Video

Watching a video on
“who moved my cheese”
and present what you understand
to the class

07/28/2021 Change Management set byTewodros B.

 Chap 5
Managing Resistance to
Change

07/28/2021 Change Management set byTewodros B.

Barriers to an organizational Change
The following barriers to change are fundamental business gravity.
Reduce these barriers and you'll effortlessly move forward.
 Resistance to Change
 Unknown Current State
 limited understanding of the change and its impact.
 negative employee attitudes.
 failure to involve employees in the change process.
 poor or inefficient communication.
 inadequate resources or budget - see cost
of change management.
 resistance to organisational culture shift.
 lack of management support for the change.

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Managing Resistance to Change
Changes are not easy and there is always opposition
to change. If due care and diligence is not taken while
effecting the changes, its opposition can lead to
catastrophic results.

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What is Resistance to Change
Efforts by employees to block the intended
change is referred to as Resistance to Change.
Resistance to Change has been defined as:
 “ ...behavior which is intended to protect an

individual from the effects of real or imagined

change” - Alvin Sander, 1950
 “..any conduct that serves to maintain the

status quo in the face of pressure to alter the

status quo” – Zaltman and Duncan, 1974

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Resistance to Change
Resistance is a natural and inevitable reaction
in an organization. You can expect it.
Resistance is sometimes hidden, so it may be
necessary to take active steps to find it
There are many reasons for resistance; it is
important to understand it.
We manage resistance by working with people,
and helping them deal with their concerns
There are many ways to build acceptance. It is
important to be flexible. But persist!
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  The key to successful management of
organizational change lies in the people.
 They are the agents for successful transformation

of the organization.
 They determine the Return on Investment from

this process

So let’s have a look at where Resistance to

Change comes from and how to best manage it

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 Why is change resisted?
 Any change anywhere, be it among nations,
organizations, societies, or even families is
hard to actualize given the human tendency
to not step out of the “comfort zone” and
hence, resist new ways of doing things and
instead, cling on to the status quo.

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Sources of Resistance to Change

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Sources of Resistance to Change

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Individual Factors
Habit—To cope with life’s complexities, we rely on
habits or programmed responses. But when confronted
with change, this tendency to respond in our accustomed
ways becomes a source of resistance.
People like routine, it is easy and familiar and making a
change can take a lot of energy. Although some people like
experimentation and challenge many hate it.

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 Economic factorsemployee will resist a change if they fear that it
may diminish or abolish their jobs.
Changes in job tasks or established work routines can arouse
economic fears if people are concerned that they won’t be able to
perform the new tasks or routines to their previous standards,
especially when pay is closely tied to productivity.
Problem of Incentives: At times, a change would reduce incentive of
employees such as over-time pay and as such they may resist change.

Security—People with a high need for security are likely to resist

change because it threatens their feelings of safety.
When a change is impending some employees may fear losing their
jobs, status, particularly when an advanced technology is introduced.

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 Fear of the unknown
Change substitutes ambiguity and uncertainty for the
unknown.
Individuals may resist change for the fear of unknown. For
instance, a firm may introduce new technology and an
individual employee may resist such change may be
because of the fear of non exposure to new technology.

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 Comfort zone/ Status quo:
- Most individuals are satisfied with their present
routine of work environment. They feel that
changes could disturb their present pattern of work
and life / the existing comfort of status quo.
- Routine is very comfortable place to live and when it is
disturbed on purpose or by chance you can get thrown of
balance
Personal Preference
- Some people have a personal style that make it hard for
them to accept change.

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 Peer Pressure: individual employees may be prepared to
accept change but sake to accept for the sake of group

Lack of Trust
- People also resist change when they do not understand its
implications and perceive that it might cost them much more
than they will get.
- Such situations often occur when trust is lacking between
the person initiating the change and the employees.

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 Lack of Communication
 Leaders need to communicate and provide information. Yet
often they do not give the right information, at the right
time to the right people.
 Some people withhold information deliberately others
unintentionally while others do not even know the full
story themselves.
Selective information processing
Individuals are guilty of selectively processing information in
order to keep their perceptions intact. They hear what they
want to hear, and they ignore information that challenges the
world they’ve created

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Group Resistance
Most organization changes have impact on groups in
the organization the main reason why the groups
resists change is that they fear that their cohesiveness
or existence is threatened by it.
Individuals as members of group may jointly
resist a change in the organization. The group
resistance to change can be explained from the
view point of nature of group dynamics and
vested interests.

