146)
In terms of organizational change, Lewin and his associates had a long and
fruitful relationship with the Harwood Manufacturing Corporation, where his
approach to change was developed, applied and refined (Marrow, 1969). Coch and
French (1948, p. 512) observed that, at Harwood: ‘From the point of view of
factory management, there were two purposes to the research: (1) Why do people
resist change so strongly? and (2) What can be done to overcome this resistance?’
Therefore, in both his wider social agenda and his narrower organizational
agenda, Lewin sought to address similar issues and apply similar concepts. Since
his death, it is the organizational side of his work which has been given greater
prominence by his followers and successors, mainly through the creation of the
Organization Development (OD) movement (Cummings and Worley, 1997;
French and Bell, 1995).
OD has become the standard-bearer for Kurt Lewin’s pioneering work on
behavioural science in general, and approach to Planned change in particular
(Cummings and Worley, 1997). Up to the 1970s, OD tended to focus on group
issues in organizations, and sought to promote Lewin’s humanistic and democratic
approach to change in the values it espoused (Conner, 1977; Gellerman et al.,
1990; Warwick and Thompson, 1980). However, as French and Bell (1995) noted,
since the late 1970s, in order to keep pace with the perceived needs of organizations,
there has been a major broadening of scope within the OD field. It has
moved away from its focus on groups and towards more organization-wide
issues, such as Socio-Technical Systems, organizational culture, organizational
NEWER PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE
By the early 1980s, with the oil shocks of the 1970s, the rise of corporate Japan
and severe economic downturn in the West, it was clear that many organizations
needed to transform themselves rapidly and often brutally if they were to survive
(Burnes, 2000). Given its group-based, consensual and relatively slow nature,
Lewin’s Planned approach began to attract criticism as to its appropriateness and
efficacy, especially from the Culture-Excellence school, the postmodernists and the
processualists.
The Culture-Excellence approach to organizations, as promoted by Peters and
Waterman (1982) and Kanter (1989), has had an unprecedented impact on the
management of organizations by equating organizational success with the possession
of a strong, appropriate organizational culture (Collins, 1998; Watson, 1997;
Wilson, 1992). Peters and Waterman (1982) argued that Western organizations
were losing their competitive edge because they were too bureaucratic, inflexible,
and slow to change. Instead of the traditional top-down, command-and-control
style of management which tended to segment organizations into small rule-driven
units, proponents of Culture-Excellence stressed the integrated nature of organizations,
both internally and within their environments (Kanter, 1983; Watson,
1997). To survive, it was argued, organizations needed to reconfigure themselves
to build internal and external synergies, and managers needed to encourage a spirit
of innovation, experimentation and entrepreneurship through the creation of
strong, appropriate organizational cultures (Collins, 1998; Kanter, 1983; Peters
and Waterman, 1982; Wilson, 1992).
For proponents of Culture-Excellence, the world is essentially an ambiguous
place where detailed plans are not possible and flexibility is essential. Instead of
close supervision and strict rules, organizational objectives need to be promoted
by loose controls, based on shared values and culture, and pursued through
empowered employees using their own initiative (Watson, 1997). They argue that
change cannot be driven from the top but must emerge in an organic, bottom-up
fashion from the day-to-day actions of all in the organization (Collins, 1998;
Hatch, 1997). Proponents of Culture-Excellence reject as antithetical the Planned
approach to change, sometimes quite scathingly, as the following quotation from
Kanter et al.’s (1992, p. 10) shows:
Lewin’s model was a simple one, with organizational change involving three
stages; unfreezing, changing and refreezing . . . This quaintly linear and static
conception – the organization as an ice cube – is so wildly inappropriate that it
is difficult to see why it has not only survived but prospered . . . Suffice it to say
here, first, that organizations are never frozen, much less refrozen, but are fluid
entities with many ‘personalities’. Second, to the extent that there are stages,
they overlap and interpenetrate one another in important ways.
At the same time that the Culture-Excellence school were criticizing Planned
change, others, notably Pfeffer (1981, 1992), were claiming that the objectives, and
outcomes, of change programmes were more likely to be determined by power
struggles than by any process of consensus-building or rational decision-making.
