Page 269 - Managing Change in Organizations

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Chapter 13 ■ Managing major changes
Advantages and disadvantages of involving people

Advantages

1 Improved decisions because people have better detailed knowledge of jobs and
systems.
2 People will better understand the aims of the change, and the working of new
systems.
3 Creates a feeling of ownership.
4 Redirects energy in support of change rather than against change.
5 Allows us to experiment.
6 Builds a better understanding of change and how to achieve it.

Disadvantages

1 Takes longer, particularly at the planning stage.
2 Therefore requires more time and effort in the early stages.
In addition, involving people may lead to greater uncertainty and instability as
individuals or groups use the involvement process as a means of opposing
change. However, if the objective is the effective implementation of change, this
latter is less of an issue. These same people are likely to oppose the change,
whether or not they were involved. If they are not involved the opposition will
come out in different ways. Below, I list some useful criteria in planning how peo-
ple are to be involved in change, and this may depend on the following:

■ The complexity of the changes and the strength of linkage between different
parts of the changes.
■ The expected opposition and the level of dissatisfaction with the present situ-
ation.
■ The level of credibility of the people promoting change.
■ The impact of change on people, both positive and negative – how many

‘winners’, how many ‘losers’?
■ Where the quality of the decisions is more important than their acceptability
alone.
■ Where rumour is likely, whatever happens.
These factors need to be considered. Sometimes changes are probably best
imposed by top management. There is no easy answer but, just as important,
involvement of top management is not always the way forward. However, there
are two further points to add. Because there are real advantages in involvement,
some level is always worth considering. Usually there are many details to be
resolved in which people can and should be involved. The point here is to make
clear precisely how and to what extent involvement is planned. Just as impor-
tant is involving key power holders and opinion leaders. They will influence the
attitudes and behaviour of others and therefore their open support is worth
seeking.
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