Organisational Change and Development for RBI Grade B: Lewin, Action Research, Appreciative Inquiry and OD

Last updated: 2026-11-14 · MockMentor

The syllabus line is "Organizational Change: Kurt Lewin theory; Organizational Development: strategies for change, theories of planned change (Lewin, Action research, Positive model)".

In the exam: organisational change is a growing topic. It was asked in the descriptive paper in 2025 and twice in the objective paper in 2026.

What organisational change is

Organisational change is any alteration in an organisation's people, structure or technology. Planned change is deliberate and goal-directed. The person who leads it is the change agent, who may be a manager, an employee or an outside consultant.

Forces for change include technology (digital banking, artificial intelligence), economic shocks, competition, new regulation, changes in the workforce and social trends.

What can be changed:

  1. Structure: reporting lines, centralisation, job design.
  2. Technology: work processes, methods and equipment.
  3. People: attitudes, skills, expectations and behaviour.

Resistance to change

People resist change because of habit, fear of the unknown, threats to job security or status, economic loss, and selective information processing. Organisations resist because of structural inertia, group norms and threats to established power.

John Kotter and Leonard Schlesinger listed six ways to overcome resistance:

Approach Use when Risk
Education and communication Resistance comes from poor information Needs trust
Participation Resisters have expertise to contribute Slow
Facilitation and support Resistance comes from anxiety Costly
Negotiation A powerful group will lose out May invite others to bargain
Manipulation and co-optation Other tactics fail Can backfire if discovered
Coercion Speed is essential Damages trust

Nudges are a gentler tool. Making the new option the default, sending reminders and showing what most colleagues already do can move people without forcing them, so they create less resistance.

Lewin's three-step model

Kurt Lewin saw change as shifting a balance between driving forces and restraining forces (his force field analysis).

  1. Unfreezing: making people see that change is needed, by increasing driving forces, reducing restraining forces, or both.
  2. Movement (changing): introducing the new structure, process or behaviour.
  3. Refreezing: making the change stick through rewards, policies and new norms, so people do not slip back.

Action research

Action research is change based on systematic collection of data, followed by action chosen in light of what the data show. Its five steps are diagnosis, analysis, feedback, action and evaluation. It is problem-focused and involves the people affected, which reduces resistance.

The positive model: Appreciative Inquiry

Most models start from a problem. Appreciative Inquiry, developed by David Cooperrider, starts from what is already working well. Its four steps, the 4-D cycle:

  1. Discovery: what are the organisation's strengths?
  2. Dream: what could the future look like?
  3. Design: what should the organisation build to get there?
  4. Destiny (delivery): how will it be carried out?

Kotter's eight steps

John Kotter built on Lewin with eight steps: create a sense of urgency, form a guiding coalition, create a vision, communicate it, empower others to act, create short-term wins, consolidate gains, and anchor the change in the culture.

Organisational Development

Organisational Development (OD) is a collection of planned change interventions built on humanistic and democratic values, aimed at improving the organisation's effectiveness and employees' wellbeing. Its values include respect for people, trust, participation and confronting problems openly.

Common OD interventions: sensitivity training, survey feedback, process consultation, team building, intergroup development and Appreciative Inquiry.

What the full chapter covers

Our complete chapter also covers types of change, stimulating innovation (structural, cultural and human resource variables), the models of planned change compared, changing organisational culture, work stress and its management, the OD process and the benefits and limits of OD. Related reading: Leadership theories and the Management syllabus overview.

The full chapter, with chapter-wise MCQs and evaluated descriptive practice, is part of our RBI Grade A/B courses.

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