International Journal of Management & Information Systems – Third Quarter 2011 Volume 15, Number 3 © 2011 The Clute Institute 139 Breaking Down The Barriers To Organizational Change Stuart Rosenberg, Monmouth University, USA Joseph Mosca, Monmouth University, USA ABSTRACT A significant failure rate exists when it comes to organizational change. Managers understand the importance of organizational change, but many of them do not know how to execute it effectively. This study examines the reasons why the implementation of organizational change is so complicated and it suggests ways to break down the barriers to change. Keywords: organizational change models; resistance to change; change strategy INTRODUCTION here has been a profusion of research on organizational change and yet, many firms have struggled to achieve the changes that they have sought to implement. Beginning with the seminal 3-step change model developed by Lewin (1951), where firms were instructed to undertake change by first preparing the organization for change (“unfreezing”), then engaging the organization in the change (“movement”), and finally anchoring new methods into the organization’s culture (“re-freezing”), critics were quick to condemn it for being overly simplistic. Kotter (1996) developed a more involved approach with his popular 8-step change model, incorporating elements such as leadership and employee involvement, but the strategies espoused by this and essentially all other change models have not translated consistently into successful implementation. Estimates show that there is a 70 percent failure rate when it comes to organizational change (Maurer, 2010). Clearly, the problem is not a dearth of models; rather, it is important to recognize that some firms are better designed for implementing change; and as a result, they can do a better job of overcoming the barriers to change that exist in so many other firms. There have been a number of management case studies written on firms, like GM and Xerox, who have been slow to change in a dynamic environment, while others have been written on firms, like Apple and Netflix, who have made innovation a cornerstone of their business models. As business strategies have become more complex, leadership entails more than the ability to inspire individuals and guide the work of teams. The problem, according to Getz, Jones, and Loewe (2009), is that strategy is easy, but execution is hard. While poor strategies cannot deliver good results, good strategies that are poorly implemented are also unlikely to achieve good results. This study examines the various reasons why execution of change strategy is so difficult and it offers a number of suggestions to break down some of the barriers to change in order to facilitate organizational change. LITERATURE REVIEW Over the last few decades, firms routinely have needed to deal with environmental factors such as rapid technological change, economic uncertainty, industry growth and decline, increased global competition, and major shifts in demography and values. In the face of such complex conditions, many of our ways of managing change are no longer appropriate. During these times, attempts to resist change by restoring order may not only be fruitless, but actually damaging (Barczak, Smith, and Wilemon, 1987). Self and Schraeder (2009) stated that for the sake of survival, some firms have attempted to anticipate or respond to these changes through strategies including organizational redesign, which often embodies changing the T