Essay Sample on Lewin's Field Theory

According to Lewin's field theory, an individual's interaction with the environment that they are important in explaining the decisions that they make. Therefore, Lewin's theory understands that different dynamics inform a person's choices and that because of the dynamics that play a role in an individual's psychology, their decisions can be explained (Burnes & Bargal, 2017). Some of the dynamics that inform an individual's conclusions include the emotions that they have towards the subject matter and the general feelings toward the subject matter at hand. For this reason, the decision to sell the Robert Mondavi Corporation by Mondavi's sons can be explained concerning the dynamics that may have informed their decision to sell the company. For example, the sons may not have been as passionate about the company as their father was. Therefore they may have sold it as a way of getting finances to undertake other business activities that they are interested in and passionate about. Thus, according to Lewin's Field theory, the emotions of the sons may have been directly involved in the decision to sell the company, as Mr Mondavi was emotional and against the selling of the company. This is because he may have been emotionally invested in the company and wanted to have it stay within the family, although he may not have been the one managing it.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

There may also have existed changes in the general feelings towards having the wine company by the sons, and therefore they will, in turn, decide on selling the company. Thus, the mindset of Mondavi's sons may have changed negatively towards the ownership of a wine company, hence forcing them to sell the company and look for other business ventures which they were more positive towards. The mindset of an individual helps them form an opinion towards the subject matter in question. The change can also inform the shift in mindsets in times, whereby the mindsets of the consumers may have changed from being in favor of wine drinking and turning towards other forms of beverages, such as beer or soft drinks. Therefore, to save the company and to avoid excessive losses due to the shift in consumers' preferences, Mondavi's sons may have opted to cut their losses before they lost too much money in the process.

Process-driven Change

There is a need for organizations to manage the changes that they undertake in their operations. Through change management, then the organizations in question will be able to adapt to the challenges that they face in the course of their services and the process manage to come up with creative ways through which they can address the issues that they face in their daily operations. Change management should, therefore, be considered for the development of an organization and the said organizations to effectively adapt to the expected changes in the organization (Strnadl, 2006). Change management should be carried out on more than a human resources approach, but rather from the need to steer the organization towards the desired ends.

In the case of Robert Mondavi Corporation, the need for change may have played a role in the decision to sell the company. The company under the management of Mondavi's sons may have been unable to adapt to the needed changes in the marketing dynamics, and therefore led to the need to sell the company. The inability to adjust to changes may fail to make profits since changes in the market dynamics may result in adverse effects which would mean loss-making in the end. Therefore, Mondavi's sons may have been forced to sell their company due to their inability to adapt to the changes in the market dynamics and thus leading to the need to sell to salvage the losses experienced.

There may have been differences in the processes required for the production of wine, and the management of the company may have been unable to keep up with the needed changes, leading to the need to hand over the company to a management team which would be able to affect the necessary changes. The inability to address the changes in the market may result in the need for the management in a company to seek ventures that they may be able to manage and adapt to, instead of undertaking ventures that will lead to them experiencing losses and failure in their business ventures. Changes in the production of the wine will, therefore, make the company opt for selling instead of undertaking long processes in adapting to the new requirements.

Context-driven Change

Context-driven change is brought about by the need for organizations to make changes according to the specific challenges that they face. Therefore, according to context-driven change, the organizations in question will undertake a particular path of changes that will help them to tackle the specific changes that they experience in their organizations (Mishra et al., 2017). Adapting to the changes is crucial because failure to adapt will lead to the inability of the businesses to face the challenges that they meet in their daily endeavours. The difference is part of the growth in an organization, and effectively addressing the changes will lead to growth and failure to do so will lead to a crash in the company.

Different instances need to be addressed differently according to the needs of the organization. This is because there are different dynamics associated with the changes required, and therefore the organizations need to create business strategies that will help them to overcome the various challenges that they meet. There is a need for organizations to understand that changes will need to be effected according to the dynamics associated with the organization specifically. In the case of Mondavi Corporation, there may have been a need for the sons to accept the need for changes in their organizations, as well as them accepting their inability to address the changes needed in their company. When organizations do not allow the need for change, and their failure to address the necessary changes, then the company will end up making losses instead of profits and may end up being driven out of business in the long run.

Mondavi Corporation may have been unable to keep up with the changes in the market dynamics, and this may explain the decision by Mondavi's sons to sell the company. Successful managers are those who recognize their inability to affect the changes needed. If they feel incapable of doing this effectively, they may opt to give up on the company to the management team and ownership, which will steer the company towards the desired changes. Instead of running the company to the ground due to making losses from the inability to adapt to the changes required of them, the organization should ensure that they change their business activities from wine-making to the events which they will be able to handle effectively.

References

Burnes, B., & Bargal, D. (2017). Kurt Lewin: 70 years on. Journal of Change Management, 17(2), 91-100.

Mishra, M., Sidoti, D., Avvari, G. V., Mannaru, P., Ayala, D. F. M., Pattipati, K. R., & Kleinman, D. L. (2017). A context-driven framework for proactive decision support with applications. IEEE Access, 5, 12475-12495.

Strnadl, C. F. (2006). Aligning business and it: The process-driven architecture model. Information systems management, 23(4), 67-77.