Introduction: This case study is about managing change for the business in order to remain sustainable in the market.

Although bringing change in the organization is costly but in long run it is profitable and returns back the investment. Owner of the organizations wants its business flourishing and wants to adopt new skills and technology in their organization. This case study is about bringing change in the organization and how they face resistance and overcome resistance to change. Background of the case: ResearchnNet is a small family owned business and is responsive to changes in the external market. As this is the era of knowledge the technology is changing on fast pace. If the organization is unable to adopt new technology at the workplace then it will be behind the race of business competitiveness and even in long run it will become difficult to sustain the business with old and traditional technology thats why the Managing Director wants its business sustainable and have assigned duty to respond to external environment and introduce and implement change in technology and skill whatever is emerging and present in the market. Literature Review according to case situation: Change is inevitable phenomenon for those who are running or owning the business and in that process they also suffer resistance to change. Kurt Lewin introduced the three step model of change

Source: Smith, M. K. (2001). Kurt Lewin: Groups, experiential learning and action research. [WWW document]. URL: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-lewin.htm [2004, September 9] He stated A successful change therefore include three aspects ;unfreezing; moving to the new level and refreezing, group life on the new level the unfreezing will need a catharsis. It is to break open the shell of complacency and self-righteousness and sometime necessary to bring about deliberately emotional stir up.

Change is a learning process for the organization management and employees and it is a response to internal and external environment. Todnem (2005) suggests that Lewin approach is more focused on change readiness and facilitating for change than for providing specific preplanned steps for each change project and initiative. Kanter et al. 10 Commandments for Executing Change (1992) that Analyse the organisation and itsneed to change, Create a vision and common direction, Separate from the past, Create a sense of urgency, Support a strong leader role, Line up political sponsorship, Craft an implementation plan, Develop enabling structures, Communicate, involved people and be honest, Reinforce and institutionalise change Kotters Eight-Stage Process for Successful Organisational Transformation (1996) that Developing a vision and strategy, Establishing a sense of urgency, Creating a guiding coalition, Empowering broad-based Action, Communicating the change vision, Anchoring new approaches in the culture, Generating short-term wins, Consolidating gains and producing more change. Lueckes Seven Steps (2003) ) that Mobilise energy and commitment through joint identification of business problems and their solutions, Develop a shared vision of how to organise and manage for competitiveness, Identify the leadership, Institutionalise success through formal policies, systems, and structures, Focus on results not on activities, Start change at the periphery, then let it spread to other units without pushing it from the top, Monitor and adjust strategies in response to problems in the change process. Resistant to change is natural and people resist change due to different psychological, financial and physiological change. Powell & Posner, 1978; Recardo, 1995; Yukl, 2006 Resistance to change major driving forces are These include the following reasons for resistance to change are Fear of the unknown Fear of personal failure Fear of being seen as incompetent Fear of losing control Threat to values and ideals Threat of change to status These fear and threat encompasses many of the unjustified reasons to resist change.

Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) proposed a more emergent view to tackling employee resistance, stating that the circumstances of the change and the content of the change itself will vary largely between organisations and that this should determine the appropriate response. They outline a number of approaches from education, participation, facilitation, negotiation to coercion, describing who and when to use them to reduce resistance, and details the advantages and drawbacks of each. Analysis and application of change Management tools: Managing change is critical in any organization. There are different tools and techniques available for the managing change but here we will use Kurt Lewin Force Field analysis model for managing change in the organization. Kurt Lewin model is based upon experiments and learning within the groups and also it is based upon the research. This model is change management tool which can help the organization to understand the importance of change and also can help in reducing the resistance by addressing the issue which are creating impediments in change. These models evaluate all the forces which can have effect on change management. Kurt Lewin said that there are two major forces which can be categorized as driving forces and other as restraining forces. Driving forces are all the positive and productive forces which can help in promotion and implementation of change management. These forces can be external or internal. External forces might be the new technology at work place, or new skills and expertise to run the business. The external forces can be changing trends in the market, change in customer life style and intense competition in the market. Change can help to manage differentiation in the organization processes and operations. It can bring efficiency in the organization. The other forces which are restraining forces can create hindrances and resistance in managing change. These forces are negative. The resistance to change are due to many fear and threats. Like people in the organization do not have capacity to apply new techniques, they do not have experience and qualification. They are in the state of fear of unknown. They resist due different behavioural, psychological and financial reasons. Resistance can also be faced if proper training is not arranged and incentives by the management are missing. If the tow forces are in Equilibrium state it means no change is implementing the organization and the negative force in the organization can be overcome through proper trainings and development and also with the help of motivating staff through incentives and recognition. If the movement is towards the positive force it means change is being implemented in the organization with minimum resistance. Q: 1 How to implement changes that will be agreed by staff? As MD has assigned this duty to Marketing Manager to scan the external market and whatever factors can influence the organization should be

