Mergers and Acquisitions, new market tends, regulatory requirements, poor business performance, or changing a major system may trigger a need for fundamental change to how things are done within an organization.

For change initiative to be successful three essential elements have to exist:

1. Clarity of vision for the change
2. Building sufficient momentum for the change, which involves both analytical, intuitive, and emotional factors.
3. Systematic implementation utilizing three major stages:

Stage 1: Initial Analysis and Communication (“Unfreezing of Attitudes” This step Involves, among other things, establishing and communicating the urgency for change, the objectives, and what is and is not changing.

Step 2: Implementation (Changing): Some of the major things this step involves are develop implementation plans, getting buy-in, deploying change agents identified throughout the organization, and finally implementation of the plan.
 
Step 3: Follow Through (Making the change stick): To make a change stick a high level of urgency has to be maintained until the vision of the change is realized and Ensuring that new processes and programs to sustain the change are institutionalized.

One last note to mention: It is essential for success to start the change process by building trust and raising the level of urgency. These elements along with the emotional connection will alleviate, and in some cases, eliminate many of the reasons why change is resisted. Without that, change will become an exercise in pushing a boulder up a tall mountain.