For the postmodernists, power is also a central feature of organizational change,
but it arises from the socially-constructed nature of organizational life:
In a socially-constructed world, responsibility for environmental conditions lies
with those who do the constructing . . . This suggests at least two competing scenarios
for organizational change. First, organization change can be a vehicle
of domination for those who conspire to enact the world for others . . . An alternative
use of social constructionism is to create a democracy of enactment in
which the process is made open and available to all . . . such that we create
opportunities for freedom and innovation rather than simply for further domination.
(Hatch, 1997, pp. 367–8)
The other important perspective on organizational change which emerged in the
1980s was the processual approach, which derives from the work of Andrew
Pettigrew (1973, 1979, 1985, 1990a, 1990b, 1997). Processualists reject prescriptive,
recipe-driven approaches to change and are suspicious of single causes or
simple explanations of events. Instead, when studying change, they focus on the
inter-relatedness of individuals, groups, organizations and society (Dawson, 1994;
Pettigrew and Whipp, 1993; Wilson, 1992). In particular, they claim that the
process of change is a complex and untidy cocktail of rational decision processes,
individual perceptions, political struggles and coalition-building (Huczynski and
Buchanan, 2001). Pettigrew (1990a, 1990b) maintains that the Planned approach
is too prescriptive and does not pay enough attention to the need to analyse and
conceptualize organizational change. He argues that change needs to be studied
across different levels of analysis and different time periods, and that it cuts across
functions, spans hierarchical divisions, and has no neat starting or finishing point;
instead it is a ‘complex analytical, political, and cultural process of challenging
and changing the core beliefs, structure and strategy of the firm’ (Pettigrew, 1987,
p. 650).
Looking at Planned change versus a processual approach, Dawson (1994,
pp. 3–4) comments that: Although this [Lewin’s] theory has proved useful in understanding planned
change under relatively stable conditions, with the continuing and dynamic
nature of change in today’s business world, it no longer makes sense to implement
a planned process for ‘freezing’ changed behaviours . . . The processual
framework . . . adopts the view that change is a complex and dynamic process
which should not be solidified or treated as a series of linear events . . . central
to the development of a processual approach is the need to incorporate an
analysis of the politics of managing change.
Also taking a processualist perspective, Buchanan and Storey’s (1997, p. 127) main
criticism of those who advocate Planned change is:
. . . their attempt to impose an order and a linear sequence to processes that are
in reality messy and untidy, and which unfold in an iterative fashion with much
backtracking and omission.
Though there are distinct differences between these newer approaches to change,
not least the prescriptive focus of the Culture-Excellence approach versus the analytical
orientation of the processualists, there are also some striking similarities
which they claim strongly challenge the validity of the Planned approach to
change. The newer approaches tend to take a holistic/contextual view of organizations
and their environments; they challenge the notion of change as an ordered,
rational and linear process; and there is an emphasis on change as a continuous
process which is heavily influenced by culture, power and politics (Buchanan and
Storey, 1997; Burnes, 2000; Dawson, 1994; Kanter et al., 1992; Pettigrew, 1997).
Accompanying and offering support to these new approaches to change were new
perspectives on the nature of change in organizations. Up to the late 1970s, the
incremental model of change dominated. Advocates of this view see change as
being a process whereby individual parts of an organization deal incrementally
and separately with one problem and one goal at a time. By managers responding
to pressures in their local internal and external environments in this way, over
time, their organizations become transformed (Cyert and March, 1963; Hedberg
et al., 1976; Lindblom, 1959; Quinn, 1980, 1982).
In the 1980s, two new perspectives on change emerged: the punctuated equilibrium
model and the continuous transformation model. The former approach
to change:
. . . depicts organizations as evolving through relatively long periods of stability
(equilibrium periods) in their basic patterns of activity that are punctuated by
relatively short bursts of fundamental change (revolutionary periods). Revolutionary
periods substantively disrupt established activity patterns and install the
basis for new equilibrium periods. (Romanelli and Tushman, 1994, p. 1141)
The inspiration for this model arises from two sources: firstly, from the challenge
to Darwin’s gradualist model of evolution in the natural sciences (Gould, 1989);
secondly, from research showing that whilst organizations do appear to fit the
incrementalist model of change for a period of time, there does come a point when
they go through a period of rapid and fundamental change (Gersick, 1991).
