1. Artan Limani
Managing Organizational Change
10/31/2013
SELF-ASSESSMENT ESSAY
If I were to give myself an assessment as it pertains to ‘creating and managing
organizational change’, I would initially say there are a lot a lessons I must assess. I tend to view
this selft assessment through two different vantage points: 1) dealing with change done onto me
and 2) how I would implore change in an organization. The different types of change ready
elements one must be prepared to deal with in either setting, the key word being prepared.
I would begin with acknowledging the type of person I am when it comes to change.
According to W. Christopher Musselwhite and Robyn Ingram (1999) and their table of ‘change
response-style’ I would categorize myself as a pragmatist. Just such as pragmatists I enjoy my
routine, but I support change if and when it is viewed as necessary, beneficial, and addresses
challenges. My behavior correlates very high with that of pragmatists such as my ability to be
practical, agreeable, and flexible; I place more emphasis on the results and other components are
secondary, however, the ends don’t always justify the means.
Eric Hoffer (1963) stated that no one likes the new, the actually fear it. This is often the
case for many people because, as eluded to in previous literature, it is the comfort zone they
don’t want to get out from. I tend to like my comfort zone as well, but instead of viewing change
as a burden I tend to view as an expansion of my comfort zone.
John P. Kotter (1996) advocates that in order to an organization, committed to a change,
to have sustained success there must be a relationship of leadership and management. Kotter
went on to say that if you posses either or, you will only have achieved short-term success. He
provides a matrix to display the relationship. If I were an HR professional looking to implore
change I would naturally aim to attain both. I believe, through prior experience, that can create a
compelling vision and provide the ‘how’ to accomplish it.
I find is difficult to cope with questions of change if they are not present throughly.
According to Paul Strebel (1996) the dimensions of personal compacts leave me pondering the
effects (good / bad) of change. The question I revert to reside within the psychological
dimension because often times at my organization I am not recognized for my input nor I am
rewarded for the hard work I put in.

2. In dealing with resisters to change Paul R. Lawerence (1969) suggest that change occurs
much smoother working within than when imposed by outsiders. Psychologists Robert Kegan
and Lisa Lahey suggest there is a “competiting committment” with passive resisters to change
and that they perhaps try to avoid further work. The way I would handle passive resister if I
were implementing the change is revert to Jack Welch’s simple slogan – “up or out”. Meaning
every employee must either move up in the ranks or if an employee doesn’t show the willingness
or tenacity for the beneficial opportunity they will move out.
According to Dr. John Kotter (2002) the most effective way to develop change within an
organization is to combine the head and the heart approach. This done by formulating the ‘see &
feel’ aspects equaling to the ‘change’ mechanism. This aligns with the earlier mentioned
relationship with leadership and management – providing a compelling vision. I am very
passionate when I speak about something I really believe in and I attempt to deeply illustrate my
point so that you can envision my story.
In “Leading Change” – John Kotter (1995) provides a chart of stages and actions needed
to best succeed in the transformation of change – stating that ‘the status-quo is more dangerous
than the unknown’. That resonates very much to the words U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
(2013) said about the crisis in Syria over chemicals weapons saying the price of inaction is far
greater than price of action. I believe this very much and I convey this message often to my
constituents, not only because the message identifies with two greater leaders, but because in my
mind it is the truth of the matter.
According to Linda W. Andrews (2003) all managers face stress triggers, but she
provides a coping strategy chart in her “Avoiding HR Burnout”. I find myself partial to her
strategies of: ‘strike a balance between people-oriented and business-oriented; and prioritize’.
Indeed stress factors can come from all different directions but I resort to saying I must keep my
focus. As she suggest private time is important as well; sometimes when it becomes
overwhelming I must go away for a bit in order to comback.
A number of statistical data analysis performed by Kreft & de Leeuw (1998) and Singer
(1998) on the subject of committment to change and behaviorial outcomes of organizational
change provide various findings. The data is fascinating, it suggests that the more resources an
individual has at their disposal the better that individual can cope with loss of resources during
organizational change. I concur with this analysis; I view it as the more duties / responsibilities
you provide an individual with, the more hard work they put in, the greater their confidence will
grow; giving them a higher self-value and being able to accepth change knowing that they can
overcome the challenge. The data is presented below:

3. Figure 1 – Kreft & de Leeuw (1998); Singer (1998) – Academy of Management Journal
Figure 2 – Kreft & de Leeuw (1998); Singer (1998) – Academy of Management Journal

4. Bibliography:
Shin Jiseon, Taylor Susan M., Geo Myeong-Gu (2012). ‘Resource of Change: The Relationship
of Organizational Inducements and Psychological Resilience to Employees’ Attitudes and
Behaviors Towards Organizational Change’. Academy of Mangement Journal, vol. 55, no. 3, pp.
727 – 748.
BusinessWire (2003). Peg Gamse Named Corporate Resources Director at RS Information Systems, A
Berkshire Hathaway Company. Available from:
<http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20031215005680/en/Peg-Gamse-Named-Corporate-
Resources-Director-RS>. [Accessed 31 October2013].
Kotter P. John (2007). ‘Leading Change – Why Transformation Efforts Fail’. Harvard Business
Review, pp. 1-10.
-