Concord Bookshop Paper Organizational change is a continual process. According to Spector, Lewin is best known for his three phases of change implementation (2010). Lewin’s change model: unfreezing, change, and refreezing allow the transitions within the change process to take place smoothly. Implementation of the phases for change will help to ensure that the respective change can be outlined and discussed, and ultimately implemented with success. In this paper, the phases of organizational change as well as the organizational change processes not implemented resulting in the Concord Bookshop failure will be presented.
Lewin’s Phases of Organizational Change Unfreezing is the initial phase in the change process to create an awareness of how the issue at hand for the purposed change is obstructing the organizational goals. “Old behaviors, ways of thinking, processes, people and organizational structures must all be carefully examined to show employees how necessary a change is for the organization to create or maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace” (Hartzell, 2012, p.3). Communication is critical; transparency within leadership decisions allow for a more cohesive atmosphere for change when the employees understand the purpose and their role within the need for the respective changes. The second step, change, can start to take affect once people are unfrozen and are prepared for execution of the change. Those affected by the change must understand why the change is taking place. Having the employees participate in the development of new procedures and processes associated with the change will allow a sense of ownership and pride. In this step new attitudes and values can be created while resistance is minimized allowing for smoother transition during the implementation period as the effects of the change play out. Refreezing, the final stage essentially is the reinforcement and review of the change. This step is particularly significant to guarantee that people do not regress back to their previous ways before the change. “Efforts must be made to guarantee the change is not lost; rather it needs to be cemented into the organization's culture and maintained as the acceptable way of thinking or doing” (Hartzell, 2012, p.5). This is done so by reinforcing the changes made and by consistent monitoring for expected outcomes through a change control process. Many successful organizations offer incentives and rewards to encourage positive promotion of the new change to become the new norm of business.
Concord Bookshop Change Failure Concord Bookshop was looking to improve their financial performance through major changes due to increasing competition other book dealers. The owners declared that they were going to hire a new general manager; this notice came unexpectedly and prompted many employees to give their notice. The phase of unfreezing was not properly used in notifying the employees of the impending change; they were not given any time to process the decisions regarding the new management, but essentially were force fed the information abruptly. The ownership team should have asked for input from the staff on the frontline everyday interacting with customers for their feedback on how the bookshop could be better managed financially instead of dropping a bombshell on the employees without any regard to their views and long-time commitment to the business. The owners did not properly
