Why do organisations need to manage change, and how do Lewin's model and change strategies help?
Managing change: the drivers and resistance to change, Lewin's three-step model (unfreeze, change, refreeze) and force-field thinking, change strategies (top-down, participative, directive), and the factors that make change succeed.
How organisations manage change in Advanced Higher Business Management: the drivers of and resistance to change, Lewin's unfreeze-change-refreeze model, top-down and participative change strategies, and the factors that make change succeed.
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What this key area is asking
Organisations face constant pressure to change, from technology, competition, the economy and customers, yet people resist it. Advanced Higher expects you to know the drivers of and resistance to change, Lewin's model of how to manage it (and force-field thinking), the main change strategies (top-down/directive versus participative), and the factors that make change succeed. The skill is to recommend and justify how a manager should lead change.
Drivers of and resistance to change
Understanding why people resist is the key to managing change: most change failures come not from a bad plan but from unmanaged resistance.
Lewin's three-step model
The model's insight is that the change step is not enough on its own: unfreezing (overcoming resistance first) and refreezing (making the change stick) are equally vital, because organisations easily slip back to old habits.
Force-field thinking
Lewin also pictured change as a balance of forces: driving forces push for change while restraining forces resist it. Change happens when the drivers outweigh the restraints, and the most effective route is usually to weaken the restraining forces (resistance, fear) rather than simply push harder, which can increase resistance. (Force-field analysis is studied as a tool in the next area.)
Change strategies
How a manager introduces change shapes its success.
- Top-down / directive. Management decides and imposes the change. It is fast and gives clear direction, suiting a crisis, but tends to provoke resistance because staff are not involved.
- Participative. Staff are consulted and involved in shaping the change. It is slower but builds ownership and commitment, reducing resistance and drawing on staff knowledge.
Factors in successful change
Change succeeds when there is: a clear vision and reason communicated early; strong leadership; staff involvement and communication; training and support; realistic pace and resources; and refreezing to embed the new ways.
Examples in context
Why managing change matters
Managing change ties the internal-environment area to the external one: globalisation, technology and economic shifts all force change, and leadership, motivation and teams all shape how well an organisation adapts. It is a frequent exam and project theme, especially alongside technological change.
Try this
Q1. Name the three steps of Lewin's model of change. [2 marks]
- Cue. Unfreeze, change (move) and refreeze.
Q2. Explain one advantage of a participative change strategy over a top-down one. [4 marks]
- Cue. Involving and consulting staff builds ownership and commitment and uses their knowledge, which reduces resistance and makes the change more likely to stick, though it is slower.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA AH style6 marksDescribe Lewin's three-step model of managing change.Show worked answer →
Describe means give detail on each step. Unfreeze, prepare the organisation for change by challenging the existing way of doing things, creating awareness of why change is needed and reducing resistance, the hardest step. Change (or moving), implement the new processes, structures or behaviours, supporting and communicating with staff as the change is carried out. Refreeze, embed the change so it becomes the new normal, reinforcing the new ways through training, rewards and revised procedures so the organisation does not slip back.
A strong answer explains each step and stresses that unfreezing (overcoming resistance) and refreezing (making the change stick) are as important as the change itself, since many changes fail because the organisation reverts. Naming the three words without explaining them earns little.
SQA AH style8 marksDiscuss the reasons why staff resist change and how a manager could overcome resistance.Show worked answer →
Discuss means weigh and judge. Reasons for resistance: fear of the unknown and of job loss; loss of status, skills or routine; distrust of management's motives; poor communication; and the effort of learning new ways. Force-field thinking sees change as a balance between driving forces (pushing for change) and restraining forces (resisting it); change succeeds by strengthening the drivers and, especially, weakening the restraining forces.
Ways to overcome resistance: communicate the reasons clearly and early; involve and consult staff so they own the change (a participative strategy); provide training and support; phase the change; and offer reassurance or incentives. A strong answer judges that a participative approach usually reduces resistance better than a purely top-down, directive one, though directive change may be needed in a crisis when speed matters, rather than listing.
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