scholarly journals Employee Resistance To Organizational Change

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Bateh ◽  
Mario E. Castaneda ◽  
James E. Farah
Keyword(s):  
Change Management ◽  
Strategic Change ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Change Readiness ◽  
Change Leadership ◽  
Readiness For Change ◽  
The Body ◽  
Change Initiatives ◽  
Employee Resistance ◽  
Insight Into

As change management becomes an essential ingredient of organizations performance, the body of literature describing successful and unsuccessful change management initiatives continues to expand. Numerous articles and studies provide an insight into the nature of change management and its most common pitfalls. The most recurring themes include resistance to change, readiness for change, leadership effectiveness, employee commitment and participation in change initiatives, and the roles and competencies needed to ensure the success of strategic change. The present article focuses on one of these themes: resistance to change. Understanding of resistance may enable managers to reduce conflict and increase collaboration. To meet these challenges, leaders must be trained and educated to overcome resistance to change. This article points out important types of resistance for organizations to address.

Communicate belonging? Duoethnography of an organisational change study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivana Crestani ◽  
Jill Fenton Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Change Management ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Change Initiatives ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Inclusive Language ◽  
Employee Resistance ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis duoethnography explores feelings of belonging that emerged as being relevant to the participants of a doctoral organisational change study. It challenges the prolific change management models that inadvertently encourage anti-belonging.Design/methodology/approachA change management practitioner and her doctoral supervisor share their dialogic reflections and reflexivity on the case study to open new conversations and raise questions about how communicating belonging enhances practice. They draw on Ubuntu philosophy (Tutu, 1999) to enrich Pinar's currere (1975) for understandings of belonging, interconnectedness, humanity and transformation.FindingsThe authors show how dialogic practice in giving employees a voice, communicating honestly, using inclusive language and affirmation contribute to a stronger sense of belonging. Suppressing the need for belonging can deepen a communication shadow and create employee resistance and alienation. Sharing in each other's personal transformation, the authors assist others in better understanding the feelings of belonging in organisational change.Practical implicationsPractitioners will need to challenge change initiatives that ignore belonging. This requires thinking of people as relationships, rather than as numbers or costs, communicating dialogically, taking care with language in communicating changes and facilitating employees to be active participants where they feel supported.Originality/valueFor both practice and academy, this duoethnography highlights a need for greater humanity in change management practices. This requires increasing the awareness and understanding of an interconnectedness that lies at the essence of belonging or Ubuntu (Tutu, 1999).

scholarly journals Organisational readiness for introducing a performance management system

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ochurub ◽  
Mark Bussin ◽  
Xenia Goosen
Keyword(s):  
Performance Management ◽  
Management System ◽  
Change Readiness ◽  
Readiness For Change ◽  
The Body ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Performance Management System ◽  
Performance Management Systems ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
A Performance

Orientation: The successful introduction of performance management systems to the public service requires careful measurement of readiness for change. Research purpose: This study investigated the extent to which employees were ready for change as an indication of whether their organisation was ready to introduce a performance management system (PMS).Motivation for the study: Introducing system changes in organisations depends on positive employee preconditions. There is some debate over whether organisations can facilitate these preconditions. This research investigates change readiness linked to the introduction of a PMS in a public sector organisation. The results add to the growing literature on levels of change readiness.Research design, approach and method: The researchers used a quantitative, questionnairebased design. Because the organisation was large, the researchers used stratified sampling to select a sample from each population stratum. The sample size was 460, which constituted 26% of the total population. They used a South African change readiness questionnaire to elicit employee perceptions and opinions.Main findings: The researchers found that the organisation was not ready to introduce a PMS. The study identified various challenges and key factors that were negatively affecting the introduction of a PMS.Practical/managerial implications: The intention to develop and introduce performance management systems is generally to change the attitudes, values and approaches of managers and employees to the new strategies, processes and plans to improve productivity and performance. However, pre-existing conditions and attitudes could have an effect. It is essential to ensure that organisations are ready to introduce performance management systems and to provide sound change leadership to drive the process effectively. This study contributes to the body of knowledge about the challenges and factors organisations should consider when they introduce performance management systems.Contribution/value-add: This research adds to the knowledge about aspects of change readiness, change management and introducing change initiatives.