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 Group Dynamics: It refers to the interaction among the group members,
which in turn affects the group behavior. The members of a group may
jointly oppose a change in the organization, as it may affect the group
interaction.

Vested Interests: Normally every group has its own leader, whether elected
or accepted by the group members. The leader may use the group as a
means of satisfying his personal interests. A change in the organization may
threaten the leadership of a group, especially that of informal groups.
Group inertia: Even if individuals want to change their behavior, group
norms may act as a constraint.
Threat to expertise: Changes in organizational patterns may threaten the
expertise of specialized groups.

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07/28/2021 Change Management set byTewodros B.
Organizational Factors
 Structural inertia: Organizations have built-in mechanisms—such as
their selection processes and formalized regulations—to produce
stability. When an organization is confronted with change, this
structural inertia acts as a counterbalance to sustain stability.
 Limited focus of change: Organizations consist of a number of
interdependent subsystems. One can’t be changed without affecting
the others. So limited changes in subsystems tend to be nullified by the
larger system.
 Threat to established power relationships: Any redistribution of
decision-making authority can threaten long-established power
relationships within the organization.

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Resource Constraints
Resources are the major constraints for many
organizations. The necessary financial, material and
human resources may not be available to
organization to make the needed changes.
Resource Limitations: Every organization needs to
adjust to changes in the external environment. For
instance, if there are technological changes, which
need to be introduced in the organizations for the
better performance, organizations may find to difficult
to introduce technological changes due to resource
constraints.

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 Stability of Systems: Organizations tend to
develop certain system, which bring benefits to
the organization. The organization may be so
used to the system that it may find it difficult to
replace with new and better system, even though
the new system may bring better results than the
existing one.
Some organizational structure have inbuilt
mechanism for resistance to change.

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 Traditional Management Philosophy:
traditional managers do not like to introduce
changes in the organization. They are content
with the present performance of the organization.

Sunk cost: some organization invests huge amount of

capital in fixed assets. If organization wishes to
introduce change , then difficulties arise due to sunk
cost.

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 Organizational Politics: some resist change as a
political strategy to ‘prove’ that the decision is wrong.
They may also resist showing that the person leading
the change is not up to the task.
Organizational changes may shift the existing balance
of power in an organization. Individuals or groups
who hold power under the current arrangements may
fear losing these political advantage.

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 Summarizing
Reasons for Resistance to Change
Why do people resist change?
The status quo provides a certain comfort zone
Economic uncertainty
• Selective Perception/perception that change is not possible
Lack of Information
Fear of the Unknown
Inconvenience
Insecurity
Resentment Toward the Initiator
Sub-Optimization
Structural Stability

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 Reasons for Resistance to Change
• lack of trust
• perception that change is not necessary
• relatively high cost
• fear of personal failure
• loss of status or power
• threats to values and ideas
• social, cultural or organizational disagreements
• resentment of interference

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 While some of the reasons/fears may genuinely affect
the people adversely, in most cases they are
unfounded. Take for instance, the intense opposition
to introduction of computers in banks. Employees
unions opposed introduction of computers for fear of
job losses which never happened.

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How prevalent is Resistance to Change?
It is generally acknowledged that in an average
organization, when the intention for change is
announced:

 15% of the workforce is eager to accept it

 15% of the workforce is dead set against it
 70% is sitting on the fence, waiting to see what happens

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Organizational change is difficult
John kotter (1996) on leading change he said 30% of
transformational programs succeed
Mikinsey (2008) survey of 3199 executives only one
transformation in three succeeds
An average life expectancy for a company is 13 years (E,
de Rooij, 1996_
Average time companies stay on the fortune 500 list is
40 years (stangler and Ablesman, 2012)

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 According to Torben Rick:
• 70% of change efforts fail to meet target impact
where
• 33% of change efforts fail because management behavior
does not support the change
• 39% of efforts fail because employees are resistant to
change
• 14% of efforts fail because of a lack of adequate funds or
resources
• 14% of efforts fail for “other” reasons

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Failure of change
Many authors stress that the reasons for the failure of
many change initiative can be found in resistance to
change
Resistance to change introduces costs and delays into
change process that are difficult to anticipate
Resistance to change is the key topic in change
management

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 Managerial Action for overcoming/
Managing Resistance to Change
Many managers underestimate not only the variety of
ways people can react to organizational change, but
also the ways they can positively influence specific
individual and groups during a change.
The following approaches/tactics helps to overcome
resistance to change.

