Week 7: Consolidating and Anchoring Change Short-term wins created in Stage 6 of the change process help propel the change process forward

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Week 7: Consolidating and Anchoring Change

Short-term wins created in Stage 6 of the change process help propel the change process forward. Successful managers use these victories to counteract inherent resistance and consolidate these wins into further changes. Aside from resistance, organizational interdependence can stall the change process, and managers often face the task of restructuring the entire organization to ensure that the vision succeeds. At this time in the process, fresh people, quality top leadership, appropriate delegation, and reduction of unnecessary interdependence can all keep the change process moving.

Anchoring the change vision is the important final step in the process. The fulfillment of the change vision is complete when the vision has become the new reality and is an established part of the organizational culture. What begins as a vision comes full circle to a complete, lasting change in the culture. This week, as you complete your Course Project, you will have the opportunity to evaluate the impact of a lasting cultural change that is the result of an effective change process.

Discussion: Anchoring Change

The end result of a successful change process should include a change in an organization’s culture. This change in culture ensures that the vision is permanently entrenched in the organization. Kotter warns against change visions that begin with a cultural change—he maintains that the roots have not been established to sustain the long and often exhausting change process. Rather, Kotter suggests, if you adhere to his eight-stage process, cultural change will occur naturally, creating a culture that encourages future opportunities, empowerment, and continual renewal.

To prepare for this Discussion:

· Review this week’s Learning Resources, especially:

· Step 7: Consolidating gains and producing – See attachment

· Step 8: Anchoring new approaches – See attachment

· The hard side of change management. Harvard Business Review, 83(10), 108–118.

· Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

· Chapter 9, “Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change”

· Chapter 10, “Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture”

Assignment:

Post a cohesive response based on your analysis of the Learning Resources and your professional experience. Be sure to discuss the following:

· Analyze Kotter’s argument that, “culture changes only after you have successfully altered people’s actions, after the new behavior produces some group benefit for a period of time, and after people see the connections between the new action and the performance improvement.” (Kotter, 2012, p. 164–65)

· Compare your organization after your change has successfully been implemented to before the implementation.

· What are the forces that might push your organization or community back toward the former status quo, and how do you overcome them? What are the dangers of trying to move forward too rapidly?

· Break down the consequences of not anchoring change within the culture. Outline how you can work to ensure your plan is anchored within the culture and not affected by these consequences.

· Culture change is a result of transformational change. Analyze the levels of culture as discussed in the Learning Resources.

· Identify the levels of culture that are most important to shift in a transformational change. Explain your reasoning.

· Examine how the levels of culture help shape your change plan and ensure you are anchoring change within the culture.