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Strategies For Change 

There are various ways to bring about change in an organization. 

Basically, they involve one of three strategies: (1) force-coercion, (2) 

rational persuasion, or (3) shared-power. Force-coercion uses rewards or 

punishments as a way of bringing about change. People respond to this 

strategy for one of two reasons. Either they are afraid of being punished if 

they don't follow the instructions. Or they want to get the rewards if they 

do. People's behavior is usually temporary: it lasts as long as the change 

agent is present, or as long as the rewards remain. 

Rational persuasion is based on the belief that rational people will 

make intelligent choices. If you explain the reasons for a change, they 

will decide if it is good for them or not. If it is successful, this strategy 

will result in a more long-lasting change than force-coercion. A shared-

power strategy involves the people who will be affected by the change. 

These people contribute to the planning and decision-making. Since the 

affected people are involved, the results are usually longer-lasting and 

people believe more strongly in those changes. 

 

 

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