Mckinsey's Change Management Model

2.10 Types Of Change Management Models

According to Bree Normandin, 2012While there are many change management models, most companies will choose at least one of the following three models to operate under:

1)Lewin’s Change Management Model 2) McKinsey 7-S Model 3) Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model

Lewin’s Change Management Model: This change management model was created in the 1950s by psychologist Kurt Lewin. Lewin noted that the majority of people tend to prefer and operate within certain zones of safety. He recognized three stages of change: 1) Unfreeze: Most people make an active effort to resist change. In order to overcome this tendency, a period of thawing or unfreezing must be initiated through motivation. 2) Transition:

While this change management model remains widely used today, it is takes time to implement. Of course, since it is easy to use, most companies tend to prefer this model to enact major changes. McKinsey 7-S Model: The McKinsey 7-S model offers a holistic approach to organization. This model, created by Robert Waterman, Tom Peters, Richard Pascale, and Anthony Athos during a meeting in 1978, has 7 factors that operate as collective agent of change: 1) Shared values 2) Strategy 3) Structure 4) Systems 5) Style 6) Staff 7) Skills. The McKinsey 7-S Model offers four primary benefits:1. It offers an effective method to diagnose and understand an organization. 2. It provides guidance in organizational change. 3. It combines rational and emotional components. 4. All parts are integral and must be addressed in a unified manner. The disadvantages of the McKinsey 7-S Model are: When one part changes, all parts change, because all factors are interrelated, Differences are ignored, The model is complex, Companies using this model have been known to have a higher incidence of failure. Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model: This model, created by Harvard University Professor John Kotter, causes change to become a campaign. Employees buy into the change after leaders

(Paul R. Lawrence, “How to Deal with Resistance to Change,” HBR May–June 1954; reprinted as HBR Classic, January–February 1969)

Low tolerance for change

People also resist change because they fear they will not be able to develop the new skills and behavior that will be required of them. All human beings are limited in their ability to change, with some people much more limited than others. Organizational change can inadvertently require people to change too much, too quickly.

(Resistance to Change,” in The Planning of Change, eds. Warren G. Bennis, Kenneth F. Benne, and Robert Chin (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1969)

Dealing with Resistance

Many managers underestimate not only the variety of ways people can react to organizational change, but also the ways they can positively influence specific individuals and groups during a change. And, again because of past experiences, managers sometimes do not have an accurate understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the methods with which they are