Proponents of the continuous transformation model reject both the incrementalist
and punctuated equilibrium models. They argue that, in order to survive,
organizations must develop the ability to change themselves continuously in a fundamental
manner. This is particularly the case in fast-moving sectors such as retail
(Greenwald, 1996). Brown and Eisenhardt (1997, p. 29) draw on the work of complexity
theorists to support their claim for continuous change:
Like organizations, complex systems have large numbers of independent yet
interacting actors. Rather than ever reaching a stable equilibrium, the most
adaptive of these complex systems (e.g., intertidal zones) keep changing continuously
by remaining at the poetically termed ‘edge of chaos’ that exists between
order and disorder. By staying in this intermediate zone, these systems never
quite settle into a stable equilibrium but never quite fall apart. Rather, these
systems, which stay constantly poised between order and disorder, exhibit the
most prolific, complex and continuous change . . .
Complexity theories are increasingly being used by organization theorists and
practitioners as a way of understanding and changing organizations (Bechtold,
1997; Black, 2000; Boje, 2000; Choi et al., 2001; Gilchrist, 2000; Lewis, 1994;
Macbeth, 2002; Shelton and Darling, 2001; Stacey et al., 2002; Tetenbaum, 1998).
Complexity theories come from the natural sciences, where they have shown that
disequilibrium is a necessary condition for the growth of dynamic systems (Prigogine
and Stengers, 1984). Under this view, organizations, like complex systems
in nature, are seen as dynamic non-linear systems. The outcome of their actions
is unpredictable but, like turbulence in gases and liquids, it is governed by a set of
simple order-generating rules (Brown and Eisenhardt, 1997; Lewis, 1994; Lorenz,
1993; Mintzberg et al., 1998; Stacey et al., 2002; Tetenbaum, 1998; Wheatley,
1992). For organizations, as for natural systems, the key to survival is to develop
rules which are capable of keeping an organization operating ‘on the edge of
chaos’ (Stacey et al., 2002). If organizations are too stable, nothing changes and
the system dies; if too chaotic, the system will be overwhelmed by change. In both
situations, radical change is necessary in order to create a new set of ordergenerating
rules which allow the organization to prosper and survive (MacIntosh
and MacLean, 2001).
As can be seen, the newer approaches to change and the newer perspectives on
the nature of change have much in common. One of the problems with all three
perspectives on change – incrementalism, punctuated equilibrium and continuous change – is that all three are present in organizational life and none appear dominant. Indeed, Burnes (2000) even questions whether these are separate and competing theories, or merely different ways of looking at the same phenomenon: change. He points out that sectoral, temporal and organizational life cycle differences
can account for whether organizations experience incremental, punctuated equilibrium or continuous change (Kimberley and Miles, 1980). He also draws on the natural sciences, in the form of population ecology, to argue that in any given population of organizations one would expect to see all three types of change (Hannan and Freeman, 1988). Therefore, rather like the Jungian concept of the
light and dark, these various perspectives on change may be shadow images of
each other, none of which by themselves capable of portraying the whole
(Matthews, 2002).
LEWIN’S WORK: CRITICISMS AND RESPONSES
From the 1980s onwards, as newer perspectives on organizational life and change
have emerged, Lewin’s Planned approach has faced increasing levels of criticisms.
This section summarizes the main criticisms and responds to them.
Explanation / Answer
Kurt Lewin was a social psychologist whose extensive work covered studies of leadership styles and their effects, work on group decision-making, the development of force field theory, the change management model, and the group dynamics approach to training. Lewin has had a great influence on research and thinking on organizational development and was behind the founding of the Center for Group Dynamics in the United States. He is often recognized as the father of social psychology and change management, and was one of the first to study group dynamics and organizational development.
