What is Change Management- Definition and Types

What is Change Management- Definition and Types | Leadership | Emeritus

Change is a universal condition that every individual has to go through. Change is the only constant. But, the change that an individual has to go through is wildly different from the one that an organization has to go through. Here is everything you need to understand about the change management process in an organization and the different types of change management systems involved in it.

Change Management 101

The change management process is basically a systemic approach to deal with the transformation and transition of an organization’s aims, technologies, or processes. The aim of change management is to implement processes and strategies that can affect and control the change while helping the people adapt to it.



To ensure an effective change management process, the strategy must consider how a replacement and adjustment will impact the employees, systems, and processes in the organization. There should be a unique process involved in the planning and testing of change, the communication of change, the scheduling and implementing of a change, the documentation of a change, and the evaluation of its effects. According to a study, only 34% of the change initiatives taken in an organization succeed.

A critical component of change management is documentation. It will not only help in maintaining an audit trail in case a rollback is necessary but also because it ensures compliance with external and internal controls, including regulatory compliance.

Change management is the definition of the manners and methods in which an organization chooses to describe and implement their change within their external and internal processes. Significant organizational change management can be an extremely challenging task to overtake.

It demands several different levels of cooperation and also involves different entities in an organization. It is critical that a structured approach to the change management theory is developed to ensure a beneficial transition.

Generally, changes fail because of some human reasons. For example, the promoters of the change did not look at the predictable, real, and healthy reactions of normal people to a change that is disruptive to their daily routine. The most critical factor involved in successful change management is effective communication. Every individual that is involved in the process must be informed about the progress in each stage, and the results should be visible as the change grows.

Change management in a business environment is crucial. For this purpose, learning more about business management can help. An online program in business management from Emeritus India can help.

Types of Change Management

Organizations experience a different kind of change management theory. At one level, it is the sum of all the changes that all the individuals in the organization experience, and at another level, the change has an emerging characteristic. It is as if, through the sum, the mechanism of change has taken on some extra characteristics.

The meaning of organizational change seems to change and mean different things to different people in the organization. According to a study, 79.7% of the people in businesses need to adapt their business every 2-5 years. Here are the different types of change management in an organization:

Evolutionary Change Management

This is the most common type of change management theory that is experienced by organizations. This change management has been around since people formed organizations. It is referred to as evolutionary change because it rises through the process of natural selection.

This kind of change is inevitable when small changes in performances, little adjustments, or shifts in the response of groups and people occur in an environment with constant variations. Sometimes the results from this kind of change management will be insignificant and random, and other collections as a continuous series that minutely impacts what people in an organization do and how organizations respond.

Revolutionary Change Management

The next kind of change management model is a revolutionary change. This change management has also been around for quite a long time. This change is most commonly experienced when an organization has some kind of change forced upon them because of certain external factors.

This change is sometimes welcome in the organization, but most of the time, it is not. This change is generally accompanied by a power shift on the higher-up levels, and the impact of this change on occasion can be cataclysmic.

If you want to learn about business management, it would be a good practice to enroll in an online program for business management at Emeritus

Directed Change Management

The next kind of change management model is directed change management, which is ‘directed’ or ‘planned.’ This change was extremely uncommon in the early 20th century. But, in the past 80 years, this age has also become increasingly popular.

The use of this change, in spite of its complexity and lack of success, is rising steeply. This change is referred to as ‘managed,’ ‘directed,’ or ‘planned’ change because it is designed by the higher-ups to achieve a particular aim. The decision to implement this kind of change generally involves the workforce, the management, and the organizational culture moving in line with the strategies of the change.

This is extremely important to achieve the desired vision in the systems, processes, and structure of the organization.

Types of Directed Change

When it comes to directed change in the change management models, then it has three different kinds of management. These are Transformational, Transitional, and Developmental. These different kinds of directed change demand different kinds of strategies and plan to increase engagement, lessen resistance, and ease acceptance.

Developmental Change Management

At its simplest level, a directed change can morph into a developmental change model too. In this model, the business aims at improving what it is doing at present. This involves improving existing processes, skills, performance standards, methods, or performance conditions.

Examples to explain change management meaning are increasing the quality of the sales, improving interpersonal skills, improvements in simple work processes, problem-solving efforts, and developing the team.

Transformational Change Management

The next type of change to understand the change management meaning is transformational change. In this kind of change, a lot of the final state arises from evolutions. A vision and a strategy are fundamental in this process of change, but everything else is less based on planning.

Transitional Change Management

The final kind of change to understand the change management meaning is transitional change management. In this kind of change management, the purpose is to replace what is already existing with something that is referred to as something new.

The change in most organizations is mostly transitional or developmental. The implementation of these changes is impossible without a shift in the culture and the mind of those who are a part of the organization.

About the Author

Content Writer, Emeritus Blog
Nikhil is a passionate and free-spirited writer with 4+ years of experience. He has a keen eye for the ever-evolving content landscape, which helps him craft captivating content across various genres. He writes about marketing, data science, and finance for the Emeritus Blog. Beyond work, Nikhil is a dedicated pet parent who loves leisurely walks with his beloved puppers.
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