Levels of Practices of Organizational Change & Change Process and Models

Clayton County Library System is one of the most preferred libraries in Craighead Count. Established in 1941 through the efforts of the Jonesboro Women’s Club, the library has grown from a room rented above a department store into an organization with more than five branches spread across the region (Kemp, 2009; Clayton County Library System, n.d). This represents a gradual change that has been going on since the library was first established. Clayton County Library System provides a range of services that are organized according to the needs of its various clients: adults, children and youths.

The most recent major change that took place in the library is a physical expansion evidenced by the construction of a new branch in Forest Park in 2012 (Clayton County Library System, n.d). The new branch meant that the library would have expanded operations and hence the need to adjust the task of existing employees and recruiting new personnel. This kind of change also implied that all the personnel was to be relocated to the new branch, the consequence of which was extra responsibilities for the employees. The new change had substantial effects on CCLS, both at the group and organizational levels. The effects are discussed in the subsequent paragraphs.

At the individual level, the change resulted in more responsibilities for each of the library’s employees (Burke, 2010). Besides, there was a change in the work environment and the employees were expected to adjust to it (Machin, Forarty, Bannon, 2009). The most affected were the team leaders who had to assist their followers through the transition process; team leaders are always expected to lead change processes in organizations to ensure successful change processes (Finn, 2012; Nkomo & Kriek, 2011). Of the challenges faced by the leaders, the most prominent ones included the way the employees reacted to the change and the manner in which some of them claimed they were not psychologically prepared to change their work environment (Feldman, 2013). In addition, some employees were not comfortable with the increased responsibilities that were due to the library’s expanded service operations (Manning & Silva, 2012). Some employees were also not happy with the fact that it would take them a lot of time to familiarize themselves with different sections of the new branch (Welch, 2003).

At the group level, the change had substantial effects on the library’s different departments (Burke, 2010). With the expanded operations, some of the departments had increased responsibilities (Burke, 2010). This meant that every department had to revise its mode and scope of operations in order to efficiently achieve the goals of the library (Burke, 2010). Unfortunately, when a change affects individuals within an organization, the impacts are also felt at the group level. In relation to this, some individuals were moved to other departments. This subsequently increased the workload in the affected department (Byng, 2013). Due to this, some departmental leaders tried to oppose the redeployment of their personnel to other departments (Byng, 2013).

Change Process and Models

Clayton County Library System is a public library that provides specifically tailored reading and research services to adults, children and youths. The library has gradually expanded to accommodate the increasing number of clients since it was first opened in 1941. Recently, in 2012, the library opened its new Forest Park branch. The new branch brought a major change in which its personnel was required to relocate to the new building from the old one. The new branch has a bigger capacity than the old one, and the personnel now have increased responsibilities due to the increased capacity (Clayton County Library System, n.d). There are a number of change process theories that can be used in explaining this type of change. These theories are the focus of the section.

The Change Process Theories

One of the prominent change process theories is the teleological theory, which is also known as the rational or planned change model; it has other theories within it, the discussion of which is beyond the scope of this paper. Its underlying principle is that organizations are always deliberate and adaptive (Burke, 2010). This implies that changes take place when the management of an organization realizes the need for transformation; changes are inspired by conscious and rational decisions (Burke, 2010). This principle can be used to explain the change that took place in CCLS. In this regard, the need to have a new building with an increased capacity was realized by the library management and other stakeholders. Therefore, the building of the new library was a change that was rationally planned and implement