introduced in the organization so that it can sustain its business in the future. Marketing Manager has tried its best to implement change by writing it on notice board but whenever he tried to introduce something new he faced resistance from the employee. So, marketing manager hired the services of changed consultant to implement the changes with minimal resistance. Change consultant decided to conduct series of meetings with staff and listen their grievances about change. If communication during change process remains continuous with staff it helps to reduce resistance and increases trust upon the management. If new technology is being introduced and the needs professional trainings for that it is responsibility of the management to provide them customized training and development program so that they can cope with the change process. Change process should be proper planned and it should have level so that the employee knows how much level they have achieved. Once the change is planned, it is the management work to provide policy about change to the staff and share due information with them so that their psychological fear and threat should not only be reduced but also they feel themselves the part of the system and motivated to bring changes in their organization. Change is not a one-time process it slowly happens and it changes the mind set and behaviour of the employees. When discussed with staff they required that changes should be implemented in following ways. Changes should be planned and it should not be abrupt Changes should be introduced in steps and levels Proper arrangement of trainings and development should be provided Ample time should be given to staff to get familiar with new process Information flow should be frequent and honest Rewards and incentives should be given to motivated staff Proper feedback and evaluation system should be introduced for measuring the success of change and performance Q: 2 What method or methodology of change management would be most suitable to use in this case situation - giving full acknowledgement of the theory behind this method/ology; In this case Force Field Analysis by Kurt Lewin is the most appropriate methodology to implement change in this organization. There are two forces as he said following figure shows about external and internal forces for change and restraining forces for change the

If the forces are in equilibrium then there is no change but if forces for change are more powerful as compared to restraining forces then it is positive change. External Driving Forces: Changes in technology Changing demands in the market Changing Life style of the customer Competition in the market Economic and Social conditions of the market Political and legal condition of the country Availability of substitute products Threats of new entrants

Changing consumer requirements

Internal Driving Forces: Internal driving forces which compel the organization to change can be Decreasing market share Low rate of return on investment High production cost

 Fear of losing market position Forces resisting change: Forces which can resist change might be following Availability of scarce resources Poor Skills to implement change Fear and threat of failure Rigid response to change the behaviour and attitude Resistance to change the culture of the organization Force field analysis is a theory which is widely used by change management consultants and other practitioners who are brining change and development in their organization. The force field analysis can be implemented in the organization by different ways. The following strategic planning and implementation process is helpful and can act as a guideline for the ResearchNet organization to implement change in accordance with external and internal forces. It is important to identify the external forces and internal forces which is compelling organization to adopt new changes Force field analysis is more productive and effective when introduced in teams and groups as compared to individual level. Because when it is introduced in team and groups the discussions and meetings can solve many issues and problems and the efforts of group can produce synergy in the implementation of change in the organization. If it is introduced at individual level the differences among employees can disturb the whole process and it will not have any positive result in the end. Change should not be perceived as fear and threat rather if it is perceived productive and positive in order to enhance the skills and capacity of the employee it can bring good results. Change will only be consider positive and helpful for the organization only when the employee feels they will get benefit from it and all due information is shared with them. If every individual is interpreting change by itself he or she will assume it in different way. It is human psychology that he wants to remain in the state of inertia whenever the equilibrium is disturbed he shows resistance but if they are also involved in the process of change and their point of view is listened and answered properly then the management will face minimum resistance from the staff.