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 Managerial Action for
overcoming/managing resistance to change
Education and Communication

Participation and Involvement

Negotiation and Agreement

Facilitation and Support

Manipulation and Cooptation

Coercion
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Six tactics can be used by change agents to deal with
resistance
1. Education and communication
– Can help employees to understand why change is necessary.
– Show those affected the logic behind the change
2. Participation and involvement
‒ encourages individuals to support the changes that they
decided upon.
3. Facilitation and support can be used to reduce resistance.
4. Negotiation means exchanging something of value for
lessening resistance.
5. Manipulation involves covert influence attempts; cooptation
uses participation and manipulation.
6. Coercion is the application of direct threats or force on the
resisters.

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Education and communication
 Resistance can be reduced through
communicating to help employees see the logic
of a change. The assumption is that the source
of resistance lies in misinformation or poor
communication.
 It works provided that the source of resistance
is inadequate communication and that
management-employee relations are
characterized by mutual trust and credibility

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 Informing employees beforehand so that they
will be involved in the change process will
prevent that the information that is provided
by the organization comes across as
inaccurate. Good communication can be
supported by training or other forms of
education. Employees will have a better
understanding of the purpose of the change
process and they will be more inclined to be
cooperative.

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Participation and Involvement
It is difficult for individuals to resist a change
decision in which they participated
Prior to making a change, those opposed can be
brought into the decision process, assuming they
have the expertise to make a meaningful
contribution.
The negatives—potential for a poor solution and
great time consumption.
 

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 By increasing the involvement of employees
or by giving them specific assignments ,
the resistance to the intended organizational
change will be reduced. As a result,
employees will be more loyal and they will
focus on teamwork for which reason they will
cooperate more closely from the different
organization units so that the desired change
can be implemented.

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Negotiation and Agreement
 Negotiation as a tactic may be necessary
when resistance comes from a powerful
source.
 It has potentially high costs, and there is
the risk that the change agent is open to
the possibility of being blackmailed by
other individuals in positions of power.

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 When employees for example lose powers or
tasks during the change process, it is
important to keep them motivated. Offering
(financial) incentives can move employees
into a positive direction. The employee can be
offered incentives to leave the company early,
their contracts may be adjusted or another
job or promotion is offered. These incentives
are often offered to employees that have
senior positions.

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Facilitation and Support
 Employee counseling and therapy, new-
skills training, or a short paid leave of
absence may facilitate adjustment. The
drawbacks—it is time-consuming,
expensive, and its implementation offers
no assurance of success.

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 Employees that experience adjustment
problems during the change process will
benefit from supportive management. It helps
them deal with fears during a transition
period for instance when they experience fear
transfers, job loss or other forms of
reorganization. By providing support or
facilitating training and counseling, these
fears can be largely removed.

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Manipulation and Cooptation
 Manipulation refers to “covert influence attempts,
twisting and distorting facts to make them appear more
attractive, withholding undesirable information, and
creating false rumors to get employees to accept a change.”
 Cooptation is “a form of both manipulation and
participation.” It seeks to “buy off” the leaders of a
resistance group by giving them a key role in the change
decision.
 Both manipulation and cooptation are relatively
inexpensive and easy ways to gain support. The tactics can
backfire if the targets become aware that they are being
tricked or used.
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 When other tactics do not work or are too
expensive, this method is used. It is an
effective technique to co-opt with people who
are resisting the change and who, through
their leadership role, have a large influence on
the rest of the employees. Through open
communication they are kept under control.
They are involved in a symbolic role during
the change process and the decision-making
process.

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Coercion
 This is “the application of direct threats
or force upon the resisters.”
 Examples of coercion are threats of
transfer, loss of promotions, negative
performance evaluations, and a poor
letter of recommendation

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 Coercion can be used when speed is
essential or as a last resort. The necessity of
the intended change is more important than
the interests of the employees. It often
involves dramatic consequences such as loss
of jobs, dismissals, employee transfers or not
promoting employees.

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How to reduce resistance
Let people know in advance
Involve the people who affected by change
Two way communication
Be flexible in getting the end
Economic incentives
Give support
Acceptance of change philosophy

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Student Exercise
• Think of one successful change in your work
environment. List the successful change
variables that were in place. What was the
critical factor(s) for the success of the change?

• Think of some unsuccessful change from your

environment. List the resistance to change
variables that were present. What was the
critical factor(s) that thwarted the change?

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 Discussion
What do you need to do in order to
lead successful change?

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