Foundations of

organization development
A three stage model of the change process
Stage 1.
Unfreezing- Creating motivation and readiness to
change through
a) Disconfirmation or lack of confirmation
b) Creation of guilt or anxiety
c) Provision of psychological safety
Stage 2.

Changing through cognitive restructuring- Helping the

client to see things, judge things, feel things and react to
things differently based on a new point of view obtained
through

a) Identifying with a new role model, mentor etc.

b) Scanning the environment for new relevant information

Stage 3.

Refreezing- helping the client to integrate the new point of

view into:

a) The total personality and self concept

b) Significant relationships
 In stage 1, unfreezing , disconfirmation creates pain and
discomfort, which cause guilt and anxiety, which
motivates the person to change.

But unless the person feels comfortable with dropping the

old behaviors and acquiring new ones , change will not
occur

That is, the person must develop a sense of psychological

safety in order to replace the old behaviors with new
behaviors
 In stage 2, moving, the person undergoes cognitive
restructuring.

The person acquires information and evidence showing

that the change is desirable and possible.

This motivating evidence shows that the change is

desirable and possible.

This motivating evidence is gained by, for example,

identifying with ex-smokers and learning about the
health risks of smoking .
 The primary task in stage 3, refreezing , is to integrate
the new behaviors into the persons personally and
attitudes.

That is , stabilizing the changes requires testing to see if

they fit- fit with the individual , and fit with the
individuals social surroundings.

The phrase significant relationships refers to important

people in the persons social environment- do these
significant others approve of the changes?
 Seven Stage Model of Change
Phase 1. Developing a need for change . This phase
corresponds to Lewins unfreezing phase

Phase 2. Establishing a change relationship. In this phase

a client system in need of help and a change agent from
outside the system will establish a working relationship.

Phase 3. Clarifying or diagnosing the client systems

problem

Phase 4. Examining alternative routes and goals;

establishing goals and intentions of action
 Phase 5. Transforming intentions into actual change
efforts. Phase 3,4 and 5 correspond to Lewin s moving
phase.

Phase 6. Generalizing and stabilizing change. This

phase corresponds to Lewins refreezing phase.

Phase 7. Achieving a terminal relationship, that is,

terminating the client consultant relationship.
Burke- Litwin model of
organizational change
This model shows how to create first order and second
order change (transactional change and
transformational change).

In first order change , some features of the organization

change but the fundamental nature of the organization
remains the same.

First order change goes by many different labels:

transactional, evolutionary, adaptive, incremental or
continuous change.
 In second order change, the nature of the organization is
fundamentally and substantially altered- the
organization is transformed.

Second order change goes by many different labels:

transformational, revolutionary, radical or discontinuous
change .

OD programs are directed toward both first and second

order change, with an increasing emphasis on second
order, transformational change.
 The model distinguishes between organizational
climate and organizational culture.

Organizational climate is defined as peoples

perceptions and attitudes about the organization-
whether it is a good or bad place to work, friendly or
unfriendly, hardworking or easy going and so forth.

These perceptions are relatively easy to change

because they are built on employees reactions to
current managerial and organizational practices.
 On the other hand, organizational culture is defined
as deep-seated assumptions, values and beliefs that
are enduring , often unconscious and difficult to
change.

Changing culture is much more difficult than

changing climate.

The premise of the Burke- Litwin model is this: OD

interventions directed toward structure, management
practices, and systems( policies and procedures)
result in first- order change ; interventions directed
toward mission and strategy , leadership and
organization culture result in second order change.