CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Resistance to Change

1. One of the well-documented findings is
that organizations and their members
resist change.
􀂃 It provides a degree of stability and
predictability to behavior.
􀂃 There is a definite downside to
resistance to change. It hinders
adaptation and progress.
2. Resistance to change does not necessarily
surface in standardized ways.
􀂃 Resistance can be overt, implicit,
immediate, or deferred.
􀂃 It is easiest for management to deal with resistance when it is overt and immediate.
3. Implicit resistance efforts are more subtle—loss of loyalty to the organization, loss of
motivation to work, increased errors or mistakes, increased absenteeism due to “sickness”—and
hence more difficult to recognize.
4. Similarly, deferred actions cloud the link between the source of the resistance and the reaction
to it.
􀂃 A change may produce what appears to be only a minimal reaction at the time it is
initiated, but then resistance surfaces weeks, months, or even years later.
a. Reactions to change can build up and then explode seemingly totally out of
proportion.
b. The resistance was deferred and stockpiled, and what surfaces is a cumulative
response.