Most important elements of organizational change are as follows: building shared vision; building a coalition or team; creating urgency for change; communication amongst all members; empowerment; short-term wins; reinforcing change

Top 12 Elements for successful change management are:

1 – Urgency

2 – Compelling change story

3 – Current strategy

4 – Vision and values

5 – Communicate

6 – Create a dialog

7 – Culture

8 – Visualize the “journey”

9 – Measure

10 – Create wins

11 – Align performance management

12 – Lookout for inconsistencies

More details can be seen in the attached link.

http://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/12-important-elements-for-successful-change-management-effort/

I think that the second point-behaviour is most important. my opinion is informed by the fact that even when the thinking and infrastructure dimensions are appropriately in shape, the behaviour or reactions of the people who are expected to implement the change constitutes a paramount factor in the chances of a successful change management. if the people are not ready to embrace change, it means they are not ready, and so much may need to be done to persuade them otherwise.  

Three fundamental elements for managing change, due to the following article, linked:

- leadership

- communication and engagement

- internalization

"Aside from lessening the productivity dip, MOC can also ultimately impact revenue and growth."

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Discover-Performance-Blog/3-elements-for-management-of-organizational-change/ba-p/5437447#.VCXaq2eSw64

(The concept of "change management" is a familiar one in most businesses today. But, how businesses manage change (and how successful they are at it) varies enormously depending on the nature of the business, the change and the people involved. And a key part of this depends on how far people within it understand the change process.

One of the cornerstone models for understanding organizational change was developed by Kurt Lewin back in the 1950s, and still holds true today. His model is known as Unfreeze – Change – Refreeze, refers to the three-stage process of change he describes. Lewin, a physicist as well as social scientist, explained organizational change using the analogy of changing the shape of a block of ice.)

For more information on the subject you may consult the following link:

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htm

I do agree dear @Mahfuz regarding the importance and actuality of Lewin's approach!

http://www.scoop.it/t/change-by-chery-gegelman

I agree that these 3 dynamics, Thinking, Behavior, and Infrastructure, are all important components of an organization to understand before embarking on a change effort.  To understand these 3 dynamics, how they affect each other, and change, we need to understand the connected nature of the organization.  We need to see 1) the prescribed structure -- hierarchy and 2) the emergent structure which includes the work networks, how information actually flows, how learning happens, how knowledge is exchanged, and how expertise is accessed in the organization.  How the emergent structure maps to the prescribed structure often reveals much about the culture of an organization -- which is key to know when attempting to change an organization.

A map of the prescribed and emergent work structures in an organization...

http://orgnet.com/Wirearchy.pdf

Departments designated by node color, employee names replaced by anonymous numbers and work connections designated by color. 

I think an important question to ask ourselves in regards to this is: how do we know when a change has occurred? I.e. how do we study change as researchers? Change happens everywhere in an organization (and constantly), which aspects do we let define an organizational change? Is it when some mission statements/strategies are reformulated? Is it when people behave different than before? In my paper (attached) we discuss the use of narratives as a mean to study organizational change (which is part of point nr.2 in Langstrands question).

Article 'Playing back-spin balls': Narrating organizational change i...

It's capital , goals and manpower/resources.

Beside common vision and motivation for change the most essential is mutual trust and respect for overall cohesion, team work and prosperity of the organization.

Empowerment; short-term wins

Reinforcing change

Building shared vision

Building a coalition or team

Creating urgency for change

Communication amongst all members

Are the most important elements of organizational change.

One of the cornerstone models for understanding organizational change was developed by Kurt Lewin back in the 1950s, and still holds true today.

Engaging the employees at all levels so that they have ownership of what the problem/s is/are; involving them in the design of the solution (the change) and building or honouring their ownership of the solution.  They will then make the change effective and keep on trying to get the best out of it.

When I posted the question, I had a 'hidden' agenda. I have a suggestion that may be a bit unorthodox. I wanted to see if you agree. Your answers suggest that you do not, which indicates to me that you even may find my suggestion somewhat provocative.

My impression is that we usually assume that we can change people's behavior if we manage to convince them about our assessment of the situation. If we gain acceptance for the need for change (create urgency for change), people will behave differently. The ones that do not change their behavior are assumed to be stubborn and difficult people. I think this line of thinking is wrong and leads to ineffective change management.

From my perspective, the strongest influencer of behavior is the context in which people are situated. That context consists of the organizational structure, culture, technology and infrastructure. While culture is an important factor, I suggest that the other elements have a much stronger impact on behavior. Changing technology and infrastructure will thereby 'force' people to act differently, to accommodate to the new context. With this line of thinking, the main priority in change management is to identify the contextual factors that influence behavior and find ways to change these so that they will reinforce the desired behavior in the organization. Of course, information and justification will be a part of the process, but not the main objective.

Any reactions? Do you agree? Disagree?