CHAPTER 17 (ROBBINS)

Organizational Change and Stress Management

At a strategic level, a firm will move away from compliance to policies and toward a longer-term
view of embedding well-being into everyday behavior in the organization.
According to the Black Dog Institute, better planning of changes can lead to more job
satisfaction and improved moods. This has to involve leadership, business processes, and
strategy.
17-1 Forces of Change and Planned Change
Competitors are constantly entering and exiting the different fields, gaining and losing ground
quickly. No company today is in a particularly stable environment.

FORCES OF CHANGE
Six specific forces stimulating change
(1) Changing nature of the workforce
-More cultural diversity
-Aging population
-Increased immigration and outsourcing
-Technology
(2) Technology
-Faster, cheaper, and more mobile computers and handheld devices
-Emergence and growth of social-networking sites
-Deciphering of the human genetic code
-changing jobs and organizations adn the definition of a workplace
(3) Economic shocks
-Rise and fall of global housing market
-financial sector collapse
-global recession
(4) Competition
-Global competitors, no boundaries, quick innovation and development, flexible requiring an
equally flexible and responsive workforce
 -Mergers and consolidations
-Increased government regulation of commerce
(5) Social trends
-Organizations should adjust their product and marketing strategies to be more sensitive to
changing social trends
-Increased environmental awareness (expected not optional)
-Liberalization of attitudes toward LGBTQ++
-Increased multitasking and connectivity
(6) World politics
-rising healthcare costs
-negative social attitudes toward business and executives
-opening of new markets worldwide

PLANNED CHANGE
Change: When things become different from the way they were.
Planned Change: Change activities that are intentional and goal-oriented.

Goals of Planned Change

Change agents: These are persons who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility for
managing change activities. They see a vision not seen by others and they are able to
motivate, intent, and implement this vision. They can be anyone, from managers, to
employees, and even outside consultants.
Their visions could alter and an entire field.
They may fail due to organizational members' resistance to change.
17-2 Overcoming Resistance to Change
Change is hard because of fragile egos and perceived threat of change. We cope by not thinking
about the change, increasing the use of sick time or leave, or even quitting. This can be
detrimental to the organization's energy to be productive and efficient.
Higher-level managers, especially those who are more focused on immediate performance, can
also be resistant. On the other hand, managers who focus on mastery and exploration are more
willing to hear and adopt suggestion for change.
Slow transitions during times of acquisition can be helpful to employees and middle-level
managers.
Resistance can also be beneficial when it leads to open discussion and debate which means that
members are engaged. Open discussions provide opportunities to explain the change effort. It
can help monitor the resistance and modify the change in accordance to the members' preference.
Resistance can be presented in an (1) overt, (2) implicit, (3) immediate, or (4) deferred manner.
Overt and immediate resistance includes complaints, work slowdown, or strike threats. These are
easier to be dealt with.
Implicit and deferred resistance include loss of loyalty or motivation and increased errors or
absenteeism. Harder to be dealt with because these are more subtle and difficult to recognize.
Deferred actions cloud the link between the change and its response. It can take weeks, months,
or even years later. Deferred responses can accumulate and cause sudden explosion that the
management has failed to prepare for.

SOURCES OF CHANGE
Individual Sources: reside in human characteristics
(1) Habit: Becomes a source of resistance when we respond in our accustomed ways that
were built to cope with life's complexities.
(2) Security: Becomes a source since change threatens their feelings of safety.
(3) Economic factors: Becomes a source when change in job tasks or work routines may
cause poor performance. Occurs more in jobs where pay is tied to productivity.
(4) Fear of the unknown: Becomes a source since change causes ambiguity and
uncertainty
(5) Selective information processing: Becomes a source since people want to keep their
perceptions intact. They ignore information that challenges the world they have created
Organizational Sources: reside in the structural makeup of the organizations
 (1) Structural inertia: built-in mechanisms (e.g., selection processes and formalized
regulations) sustain stability when the organization is confronted with change
(2) Limited focus of change: Since an organization consists of a number of
interdependent subsystems, a change in one subsystem may be nullified by the larger
system not encountering change.
(3) Group inertia: groups norms act as a constraint to change
(4) Threat to expertise
(5) Threat to established power relationships
EIGHT TACTICS TO HELP DEAL WITH RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
 Communication
o Communicate a rationale that balance the interests of various stakeholders such as
the shareholders, employees, community, and customers).
o Formal information sessions decrease employees’ anxiety about the change.
Increase commitment to change by providing high-quality information about the
change.
 Participation
o Involvement in decision-making can reduce resistance, obtain commitment, and
increase the quality of the change decision since it is more difficult to resist a
decision we have taken apart of.
o Disadvantages: potential for a poor solution and large consumption of time
 Building support and commitment
o Low emotional commitment to change translates to resistance
o Commitment to the organization reduces resistance
o Motivation and commitment can improve emotional commitment to change
o Counseling and therapy, new-skills training, short paid leave
 Develop positive relationships
o Trust decreases resistance (Leaders need to be seen as trustworthy and legitimate)
o Positive relationship with supervisor and felt that the work environment supported
development
o Support from coworkers, believes the environment is safe for taking risks
 Implementing changes fairly
o Procedural fairness is important when employees perceive an outcome as negative
o Let employees see the reason for change, keep them informed of the progress, and
perceive its implementation as consistent and fair
 Manipulation and cooptation
o Manipulation: covert influence attempts. Twist facts to make it more attractive,
withhold information, create false rumors
o Cooptation: combines manipulation and participation. Give the leaders of the
opposition a key role. Seek their advice to get endorsement.
o Inexpensive ways but can backfire once targets are aware of the
manipulation/cooptation.
 Selecting people who accept change
o Emotionally stable, high core self-evaluations, risk takers, flexible = can easily
accept and adapt to change.
o Positive self-concept and high-risk tolerance = cope better with organizational
change
o Higher general mental ability
common forces for change