The only that is certain when it comes to human civilization is change and organizations are not an exception to change. Internal and external forces of change are the terms used in the context of change happening in companies. Internal forces of change refer to those factors which originate from within an organization while external forces of change refer to the factors that originate from outside an organization and influence its decision to change. In order to get a better idea about both terms one should look at some of the differences between internal and external forces of change –
Internal Vs External Forces of Change
Understanding like a 10 Year Old
In case your kid is going to school and the school decides to change the rules or the way they do things because they want to improve or make things better like changing the timing of school or changing the fees structure of school then this is an internal force of change while if the school has to close for a few days because of a snowstorm or floods than that’s an external force of change because the school didn’t choose to close, but the weather made them do it.
Control
In the case of internal forces of change, the company has complete control over in the sense that internal forces of change are done according to the company policies and wishes hence in a way internal forces of change are a planned process but when it comes to external forces of change they are outside the organization’s control and hence the company cannot plan which factors will affect the company and hence it cannot be planned.
Factors Affecting the Change
The factors which affect the internal forces of change are the organization’s goals, vision, and mission, changes in organizational structure, and leadership while the factors which affect the external forces of change are related to external factors such as the economy, technology, laws, and regulations, competitor’s actions, change in consumer preferences. and so on.
Initiated Vs Triggered
Internal forces of change can be initiated at any time by the organization because they are within the control of the company, while external forces of change are not initiated by the company but are triggered by external events, such as changes in the market or the regulatory environment or change in market trends, technology and so on.
Impact of Change
The internal force of change is easy to handle in the sense that it is easy to handle the change as resistance to internal forces of change by employees is often lower but when it comes to the external force of change it can have unpredictable and far-reaching consequences besides the resistance to external forces of change by employees is aggressive and difficult to manage.
Similarity of Actions
In the case of the internal force of change, every company has a different policy and action due to the unique nature of every company but when it comes to the external force of change every company reacts more or less in a similar fashion. Hence for example while in the case of a tobacco company, every company will have its own policy when it comes to internal force of change but suppose government imposes a tax on tobacco products which is an external force of change then every tobacco company will react in more or less in the same way.
In conclusion, one can say that internal and external forces of change are critical factors that drive organizational transformation. While internal forces of change originate from within the organization and are often proactive, external forces of change come from outside the organization and are often reactive and that is the reason why the company should be careful while dealing with both internal and external forces of change as both require different strategy and action on the part of the management.