Change
Change
ntroduction to Organizational
exiermal
environinent which organizations
in which
of the Change is inevitable
Thc dynamic
ncccssitates a
nature
proactivc approaclh lo
depends
change.
adaptability.
on tncirpreparcd for it.)Or
It beco
he business
Snece Worl
operate.
of organizations
The sunvival
them to bc able
to
dcal of planning
be
predict clhangc and bclorc implcmentation
perforpie
anizational
Pcop re chvange
programs require a
greal
of working or
lo icarn a
new method of
cluctan
to change their style bccomes impcrative lor managcrssks
them opposc change. I thus to counter
change-rclated arOgra sSorganizations
prograis
in
FORCES OF CHANGE
L. and Robert E
In the context
Cook, Phillip Hunsaker
of business, Curtis
W.
the present state to thtley
define change as "the coping
process of movingfrom
organizauons undertake in response to d
state that individuals, groups and general, indicates any act of ma
in
intemal and external factors. "(Change, competition is increasing in huC
something different.) Given
the rate at which business,
that change is necessary not only to compete, but to sinrvive
organizations have leant
in the business. There are many factors
that propel change in organizations, The
These
under people, technol0gy, information processing
factors may be broadly categorized
and communication, and
competition.
People
Increase in globalization has
widened the diversity of workforce. Organizations have to
accommodate people coming from various cultural backgrounds. Theyofdiffer in their
of rewards and methods conducting
attitude towards work, expectations
have found it necessary to change their human
interpersonal relations. Organizations workforce. Managers tend to be
resource policies in order to
attract and retain a diverse
subordinates due to racial, regional, age and
prejudiced against their colleagues and have to overcome their prejudices
gender diferences. This is called stereotyping. They
to accommodate multicultural workforce.
Technology were
374
Organizational Change
Lalogical developments are taking place at such a fast pace today that yesterday's
comes obsolete by tomorrow. Organizations that fail to kcep up with the
T e c h n o l
chnology becon
Atime may come when people don't have to necessarily work from offices. They can
work from their place of convenience on computers and communicate through new
data transmission devices. Virtual organizations are becoming a reality bringing in new
challenges for organizations. They may find it difficult to foster organizational
commitment, loyalty and tcam spirit among employees working from remote places
without any direct interaction with each other.
Competition
Though competition is not new to organizations, its nature and intensity has changed
over years. A fall in the costs of transport and communication, coupled with an
increase of orientation to exports have made markets global. Increased emphasis on
global markets widens the scope of the company, but brings in new competition as
well. Politico-economic developments and trade agreements like NAFTA (North
American Free Trade Agreement) and WTO (World Trade Organization) have also
changed the cconomic relationship between the countries of the world. With the
dcveloping countries gettingconcessions and support through international multilateral
agreements, they are fast emerging as a force to reckon with. Companies in developed
countries now have to face competition not only from other industrialized and
developed countries, but also from developing ones. This has increased the scope and
intensity of competition. Organizations have to continuously look for new ways to
produce newer, cheaper and higher quality products than their competitors to succeed
in intenational markets. It becomes even more demanding in the context of
Competition from developing countries, as they have an edge over other developed
countries in terms of cheap labor and abundant natural esources.
Companies
Nokia, ABB and Daimler Benz had already fallen victim to competitive change and
like
375
dl specialists are
PROCESSS
employees and so can
C H A N G E
implement
i7ational
nizational chang
nce whichchange is a
stagescomplex
in whic
sequence in
these
must takeprocess which
Problem recognition involves various
place is listed below:
, ldentifying the causes stages. The
Implementing the change
Generating motivation for change
.Managingthe transition state
Supporting the change
.Evaluatingthe change
Each of these stages is discussed
in detail
below.
Problem Recognition
In
problem recognition stage,
the
organization.
the The data the management
in
377
ntroduction to Organizational Behavior
378
urganizational Change,"
If an
organization
series of short-termplans
to
implement a long-term change program, it should
performance goals and reward emploveeseach
goal. Rewards prevent the
set up a
time they achieve a
employees from reverting back to their past behavior.
