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Change is inevitable in organizations. This chapter discussed the techniques available for managing the
change process. The trend today is toward the learning organization, which embraces con-tenuous learning and
change. Managers should think of change as having four elements–the forces for change, the perceived need for
change, the initiation of change, and the implementation of change. Forces for change can originate either within or
outside the firm, and managers are responsible for monitoring events that may require a planned organizational re-
sponse. Techniques for initiating changes include designing the organization for creativity, encouraging change
agents, and establishing new-venture teams. The final step is implementation. Force field analysis is one technique
for diagnosing restraining forces, which often can be removed. Managers also should draw on the implementation
tactics of communication, participation, negotiation, coercion, or top management support.
This chapter also discussed specific types of change. Technology changes are accomplished through a bot-
tom-up approach that utilizes experts close to the technology. Successful new-product introduction requires
horizontal linkage among marketing, research and development, manufacturing, and perhaps other departments.
Structural changes tend to be initiated in a top-down fashion, because upper managers are the administrative
experts and champion these ideas for approval and implementation. Culture/people change pertains to the skills
behaviors, and attitudes of employees. Organizational development is an important approach to changes in peo-
ple's mind-set and corporate culture. The OD process entails three steps–unfreezing (diagnosis of the problem),
the actual change (intervention), and refreezing (reinforcement of new attitudes and behaviors). Popular OD
techniques include team building, survey feedback, intergroup activities, and process consultation.
These concepts apply to the Preston Trucking Company discussed in the chapter-opening problem. Preston,
hammered by deregulation and unhappy employees, decided to revise its corporate culture and encourage bot-
tom-up change in its production process. The survey results indicating how bad things were unfroze manage-
ment. Consultants were brought in, and meetings were held to determine the best way to proceed and to gain
employee participation. A new mindset was introduced that made employees equal partners in the trucking
business. Improved production efficiency occurred through weekly idea meetings from which suggestions
flowed from lower-level employees. In one year, more than 4,000 moneymaking ideas were proposed, worth
about $1.5 million. One idea helped decrease truck service maintenance from 23 hours to 11 hours. With both a
new corporate culture and a steady bottom-up flow of modifications in production technology, Preston has be-
come the darling of the trucking industry. Growth is rapid, sales and profits are up, and grievances are way
down. Preston is a model for how to change effectively.
NEW RESPONSES TO CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Affirmative action opened the doors of organizations in this country to women and minorities. However,
the path toward promotion to top ranks has remained closed for the most part, with many women and minorities
hitting the glass ceiling. Although the federal government responded to this problem with the Civil Rights Act
of 1991 to amend and strengthen the Civil Rights Act of 1964, affirmative action is currently under attack. As
the debate over affirmative action continues, companies need to find new ways to deal with the obstacles that
prevent women and minorities from advancing to senior management positions in the future.
How can managers prepare their organizations to accommodate diversity in the future? First, organization
leaders and managers must come to terms with their own definitions of diversity and should be encouraged to
think beyond race and gender issues to consider such factors as education, background, and personality differ-
ences.
Once a vision for a diverse workplace has been created and defined, the organization can analyze and as-
sess the current culture and systems within the organization. This assessment is followed by a willingness to
change the status quo in order to modify current systems and ways of thinking. Throughout this process, people
need support in dealing with the many challenges and inevitable conflicts they will face. Training and support
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