RESISTANCE TO ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Resistance to Organizational Change

Resistance to Organizational Change

Introduction

Change in any business has become an essential element to survive in the market and to make the customers satisfied. There are hundreds and thousands of ways and techniques that could assist the businesses to improve their productivity, quality and customer satisfaction. If companies do not respond to the changes, they will become victims of their own success. Therefore, companies should constantly look into ways to change their process in order to survive in the rapidly changing world.

Changes in business and companies can be conceptualized in terms of both process and content. Process of the change refers to how the change has occurred. Content explains that what changes has taken place in the organization. Theories of organizational culture tell that why the change was needed and what are the possible consequences of the change. Changes commonly occur due to changes in environment, technology or changes in customer requirements. Organizational change is a transformation in an organization to fulfill any requirement which caused any change in the organization. (Brown, 2011)

Analyzing components that resist change in an organization

Readiness to Change

In order to bring a successful change in the organization, it is important to understand the components necessary to bring change. Three factors are taken into considerations, which are attitudes of employees towards change, culture of the organizational and organizational learning. (Bravo & Wayne, 2011)

Employee attitudes

Any organizational changes' success is dependent on the attitudes of the employees. Employee attitude is considered as an indicator of the success of any organizational change. As changes require the learning of new talents and attitudes, it requires an effort from employees. For the purpose of using their skills for organizational change, employers should motivate them to keep their pace of working at a higher level in the organization. The strength of the attitude varies for each employee due to the relation of the attitude with each employee's own deeply held philosophical and political values and these is common concerns of the employee's social group. (Oreg & Sverdlik, 2011)

Organizational learning

Learning is considered as a requirement for the accomplishment of any changes in the organization. Obstacles to learning may result from the culture of the organization and from the past organizational experiences of employees of the organization. Creating lasting organizational change is associated with cultural change, which also includes attitude change. (Janssen & Yperen, 2004) 

Organizational culture

In association with changes, analysts view organizational culture as a process of adaptation, which assists an organization to continue to exist in a changing market conditions. Organizational culture is seen as an established phenomenon, which is not changed easily. During the time of the organizational change, it has been observed that employees' attitudes can be influenced if clear objectives and values are developed, which could assist them for the accomplishment of these objectives at all levels of the organization. (Brown, 2011)

Synthesizing a plan to eliminate resistance to change

Organizations rely on their employees to adapt to changes; however, the adaptation is usually slow, often difficult and ...