Kotter's Six Change Model

The Lewin’s change model is one of the many various models that are used by organisations to manage change in organisations. The next model to be discussed is the McKinsey 7-S Model.

2.7.2 Kotter’s Six Change Approach

Kotter and Schlesinger developed the Six Change Approach as a way to manage employee resistance to change. Kotter’s Six Change approach states that there are four factors that lead employees to resist change (Banhegyi and Banhegyi, 2007:103). The four factors are discussed as discussed by Banhegyi and Banhegyi (2007:103) are as follows:

Factor 1: Self Interest - Some of the employees in the organisation find themselves only concerned about how change will affect them and not necessarily worried about how it will benefit the

A lot of research on change has usually been focussed on analysing issues such as resistance to change by employees. According to Wittig (2012:23), researchers have generally agreed that resistance emanating from employees is one of the main reasons why change initiatives often fail. This section is going to discuss the impact of the change that took place at McCormick on the employees. Mergers and acquisitions have negative effects in employees, studies have revealed that mergers increase employee uncertainty and this drives up employee stress. lowering job satisfaction, morale, commitment, loyalty and the positive perception of an organisation (Nguyen and Kleiner, 2009:447). Organisations going through changes instigated by mergers and acquisitions are often advised that through good change management strategies coupled with good leadership, a clear and realistic vision will be created for the employees to also rally behind the change. When change takes places, employees usually stand to suffer more. The impact of change on employees is a very important topic because employees form an organisation’s most important resource. However the view of a negative impact of change on employees is not shared by all experts. According to Kwaning et al. (2014:107) restructuring by managements in several industries has resulted in increased

According to Agunda (2014:23) while those who have lost their jobs in a may seem to be the most affected by a restructuring process, it is the employees who have remained in the organisation that tend to suffer the most negative effects. The employees that survive the restructuring also tend to suffer from hightened stress levels, conflict, role ambigity, and job dissatisfaction. Myers (2012:12) also argues that the lack of attention to added stress after restructuring had the ability to hurt businesses in the long-run, as it contributed towards low morale, increased absenteeism, burnout and the inability of employees to channel their grief. It is therefore critical that organisations undergoing restructuring exercises be cognisant of the negative impact that low employee morale posed on the organisation’s health going forward. According to Van Graan and Ukpere (2012:11919) when employee morale is upheld in organisations undergoing restructuring, it helped simplify the process for these employees to create a positive and meaningful mindset in order to fulfil their functions with the necessary productivity, drive and passion. The failure to ensure that employee morale