scholarly journals Driving Organizational Readiness for Change through Strategic Workshops

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Johan Roos ◽  
Viktor O. Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Practical Problem ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Change Readiness ◽  
Readiness For Change ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Drivers Of Change ◽  
Change Initiatives ◽  
Health Care Settings ◽  
Organizational Readiness For Change ◽  
Vast Literature

Change initiatives in organizations often fail because people are neither committed to nor convinced they can implement the change successfully. The change challenge is a practical problem for most leaders. The vast literature on change management offers insights into obstacles to change and how to overcome them, and the emerging literature on readiness for change offers a plethora of instruments for how to assess it, though primarily in health care settings. However, there is limited advice about how to design workshops around new initiatives in organizations to increase readiness for change. To address this problem, we developed a model of the drivers of change readiness, based on survey data from 374 participants in 69 independently facilitated workshops to test hypotheses. The findings show which constructs have the most predictive power. These results have important implications for how to design and facilitate workshops that increase participants’ readiness for change. The study makes several contributions to the theory and practice of creating shared readiness for change.

Resistance

2011 ◽  
pp. 70-83
Author(s):  
Dianne Waddell
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Change Management ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Enterprise Resource Planning ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
It Investments ◽  
Employee Resistance ◽  
Management Techniques

Resistance to change has long been recognised as a critically important factor that can influence the success or otherwise of implementing any technological innovation. Information technology (IT) focused interventions, for example, business process re-engineering (BPR) and enterprise resource planning (ERP), are often quoted as examples of costly failures, with reported levels of dissatisfaction with strategic IT investments ranging from 20-70 percent and that employee resistance was to blame. The intention of this chapter is to rethink resistance. The author suggests that resistance remains to this day a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that continues to affect the outcomes of change, both negatively and positively. Although research has procured a solid understanding of resistance and the benefits that can accrue to an organisation through its proper utilisation, it appears that the classical adversarial approach remains the dominant means of managing resistance because such learning is not reflected in modern management techniques. The author concludes that as companies in every industry are now translating the power and possibilities of e-business into strategic and operational realities, new approaches in change management are required to help organisations to understand the complex dynamics of technological innovation and especially the multifaceted nature of resistance.

Improving Small Firm Performance Through Collaborative Change Management and Outside Learning

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Menkhoff ◽  
Chay Yue Wah
Keyword(s):  
Change Management ◽  
Small Firm ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Change Leadership ◽  
Change Implementation ◽  
Strategic Learning ◽  
Ethnic Chinese ◽  
Management Approaches ◽  
Firm Owners

This empirical-exploratory article sheds light on the change management approaches used by Chinese owner-managers of small firms in Singapore and their openness toward strategic learning. The paper examines widespread common-sense assumptions that ethnic Chinese adopt mostly directive-coercive (autocratic) change management approaches, which may stifle innovation. Great diversity exists amongst small firm owners in Asia with regard to their change leadership practices, and respective change implementation approaches are contingent on both demographic variables and situational forces like the urgency of change, the degree of resistance to change, and/or the dynamics of the environment in which the firms operate. Data from a SME survey in Singapore (n = 101) serves to substantiate several propositions about change management of Chinese owner-managers of SMEs in Singapore. Three hypotheses about the openness of SME owner-managers to outside sources of learning are presented to ascertain the prediction that such knowledge can give SMEs a performance headstart by helping them to work smarter.