 Rate of change and resistance are directly related if the scale of change is large the resistance management will face will also be larger. So the change should be introduced in chunks and slowly so that the employees can mould their behaviour and attitude accordingly and obviously it is going to change the culture of the organization too. If the change is urgent then pressure should be built by the management to introduce and implement change. When all the people are working in the group and some are working for change and some are working against the change then with passage of time resistance from the against group will reduce and they will start cooperation for the benefit of the organization as a whole Coercion can also be used if someone is resisting without any reason so that the organization can work in effective way. Some people only work when they are threatened by the management. Q: 3 Provide a plan for the marketing manager to implement the changes required over the next year, detailing all activities and justifying why each will be required. The marketing Manager is required to implement the changes required for next year in following ways. By providing training and development to the staff. Educating the staff can reduce the resistance and can enhance the growth of change in the organization. Facilitate the staff in order they can implement changes in comfortable and friendly environment Encourage participation from the employees so that they can perform better and have sense of respect and ownership in change process If some resistance is felt the manager should negotiate with them Progress of change should also be shared with the staff so that they can feel themselves motivated Information of flow should be continuous and honest so that everyone have same information and same interpretation about change

 Frequent meetings should be conducted on departmental level in order to encourage staff for participation and feedback Proper evaluation mechanism should be implemented in order to check the progress of change and response Cost of change should be calculated and also rate of return after the investment should be calculated in order to take advantage of limited resources

Recommendation:

Following are the recommendation for ResearchNet in the future in order to embrace change. Continuous scanning of the external environment Response to external environment should be quick and productive Organization culture should be open and learning environment should be provided to the staff Continuous assessment and evaluation of change can help to mitigate issues and problems on the spot Rewards, incentive and recognition system can help in boosting the motivation of employee to bring and implement change whenever required Conclusion: Change is the phenomenon which cannot be denied by anyone it not only provide future opportunities and adds value in the processes and operations of the firm but Change management adds value and skills in employees experience. He gets the opportunity to learn new skills and techniques and in that process his learning curve increases and also the organization become learning organization. The leadership of ResearchNet is visionary and they want to remain competitive in the market thats why they are showing proactive response to external and internal changes so that they can not only maintain their market share but can also be technology and environment friendly organization in the future.

References: Smith, M. K. (2001). Kurt Lewin: Groups, experiential learning and action research. [WWW document]. URL: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/etlewin.htm [2004, September 9] Kanter, R.M., Stein, B. A. and Jick, T.D (1992) p 32-39 The Challenge of Organizational Change ( New York: The Free Press) Kotter, J.P. (1996) Leading Change (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press) p:59-72 Powell, G., & Posner, B. Z. (1978). Resistance to change reconsidered: Implications for managers. Human Resource Management, 17(1), 29-34. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=bth&AN=12569903&site=ehost-live&scope=site Kotter and Schein, E. H., & NetLibrary, I. (1979). Organizational culture and leadership (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from http://www.netLibrary.com/urlapi.asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=114561 Kotter, J.P. and Schlesinger, L. A (1979) Choosing strategies for change, Harvard Business Review, 57, 2, pp. 106114 Todnem, R. (2005) Organisational Change Management: A Critical Review, Journal of Change Management, 5, 4, pp.369 380 Lewin, K. (1951) Field theory in social science; selected theoretical papers. D. Cartwright (ed.). New York: Harper & Row.pp. 231-239 Thompson, J. R. and Sanders, R. P. (1997) Strategies for reinventing Federal agencies: Gardening vs. Engineering, Public Productivity and Management Review, 21, 2, pp. 137 55 Todnem, R Luecke, R. (2003) Managing Change and Transition (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press)