Organizational Change and Stress Management

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Organizational Change and Stress Management
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Chapter Outline

• Forces for Change
• Types of Organizational Change
• What Do Organizations Change?
• Managing Organizational Change
• Resistance to Change
• Contemporary Issues in the Management of Change
• Work Stress and Its Management

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Organizational Change and Stress Management

• Describe the forces that act as stimulants to
  change
• Contrast first-order and second-order change
• Summarize the types of changes that organizations
  make
• Summarize sources of individual and
  organizational resistance to change
• Describe potential sources of stress
• Explain individual difference variables that
  moderate the stress-outcome relationship

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Forces for Change
Force Examples
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Managing Planned Change

• Change
• Making things different.
• Planned Change
• Change activities that are intentional and goal
  oriented.
• First-Order Change
• Linear and continuous.
• Second-Order Change
• Change that is multidimensional, multilevel,
  discontinuous, and radical.

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Exhibit 17-1Change Options
What are the change options?
Culture
Structure
Technology
Physical setting
People
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What Can Organizations Change?

• Culture
• changing the underlying values and goals of the
  organization
• Structure
• altering authority relations, coordination
  mechanisms, job redesign, or similar structural
  variables
• Technology
• modifying how work is processed and methods and
  equipment used
• Physical Settings
• altering the space and layout arrangements in the
  workplace
• People
• changes in employee skills, expectations and/or
  behaviour

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Figure 17-3Lewins Three-Step Change Model
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Implementing the Change

• Unfreezing getting ready for change
• minimizing resistance
• Moving Making the change
• changing people (individuals and groups) tasks
  structure technology
• Refreezing Stabilizing the change
• reinforcing outcomes, evaluating results, making
  constructive modifications

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Unfreezing

• Arouse dissatisfaction with the current state
• tell them about deficiencies in organization
• Activate and strengthen top management support
• need to break down power centres
• Use participation in decision making
• get people involved
• Build in rewards
• tie rewards to change/use recognition, status
  symbols, praise to get people to go along

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Moving

• Establish goals
• e.g. make business profitable by end of next year
• Institute smaller, acceptable changes that
  reinforce and support change
• e.g. procedures and rules, job descriptions,
  reporting relationships
• Develop management structures for change
• e.g. plans, strategies, mechanisms that ensure
  change occurs
• Maintain open, two-way communication

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Refreezing

• Build success experiences
• Set targets for change, and have everyone work
  toward targets
• Reward desired behaviour
• GOOD - reward behaviour that reinforces changes
• BAD - reward old system (e.g., people relying on
  old systems while computerization is going on)
• Develop structures to institutionalize the change
• Organizational retreats, appropriate computer
  technology, performance appraisals that examine
  change efforts
• Make change work

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Exhibit 17-4Unfreezing the Status Quo
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Managing Effective Change

• Build an intricate understanding of the business
• Encourage uncompromising straight talk
• Manage from the future
• Harness setbacks
• Promote inventive accountability
• Understand the quid pro quo
• Create relentless discomfort with the status quo

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Exhibit 17-5Sources of Individual Resistance to
Change
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Cynicism About Change

• Feeling uninformed about what was happening
• Lack of communication and respect from ones
  supervisor
• Lack of communication and respect from ones
  union representative
• Lack of opportunity for meaningful participation
  in decision-making

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Exhibit 17-7Sources of Organizational Resistance
to Change
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Overcoming Resistance to Change

• Education and Communication
• This tactic assumes that the source of resistance
  lies in misinformation or poor communication.
• Participation
• Prior to making a change, those opposed can be
  brought into the decision process.
• Facilitation and Support
• The provision of various efforts to facilitate
  adjustment.
• Negotiation
• Exchange something of value for a lessening of
  resistance.
• Manipulation and Cooperation
• Twisting and distorting facts to make them appear
  more attractive.
• Coercion
• The application of direct threats or force upon
  resisters.

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Managing Change in a Unionized Environment

• An effective system for resolving day-to-day
  issues.
• A jointly administered business education
  process.
• A jointly developed strategic vision for the
  organization.
• A non-traditional, problem-solving method of
  negotiating collective agreements.

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How Stressed Are We?
A 1997 POLLARA survey examined how many Canadians
were feeling stressed Quebec 65 Atlantic
Canada 41 Ontario 39 Alberta 38 British
Columbia 37 Prairies 32
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What is Stress?

• A dynamic condition in which an individual is
  confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or
  demand related to what he or she desires and for
  which the outcome is perceived to be both
  uncertain and important.

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Exhibit 17-10A Model of Stress

• Individual Differences
• Perception
• Job experience
• Social support
• Belief in locus of control
• Hostility

• Environmental Factors
• Economic uncertainty
• Political uncertainty
• Technological uncertainty

• Physiological Symptoms
• Headaches
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease

• Organizational Factors
• Task demands
• Role demands
• Interpersonal demands
• Organizational structure
• Organizational leadership
• Organizations life stage

• Psychological Symptoms
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Decrease in Job Satisfaction

• Experienced Stress

• Individual Factors
• Family problems
• Economic problems
• Personality

• Behavioural symptoms
• Productivity
• Absenteeism
• Turnover

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Potential Sources of Stress

• Environmental Factors
• Economic uncertainty
• Political uncertainty
• Technological uncertainty
• Organizational Factors
• Task demands
• Role demands
• Interpersonal demands
• Organizational structure
• Organizational leadership
• Organizations life stage
• Individual Factors
• Family problems
• Economic problems
• Personality

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Individual Differences in Experiencing Stress

• Perception
• Job experience
• Social support
• Belief in locus of control
• Hostility

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Consequences of Stress

• Physiological Symptoms
• Headaches
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Psychological Symptoms
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Decrease in Job Satisfaction
• Behavioural symptoms
• Productivity
• Absenteeism
• Turnover

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Exhibit 17-11Primary Causes of Stress at Work
What factors cause the most stress on the job?
A Wall Street Journal survey reported
Factor Response
Not doing the kind of work I want
to 34 Coping with current job 30 Working too
hard 28 Colleagues at work 21 A difficult
boss 18 Percentages exceed 100 as a result
of some multiple responses.
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Helping Employees Manage Stress

• Selection and placement decisions
• Goal setting
• Redesigning jobs
• Increasing employee involvement
• Increasing organizational communication
• Providing organizational wellness programs

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Summary and Implications

• The real world is turbulent, requiring
  organizations to face the prospect of change.
• Change must be managed, it is not an easy process
• Evidence indicates that stress can be either a
  positive or negative influence on employee
  performance.