Change management: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of evolutionary and revolutionary change

Résumé du document

Change management in an organization can be a very difficult task to assume. First you need to diagnose the change needed, set objectives, apply the strategy, measure the results and then re-adjust in consequence. In all those steps, you need to take into account the scope of the organization, the culture of the country, that of the organization, the state of mind of employees, etc.

All these factors make it more or less difficult for the change agents to apply a change. Therefore, when diagnosing the change needed, the organization must choose carefully every feature in order to be successful. One of the first steps in this task is therefore to choose whether you need a revolutionary or evolutionary change. To know what is best, I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these two types of strategic changes.

There exists four types of strategic changes depending on the scope of change : it can be either a realignment or a transformation and on the nature of change which can be incremental or "Big Bang". Both revolutionary and evolutionary are transformational changes but the nature of change is different: evolution is incremental whereas revolution is a "Big Bang".

Extraits

[...] A sudden change in environment will require a revolutionary change. If the circumstances are extreme (for example being close to bankcrupcy), you will not take your time of implementing an evolutionary change. It can have taken years to reach that point due to a widening strategic drift and however, lead to a revolutionary change. In this case like in every emergency case, a revolutionary change is needed. When an emergency situation is declared, the direction needs to show that they are taking care of it and that they will improve the situation quickly. [...]

[...] These three features are possible to implement in evolutionary change, not in revolutionary change or at a very lower level. The last disadvantage of evolutionary change is that it is such a long process that in the end, people acting in it forget what it was in the first time or even why. They might come to a point where they find it pointless to apply one or another process because they forgot the importance it has in the changing process. [...]

[...] Another feature that has needed to be taken into account is the communication. Is internal communication a very developped tool in the organization or not? If it is, then the change must be very well communicated and very well explained throughout the time thanks to an evolutionary change. Even if it is not, it is important to use communication. But when using a revolutionary change, communication is much less important because there is no time to do so. A lot of communication will reduce the resistance rate just like participation and empathy. [...]

[...] For example if they do not know how to use the brand new machine or computer, if nobody explains or educate them then it is useless to implement the change. A change as important that it transforms the paradigm can be traumatic and therefore, it is very interesting to adopt the evolutionary change methods. If people accept the change, they will collaborate and cooperate and the proces will be a sucess because people in the organization are the most important resource so they need to be taken care of. With a revolutionary change, people do not have time to get used to change and to accept it. [...]

[...] This corresponds to the evolutionary changes. If for example, the organisation does not care so much about the change because it is not fundamental for their core competencies, then, maybe it will wait until it reaches the point where a revolutionary change is needed. An organisation that changes regularly and modify itself frequently will use the evolutionary changes. Thanks to this type of change, it will be easier to face problems in adaptation. It will also allow the organisation to set different changes in time, little by little. [...]