THE INTERVENTION STRATEGY MODEL

Introduction:

Change management is a concept that denotes the importance of managing human

emotions and employee concerns when major changes are made in an organization.
Organizational-development change management refers to a component of a major company
overhaul designed to fix an ineffective workplace. Operational change management typically
refers to more common changes in certain work processes, reporting structure or job roles.

Intervention:

Intervention refers to a structured activity that is performed for an organization by

individuals or groups based on a goal or objective, such as improving the performance of a
work group.

 It is regarded as the procedural methodology for successfully intervening in the working

processes of the original system. The ultimate result should be a stable new
environment, which incorporates the desired change.

 ISM was developed by Robert paton and Jim McCalman, based on the idea of an
open systems approach

 Open systems approach view organisations as a series of interlined and interdependent

elements and components of systems and sub systems

Definitions:

‘’Every action that influences an organization's improvement program in a change

agent-client system relationship can be said to be an intervention”. (Johnson, 1976)

‘’Intervening in the system aims to resolve difficulties, remove hurdles and provide
momentum to increase the effectiveness of the organization’’. (Dwivedi)

An intervention is a set of sequenced and planned actions or events intended to help the
organization increase its effectiveness.

Purpose of intervention:

Organizations apply interventions for many purposes. The following key points have been
recognized-
 Performance and Productivity Improvement

 Improving Employee and Organizational Effectiveness

 To foster open communication, trust and confidence in intra group and inter-group
relationships. This may involve changing mindsets and perceptions that would come into play
as group influences.

Key properties of open systems

1. System autonomy

Firstly, it refers to the process of mapping-out the boundaries of the system and its
environment.

Main point to consider is when mapping out organisational systems we should ensure
that all the non-essential relationships are excluded and all essential ones should be included.

Systems Behaviour:

 The physical processes of the system itself,

 The communication processes used to handle and transfer information within and
between systems, and

 The monitoring processes that maintain the system’s stability.

Three phases of ISM

1. Definition/description phase

2. Situation summary

3. Evaluation phase

 To encourage participative management by increasing employee involvement and

participation in the management process.
Three phases of ISM model are summarised in table below

Phases Stages Actions appropriate for each stage

Definition/ 1. Situation summary 1. Recognise need for change either to
description solve a problem or to take advantage
of an opportunity.
2. Test out others views on the need
for change.
3. Using appropriate diagnostic
techniques, confirm the presence of
hard complexity and a difficulty
rather than the mess.
2. Identify objectives 4. Set-up objectives for systems of
and constrains interest.
5. Identify constraints on the
achievements of the objectives.
3. Identify 6. Decide how the achievement of the
performance objectives can be measured.
measures
Evaluation 4. Generate options 1. Develop ideas foe change into clear
options for achievement of the
objective.
2. Consider a range of possibilities.
5. Edit options and 3. Describe the most promising
detail selected options in some detail.
options
6. Evaluate options 4. Decide for each option what is
against measures involved, who is involved and how
it will work.
5. Evaluate the performance of the
chosen options against the
performance criteria identified in
stage 3.
Implementation 7. Develop 1. Select preferred options and plan
implementation how to implement.
strategies
8. Carry out the 2. Involve all concerned.
planned changes 3. Allocate responsibilities.
4. Monitor progress.