Organizational outcomes of leadership style and resistance to change (Part Two)

2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven H. Appelbaum ◽  
Medea Cesar Degbe ◽  
Owen MacDonald ◽  
Thai-Son NGUYEN-QUANG
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Development ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Organizational Outcomes ◽  
The Body ◽  
Change Initiatives ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Outcome ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Major Factors

Purpose – Organizations must react rapidly to evolving environments by engaging in change, ranging from minor adjustments to radical transformation. Many obstacles are encountered on the path towards achieving positive organizational outcomes, among which resistance to change prevents the level of mobilization critical to achieve a successful transformation. The purpose of this two-part paper is to offer a review of the body of knowledge explaining how leadership styles may address resistance to change in order to achieve desired organizational outcomes. For this purpose, multiple organizational concepts are visited and linked through a synthesized model proposing causality relationships between the various elements. Design/methodology/approach – A range of recently published empirical and practitioner research papers were reviewed to analyse the relationships in search of the variables that affect resistance during a major organizational change. In order to synthesize and bridge many concepts that are often studied separately, an overall model is proposed to help establish causal relationships between the elements of interest influencing organizational outcomes, in the context of a change. Findings – Leadership acts as an input at multiple levels, influencing organizational outcomes both directly – by continuously shaping employee attitude throughout change – and indirectly – by regulating the antecedents and moderators of their predisposition to change. These subsequently shape the extent of resistance to change, which translates from the perception of, commitment to and involvement in the change process. The interaction of the organizational environment with these factors ultimately determines the organizational outcome resulting from the change initiatives. Research limitations/implications – The model must be tested in another empirical article to measure its effectiveness. The complexity of the model may, however, hinder the ability to successfully correlate all the concepts. Practical implications – The paper suggests an overall framework that may help leaders and organizational development practitioners identify the major factors which may be considered during a change initiative or a transformation. Social implications – This paper highlights the multi-dimensional role of leadership style in successfully achieving organizational changes. Leaders’ emotional aptitude to influence their followers and employees’ natural and contextual predisposition to change transact to shape organizational outcomes. These social elements must be carefully assessed not only prior to embarking on a change implementation, but also to proactively invest in psychologically directed organizational training and development, at all hierarchical levels. Originality/value – The synthesis model is the novel contribution of the paper. It proposes an organized approach to relate multiple close yet distinct concepts that have so far been predominantly discussed separately.

Improving Small Firm Performance Through Collaborative Change Management and Outside Learning

2013 ◽  
pp. 97-122
Author(s):  
Thomas Menkhoff ◽  
Chay Yue Wah
Keyword(s):  
Change Management ◽  
Small Firm ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Change Leadership ◽  
Change Implementation ◽  
Strategic Learning ◽  
Ethnic Chinese ◽  
Management Approaches ◽  
Firm Owners

This empirical-exploratory article sheds light on the change management approaches used by Chinese owner-managers of small firms in Singapore and their openness toward strategic learning. The paper examines widespread common-sense assumptions that ethnic Chinese adopt mostly directive-coercive (autocratic) change management approaches, which may stifle innovation. Great diversity exists amongst small firm owners in Asia with regard to their change leadership practices, and respective change implementation approaches are contingent on both demographic variables and situational forces like the urgency of change, the degree of resistance to change, and/or the dynamics of the environment in which the firms operate. Data from a SME survey in Singapore (n = 101) serves to substantiate several propositions about change management of Chinese owner-managers of SMEs in Singapore. Three hypotheses about the openness of SME owner-managers to outside sources of learning are presented to ascertain the prediction that such knowledge can give SMEs a performance headstart by helping them to work smarter.

scholarly journals With a Little Help From Change Management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Mlekus ◽  
Anna-Lena Kato-Beiderwieden ◽  
Katharina D. Schlicher ◽  
Günter W. Maier
Keyword(s):  
Change Management ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Readiness For Change ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Small Change ◽  
Cooperative Project ◽  
Behavioral Resistance ◽  
Reactions To Change ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract. Change-management activities require extensive interventions, for which small and medium-sized companies often lack the expertise. Thus, we examined whether a short-term intervention could be an innovative approach that affects employees’ attitudes and behavior. In the cooperative project IviPep, a company developed digital tools for its own internal development process. Our intervention was part of the corresponding training and consisted of a 5-minute presentation about prototypical reactions to change and a 45-minute workshop. Employees could voice their concerns, reflect on advantages, and work on potential solutions to address their concerns. Results of a survey before and after the training ( N = 22) showed that the short-term intervention significantly increased readiness for change ( d = 0.72) but did not significantly increase overall attitude toward change ( d = 0.16) or behavioral resistance to change ( d = -0.37), although the effects pointed in the intended direction. Our results indicate that even small change efforts can make a difference.

