Case Study: Problems at Perrier

Resistance is an inevitable response to any change. People naturally rush to defend the status quo if they feel their security or status is threatened. Change is unnerving to most people even positive change. If mangers do not understand, accept and make an effort to work with resistance, it can undermine even the best intentioned and otherwise well conceived changes. There is no one strategy for dealing with resistance.

When employees are unwilling to accept change there is a strong possibility that they don’t understand the change or do not understand why it is being suggested or implemented. At this time is when communication is essential in letting the employees know what the changes are trying to accomplish and what their roles are during the change. As a manager it is crucial to have an understanding of the employees you oversee and to know what to expect when they are confused and concerned about procedural changes. The overall morale of the organization will be good if the employees are kept involved in both the planning and the implementation of any changes.

Resistance to change is an expected reaction of human nature. We are not accustomed to change, as it is possible to lead to failure; however, there are also ways to manage the resistance within the company.

The skills needed for a change agent are experience, success, respect, and leadership skills, and management competencies (Grohar-Murray & Langan, 2011). A change agent is anyone who has a positive attitude, communicates the goals of the organization and is willing to get involved to help facilitate these goals.

The resistance from employees and managers is normal and can be addressed. Persistent resistance, however, can threaten a project. The change management team needs to identify understand and help their leaders manage resistance throughout the organization. Resistance manage is the process and tools used by managers and executives with the support of the change

Another concept that stuck to me was Change Agent. The book, Leadership for a Better World: Understanding the Social Change Model of Leadership Development by S.R. Komives and W. Wagner, defines change agent as “a person committed to a dynamic leadership process, lifelong learning, and relationships” (Komives 400). Being a change agent is very vital to me as a Residential Assistant and future leader in my community because being a leader must mean there must be a need to change. In other words, a leader must find the problem, create a thesis, and solve the problem by leading a team. In addition, it is important to me because it involves every step of the social change model. A change agent must utilize the entire social change model (Consciousness of Self, Congruence, Commitment, Collaboration etc.). Every step of the social is vital because every aspect that is include.

As we all know, change is inevitable and we cannot control the world changing around us, but what we can control is how we can deal with how the employees deal with change. Knowing and understanding the common cause why people is resistant to change gives you the chance to plan your strategy to address these factors.

The organization must implement specific strategies to identify and resolve resistance to change. O Connor (1993) stated "In an organization, resistance is opposition or witholding of support for specific plans or ideas. It can either be intentional or unintentional, covert or overt" (p. 30). Employees will likely consider how change affects them personally and that may naturally cause some resistance. One of the most important things an organization can do to minimize resistance is to address these personal concerns. It is also important to identify any potential loss or gain that comes from implementing, or not implementing, the change initiative. Leaders

The strategy to handle this resistance is to prepare employees for the changes forthcoming; managers should have an expectation of resistance to change. Engagement of the best-qualified change management team is vital to successfully address concerns. Knowing the primary concerns, change management teams have the tools to present a compelling case why change is needed (Prosci, n.d).

What a manager does and how it is done can be categorised by Henri Fayol’s four functions of management: Planning, Organising, Leading and Controlling. Through these functions managers can be catalysts for change or by definition change agents – “People who act as catalysts and manage the change process.” (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg and Coulter, 2000, p.438) Wether performing the role of the change agent or not, change is an integral part of a manager’s job. Change is “An alteration in people, structure or technology.” (Robbins et al., 2000, p.437) Change occurs within and around organisations today at an unprecedented speed and complexity. Change poses threats and creates opportunities. The fact that change creates opportunities is reason

Because, the change process needs to be a collaborative effort in order to be successful, there are multiple change agents involved in this processes. However, the leader of the change process is the primary change agent. The change agent acts as a catalyst for change. The leader is the person that recognizes that a change is necessary and initiates the process to implement the change. In order to be successful, the change agent needs to have a clear vision of

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.

It is important to identify the characteristics, competencies and skills of change agents (CA); in order to, enhance the potential for success in the process of change. Because change is often associated with resistance and cynicism, it is crucial not to underestimate the human factor; and therefore, determine the essential prerequisites needed to be an effective CA in an organisation with a consultative culture. This essay will identify the characteristics, competencies and skills needed to be an effective CA and discuss how these can be used to strengthen the change prospects in a relational mode of agency. Learning from Schein, a CA can be known as the one or a group, who is instrumental and active in making change occur (cited Jabri, 2017). Change in its self can be difficult as it requires learning, alteration or re-arrangement that can impact our lives both inside and out of the organisation (Lotich, 2011).

Personal impact and fear of change are not the only causes of resistance by individuals during a change to business practices. The lack of respect and negative attitudes can also lead to employees resisting business change. If an employee lacks respect or has a negative attitude towards a person or department leading the change, then there are more likely to oppose the new ideas being implemented. Poor communication greatly impacts individuals’ accepted to new practices in a company. Typically if an employee is given new behaviors to adopt, but is given no reason, then that employee may reject the change. Upper management must effectively relate the value, need and benefit of the change to help get employees on board with new changes. The lack of individual input can also lead to resistance. Some individuals feel the need to be included in new ideas. When employees are not asked to be involved in changes, they may lack the vision of importance or will to change. A heavier workload can also cause opposition among employees. Employees may not embrace more systems and requirements needed

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: