By Oluwasoromidayo George (DBA Candidate, Walden University)

Abstract

This study explores the critical issues and theories of Change Management (CM) and how a framework of CM theoretical approach can be used to support change in a firm that seeks to integrate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into its operations or strategy. The method used in the study is a critical analysis and review of existing literature and theories in the field. The research work reviews the concepts of CM and CSR and its importance in organizational development (OD). It also explores the strategic importance a successful CSR integration into many organizations in an age of increasing change, stakeholder demands, and intense competition.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Change Management

The role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in business continues to broaden as many stakeholders across the world require that firms assume a more active role in addressing socio-economic challenges (Ismail, 2009). These expectations have placed a burden on business leaders to change the way businesses are structured and how they conduct their business (Mahmood & Humphrey, 2013). Managing the integration of CSR successfully and ensuring acceptance across the organization is essential for many leaders. Boubakary (2016) advocate that a process of Change Management (CM) is essential for CSR integration to occur within an organization successfully. The following sections of this paper will critically analyze and review an integrated concept of CSR and CM.

Analysis of the state of the field of change management

CM is considered a necessity in line with the rising trend of intense competition and a rapidly changing environment (Hao & Yazdanifard, 2015). Todnem (2005) noted that theories and approaches to CM are often contradictory and do not have empirical evidence but are backed by hypotheses which have not been subjected to critical reviews. It is critical to understand the implications of change, as the elements of resistance to any proposed change are vital because it determines the level of success organizations will achieve when implementing change (Bareil, 2013). There are, however, varying perspectives of how change is managed and viewed, and this determines if it is an opportunity or a problem (Vedenik & Leber, 2015). Andersson (2015), noted that change occurs with resistance and controversy. Bareil (2013) looked at the different interpretations of change from two paradigms of traditional and modern dimensions. The modern perspective of change, for instance, explains the purpose of resistance as the need to make sense, understand or hold on to the good things of the past and to adjust communications strategy for managing change. The traditional perspective describes the purpose of change as the goal of stopping, slowing down or disrupting a planned change. An understanding of the two views gives the change agent the capability to anticipate the underlying reasons for resistance and make the appropriate interventions. Franken, Edwards, and Lambert (2009) stated that it is vital for organizations to excel in strategy execution as a comparative advantage to the competition. They described strategy execution as the creation of a portfolio of change programs that will deliver strategy and the attraction, allocation, and management of resources which will help deliver the change programs.

Corporate social responsibility and change management

The world has experienced rapid changes in the last couple of decades, many of which have impacted on societies and organizations (Kennett Hensel & Payne, 2018). Increasingly as the operating environment for businesses change, and the world that we live in continues to be challenged by lack of inclusive growth, environmental degradation, and extreme weather patterns, the need for businesses to adopt social change strategies become more pertinent (Sachs, 2015). The Brundtland report commissioned by United Nations stated that the future of the world was in peril due to environmental and socio-economic challenges such as the advent of extreme weather patterns resulting in climate change, increasing the gap between the poor and the rich(Brundtland, 1987).

Zdanyte and Neverauskas (2014) noted that the process of sustainable development for organizations is in a constant process of change. They highlighted the rapid changes occurring within the operating context of businesses and noted that while these changes affect organizations, businesses also have to exist and adapt within this changing context. The authors described three dimensions of sustainable development as including economic, environmental, and social.

CSR is a concept through which organizations embed social and environmental principles of responsibility within their operations as well as interact with their stakeholders (Zollo et al., 2009). Zollo et al. (2009) noted that this description of CSR shows two different conceptualizations, where one is an orientation of interaction between the business and its external stakeholders and the other is a system of the internal change process which supports the integration of the principles into the business operations. As the expectations of businesses change and a more integrated approach to sustainable development evolves, a change management process is, therefore, critical for the integration and adoption of CSR within an organization (Rodriguez, 2015). Leaders and employees must understand how these responsibilities can successfully become part of the organizational structure and system (Rodriguez, 2015).

Organizational development (OD) is a concept which has evolved. Overtime OD developed with changes in technological, labor, and global economic requirements, and it is often used interchangeably with change management (Cummings & Cummings, 2014). Change is constant, unpredictable, and inevitable (Vedenik & Leber, 2015). The need for change is evident in the fact that status quo in the society has been challenged by rapid changes such as the need for transparency, labor mobility, global capital inflows and interconnectedness through communication platforms (Kennett-Hensel & Payne, 2018). Cummings and Cummings (2014) stated that change management involves the process of how organizations manage change within a rapidly growing, complex, and uncertain environment. The authors noted that OD’s basic features come both from a human behavioral and an organizational competence point of view. The concept draws heavily on understanding human behavior within organizations in the context of what development means for them and the competence demonstrated by the organization to solve its problems, adapt to change, and improve themselves.

Current theories and areas of debate in CSR and CM

There are different schools of thought associated with the leading theories on how to manage change within organizations, some of which include Kotter's 1996 change model, Lewin's change model, and McKinsey's 7s model. Boubakary (2016) stated that several companies want to include social objectives into their financial goals, and also integrate respect for specific values and principles in their management in order to contribute to environmental and social progress. It is, therefore, important that a strategy for managing the change of CSR integration is adopted as the implementation of CSR in companies is becoming more and more imperative (Boubakary, 2016).

