Causes Of Resistance To Change

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“Why do people resist change? Quite simply because they fear the unknown and are comforted by the familiar” (Paton et.al. 2008, 52). According to Paton (et.al. 2008, 52-53) various reasons affect and generate resistance to change. Most commonly em-ployees resist redesign of the organization, because this affects existing structures of power, influence and in extreme cases raises worry about employment security. Fear of change may also be generated by technological challenges. Patton argues that technology and innovation have a great power to disrupt, since the introducers of new technologies have a better understanding of them than the end-users. Change may al-so confront feelings of comfort or apathy in employees. Employees are often unwilling …show more content…

2008, 237-238) that resistance to change is visible on three lev-els. On the organizational level, resistance is visible through power and conflict re-sistance, resistance to reorganization of structures & culture. On the group level, re-sistance can be seen when it affects group norms, cohesiveness and think. Thirdly, re-sistance to change takes place on an individual level. Future uncertainty, and habit changes trigger individual resistance. Although resistance to change cannot be com-pletely eliminated, it can be significantly reduced. The individuals within the organi-zation and their needs and beliefs must be accounted for. It’s imperative to communi-cate to individuals how they will benefit from the change, in order to build ac-ceptance. In addition to organizational executives with prestige, unofficial leaders (people who can influence) and middle managers must be recruited into the change process. Change must be encouraged on all levels. Groups can be influenced better if specific information can be collected. Communication can be modified to deliver a message more effectively to a specific group with this collected data. Groups may be also influenced form within, establishing shared perceptions. Patton argues that change from within a group is far less likely to face opposition when a member of the same group exerts it. Among all, open and transparent communication is imperative for reducing resistance to change (Paton et.al. 2008, …show more content…

Without it, change will lack vision. Successful change management requires a dedicat-ed team, representing a variety of skills and knowledge. Change facilitation is a multi-disciplinary activity, which cannot be facilitated individually. Competent change agents drive change. These agents have necessary skills, such as communication, technical and most importantly people skills. Change is an ongoing process, and this fact should be incorporated into organizational design and culture. Change receptive-ness gives organizations a competitive advantage. (Paton et.al. 2008,

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