Preview

The Life Cycle of Resistance to Change

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2745 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Life Cycle of Resistance to Change
The Life Cycle of Resistance to Change
What is change?
After doing some research I came discovered that there are many different definitions of the word change. Webster’s dictionary says that change means to give a different course, position, or direction to (Merrriam-Webster, 2010). Whenever you add the word change to organizational it takes on a somewhat different meaning. Organizational change is the term used to describe the transformation process that a company goes through in response to a strategic reorientation, restructure, change in management, merger or acquisition, or the development of new goals and objectives for the company (What is Organizational Change?, 2007). Many people feel that change is the only thing in life that is constant. In many cases organizations cannot avoid change because if they do the risk the chance of going under or their organization failing.
Causes for Change
Today we live in a world where things are always changing. We have to change to keep up with society. Managers of organizations need to be aware of all the internal and external environmental factors that can promote change within an organization. Internal factors are all the things that happen within the organization itself. They include, but are not limited to, the following types of things: managerial policies and styles, systems that are unique to the organization, production procedures, and employee attitudes. Managers have to always be aware of the fact that they may need to alter what they are doing in order for them to be on top of their game. External factors are things that are going on outside of the organization that they really have no control of. Globalization and technological advances, competition, and the economic structure outside of the organization are all things that could promote change within the organization. If manages fail to realize that change is needed in order for the organization to survive then they could risk losing



References: What is Organizational Change? (2007). Retrieved 2010 7, October, from Organizational Changes: http://www.organizational-change-management.com/ Merrriam-Webster. (2010). Retrieved October 7, 2010, from An Encyclopedia Britannica Company: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/change?show=0&t=1287594328 Anderson, D. L. (2010). Organization Development: The Process of Leading Organizational Change. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc. Benowitz, E. A. (2001). Managing Change. In Cliffs Quick Review: Principals of Management (pp. 84-96). Hungry Minds. Burtonshaw-Gunn, S., & Salameh, M. (2010, February). Human Capital Review. Retrieved October 6, 2010, from Change management contributions to organisational performance: http://www.humancapitalreview.org/content/default.asp?Article_ID=727&cntPage=1 Ellis-Christensen, T. (2010, September 8). What is Globalization? Retrieved October 21, 2010, from Wise Geek: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-globalization.htm Maurer, R. (1996). Beyond the Wall of Resistance: Unconventional strategies that build support for change. Austin: Bard Press. Seiner, R. S. (2000, October 1). THE DATA ADMINISTRATION NEWSLETTER . Retrieved October 7, 2010, from The Cycle of Change: http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/4878

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    Hrm 587 Final Project

    • 6455 Words
    • 26 Pages

    Ford, J., Ford, L., &D’Amelio, A. (2008). Resistance to change: The rest of the story. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 362-377.…

    • 6455 Words
    • 26 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Change happens in a business environment for a variety of reasons. Those reasons depend on both internal and external factors.…

    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    References: Ackerman, L. 1997. Development, transition or transformation: the question of change in organizations. In Organization Development Classics. Ed. D. Van Eynde. J. Hoy, and D. Van Eynde. San Francisco: Bass…

    • 2058 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Change happens in a business environment for a variety of reasons. Those reasons depend on both internal and external factors.…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Paton, R. and Mc Calman, J. (2000) Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation, Sage publications, Retrieved on 11th January 2009.…

    • 2863 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Change is never an easy task for change enactors or recipients. As human beings, we are naturally hesitant to embrace change (Baack, 2012). However, change is sometimes necessary for organizations to keep up in this ever changing and challenging global economy. It can mean the difference between success and failure for organizations. There are both internal and external factors impacting employees' perception of organizational change. In addition, it may vary greatly from employee to employee, so what's impacting an individual's perception of the change can have opposite reactions on others. Internal changes, or internal driving forces, are the type of changes that occur within a company. External changes, or external driving forces, are changes that occur with no say from the company, such as…

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Resistance to Change

    • 82 Words
    • 1 Page

    Prepare a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper identifying both organizational and individual causes of resistance to change.…

    • 82 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Office Space

    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cummings, Thomas G. & Worley Christopher G. (2005). Organization Development and Change 8th Edition: Chapter 2; pages 22-24.…

    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Demers, R., Forrer, S., Leibowitz, Z., & Cahill, C. (1991-2001). Change Management: To Change. American Society for Training & Development , Issue 12; ISSN: 1055-9760, pp. 23-26.…

    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    There are many factors that impose organizational change which include technological, international economic and opening market forces. These forces can create more risks and opportunities for organizations. Change is inevitable, in order to successfully bring an organization into the twenty-first century, this must be recognized. There are many ways for an organization to achieve change; some are scientific theories like those stated in Organizational Behavior and Management written by John Ivancevich, while others stated in Leading Change by John P. Kotter believe it’s about paying attention to your employees. One can find the relationship…

    • 3124 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Today 's business environment requires companies to undergo changes almost constantly if they are to remain competitive. Factors such as globalization of markets and rapidly evolving technology force businesses to respond in order to survive. Such changes may be relatively minor as in the case of installing a new software program or quite major as in the case of refocusing an overall marketing strategy. "Organizations must change because their environments change,” according to Jeff Hiatt book Management: Function and Strategy. "Today, businesses are bombarded by incredibly high rates of change from a frustratingly large number of sources. Inside pressures come from top managers and lower-level employees who push for change. Outside pressures can come from changes in the legal, competitive, technological, and economic environments. "Bateman and Zeithaml identified four major areas of…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Change can exist in both the external and internal environments. To be successful in active environments, organizations must be willing to use considerable amounts of energy in examining basic questions to the organization. The growing interest in the theory of planned change and resistance to change has been moved, in part, by the rapid and uncontrolled changes in our culture. Despite great changes, resistance will still be in the areas in that many people want change to occur, thus creating a blockage to the current importance on the change process. Noel Tichy (1982) categorizes the forces that exert pressures for change on organizations in three management areas: technical, political and cultural. Technical refers to pressures for change brought about by changes in technology and economic conditions; e.g., advanced high-tech equipment, changing interest rates, and…

    • 1878 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Resistance to Change

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “It is perhaps ironic that, given the number of failed change initiatives, those who question the need for change are often cast as the villains of the piece, as unable to adapt to the dynamic changing conditions of the modern world.”Resistance to change is the action taken by individuals and groups when they perceive that a change is occurring as a threat to them.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Managing Change

    • 7045 Words
    • 29 Pages

    Describe the major reasons individuals resist change, and discuss methods organizations can use to manage resistance.…

    • 7045 Words
    • 29 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Burnes, B. (2003). Managing change and changing managers from ABC to XYZ. The Journal of Management Development, 22, 627-642. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from ProQuest 5000.…

    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics