Annotated Bibliography
Agocs, C. (1997). Institutionalized resistance to organizational change: Denial, inaction and repression. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(9), 917-931. This article discusses the pros and cons of advocating change within the workplace. It also discusses the reason (s) individuals are said to resist change because of habit and inertia, fear of the unknown, absence of the skills they will need after the change, and fear of losing power. OD approaches to organizational change presents a solid consensus that change and resistance can and should be "managed" by developing a strategy for change and using the OD tool kit of interventions such as training and communication programs, confrontation meetings, stakeholder
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In order for an organization to be successful, it depends upon the organizational structure, availability of resources, vision, and mission of the organization, and employees’ willingness to work towards the change-related goals (Brisson-Banks, 2010). Many employees, even at the management level, may lack the experience and motivation to recognize the urgency of change (Erwin, 2009). Ford, Ford, and D’Amelio (2008) wrote that resistance to change grows from broken agreements and trust violations. The article states how some people may experience anxiety about job stability and growth become overarching. In addition, they may fear that they will not be fortunate enough to retain their jobs, whereas others are simply unwilling or unprepared to learn and develop new skills.
Communication breakdowns within an organization may contribute to resistance in changing organizations. Managers must be prepared to talk candidly about the needs for change, otherwise fear and uncertainty will remain a prevailing element that can damage morale and prevent successful implementation of the desired changes at all levels of the organization. Employees need comprehensive information about the nature, processes, and consequences of organizational change.
Gibbons, P. T. (1992). Impacts of organizational evolution on leadership roles and behaviors. Human Relations, 45(1), 1.
Patrick Gibbons (1992) attempted to reconcile the strategic choice and the environmental determinism
In today 's economy, change is all-pervasive in organizations. It happens consistently, and frequently at fast speed. Since the change has turned into an ordinary piece of hierarchical motion, workers who oppose change can really cripple an organization. Resistance is an inescapable reaction to any real change. People actually race to guard the norm on the off chance that they feel their security or status is undermined. Folger and Skarlicki (1999) claim that "authoritative change can create doubt and resistance in workers, making it once in a while troublesome or difficult to actualize hierarchical enhancements" (FOLGER, 1999). If the administration does not comprehend, acknowledge and attempt to work with resistance, it can
John Kotter, a leading advocate and educator in change initiatives, expresses two essential characteristics that must be present in any change initiative. First, any change that is considered to be useful and necessary must go through a multi-step process that will transcend obstacles in its way. Second, it is essential that any change initiative must be lead by effective leadership (Kotter, 1996). However, any leader in a change initiate must reconcile the reality that a major component to mankind’s instinctive nature is that people have an inherent need for predictability and order (Hogan, 2007). Leaders must, therefore, consider that initiatives may be experienced in ways that contradict this basic need leading to employee resistance (Bernerth, 2011). Considering such a potential obstacle, Kotter developed an eight-stage change process to guide organizations through initiatives in ways that may retain employee stability and enable employees to maintain a sense of identity and understanding (Huy, 1999).
Positive or negative, change can be challenging to manage because employees need to be on board and be obliged to make necessary changes as well as adjust his or her work habits. When implementing change, a manager may run into numerous obstacles from resistance from the staff to morale issues. This is primarily caused by a lack of understanding by the employees and a fear of how the change will affect him or her directly. Implementing change within an organization can be extremely difficult without a manager who understands d his or her role and responsibilities. This could be the deciding factor of whether or not the
Leaders within a business need to be cognizant of the signs of change resistance and develop strategies to overcome them. Individuals are averse to change for four reasons: fear of loss of value, lack of understanding regarding the modification, belief change is not warranted, and an intolerance for change (Kotter, & Schlesinger, 2008). Comprehending and addressing these concerns are crucial steps between success or failure.
Change is particularly difficult if it is unexpected. It is far easier to accept change if an employee has time to digest the news and prepare to take action once the change has occur. Some of the concerns that worry employees may be address by creating clear goals and timelines that employee can easily follow. As well as addressing the chief objective “why are we changing?” Once these questions have been answer and employees buy in to them change will be easier and resistance will diminish (Strebel, 1996).
Organizations can face change for any number of reasons. Managers must be the leaders in change in order to influence employees. Complacency is an obstacle to change. According to Organizational Behavior and Management, “It is management’s responsibility to show employees why they should want to change” (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson, 2014, p. 507). By creating a sense of urgency, employees can recognize the need for change. The ability of employees to recognize the need for change combats the problem of complacency. Kotter, in Leading Change, states
Organizational change is not easy, but is an integral component that often allows the company and its employees to be prosperous. There are many ways to approach organizational change. Some are scientific theories like those stated in Organizational Behavior and Management (John Ivancevich) while others like John P. Kotter in “The Heart of Change,” believe it is just getting to the heart of your employees. If an organization today wants to be successful, they must understand why change is resisted and determine how to create a process to overcome this resistance
One of the biggest obstacles is resistance to change. People resist change because change disrupts habits, conflicts with certain personality types, cause a fear of failure, can have potentially negative impacts, can result in a potential for loss of power, and, when done too frequently, can exhaust employees. There may be key people who publicly support the change effort while silently undermining the planned changes. It is the management’s job to identify, understand, and remove these obstacles. (Kotter J. P.
Section 1: Introduction. It has been said that resistance to change can paralyze an organization. My paper will examine the reasons organizations resist change, and present one strategy an organization should consider to reduce the organization's resistance to change. The resources for this paper will come from Chapters 6 and 10 of the textbook.
Employee resistance is often supported by detest towards change or when stakeholders deem change necessary, accentuating when it is not effectively communicated (Courpasson & Clegg, 2012). The most effective approach to modify an organization includes being passive regarding your opposition contrary to formal resistance such as protests (Prasad & Prasad, 2000). Administration must alter their perspective towards resistance from being viewed as a negative aspect towards encouraging employees for their contribution towards organizational decisions (Courpasson & Clegg, 2012). Therefore, a shift in forms of resistance has caused the shift towards
This week’s studies were an examination of organizational and individual barriers to change. We learn to identify the role of strategic renewal, the behavioral aspect of organizational change, analyzed the dynamic of motivating employee behavioral change, differentiated the three faces of change, and finally explored the sources of employee resistance. A primary focus was Lewin’s Field Theory in Social Sciences and for this paper identified three theoretical organization change models.
Emerald Article: Resistance to organizational change: the role of cognitive and affective processes Wayne H. Bovey, Andy Hede
Daft explains organization development as a three-step process of unfreezing, changing and refreezing (Daft, 2014). Overcoming resistance to change occurs during the unfreezing stage where “people throughout the organization [are made] aware of problems and the need for change. This stage creates the motivation for people to change their attitudes and behaviors” (Daft, 2014). Participation of those directly affected by the change has been shown to be the most effective technique in reducing resistance to change and minimizing the disruptive period of organization readjustment that naturally follows any change in the workplace.
To identify the key elements of the resistanceto change described in this situation, one may make use of the six Change Approaches of Kotter and Schlesinger.[1]The model prevents, minimizes or descreases resistance to change in organizations. According to Kotter and Schlesinger (1979), there are four reasons that why people resist change, three of which are applicable to this case:
When change is being implemented within an organization by its leaders, the consequences of it can be underestimated or ignored by them, resulting in crises and, eventually, failure of the change efforts. In order for change to succeed, specifically in today’s business world, where organizations are constantly undergoing change at a fast rate, companies should educate their employees in understanding and supporting change.