Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
In 1951, a sociologist by the name of Kurt Lewin developed what is referred to as the
force field analysis. What Lewin believed was that any state of equilibrium or level
of performance was the result of a combination of driving and restraining forces at work.
Driving forces represent those forces that encourage change in some way. For example,
if an organization was adopting a new inventory management system, supervisor encouragement,
monetary incentives, and even training could be considered driving forces. The second forces
at work are restraining forces. Restraining forces represent those forces that help maintain
the status quo and make the implementation of change much more difficult. For example,
worker's habits, hostility towards management, or even past experiences can serve as forces
that prevent or at least lessen the likelihood of the new system being adopted. Now this
constant interaction between driving and restraining forces produces what is known as an equilibrium.
This equilibrium can represent either the current level of performance or simply the
current state of being. So according to Lewin's force field analysis, in order to implement
change we would need to increase those driving forces, decrease those restraining forces,
or both.
Now that we know a little bit about the model lets walk through some steps that management
can take to increase the rate of adoption to change. A few days ago Comcast announced
an offer to buy competing cable provider Time Warner Cable for $46 billion in stock. Although
the deal may not go through due to anti-competitive concerns, lets use it as an example as we
conduct a force field analysis. First lets outline the driving and restraining forces
that are likely present in this scenario. This is unlikely to be an exhaustive list,
but at least you'll get a feel for how to conduct the analysis. Driving forces may include
the enthusiasm and commitment of top management, the approval of the board of directors, and
even the support of the investment community. These forces are considered driving forces
because they encourage the change and a departure from the current state of equilibrium. But
are they enough to move the equilibrium? Well the may in fact not be. Working against those
driving forces could include: employees who are concerned of layoffs, customers who are
fearful of paying higher prices as cable options decrease, and even established operating procedures
that would need to change. In addition to these changes, the U.S. government can always
file suit and attempt to block the acquisition under grounds that it harms competition and
subsequently consumers. Now each of these forces doesn't affect the situation the same,
but all play some part in the current situation.
Now that we've conducted a brief analysis of the present situation we need to develop
a change strategy. The first question that we should ask is do the driving forces far
outweigh the restraining forces? If so, management would need to do very little to see the adoption
of the change. In our situation this is unlikely given the nature of our restraining forces.
The second question we should ask is: Are the restraining forces much stronger than
the driving forces? If the answer is yes, we have a couple of options. First we could
do nothing. We come to the realization that attempting to change the status quo would
be far too difficult and give up altogether. The second option is that we can pursue the
change effort by maintaining those driving forces, while attempting to minimize the impact
of those restraining forces.
And the last possible situation occurs when the driving and restraining forces are similar
in size. In this case, management can push the driving forces while slowly attempting
to lessen the restraining forces.
Regardless of which option we choose, lets look at how we can increase those driving
forces and decrease the restraining forces in our example. One of the first things that
likely needs to be done is to educate and communicate with our workforce. They probably
have a lot of concerns, and rightfully so. By educating them about the acquisition and
what the new company would look like we can slowly start to chip away at those restraining
forces, making change much more likely. It would also be important to educate consumers
and government officials, and inform them of how the company would operate post-acquisition
and what the potential impact would be on prices. The next action that we can take is
to allow employees to actively participate in the change process. Research shows that
people are far more willing to go along with a course action if they've been given the
opportunity to voice their opinion. Even if the decided course of action is against what
they proposed. So by involving employees in the process and allowing them to make certain
decisions on how jobs will be performed this may lessen some of the restraining forces
at work. Providing managerial support in the form of training, added incentives, and other
actions can also decrease restraining forces and make the possibility of an acquisition
more of a reality.
Change of course ins't a guarantee. But organizations today operate in environments that require
them to be nimble. That require them to be able to leverage opportunities in the market.
Unfortunately, it's difficult to do those things if your workforce is set on maintaing
the status quo. So by using techniques such as Lewin's force field analysis, organizations
can better implement change and increase their chances of success.
Thank you for watching this video on the Lewin's force field analysis. In next week's video,
we're going to talk about some of the different characteristics that lead to more satisfying
and motivating jobs in the workplace. For questions, please leave them in the comment
box below and I'll do my best to get back to them in a timely fashion. If you want more
from Alanis Business Academy you can subscribe to our channel or go the alanisbusinessacademy.com
where you'll find additional content, quizzes, and more.
Thanks for watching.