The key theories provided by him and the researches done by him are on: Leadership styles and their effects, three different styles were classified as democratic, autocratic, and laissez-faire. Lewin and his fellow researchers aimed to show that the democratic style achieved better results. Force field theory, this theory viewed people's activity as affected by forces in their surrounding environment, or field. Lewin defines a field as the totality of coexisting facts which are conceived of as mutually interdependent. Force field theory is used extensively for purposes of organizational and human resource development, to help indicate when driving and restraining forces are not in balance, so that change can occur. Group decision making, Lewin carried out research for the United States Government, exploring ways of influencing people to change their dietary habits towards less popular variety of meat. It was found that, if group members were involved in and encouraged to discuss the issues themselves, and were able to make their own decisions as a group, they were far more likely to change their habits. Three step change management model: Unfreeze-change-refreeze, Lewin's change management model is linked to force field theory. He considered that, to achieve change effectively, it is necessary to look at all the options for moving from the present to a desired state, and then to evaluate the possibilities of each and decide on the best one, rather than just taking the easiest route to it. Lewin's model encourages managers to be aware of two kinds of forces of resistance, firstly, from social habit or custom and, secondly, from an inner resistance to change. What is now known as the T-Group (Training Group) approach was pioneered by Lewin along with his colleagues and associates from the Center of Group Dynamics. They designed and implemented a two-week program that looked to encourage group discussion and decision-making, and where participants could treat each other as peers. His action research approach is linked to T-groups. Introduced during the 1940s, it was seen as an important innovation in research methods and was especially used in industry and education. Action research involves experimenting by making changes and simultaneously studying the results, in a cyclic process of planning, action and fact-gathering. One of the most influential social scientists of the 20th century, Kurt Lewin continues to exercise significant influence on contemporary psychological theory, research and practice. Today's scholars frequently cite his thinking and research.
Change is crucial for organizations in growing, highly competitive business environments. Change is the fundamental requirement for any living being to survive the ever-changing world. It has been said that survival of the fittest, which means that organisms which can evolve and adapt to the changes in the climate, surroundings, habitats, and so on, has the maximum probability to survive, and others who cannot will perish. Likewise, change is a common thread that runs through all businesses regardless of size, industry and age. Our world is changing fast and organizations must change quickly, else no matter how powerful the company is, their days are numbered if they do not evolve accordingly. Organizations that handle change well thrive, whilst those that do not may struggle to survive and eventually perish under various kinds of pressure. The concept of change management is a familiar one in most businesses but how businesses manage change varies greatly depending on the nature of the business, the change and the people involved, and most importantly on how well people within it understand the change process. One of the key models for understanding organizational change was developed by Kurt Lewin. His model is known as Unfreeze – Change – Refreeze, which refers to the three-stage process of change that he described. This first stage of change involves preparing the organization to accept that change is necessary, which involves breaking down the existing status quo before we can build up a new way of operating. To prepare the organization successfully, we need to start at its core, we need to challenge the beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors that currently define the organization and its people. By compelling the organization to re-examine its core, one effectively creates a crisis, which in turn can build a strong motivation to seek out a new equilibrium, i.e. the future goal. After the uncertainty created in the unfreeze stage, the change stage is where people begin to resolve their uncertainty and look for new ways to do things. People start to act in ways that supports the new objectives. But it is to be understood that transition from unfreeze to change does not happen overnight, people takes time to embrace and participate proactively in the change. Not everyone will fall in line just because the change is necessary and will benefit the company. Time and communication are the two keys to the changes occurring successfully and people need time to understand the changes, and feel highly connected to the organization throughout the transition period. When the changes are taking shape and people have accepted the new ways of working, the organization is ready to refreeze. The signs of the refreeze are a stable organization chart, consistent job descriptions, etc. The refreeze stage also needs to help people and the organization institutionalize the changes. This means making sure that the changes are used all the time related to the organization work, and that they are incorporated into the core business structure and everyday business rigorously. Lewin's Change Management Model is a simple and easy-to-understand framework for managing change. By recognizing these three distinct stages of change, organizations can plan to implement the change required. It need to start by creating the motivation to change, i.e. unfreeze, then move through the change process by promoting effective communications and empowering people to accept new ways of working, i.e. change. And the process ends when the organization return to a sense of stability, i.e. refreeze, which is of utmost important to embark on the next inevitable change.
Though the work of Kurt Lewin dominated the theory and practice of change management for over many years. However, in the recent past, Lewin’s approach to change, particularly the 3-Step model, has attracted major criticisms from others. The key ones are that his work assumed organizations operate in a stable state, was only suitable for small-scale change projects, ignored organizational power and politics and was top-down and management-driven. The key factors that can encourage change in organization with swap of rewards and recognitions bring significant social implications for enhancing the organizational change process. It is also criticized that Lewin's work is only relevant to incremental and isolated change projects and is not able to incorporate radical changes. Many have argued that his planned approach is too simplistic and mechanistic for a world where organizational change is a continuous and openended process. He is also accused of ignoring the role of power and politics in organizations and the conflictual nature of organizational life. He is also seen as advocating a topdown managementdriven approach to change and not taking into account the bottomup change approach which also required sometimes.
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