Changing Business Environment and Perceptions of Fairness and Justice in Employment Relationship

Business Change 1
Critically Evaluate how a Changing Business Environment Affects Perceptions of Fairness and
Justice Associated with the Employment Relationship
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Business Change 2
Introduction
In order to implement change, organizations must integrate all departments and individual roles
in order to enhance success and business survival in this dynamic, competitive, and
unpredictable business environment (Whittaker and Marchington, 2014, p. 256). Even though
there are change strategies which are well applied, the planned change initiatives mostly fail.
Also, there are numerous reasons as to why the causes of change fail to be successful
transformation and they are mostly attributed to employee resistance by the business
management (Mitchell and Fetter, 2010, p. 300). For example, when organization intents to
implement some change, proximately 70% of all plan fail which cause disappointed
expectations. There also exist other complex and unexplored individuals who require it so that
they can determine change management in the context of employee relations. Employees are
very important in changing business activities as the either change recipients or the change
implements. The employees have a lot of commitment of large extend which determines ultimate
success of most initiatives.
Resistance to change and also organizational resistance, it may or may not manifest but it’s very
important. On change literature, it is revealed that employees who respond negatively have many
antecedents which may include loss of control and job insecurity (Taylor and McGraw, 2016, p.
240). Recently, most of workforces have been concerned about employer perceptions to their
input and issues of fairness and justice. Research shows that when employees are treated
unfairly, they can lead to less cooperation, lower work quality, and lower productivity and also
increased resentment. This affects employees attitude greatly hence negative perceptions to

Business Change 3
business change. This paper explains how changing environment of the business affects
perceptions of justice and fairness which is usually associated with the employment. It reveals
literature on resistance to change, development of theoretical framework and also the hypothesis
pertaining the same.
Conceptualization of resistance to change
Most employees resist change when the change is expected to pose work problems such as
demotion, reduced pay, and unfair deals amongst them. Sometimes, business change is ill-
motivated and created to target some part of employees while favoring others. The modern day
business calls for equity, fairness and justice while dealing with workers. Failure to which,
employees create conflicts, get discouraged and demotivated to perform, and end up losing their
work morale. Changes in business environment are witnessed by new work methods and internal
policing, new technologies, economic downturns and boom, legal requirements, changes in
social culture needs and among many other factors (Santos and Stuart, 2013, p. 40). For a
company to survive and compete there is need to change its internal employment policies in a
manner that suits the current trend as established in the market. To employees, change is
inevitable and thus must be embraced so long as it is not aimed at demotivating some while
motivating others. For example, literature has taken over 65 years while transforming resistance
from its original form as a systematic barrier.
Resistance to change is reactions that are disgruntled by the employees on unfairness to change.
Significant contributing factor to failed change, resistance may be conceived mostly by the
behavior of the employees thus seeking to challenge, invert any prevailing assumptions or
disrupt thus discourses the power relations (Rubery, 2014, p. 1220). Since the past, the