Organizational Change Management

1.Why the resistance to change frequently demonized by managers, as a problem that must be managed?

2.Why Employees Resist Change?

3.What are the ethical implications and how resistance can be considered?

1.Organizational change management is considered as the process of managing the change in an organization.  The change is related to culture, structure and business process.  It gives emphasis on managing the human resource of the organization in an effective manner. In the recent scenario, it is seen that the top management takes into consideration the responsibilities to incorporate change within a company so that positive results can be achieved (Oreg, Vakola and Armenakis, 2011). The managers of the organization should consider systematic method so that the organization can achieve advantage related to the policies of organizational change.

Organizational change takes into consideration the members of the organization so that they can learn and acquire new skills (Burr, 2015).  It is evaluated that, at the time of organizational change the managers face issues related to resistance from employees. When the resistance to change is seen in the employees then it creates difficulty for the organization to implement the change strategies.  This essay will emphasize on ethical implications of resistance and how it affects the decisions of the managers (Birchler, 2015).

Organizational change is important for a company as it helps the employees to enhance the productivity and performance.  It also helps to accomplish goals and objectives of the organization. The division is made of the organizational change in following parts:  Evolutionary and transformational. Evolutionary change is related to the small-scale change that gives emphasis on enhancing the quality of the organization.  Transformational changes are radical and consider the activities of the organization (Deneen and Boud, 2014).  

The objective of the change related to radical is to enhance the potential of the organization so that the organization can compete in the competitive environment. It is seen that change takes into consideration two factors. One factor is related to driving the force so that the company can conduct the activities towards a new direction and second is related to restrain the force so that changes of the organization can be prevented (Jabri, 2012).  These factor influence the policy related to change and managers also take into consideration these factors related to change.  Like for example: Amazon does not give emphasis on long-term plans but implements the policies related to technologies. The advantage attained by the company is due to the strategies that are considered by the organization. Organizational change strategies help to enhance the engagement of the workers so that the performance can be enhanced and also innovative approach can be increased.  It provides the organization a competitive advantage and also helps to sustain the growth (Thomas and Hardy, 2011)

Types of Organizational Change

2.Top management takes into consideration the issue of employee’s resistance so that the strategies related to organizational change can be considered.  In the recent scenario, organizations have implemented various policies related to the organizational change related to the conditions of the market so that products and services can be offered to the public. It is evaluated that the organization changes their policies by analyzing the marketing condition so that competitive advantage can be attained.  Managers give emphasis on managing the issues of the employee’s resistance by implementing the policies of the organization. There are many problems that are faced by the managers at the time of implementing the policies related to organizational change policies like lack of communication, employee involvement. Employee resistance is one the major issue faced by the managers at the time of implementing the organizational change policies.

 According to Burnes employee resistance is important so that the managers can understand the change program in an effective manner (Burnes, 2015). Hornstein (2015) tells that the responsibility of the manager is to consider the behavior of the employees so that proper policies can be implemented. There are various factors that influence the resistance change of the employees.

 The resistance to change is related to the natural reaction and managers consider various steps so that the issue can be considered.  Like for example: Employees resist the organization change as it can result in the termination of the job.  Managers introduce new machinery or innovative approaches so that the need of the human resource in the organization can be reduced. The strategy related to bad communication also enhances the employee’s resistance as the worker does not have proper knowledge of the policies that enhance the fear.   Employees of the organization have lack of competence at the time of organizational change so it requires new skills to learn (Matos Marques Simoes and Esposito, 2014).

It is difficult for the employees to acquire new skills and some employees also hesitate to the change.  Employee’s resistance is also due to the lack of rewards and incentive schemes. Employees of the organization feel discouraged if proper incentives are not given to the employees. Support to the employees is also important to conduct the activities of the organization. It is seen that if proper support is not given to the employees then it can enhance the employee resistance because the employees of the organization do not leave their comfort zone.

Employee Resistance to Change

Employee’s resistance is also due to the politics that take place in the offices. Due to the politics, there are many employees who are demotivated to conduct the activities of the organization. These factors enhance the employee resistance at the time of implementation of the change program. For example:  At the time of introducing the application of Uber in Australia caused a resistance from the drivers as they are feared to lose the job.

Behavioral Impact of Employees resistance

Employee resistance influences the factors related to emotions and attitude. It is seen that the change should be according to the interest of the employees so that the efficiency can be achieved.  The managers should focus on attaining the common objectives of the organization.  The manager of the organization also faces the issue of cognition at the time of change in the programs due to lack of communication.  It is seen that there are many employees who are not capable to adopt the strategies related to change. These factors enhance the issues that reduce the overall performance and productivity of the employees and also it gives impact on the trust between the employees.

3.Relation between Power and resistance

In the recent scenario, it is analyzed that there are many employees who have informed that there are no relations of power without the resistance of the employees.  It is seen that the managers use it to implement the new changes so that the interest of the employees can be maintained. Power and politics play a great role to influence every segment of the company because it is seen that employees have different taste, interest to consider the power.    Power and resistance have a connection with each other so that the activities of the organization can be influenced (O’Ferrell, 2008).

