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1. Overview and Resistance to Change
Change affects individuals directly and indirectly in this rapidly changing world and directly impacts organizations. Reasons for change range from mandated to geopolitical pressures. In previous modules, we identified what changes when organizations experience change caused from expansion to downsizing, we outlined a number of key diagnoses for change, and we introduced causes for resistance to change. Consider each of the following boxes as they relate to organizational innovation and change on a regional, national, and global scale. As a “refresher,” think about two or three points that come to mind for each of the topics we have covered thus far. Then keep reading to explore resistance to change and implementing change in more detail.
Resistance to change
Employees do not naturally resist change, but they often resist change because of the way change is implemented. As stated by Specter (2013), a professor of strategic change management and business model innovations:
Employee response to change is not either/or, not “for” or “against.” The reactions of employees can be from commitment to aggressive resistance. Each of these reactions to change helps shape the behavior of individuals and, ultimately, the success of a change effort. (p. 10)
The following table illustrates the continuum of responses and reactions to change
Commitment: Involves a strong emotional attachment to the goals of the organization and the aims of the change effort
Involvement: Involves a willingness to participate in the behaviors, being called for by the change effort
Support: Involves speaking on behalf of the change effort without taking any other explicit actions to promote the effort
Apathy: Represents a neutral zone in which individuals know about the change effort and engage in no behavior either to support or oppose it
Passive resistance: A mild form of opposition that involves a willingness to voice reservation or even threatening to resign if the change goes through
Active resistance: Involves behaviors that block or impede change, usually by behaving in ways that contradict the goals of the change effort
Aggressive resistance: Involves purposeful sabotage and subversion of the change effort
Managing Resistance to Change
Though there is no best way to manage resistance to change, careful diagnostics can assist in identifying the root cause or causes of the resistance. Strategies can then be employed to manage resistance. Click on the strategies below to explore the advantages and disadvantages associated with each strategy
(Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2016, p. 267).
2. Implementing Change
It is crucial to understand the organizational development (OD) approach to implementing change.
The Concept of Organization Development (OD)
Organizational Development (OD) is a field of research, theory, and practice dedicated to expanding the knowledge and effectiveness of people to accomplish more successful organizational change and performance. It is explained in more detail in the following video: https://youtu.be/MuUvJk7_c1c
