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Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
Exceptional Manager
10-45
GROUP EXERCISES
GROUP EXERCISE #1: CREATING PERSONAL CHANGE THROUGH FORCE-FIELD ANALYSIS
Objectives
● To apply force-field analysis to a behavior or situation you would like to change.
● To receive feedback on your strategies for bringing about change.
Introduction
The theory of force-field analysis is based on the premise that people resist change because of
counteracting positive and negative forces. Positive forces for change are called thrusters. They
propel people to accept change and modify their behavior. In contrast, counterthrusters, or
resistors, are negative forces that motivate an individual to maintain the status quo. People
frequently fail to change because they experience equal amounts of positive and negative forces
to change.
Force-field analysis is a technique used to facilitate change by first identifying the thrusters and
resistors that exist in a specific situation. To minimize resistance to change, it is generally
recommended to first reduce or remove the negative forces to change. Removing
counterthrusters should create increased pressure for an individual to change in the desired
direction.
Instructions
Have the students break into pairs; these two people will serve as a team that evaluates the
completeness of the other’s force-field analysis and recommendations. Once the teams are
assembled, each individual should complete the following Force-Field Analysis Form. Once both
team members have completed the activity, one team member should present results from steps 2
through 4 in the Force-Field Analysis Form. The other team member should then evaluate the
results by considering the following questions with his or her partner.
1. Are there any additional thrusters and counterthrusters that should be listed? Add them to the
2. Do you agree with the “strength” evaluations of thrusters and counterthrusters in Step 4? The
3. Examine the specific recommendations for change listed in Step 5, and evaluate whether you
think they will produce the desired changes. Be sure to consider whether the focal person has
the ability to eliminate, reduce, or increase each thruster and counterthruster that is the basis
for a specific recommendation. Are there any alternative strategies you can think of?
4. What is your overall evaluation of your partner’s intervention strategy?
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
Exceptional Manager
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Force-Field Analysis Form
STEP 1
In the space provided, please identify a number of personal problems you would like to
solve or aspects of your life you would like to change. Be as imaginative as possible.
You are not limited to school situations. For example, you may want to consider your
work environment if you are currently employed, family situation, interpersonal
relationships, and so forth. It is important that you select some aspects of your life that
you would like to change, but which up until now you have made no effort to do.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
STEP 2
Review in your mind the problems or aspects listed in Step 1. Now select one that you
would really like to change and which you believe lends itself easily to force-field
analysis. Select one that you will feel comfortable talking about to other people.
STEP 3
On the form shown below, indicate existing forces that are pushing you in the direction
of change. They are called thrusters, and they may be forces internal to the self (pride,
counterthrusters, and they may be internal to the self (uncertainty, fear) or external to the
self (poor instruction, limited resources, lack of support mechanisms). Finally, indicate
the strength of each thruster and counterthruster on a range from low to high.
THRUSTERS STRENGTH
_________________________ _________________________________
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
Exceptional Manager
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_________________________ _________________________________
_________________________ _________________________________
_________________________ _________________________________
_________________________ _________________________________
COUNTERTHRUSTERS STRENGTH
_________________________ _________________________________
_________________________ _________________________________
_________________________ _________________________________
_________________________ _________________________________
_________________________ _________________________________
_________________________ _________________________________
STEP 4
Analyze your thrusters and counterthrusters, developing a strategy for bringing about the
desired change. Remember that it is possible to produce the desired results by
strengthening existing thrusters, introducing new thrusters, weakening or removing
counterthrusters, or some combination of these. Consider the impact of your change
strategy on the system’s internal stress (i.e., on yourself and others), the likelihood of
success, the availability of resources, and the long-term consequences of planned
changes. Be prepared to discuss your recommendations with your partner.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
1. What was your reaction to doing a force-field analysis? Was it insightful and helpful?
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2. Was it valuable to receive feedback about your force-field analysis from a partner?
3. How would you assess the probability of effectively implementing your
recommendations?
1998), pp. 639-641.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
Exceptional Manager
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GROUP EXERCISE #2: OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
Objectives
● To evaluate the causes of employees’ resistance to change.
● To examine methods for overcoming resistance to change.
Introduction
The goal of this exercise is to investigate why people resist change in the workplace and to
consider methods for reducing this resistance. In this exercise, a scenario is used as a stimulus to
identify reasons for resistance to change and to develop a plan for overcoming resistance.
Instructions
2. Distribute a copy of the following Resistance to Change Matrix.
4. Next, ask groups to discuss what approach they would use to overcome resistance from the
three employees described in the scenario.
6. Reconvene as a class, and discuss the proposed methods of overcoming resistance to change
for each of the three employees.
The Case
The Merger
You are a recently-promoted manager at TechFarm. TechFarm is a company which outsources
customer service employees to organizations in many different industries. The company’s main
focus is tech companies. Recently, Synergy Outsourcing, a larger, more established firm
purchased TechFarm, and now you are a manager in the midst of a merger.
Since Synergy is in the same business as TechFarm, TechFarm’s employees haven’t had to
relearn their positions. Some training will be needed however: Synergy’s telephone technology
and the way it handles customers is different than TechFarm’s.
TechFarm knew about the merger six months before it occurred and has had the time to adjust.
As a manager, you have the basic information about the merger and try to help employees adjust.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
Exceptional Manager
The change has gone more smoothly than expected, but three of your employees are having
trouble adjusting. Janet, a TechFarm employee of five years has begun skipping work at least
once a week, and you caught her with the employment classifieds at her desk. Janet tells you she
Phil is another employee having difficulty adjusting. Recently, three of Phil’s colleagues barged
into your office and asked, “Is it true that Synergy is going to lay off everyone but
management?” As far as you know, Synergy plans on keeping the TechFarm workforce intact,
and you told them as much. These employees confirmed that Phil was spreading that
information. Phil hasn’t been missing work, but his productivity has significantly reduced. He
asked you last week whether or not Synergy wanted to “dump more work” on the TechFarm
employees. You’ve also noticed that every time someone new is promoted into management or is
moved to a different work team, he begins to worry about layoffs.
You face a unique issue with Roberto. Roberto has worked at TechFarm for three years. After
learning about the merger, Roberto began taking only the Spanish-speaking calls. Because these
calls make up a small percentage of TechFarm’s call volume, he has a lot of time to browse the
Questions for Discussion
1. Why are Janet, Phil, and Roberto resisting change? Explain.
2. What would you do at this point to overcome resistance from these three employees?
3. To what extent has TechFarm used both Lewin and Kotter’s models of organizational
change?
4. Assume that you just learned about the merger. How would you go about using the OD
process at the beginning of the merger to implement change? Be specific.
5. What did you learn about resistance to change from this exercise?
Tips for large and online classes:
Large classes: May be best to do this as an individual assignment by passing out the case and
then discussing the five questions as a class.
CAN BE
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
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Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
instructor can create a larger discussion board and include the entire class. Each student can
then critique other groups’ responses and the instructor can moderate the discussion.
Source: A. Johnson and A. Kinicki, Group and Video Resource Manual: An Instructor’s Guide
to an Active Classroom (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2006), pp. 320-24.
Resistance to Change Matrix
Employee
Employee’s Reason(s) for
Resisting Change
Approach to Overcoming
Resistance to Change
Janet
Phil
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
10-52
Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Roberto
Return.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
Exceptional Manager
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CAREER CORNER GROUP EXERCISE
THE POWER OF SELF-AFFIRMATION
Learning Objectives
• Students will enhance their openness to change by exploring the power of self-
affirmation
Introduction
This exercise utilizes Claude Stelle’s theory of self-affirmation to provide students with practice
in maintaining their “global self-integrity” by incorporating a few minutes of self-affirmation
Instructions
1. Start the activity by having the students watch the following skit from Saturday Night
Live
• Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley featuring Michael Jordan (SNL Skit)
• Alternatively, you can have them read:
o Build Your Self-Esteem with these 3 Simple Exercises by Susan Krauss
Whitbourne, Ph.D.
o The 5 Secret Strategies of Great People: How to Become Open Minded in 2013
by David K Williams
2. Write the following quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson on the board, “What is a weed? A
plant whose virtues have never been discovered.” Open the class discussion by asking
the class what Emerson meant by this quote. Start with a discussion of what a weed is.