Organizational outcomes of leadership style and resistance to change (Part One)

2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven H. Appelbaum ◽  
Medea Cesar Degbe ◽  
Owen MacDonald ◽  
Thai-Son NGUYEN-QUANG
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Development ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Organizational Outcomes ◽  
The Body ◽  
Change Initiatives ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Outcome ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Major Factors

Purpose – Organizations must react rapidly to evolving environments by engaging in change, ranging from minor adjustments to radical transformation. Many obstacles are encountered on the path towards achieving positive organizational outcomes, among which resistance to change (RTC) prevents the level of mobilization critical to achieve a successful transformation. The purpose of this two-part paper is to offer a review of the body of knowledge explaining how leadership styles may address RTC in order to achieve desired organizational outcomes. For this purpose, multiple organizational concepts are visited and linked through a synthesized model proposing causality relationships between the various elements. Design/methodology/approach – A range of recently published empirical and practitioner research articles were reviewed to analyse the relationships in search of the variables that affect resistance during a major organizational change. In order to synthesize and bridge many concepts that are often studied separately, an overall model is proposed to help establish causal relationships between the elements of interest influencing organizational outcomes, in the context of a change. Findings – Leadership acts as an input at multiple levels, influencing organizational outcomes both directly – by continuously shaping employee attitude throughout change – and indirectly – by regulating the antecedents and moderators of their predisposition to change. These subsequently shape the extent of RTC, which translates from the perception of, commitment to and involvement in the change process. The interaction of the organizational environment with these factors ultimately determines the organizational outcome resulting from the change initiatives. Research limitations/implications – The model must be tested in another empirical article to measure its effectiveness. The complexity of the model may, however, hinder the ability to successfully correlate all the concepts. Practical implications – The paper suggests an overall framework that may help leaders and organizational development practitioners identify the major factors which may be considered during a change initiative or a transformation. Social implications – This paper highlights the multi-dimensional role of leadership style in successfully achieving organizational changes. Leaders’ emotional aptitude to influence their followers and employees’ natural and contextual predisposition to change transact to shape organizational outcomes. These social elements must be carefully assessed not only prior to embarking on a change implementation, but also to proactively invest in psychologically directed organizational training and development, at all hierarchical levels. Originality/value – The synthesis model is the novel contribution of the paper. It proposes an organized approach to relate multiple close yet distinct concepts that have so far been predominantly discussed separately.

The Roles of Organizational Change Management and Resistance to Change in the Modern Business World

2015 ◽  
pp. 143-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kijpokin Kasemsap
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Change Management ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Readiness For Change ◽  
Business World ◽  
Organizational Change Management ◽  
Organizational Resistance ◽  
Modern Business ◽  
Strategic Goals

This chapter introduces the roles of organizational change management (OCM) and resistance to change (RTC) in the modern business world, thus explaining the theoretical and practical concepts of OCM and RTC; strategies for driving organizational change; the application of sources of organizational resistance and inertia; the obstacles of organizational change; and the management of RTC in modern organizations. OCM and RTC are the essential factors to be considered in any change process, since a proper management of resistance is the key for change success or failure. The importance of OCM and RTC lies in its ability to influence an organization's readiness for change and to identify the level of resistance it expects to meet, and the approach to change it needs to adopt. Understanding the roles of OCM and RTC will enhance organizational performance and achieve strategic goals in the modern business world.

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