When the employees are resistance then there are chances to promote the value in the company. It is seen that the senior managers have the right to implement the strategies related to organizational change. The struggle between managers and employees never always results in the negative outcome as it offers a creative potential to consider the power resistance relationship so that the change can be negotiated. At the time of implementing the organizational change, the top management evaluates the power driven resistance of the workers that can give negative impact on the change initiative (Dawson and Andriopoulos, 2014).

Ethical issues have a connection to power and resistance

Factors Contributing to Employee Resistance to Change

At the time of dealing with power resistance, the top management has to ensure that the activities that are conducted are ethical. The managers of the organization have to face various ethical issues at the time of implementing the organizational change.  There are factors like office politics, an organizational culture that gives direct impact on the change management process of the company. The organizational change is unethical when the individual uses power and political behavior to implement in an effective manner.  It is seen that the managers have to ensure that the employees do not give consider the benefit involved in the organizational change and various stakeholders are also considered that affect the change policies of the organization. Ethical implications also consider the employees, teamwork, and communication that give direct impact on the policies related to change.  It is essential that managers should evaluate the organizational change impacts and also to determine the interest of the stakeholders (Fleming and Spicer, 2007).

Managers who are politically influenced and the change policies are implemented on the stakeholders of the company then it can be considered as unethical.  The managers have to analyze the political pressure so that the change program can be implemented easily.  The change program is based on the power relationship between the top and middle executives.  The employees who are on the lower level are not included in the change program that makes them resist the policies related to change. There are many ethical dilemmas that increase just because of the implementation of a change program like values conflicts and misusing the information. Lack of communication and transparency enhances the employee’s resistance which creates conflicts to implement the policies related to change.

Implications for attaining effective change management programs

It is important for the managers to implement the change management programs so that the overall goals and objectives can be attained. As it is seen that in Foucauldian approach that gives emphasis on creating good relationships so that proper communication can be maintained and resistance of the employees can be reduced. Ethics plays an effective role at the time of implementing change process and also it helps to create a good relationship between the stakeholders and company.  If there is proper communication then it can help to enhance the interest of stakeholders.  If there is no proper planning then it enhances employee resistance. 

The manager should give proper information to the employees so that the change program can be considered properly by the employees of the organization. Also, the managers should invite the employees so that the change program can be formulated which helps to understand the policies. The issue of resistance and power relation can be minimized by enhancing the employee’s contribution to the change program (Shin, Taylor and Seo, 2012).

Top Management’s Role in Addressing Resistance to Change

At the time of formulating the change policies, it is seen that manager should take into consideration the interest of every stakeholder so that the policies cannot contradict the interest of the employees. Example: Mansfield Energy Corporation evaluates the employee’s interest so that proper knowledge can be attained about the change program to avoid employee resistance.  Managers of the organization should give emphasis on creating a positive organizational culture so that support can be given to the employees.

So, by analyzing the report it is concluded that employee resistance is a major issue faced by the managers at the time of implementing the organizational change program.  There are many factors that enhance the employee’s resistance to lack of competence and lack of reward system.  At the time of considering the issues, the managers should try to understand the connection between resistance and power as it helps to create obstacles and minimizes the change program.

The managers should address the ethical issues at the time implementing the organizational change programs like misuse of powers. The managers of the organization should implement policies like for creating a positive environment and also to involve the employees of the organization.  Managers of the organization should give emphasis so that the employees can enhance the performance and also the profitability can be attained to grow in the market.

References

Birchler, G. (2015). Handling resistance to change. Handbook of behavioral family therapy, 128-155.

Burnes, B. (2015). Understanding resistance to change–building on Coch and French. Journal of Change Management, 15(2), 92-116.

Burr, V. (2015). Social constructionism. Routledge.

Dawson, P., & Andriopoulos, C. (2014). Managing change, creativity and innovation. Sage.

Deneen, C., & Boud, D. (2014). Patterns of resistance in managing assessment change. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 39(5), 577-591.

Fleming, P., & Spicer, A. (2007). Contesting the corporation: Struggle, power and resistance in organizations. Cambridge University Press.

Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), 291-298.

Jabri, M. (2012). Managing organizational change. Palgrave Macmillan.

Matos Marques Simoes, P., & Esposito, M. (2014). Improving change management: How communication nature influences resistance to change. Journal of Management Development, 33(4), 324-341.

O’Ferrell, C. (2008). Foucault on power and resistance. Retrieved from https://inputs.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/foucault-quote-for-december-2008/

Oreg, S., Vakola, M., & Armenakis, A. (2011). Change recipients’ reactions to organizational change: A 60-year review of quantitative studies. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 47(4), 461-524.

Shin, J., Taylor, M. S., & Seo, M. G. (2012). Resources for change: The relationships of organizational inducements and psychological resilience to employees’ attitudes and behaviors toward organizational change. Academy of Management Journal, 55(3), 727-748.

Thomas, R., & Hardy, C. (2011). Reframing resistance to organizational change. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 27(3), 322-33