Prod them to think critically about the benefits of weeds (edible-dandelion, beautiful -
3. Give your students five minutes to write down their key virtues. Ask them to describe
how they use these virtues in their daily lives. Have them use the following format:
• I use _________ (virtues) by _________________________
CAREER
READINESS
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4. Form groups of 4 or 5 students. Have each student share one or two virtues with their
5. Facilitate a class discussion using the following questions:
• How did thinking about your greatest virtues make you feel?
• What are some of benefits discovered by discussing your key virtues with others?
• Did brainstorming help you come up with more self-affirming statements?
• How can you incorporate self-affirmation as part of your daily routine?
• End the discussion by asking, “When is self-affirmation the most useful?”
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
Exceptional Manager
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UBER CONTINUING CASE
Chapter 10: Change and Innovation
This part of the Uber continuing case focuses on Chapter 10 and covers principles related to
managing change and innovation. This continuing case’s real-world application of management
knowledge and skills is designed to help you develop critical thinking ability and realize the
practical power of sound managerial skills for solving problems in your job and career.
The case includes five multiple-choice questions and two essay-based questions. The essay-
based questions can also be used in-class to spur discussion:
1.
Following the three steps of Lewin’s “freezing” change model, analyze how
Khosrowshahi could lead a shift in the organizational culture of Uber.
The motivation to change, or impetus for “unfreezing,” lies in the situations that
occurred before Khosrowshahi took the lead. Discrimination and harassment were not
2. Following the OD process, explain how Khosrowshahi should go about changing the
perception that he may not be the right person to help Uber achieve its most ambitious
goals.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
Exceptional Manager
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MANAGER’S HOT SEAT
INNOVATION IN AISLE 9
I. Introduction
Bergman’s Supermarket is holding an executive session to discuss potentially converting its
stores to being completely automated. The company is one of the leading supermarkets in the
country with hundreds of thousands of employees and is led by a third-general Bergman.
II. Learning Objectives
1. Demonstrate the steps in the Lewin’s Change Model.
3. Analyze the forces for change.
III. Scenario Description:
Scene Set-up: Harry, Zoey, and Aiden are seated at the conference table and watching Priya wrap
up a presentation on automation.
Scene Location: Bergman’s Supermarket Boardroom
Profile:
Harold “Harry” Bergman, CEO
Zoey Parker, Senior Vice President of Human Resources
IV. Discussion of Theory
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
Exceptional Manager
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• Lewin’s change model
o Aiden and Priya are trying to create an urgent need for change (unfreezing step in
Lewin’s change model). It is not working well, but Priya wants to continue to the
• Types of change
o Aiden and Priya believe this is innovative change, but Harry thinks it is more
radical change.
• Forces for change
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 10 Organizational Change and Innovation: Lifelong Challenges for the
Exceptional Manager
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APPLICATION-BASED ACTIVITY
CHANGE MANAGEMENT: A FRESH NEW IDEA
I. Introduction
II. Learning Objective
1. Illustrate how Lewin’s Change Model can be used to influence change at an organization.
III. Scoring Dimensions
The following theoretical concepts from the chapter are covered and scored in the simulation:
Theoretical Concepts
Percentage of Simulation
Change Implementation
55%
Unfreezing
15%
Changing or moving
15%
Refreezing
15%
IV. Follow-up Activity
Students can be assembled into groups of 4 to 5 in order to create a one-page Fresh Stuff
Management Checklist document. This document will be used by Fresh Stuff managers at each
location to introduce the change to employees, and it should have tips for how the manager
