Kurt Lewin and complexity theories back to the future

Joumal of Change Management, Vol. 4, No. 4, 309-325, December 2004 i\ l\ Kurt Lewin and complexity theories: back to the future? BERNARD BURNES Manchester School of Management, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Manchester, UK ABSTRACT Many writers acknowledge the significance of Kurt Lewin s contribution to organizational change. However, over the last 20 years, where the focus has been on rapid, transformational change, Lewin s work has increasingly become seen as outmoded and irrelevant to the needs of modem organizations. It might be expected that this tendency would increase as academics and practitioners draw on the work of complexity theorists to portray organizations as complex,†¦show more content†¦Many writers have argued that organizations are also complex systems which, to survive, need to operate at the edge of chaos and have to respond continuously to changes in their environments through just such a process of spontaneous self-organizing change (Lewis, 1994; Stickland, 1998; Macintosh and MacLean, 1999, 2001; Hayles, 2000; Macbeth, 2002; Stacey, 2003). This is a far cry from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, where the received wisdom was that change was an incremental process (Quinn, 1980) and that the best way to manage this was through Kurt Lewin s Planned approach to change (French and Bell, 1990; Cummings and Worley, 2001). Given its group-based, consensual and relatively slow nature. Planned change began to attract criticism in the 1980s from those questioning its appropriateness in an era of radical organizational change (Peters and Waterman, 1982; Wilson, 1992; Dawson, 1994; Buchanan and Storey, 1997; Hatch, 1997). The following quotation is perhaps typical of the criticisms levelled against Lewin s approach to change: Lewin s model was a simple one, with organizational change involving three stages; unfreezing, changing and refreezing . . . This quaintly linear andShow MoreRelatedPlanned Approach to Change11990 Words   |  48 PagesKurt Lewin and the Planned Approach to Change: A Re-appraisal Bernard Burnes Manchester School of Management ï  ¡Ã¯  ¢Ã¯  ³Ã¯  ´Ã¯  ²Ã¯  ¡Ã¯  £Ã¯  ´ The work of Kurt Lewin dominated the theory and practice of change management for over 40 years. However, in the past 20 years, Lewin’s approach to change, particularly the 3-Step model, has attracted major criticisms. The key ones are that his work: assumed organizations operate in a stable state; was only suitable for small-scale change projects; ignored organizational powerRead MoreGroup Decision And Social Change Essay1936 Words   |  8 PagesGroup Decision and Social Change - Kurt Lewin A diagnosis to this problem would be the fact that people almost always resist to change. The resistance to change at the City of Troutdale is a normal reaction. Organizational change is an ongoing topic in organizational behavior. As each manager wants to make the organization a better place because everyone is a part of it, organizational change is important to organizational development. Organizational change is the process of employees making relativelyRead MoreU.s. Government s Department Of Defense1238 Words   |  5 Pagessimilar to Max Weber s classical organization theory as he viewed it from a macro perspective (Onday, 2016). Conversely, the Government is very different from a micro-level perspective. 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Consider the changes in the South African environment (competition, globalisation, employment equity, downsizing, need for innovation, etc), and indicate the suitability of the organisational culture for the future objectives of the organisation. Case study: Transact Insurance Ltd Transact Insurance Ltd (TIL) provides motor vehicle insurance throughout South Africa. Last year, a new managing director was hired by the TILS’s board of directors to improve theRead MoreZHANG Yuanli Mgts1601 Essay2258 Words   |  10 Pagesrecommendations based on the Kurt Lewin Change Model. 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