This dissertation reviewing the results of research by academic writers on issues of resistance to change, which occurred both in the public and private sectors. Significantly, special attention will be given to writings that discuss the causes of the emergence of resistance to change. In this case, the works of Anis Khassawneh, and Rosemond Boohene and Asamoah Appiah Williams will be critically reviewed.
1. Anis Khassawneh
Khassawneh works considered relevant to the part of this study because it has been investigated and identified the main causes of employee resistance to changes in government organisations in Jordan. He discusssed the causes of resistance to change in developing countries. He cited the experience of Bangladesh in
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Meanwhile, Khassawneh (2015: 26-27) has conducted a research and found that there are four factors that trigger the rejection of the employee to change in government organisations in Jordan. There are due to the lack of participation of employees, inadequate incentives, distrust between higher management and workers, and lack of clarity in the goals of change. He formulated these results by selecting the top four answers of respondents.
The works of Khan (1989), Jreisat (1988), and Khassawneh (2005) carried out in different time periods, which is about 17 years. Nevertheless, there are similarities research findings about the reasons that led to the employee refuses to change, namely the lack of commitment of the leadership in making changes. This work has provided insight into some of the research questions on the causes of resistance, so it is considered relevant to this dissertation.
Moreover, the work of Khassawneh can be relied on. He is a former government employee. He also is a lecturer in the training programs conducted by the Institute of Public Administration, so it is already familiar with the change of administration in the public sector in Jordan. Although not mentioned how long he was active in the field of study of bureaucratic reforms,
Agocs, C. (1997). Institutionalized resistance to organizational change: Denial, inaction and repression. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(9), 917-931.
How bold are the employees in expressing their emotions. Few are bold enough to directly oppose the change may be verbally, physically or by their behavior. These are the ones who have no fear of losing their jobs. They are aggressive and active employees. On the other hand we have the silent movers who being aggressive are passive, although they have a strong grudge against change, they do not revolt openly. But it is seen in their behavior as employees may become lazy, tell lies, avoid work, lose the spirit of work, reduce involvement, etc. For example an organization has undergone change and an employee who is a covert resistor shall not be happy in helping the new team leader. He shall try to misguide him, give wrong dates, tell
In today’s society companies are finding that it is more demanding that they make changes in certain departments or in the entire company. May managers are faced with the question, “How do I make successful changes?” Another issue company’s face is the resistance to changes by employees. How can a company reduce the resistance from employees? What role do human
People tend to oppose change, despite that the change is beneficial and will result in improvements for those affected. Staff resistance to change creates hindrances for those in managerial positions. Resistance to change is inevitable. Management must respond to it in an adept manner so it does not accelerate further into a severe problem. To effectively manage resistance to change, a manager must understand why the employee‘s initial reaction was to reject the proposal before it accelerates further and causes subpar job performance (Baker, 1989). Often time when a staff resists change, he or she is resisting coercion rather than change itself. Providing information is the most powerful approach a manager can take to assuage anxiety related to change. A manager can alleviate any fear of change by answering questions, acknowledging
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.
Several instances exist where within an organization; changes take place regardless of the geographical position. These changes often encompass one or more individuals. In any case of a change taking place, people are likely to face abnormalities in their regular actions. A number of internal and external aspects also contribute much to this phenomenon as individuals resist change in their lives. Several instances exist where individuals portray resistance in terms of opposing change to them. This resistance in terms of change occurs because of lower tolerance level to change. This paper would take into account a number of significant aspects related to this resistance as far as change is concerned.
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).
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
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
The most common reasons employees resist change are job security and income, uncertainty, personal inconvenience, loss of status and power, and change in personal relationships.
(Levine, 1997; Huston, 1992; Steier, 1989; Arendt et al., 1995; Tessler, 1989; New and Singer, 1983). As Nord and Jermier (1994) express it, resistance is resisted rather than being purposively managed. Therefore, in order to successfully lead an organization through major change it is important for management to balance both human and organization needs (Spiker and Lesser, 1995; Ackerman, 1986). Organizational change is driven by personal change (Band, 1995; Steinburg, 1992; Dunphy and Dick, 1989). Individual change is needed in order for organizational change to succeed (Evans, 1994). This paper reports on a study that aimed to identify, measure and evaluate how human elements including cognitive and affective processes are associated with an individual 's level of resistance to organizational change.
Bolognese, A. (2002). Employee Resistance to Organizational Change. Retrieved December 2, 2006 from Internet, http://www.newfoundations.com/OrgTheory/
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: