Describe the "calm waters" view of organizational change.
What will be an ideal response?
The calm waters view of organizational change envisions the organization as a large ship crossing a calm sea. The ship's captain and crew know exactly where they are going because they have made the trip many times before. Change comes in the form of an occasional storm, a brief distraction in an otherwise calm and predictable trip. In the calm waters metaphor, change is seen as an occasional disruption in the normal flow of events.
It is best illustrated by Kurt Lewin's 3-step description of the change process.
According to Lewin, successful change can be planned and requires unfreezing the status quo, changing to a new state, and refreezing to make the change permanent. The status quo can be considered an equilibrium state. To move from this equilibrium, unfreezing is necessary. Unfreezing can be thought of as preparing for the needed change. It can be achieved by increasing the driving forces, which are forces pushing for change; by decreasing the restraining forces, which are forces that resist change and push behavior toward the status quo; or by combining the two approaches.
Once unfreezing is done, the change itself can be implemented. However, merely introducing
change does not ensure that it will take hold. The new situation needs to be refrozen so that it can be sustained over time. Unless this last step is done, there is a strong chance that employees
will revert back to the old ways of doing things. The objective of refreezing, then, is to stabilize the new situation by reinforcing the new behaviors.
Lewin's 3-step process treats change as a move away from the organization's current equilibrium state. It is a calm waters scenario where an occasional disruption means changing to deal with the disruption. Once the disruption has been dealt with, however, things can continue on under the new changed situation.
You might also like to view...
Budgeted costs for the year for Kim, Kramer, and Regan Associates, a professional services firm, are as follows: Associates salaries $400,000 Fringe benefits 100,000 Lease expense 265,000 Partner salaries 450,000 Telephone and fax 60,000
a. 60% b. 33% c. 50% d. 67%
Ciao, Inc had $962 in its cash account per the company's records as of June 30th. This included a deposit of $87 that was in transit on June 30th. The June 30th bank statement contained the following information: Bank statement balance $1,089 Bank service charge 7 Collection of notes receivable 68 NSF check 16 Ciao also had outstanding checks of $169. What is Ciao's adjusted cash balance at June
30th? A) $920 B) $940 C) $1,007 D) $1,089
Rafael is a citizen of Spain and a resident of the United States. During the current year, Rafael received the following income:Compensation of $5 million from competing in tennis matches in the U.S.Cash dividends of $10,000 from a Spanish corporation that earns 50 percent of its income from sales in the United StatesInterest of $2,000 from a Spanish citizen who is a resident of the U.S.Rent of $5,000 from U.S. residents who rented his villa in ItalyGain of $10,000 on the sale of stock in a German corporationDetermine the source (U.S. or foreign) of each item of income Rafael received.
What will be an ideal response?
A local ice cream shop has introduced a new signature treat that none of its competitors presently offer. Based on the tenets of the product life cycle, what pricing strategies should this business use for this new treat through the various stages of the PLC?
What will be an ideal response?