CHAPTER 14: Managing Change Resistance to Change

Change - Employee behaviors designed to discredit,

- any alteration in work environment that
affects the way in which employees must
act.
- Is a human as well as technical problem
- Effects are widespread
- Lead to pressures and conflicts
Proactive anticipating events, initiating change, and
taking control of the organizations destiny
delay, or prevent the implementation of a
work change.
Causes of resistance to change:
- Threat to security needs
- Threat to social interaction needs
- Threat to status needs
- Threat to competence needs
- Threat to self-esteem needs

Reactive responding to events, adapting to change, Change-reaction Effect change or other condition,
and tempering the consequences of change that directly affects only 1 person or few persons
may lead to a direct/indirect reaction from many
Responses to Change
people, even hundreds or thousands, because of
1. Absenteeism their mutual interest in it.
2. Strike
Reasons for Resistance:
3. Demands
4. Indifference 1. Nature of change
5. Harder work 2. Method used
6. Sabotage 3. Perceptions of Inequity not seeing
personal gain
Causes of employees responses to change:

- Personal history
Types of Resistance
- Work environment
1. Logical Resistance based on disagreement
**Feelings are nonlogical.
with facts, rational reasoning, logic and
Hawthorne effect science
2. Psychological Resistance based on
mere observation of a group tends to emotions, sentiments, and attitudes;
change the group emotional reasoning
Observation affects behavior 3. Sociological Resistance logical, when it is
seen as a product of a challenge to group
Group response to Change
interests, norms and values.
- Whatever happens to one of us affects all of
Benefits of Resistance:
us
- Encourage management to reexamine its
Homeostasis self-correcting characteristic of
change proposals
organization by which energies are called up to
- Help identify specific problem areas
restore balance whenever change threatens.
(management can take corrective actions)
Psychic Costs psychological costs; affect a persons - Mgt encouraged to do a better job of
inner self, the psyche communicating the change
- Gives mgt information about intensity of
Repetitive Change Syndrome sustained series of employee emotions on an issue
small or moderate changes over a period of time, - Provides emotional release for pent-up
producing cumulative effects that finally overload a employee feelings
persons system.
**Dynamic environments require change. Organization Development (OD)

Transformational Leaders managers who initiate - Systematic application of behavioral science

bold strategic changes to position the organization knowledge at various levels to bring about
for its future. planned change

Elements of Transformational Leadership: Foundations of OD

1. Creating Vision Systems Orientation

Understanding Causality
Vision crystallized long-range image or idea of what
can and should be accomplished. 3 types of Variables:

2. Communicating Charisma 1. Causal significant; affect both intervening

and end-result
Charisma help influence employees to take early
2. Intervening immediately affected by causal
and sustained action
variables
3. Stimulating Learning 3. End-result represent objectives sought by
management
Double-loop learning way a change is handled
should not only reflect current information gathered Characteristics of OD:
but also prepare the participants to manage future
1. Humanistic Values positive values about
changes even more effectively.
the potential and desire for growth among
3 Stages in Change: employees
2. Use of a Change Agent role is to stimulate,
1. Unfreezing old ideas and practices need to facilitate, and coordinate change; acts as
be cast aside so that new one can be catalyst
learned. 3. Problem Solving trains participants to
2. Changing new ideas and practices are identify and solve problems that are
learned important to them
3. Refreezing what has been learned is
integrated into actual practice *Action Science cyclical process of using research
to guide action, which generates new data as basis
Equilibrium dynamic balance of forces supporting for new actions
and restraining any existing practice.
4. Interventions at many levels
Building Support for Change:
*Interventions structured activities designed to
1. Use of Group forces help individuals or groups improve their work
2. Providing Rationale for Change effectiveness.
3. Participation (increase of participation =
resistance to change reduces) 5. Contingency orientation
4. Shared Rewards (economic or psychic
rewards)
5. Employee Security (e.g. seniority rights,
opportunities for advancement)
6. Communication and education
7. Stimulating Employee Readiness
(awareness)
8. Working with the Total System
Stages in OD:

Benefits of OD:

- Deal with changes in a whole organization

- Improved motivation, productivity, quality
of work, job satisfaction, teamwork, and
resolution of conflict
- Absences and turnover reduction