379
Introduction to Organizational Behavior
RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
Resistance to change goes hand-in-hand with change activities. Extensive researcn
the field of individual and organization behavior has proved that change etors
often met with resistance. Resistance may come from individuals or from the cunu
and structural elements of the organization. Although resistance to change has O
380
cc cd as
l call fordysluasnclweu,
iona, Forrescarchers are Organizational Change
iivc clfects
has positiv
a
Icad to a
lhorough discussion on examplc, now
bcginning to rcalize that
ovcrlookcd carlicr, analysisThis will oT the the reasonscmployces
fro d Aifcrent angle will give theISuc issuc and.
and for
throw resistance.resistanc to ccrlainresistance
that bctore light The
maagcrs nnanagement
cment. Therelore, are right indecision is anotlher chancc
a on
important discussion canchange
then
to points that were
faYO Qutcomes.ncCs and Noverthcless.
taken
resistance incantroducisomctimes
ng change, Similarly. consider the issue
if
ampers the they will employces
/Th is n0
slandard fornm
unjustificd
progress of the resistance bcttcr lcad to co-operate with the
are
Rcsistance
RCs may be in
which organization. lcads to decisions and
and hcdiatc explicil resistancc
(overt), implicit can be dysfunct io nal
initia is rathe resistance that
ther casicr to occurs after (covert), otbscrvcd in the
ployccs
when cmployccs
policy Onenly and
are not manage the immcdiatc
salislicd with implicit implementation of deferred.
than or organization.
Explicit
»ach and resolveimmcdiatcly.
or
a
new decferrcd resistance.certain change
a
apPatmplicated. he The
When conllict. Dealing
organization
management policy, they mayFor example,
inkling of may
the
may be xpressed resislance of 1ts
resistance is not with implicit then adopt criticize the a
managementdeferred resistanceconciliatory
is much
antity of work, ranpant employccs. The does not even
organizatior lose
cislancc can be their etc.
Employccs absentecism,
fcclings of loyalty andmay ccase to increascresistance is subtle have
in crrors, and
dangerous
sitiative and keep resistance too. Employees fecl themsclvcs
initi decline
identify themselves with the in
he demotivatcd. Dcferred
noint.organization, the bottled up. As may not react
Evcntually, resistarnce keeps
the
management immediately
cimployces may accumulating and finallymakes further changes
to
change
a
it1ation. the management
si
react reaches the in
should lead may find it violently to minor
change. Insaturation
to such violent a
effectively. difficult
resistance and so to understand why such a
may fail a small change
Therefore, management should to deal with
resistance
change initiatives. never
initial stages Though a underestimate the
change may seem to havepossibility
in the case of
intense form later. So, it is
of
implicit and deferred caused no resistance
resistance
to its
in the
communication channels
essential on the resistance,
part of the
it may take
on a more
fecdback through which it can management to establish formal
change initiatives.)
on
to maintain its
credibility.
The
management encourage
should also employeesto to give their
respond this
Organizations can face resistance from various feedback
beclassified into individual and sources. The sources
organizational sources (shown of resistance
in Figure
21.1).
can
Individual Source of Resistance
The needs, perceptions and
personalities
resistance to change. Individuals of people form the basis for individual
may resist change because of the following reasons:
Habit
Human beings tend to
develop habits. A
every day. Instead of considering all the person may need to make several decisions
depends on habits for most of his possible alternatives for each decision, he
called responses. These habit-based responses are also
programmed responses. When change is implemented, it
to forgo or may require employees
change some of their habits. This is often met with resistance because
changing onc's habits is a painful taskFor
example, an employee may be habituated to
busy life style in the city. It is very natural for him to resist, if he is transferred to a
branch located in some rural area.
381
Behav
hange
to CH
Re
R es
siis
stta
ance
Organizational
Sources
f
of
ntroduction
to
Organizational Resistange
21.1:
Figure
Stnuctural inertia
Individunl Resiatance
Groupinertia
Security
Economic factors
Threat to cxpertise
Threat to cstablished
p r o c e s s i n g
resource allocations
Resistance to Change
cquipment company's
or resist the
machincry and
insecured
about their jobs
Economic factors decrease their income or sourcecof
is likely to redesionin
changeif it restructuring and job ning,
would resist undertakes
Emplovees
if an
organization
of fear that it will decrea
rease
example, resist it out
carnings. For piece-rate wages) may
are paid
workers (who remuneration.
their
productivity
and afect
their
unknown
Fear of the and the insecuni
They fear the unknown
with uncertainty. ofa
People associate
change to adapt to the requirements
anxious about their ability
are manual systems, many people
resulting from it. They when computers replaced
For example, the fear of not being
able to
new system.
computers for
attitude towards
developed a negative
computer skils.
acquire the necessary
Selective information processing and
them
and the world around
Individuals form their perceptions about people
own informauon thal
do not like to receive any
like to stick to these perceptions. They selectively to
individuals process information
contradicts their perceptions. Therefore, information hat they
hear only the
make it compatible with their perceptions. They world. For example
to and rest that contradicts their perceptual
ignore the
want listen to their colleagues who tell them about
the negauve
employees may
consequences of automation but ignore what managers say about the beneins
ieu
automation is a threat to
computerization. This means, employees perceive that
jobs and thercfore accept only the information that supports their perceptio.
