THE GALLERY CAFETERIA

The Gallery Cafeteria



The Gallery Cafeteria

Question 1

In today's economy, change is all-pervasive in organizations. It happens continuously, and often at rapid speed. Because change has become an everyday part of organizational dynamics, employees who resist change can actually cripple an organization.

The case of the Gallery Cafeteria is a classic case of change management. The Cafeteria is responding to the external changes in the environment. The area surrounding the Gallery Cafeteria underwent rapid development. Where once there were empty warehouses and derelict land there are now 30 office buildings, a cinema, a sports centre and a number of private apartment buildings. This development although brought up an opportunity to increase the business but it also increased the number of competitors. Three new chain restaurants and two pubs opened within ten minutes' walk of the office building in which The Gallery is situated. Employees working in the building were thus offered more choices and The Gallery has reported a substantial dip in profits.

Another change that was of the internal nature was that the long-serving manageress of The Gallery retired and was replaced by Jennie Taylor, an experience caterer who had previously managed other Lunchbox operations. This new manageress was young and new. Both characteristics that made it hard for the staff of the cafeteria to accept. These changes resulted in the resistance to the changes that the new manager introduced. Even though her changes could have been very profitable for the joint but she overlooked the factor of employee resistance. The result The Gallery continued to loose business.

Resistance is an inevitable response to any major change. Individuals naturally rush to defend the status quo if they feel their security or status are threatened. Folger & Skarlicki (1999) claim that "organizational change can generate skepticism and resistance in employees, making it sometimes difficult or impossible to implement organizational improvements" (p. 25).

If management does not understand, accept and make an effort to work with resistance, it can undermine even the most well-intentioned and well-conceived change efforts. The evidence is clear, a number of initiatives brought forward by Jennie have met with a poor response from the staff. The introduction of a wide range of dishes, the serving of hot breakfast snacks from 8 am and the provision of themed menus (e.g., Chinese at Chinese New year) have all been met apathetically by chefs and waiting staff alike. Employees have recently become more hostile towards Jennie following her decisions to abolish the half-hour morning coffee/smoking break and not to replace two members of staff who left to move to other catering operations run by Lunchbox UK.

Coetsee (1999) states "any management's ability to achieve maximum benefits from change depends in part of how effectively they create and maintain a climate that minimizes resistant behavior and encourages acceptance and support" (p. 205).

Symptoms are the specific behaviors individuals exhibit when they are resistant to change. According to Bhutan (1995), it is important to distinguish between the symptoms of resistance to change, and the causes behind ...