Boundary activities and readiness for ... - Projekti-Instituutti

Theoretical background
disruption of the equilibrium. First, the unfreezing stage involves behavior
that increases the system’s receptivity to change by destabilizing the status
quo. Then, at the moving stage, the actual transformation is made,
resulting in a shift of the equilibrium to a new level. Finally, at the freezing
stage the new equilibrium is stabilized and maintained.
Building on Lewin’s three-step model, many authors have described
planned change as a sequence of stages or steps (e.g. Beer et al., 1990;
Kotter, 1995; Levy, 1986; Phillips, 1983). The idea behind the models is
usually that the stages cannot be bypassed without harming the progress of
change (Armenakis & Bedeian, 1999). While different models label the
stages differently and contain a different number of steps, the contents of
the models are to a large degree similar, typically starting with an analysis
of the situation and development of a vision, and proceeding to making the
actual change actions, after which the changes are institutionalized (see
Buhanist (2000) and Lanning (2001) for a comparison of different stage
models). Most of the stage models are practitioner-oriented and aim to
codify the best practices of change management by providing
recommendations and checklists for managers.
The detailed stage models of change have received substantial criticism.
They have been accused of oversimplifying the reality (Lanning, 2001), and
their universalist “one size fits all” approach has been questioned (Burnes,
1996). It has also been pointed out that there is very little scientific evidence
proving the effectiveness of the models (Farias, Johnson, Worren, Ruddle,
& Moore, 2000). Organizational change tends to be nonlinear and iterative
(Coram & Burnes, 2001; Higgs & Rowland, 2005) and also unpredictable,
as planned change efforts may involve unplanned elements (Bamford &
Daniel, 2005; Erakovic & Powell, 2006; Greiner, 1967). This conception
brings planned change closer to the emergent view, making change less
dependent upon detailed plans and embracing the related complexity and
uncertainty (Coram & Burnes, 2001; Bamford & Daniel, 2005; Bamford,
2006).
Despite the criticism, the literature on planned organizational change has
increasingly produced lifecycle models and recipes for change management
along the change initiative’s lifecycle. Even studies that do not lean on
detailed stage models tend to make a distinction between the development
phase and the implementation phase of a change endeavor (e.g. Dobson,
2001; Stoddard & Jarvenpaa, 1995). Following this division, the current
study focuses on the early stage of change, involving activities such as
initiation, planning, solution development and preparation for
implementation. In terms of Lewin’s (1947) three step model, the focus is
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