382
Organizational Change
S o c i a l T a c t o r s
resist change when thcy anticipatc that the change might affect thcir status
P e o p l e
iely adverscly. In the context of organization, when some jobs are redesigned,
in theid employccs imay devclop a scnse of insccurity regarding their position in
and conscqucn
and conscquently resist the cffort.
organiZalion
the
t i o n a lR e s i s t a n c e
anizanonalR e
additior
ion 1o individual resistance, there are organizational resistancc too.
In otional resistance can best scen in public scctor undertakings in India. The
orgadevelopment may call for a change in their scrvices, yct they prefcer to retain
cuTecture and traditional practiccs. Employces strongly resist if any attempt is
their structure
Structural inertia
Oreanizations always attempt to maintain a steady and balanced state that is conducive
mnlovees. They have inbuilt mechanis1ms to achieve that state of equilibrium. For
example, if a good number of employees and managers leave the company for various
cons. the work load on the remaining employees and managers will increase. There
reasor
will be chaos and confusion among employees due to lack of direction and disturbance
the state of balance in the department. To fill the vacancies, the human resources
department initiates a recruitment process and selects new employees. But the new and
old émployees may find it difficult to work together because of differences in their
cultural backgrounds and work behavior. Training and other socialization techniques
are used to administer the required job skills and shape the behavior of the new
incumbents in the desired way. In this way, the organization gains back its stability.
But, when a change program is initiated in the organization, the structural inertia
created by these inbuilt mechanisms offer strong resistance.
Group inertia
Sometimes, group norms may prevent an individual from adopting change. For
example, an individual employee may favor a proposal of change from the
management, he may not accept it until the union (of which he is a member) approves
it.
Threat to expertise
The expertise of specialized groups may be threatened by changes in organizational
patterms. For example, a general manager may prefer to make crucial decisions himself
rather than delegating them to his subordinates due to the fear that decentralizing the
process of decision-making would threaten his expertise.
383
Introduction to Organizational Behavior
A case, change agents may negotiate with them and offer them an attractive package
in exchange for their cooperation. But the change agents have to ensure that the
other parties do not begin to resist change
only to avail themselves of benefits
Manipulation and cooptation: Sometimes, change agents may deliberalely
communicate incorrect or false information to
employees to sop them from
resisting change. For example, employees may be informed that those who fail to
lcarn to work on a new equipment within a specified period will be laid ofi. Ins
may in fact be completely false and may only be a ploy of the
Subdue the resistance offered by employees to the change program. in cooplauot
manageme
eaders among the employees resisting change are offered a key role to play
change decision and change implementation program. This is only to 001a
endorsement of the trouble makers among the
employees and not because
opinion is valued. However, by opting for the tactics of manipulauo
ada
384
Organizational Change
ooptation, the change leader is
mployces co
come to know that putting his credibility at stakc
they have becn bocausc if the
completcly losc faith in him. deccived by him, they will
In this
Cocrcion:
cmployecs resistance
technique,
to
the
management may attempt to reduce the
change by using threats or force.
ange may be
accept chan threatencd with a transfer Employees who fail to
entives
Incen However, this techniquc should be avoideddemotcd
or or
deprived of some
ions
orsens relation betwecen the as
management and employccs. far as
possible because it
"S THREE-STEP
MODEL
WIN
Resistance to Resistance to
change change
Change
P2
Pl
Forces for
Forces foor
change change
rime
Source: www.in.edu.hk/mgt/staffirobin/People/ChangeSlides.ppt
Unfreeze: In this
step, employees are educaled about the external and
that make change imperative. Sometimes, people are content with theinternal factors
environment, organizational rules and procedures and therefore are existing work
change. Such people or groups should be told about the unwilling to
benefits that change can bring
so that their level of satisfaction increases and level
of satisfaction with existing
condition decreases. This will motivate
new benefits
employees to welcome change to
enjoy the
Movement to change: After the resisting employees are convinced or prepared for
change, the actual change process begins. This involves doing away with old
and adopting new methods. For practices
example, as part of the change program, advanced
equipments are installed, production process or layout are changed, or job duties are
redefined. This stage involves implementing the
change.
Refreeze: After change has been implemented, it has to be assimilated into the
organizational processes. The third step iuvolves reinforcing change so that the
organization does not revert to old state of things. For example, if the change process
nvolved acquiring new skills, the new skills and behaviors have to be
made a
permanent part of the organization. To achieve this, employees are asked to
demonstrate their new skills before they return to their jobs. They may also be asked to
do role
play and show how they would apply their new skills at the workplace.
385
their old mcthods wh
cthodswhen
preferto use
of new hey
However, m o s t employces
and constant orcement
reinforcement new work returm to the
workplace.
T h e r e f o r c . repetition
sustain change.
chniques is
c s s e n t i a l to