Lewin characterized his approach as a planned model, composed of three phases, namely, unfreeze, change, and re-freeze (Hussain, et al., 2018). The unfreezing phase, consists of establishing the need for change, the second stage, the change stage, is about implementing the planned change and the third stage focuses on establishing stability once the changes have been
made (Hussain et al., 2018). McKinsey's 7s model can be applied to many situations and is a valuable tool when an organizational design is at question (Ravanfar, 2015). Ravanfar (2015) noted that the most common uses of the framework are: to facilitate organizational change, help implement a new strategy, identify how each area may change in the future, and to facilitate the merger of organizations. Saetren and Laumann (2017), in their review of organization change management theories, presented the following models of change management:

1. Cummings and Worley (2015) model of obtaining effective change management which included motivating change, creating a vision, developing political support, managing the transition and sustaining momentum.
2. Armenakis and Harris (2009) model of managing organizational readiness for change which cuts across, issues of a discrepancy of the current situation and a desired future, efficacy which means the capacity to complete the change process, appropriateness,  which is the perception that the change is the right solution, principal support, and personal valence.
3. Kotter's eight-step of a successful organizational change which articulates the need to establish a sense of urgency, create a guiding coalition, develop a vision and strategy, communicate the change vision, empower broad-based action, generate short-term wins, consolidate gains while producing more change and anchor new approaches in
   the firm's culture and,
4. HSE, UK also provided a model which prescribes a three-step framework including, getting organized for the proposed change, assessing the risks and implementing and monitoring the change.

Todnem (2005) identified three different types of changes, which include change characterized by the rate of occurrence, change characterized by how it comes about and change characterized by scale. The author identified different approaches under these categorizations of change, arguing for and against some of them and noted that there are two dominant approaches when change is characterized by 'how it comes about' called the planned and emergence approaches. The planned approach tries to explain the process that stimulates change, while the emergent describes change as being driven from the bottom to the top.

The impact of a successfully managed CSR integration

Rodriguez (2015) in a study reviewed the Indian Companies Act, 2013 on CSR, and noted that CSR activities have two distinct aspects which are contrary to one another. They are the non-profit aspect of CSR which connotes development and the profit angle of the concept, both are found within an organization. The stakeholders within these two areas will be impacted by the process of CSR integration within companies. The organization and the implementing agency have to undertake a de schooling or unlearning process in order to understand how to implement CSR change within a business (Rodriguez, 2015). The author opines that since there is a need to understand both perspectives, a change management process has to take place and advocated that Kotter's 7 step of change is the best-aligned model to help organizations adapt to this change process. Rodriguez (2015) recommended that in order to minimize the rate of failure of CSR integration within a firm, leaders can use Kotter’s change model to manage the process of CSR change within the organization and noted the following:

1. There is a need to assist employees to see the need for change and the importance of urgency
2. Develop the support from the top level with the right demonstrable competence to successfully implement the changes within the business. It is important to form a coalition
3. Articulate a vision: Utilize the evidence for change to create a mutually beneficial road-map and critical performance indicators. Rally everyone around an articulated vision.
4.  Communicate the vision and get feedback from employees and leaders in the organization for general acceptance and an understanding of the vision and the changes to be incorporated.
5. Empower others to act on the vision. Also provide all the resources and remove all the limitations to ensure that the change is successfully implemented
6. Create quick wins and communicate them broadly
7. Use the positive outcomes of the change implementation to gather support from all stakeholders. Communicate these wins and use it to get more support
8. Reward and encourage new behaviors to embed into the culture.

Hardeep and Sharma (2006) identified the following business and social implications of CSR integration within an organization:

1. CSR is considered one of the antecedents for economic performance and also a measure of proactive social responsiveness
2. It assists a firm to fulfill its social obligation to protect and improve the welfare of the society and its organization
3. It helps an organization to develop equitable and sustainable benefits on the various stakeholders.
4. CSR is as a means of achieving commercial success in ways that honor ethical values, respect people, communities and natural environment,
5. CSR helps businesses to compete beyond technology, quality, services, and price,
6. CSR supports organizations in adopting business practices including environment management system, human resources policy, and strategic investment for sustainable future
7. CSR in an organization helps to create wealth by adhering to the rule of law
8. It also supports the business in developing the capabilities in managing the ecological effects of their actions

Conclusion and future directions

Change is inevitable (Vedenik & Leber, 2015). It is crucial for business leaders to adopt a CM process that will help them successfully manage change and maintain competitive advantage (Franken et al., 2009). As the need for CSR continues to evolve, and businesses respond to stakeholder expectations to incorporate CSR in their organizations, it is necessary to successfully integrate CSR changes within business operations and strategy (Rodriguez, 2015). The proliferation of research work on understanding how to measure the impact of CSR successfully shows the importance of knowing how effective the integration of CSR is within an organization (Hopkins, 2005). A consideration for future study will, therefore, be to explore the relationship between the successful implementation of CSR with a CM process and the attainment of business goals. Ceglinski and Wisniewska (2016) highlighted the importance of CSR in providing a firm with a reliable source of sustainable competitive advantage. The incorporation of CM in CSR implementation, therefore, within a firm and the understanding of its implications through research may support many business leaders in enhancing the positive impact of CSR projects for organizational and societal goals.

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