How Does Change Happen?This is the final column examining 'CHANGE' as it affects organizational culture. "Change, What Is It Exactly?" provided definitions of the fundamental concepts of change management and identified the parameters affecting organizational culture change.
"Change, Why Is It So Hard?" discussed the drivers of change in Lebanese organizations, looked at the causes of resistance to change, presented key aspects of change based on Hassard and Sharifi's review of change management literature and defined a framework for managing organizational culture change.
This column explores the various models proposed on 'HOW' change can be managed in an organization and the constraints to change in the Lebanese context.
A vast number of models have been proposed to explain organizational culture change, but none have yet become dominant in the field. The five models explored below summarize the processes of culture change as we understand them today. Each is viewed in reference to its applicability to Lebanese businesses.
Lundberg's learning cycle places great emphasis on external factors as the drivers of culture change. He says that the correct balance of external enabling and internal permitting conditions must exist when precipitating pressures are triggered by events that could lead to cultural visioning. This visioning will provide the basis for a change strategy and action plan. The main difficulty with this model is that it is built on the premise that the external and internal environments are relatively stable, so changes are noticeable and can have great influence on the life of an organization. In many countries,the environment is still too unstable for this model to be feasible.
Schein's model attempts to match particular cultural change processes to stages in the life cycle of organizations. The scheme is far too elaborate to discuss here, but it is worth noting that in the matrix matching growth stages of an organization with the functions of culture and the mechanisms of change, we, in Lebanon, do not fit in neatly anywhere. The reason is that most organizations are in a kind of managerial 'limbo': at organizational maturity, but also at a rebirth stage; family dominated ownerships facing succession crises while also having to grow organizationally in many directions at the same time.
Dyer's cycle of cultural evolution shares many similarities with Lundberg's and Schein's, but is distinguished by its emphasis on the dual circumstances of the perception of a crisis and a leadership change occurring simultaneously. This model comes quite close to reflecting conditions prevailing in many businesses today. There is, however, the fact that many executives and employees are reluctant to openly express discontent with their management as opportunities for job change are very scarce. Some sectors still have confessional, political, gender or other barriers to entry. There is also no gain from protesting, as most businesses are still family-owned and upward mobility limited. Promotion depends more on keeping good relations with the power-brokers than on the quality of professional performance.
Gagliardi's model explicitly recognizes the role that perceived success plays in the development of new values and beliefs and asserts that incremental change is the only real form of culture change.
Simply put, the triggering circumstances are internal conflict between opposing cultures within the organization and a challenge to present leadership. The success of the winning challenger becomes the driving force behind the adoption of new values and beliefs and ultimately the installation of the new culture. The virtue of this model is the recognition of the universal appeal of 'perceived success' and 'idealization' in which a belief is emotionally transfigured and is held regardless of logical or rational grounds. Lebanese culture would be particularly receptive to both these elements.
Finally is the composite framework consisting of the ideas of Lewin, Beyer and Trice, and Isabella, focusing on some of the micro-details of cultural adaptation. This model relates what it calls the contextual, the social and the cognitive domains in an 'anthropological' approach to business. The main stages in the process are: the unfreezing of the existing culture resulting from a perceived need for change by senior management, usually brought on by some crisis such as a steep fall in market share; a change phase characterized by uncertainty and instability due to the degradation and challenge of present assumptions; refreezing through conflict reducing action such as confirmation, consolidation and integration of new values and beliefs, identification of the winners and losers, etc.. This perspective provides valuable insights and a wealth of relevant detail for those working in Lebanese organizations today.
All that we have seen so far, leaves us in little doubt of the great leverage that Human Resource systems, policies and practices have over an organization's culture. However, the result will be chaos rather than support if the HRM system is not totally consistent with the desired state culture. There is no room for contradictory or ambiguous messages. The critical areas are recruitment and selection, induction, socialization and training, performance appraisal and reward systems. Coherence in these systems and their profound alignment with the overall business strategy and culture of the organization are fundamental to the success of this approach to culture management.
Leader Action according to Tom Peters is achieved mainly through symbols. He identifies a number of different symbolic means through which senior executives impose the culture of their organizations:
How executives use and spend their time, their use of language, their use of meetings, agendas and minutes, and their use of settings. These are further elaborated into a system of rites and rituals that are used to facilitate and regulate desired cultural changes within their organizations. In this mode the leader could be viewed as an actor or performer. Some stars of the business world who successfully used this approach are Lacocca at Chrysler, Sir John Harvey-Jones at ICI and Michael Edwards at British Leyland, and several other places.
I would like to conclude by suggesting that any approach to organizational change begins with a careful examination of the present culture along with a full awareness of problems such as scapegoating, simplification, whitewashing and a host of other maneuvers used to protect individual and group interests at the expense of distorting information.
Fay Niewiadomski founded ICTN (International Consulting & Training Network) in 1993. ICTN provides complete management services to its clients who are among the leading regional and multinational players. Furthermore, she has worked with CEOs, Board Members, Presidents and Ministers of Government and other Leaders to help them meet the challenges of change within their organizations through creative problem solving, management interventions and powerful communication strategies. Prior to founding ICTN, she researched the subject of "Managing Change through Needs-Based Assessment' in large Lebanese Organizations" for her doctoral work at the University of East Anglia in the UK. Additionally, she also held various university positions as a professor at AUB and LAU and as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at NDU.
For additional information on how to improve performance and increase productivity through people, decrease cost and better ensure growth and sustainability, visit http://www.ictn.com.
By Fay F Niewiadomski
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