Leadership Report: Understanding Resistance to Change at Coca-Cola

This report delves into the complexities of resistance to change within organizations, using the Coca-Cola Company as a primary example. It explores the various facets of change management, highlighting how employees react to modifications in policies, procedures, and working methods. The report outlines the reasons behind resistance, including social factors, lack of clarity, and self-interest, and examines the ethical implications of change implementation. It emphasizes the critical role of managers in influencing employees to accept and adapt to changes, suggesting strategies such as effective communication, employee involvement in decision-making, and linking individual objectives to organizational goals. The analysis covers both the positive and negative impacts of change and underscores the importance of addressing employee concerns to ensure smooth transitions and maintain competitive advantages in the market. The report concludes by summarizing the importance of adapting to changes and the need for managers to proactively address resistance to ensure organizational success.

Resistance to Change
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Change makes things different and it is not necessary that all the modification which are
done can be accepted by everyone in organisation as some always resist it. In organisation,
changes occur and employees can resist to the same as it is not easy to accept all kind of
modification which are done. Changes which are done can have negative and positive impact
both. It has to be adopted according to the situation (Bateh, Castaneda and Farah, 2013). Coca-
Cola is a US based company which produces soft drinks of various kinds and they serve at
various places around the globe. In this report, resistance of change in an organisation is
described.
TASK
Resistance to change
Change is a process in which things are been transformed, according to the situation or
the surroundings. Resist is to refuse for anything which is changed, in organisation resistance of
change occurs at many points. It happens when something new is been introduced and
employees can’t be able to adopt it quickly. For instance in coca cola company any of the
changes will take place in term of policies, procedures, plans, working manner. So at that time
employees will resist to it as a sudden change cannot be adopted and accepted by them, as
because of the changes which are made in firm can affect employees negatively as well as
positively and that totally depends on them (Chung, Su and Su, 2012). Resistance to change
usually occurs in the firm as employees did not like the change which had been made, or they are
not comfortable with it. There may be a lack of clarity or communication error. All these factors
can be there behind the resistance for the change. And there are many more factors which can
influence employees to resist for any changes which occurs in the firm. Mainly they resist for
social factors which includes the relationship of employees working in the firm, for instance any
rules and regulations were made against employee relationship. Changes can be in the mission,
objectives, day to day activities, policies, rules, behaviours of any personnel and all the changes
which is done can be planned as well as unplanned means at sudden.
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Managers of a company have major responsibility to make employees get influence to
adopt the changes which are made in the firm. Resistance is seen as a problem and try to solve it,
by the managers as it is very essential for the organisation so they should try convince employees
and they can adopt it as faster as possible so that it can be beneficial for the organisation as well
as for employees too. There are some reasons for which employees resist for the changes which
is done in the organisation and those reasons would be like if changes in technology, it might be
risky for their jobs as new and modern technologies might affect their working manner and as the
technologies are new then the employees has to get trainings and that might be little problematic
for them. Employees mainly resist as maybe the change which is done isn't needed actually, or
the modification will be harder for them to meet all their needs (Craig, Nevin and Odum, 2014).
If any changes will occur in coca cola company, then employees might resist for the changes
which had been made because of the poor communication, the alteration are made by the top
level peoples and then it has to passed through various people like hierarchy and all those
information has to be made clear and quires of employees should be cleared but poor
communication make resistance for the communication.
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(Source: R i c k , 2 0 1 7 )
Self-interest plays a role in resistance to change as some people do not change their
behaviour and for them their ego is main and that can be one of the reason for resistance. Feeling
excluded can make the employees feel eliminate from decision making process so that can resist
the changes which are made by the others, as it is essential at some points to involve employees
to the decision making process. At the point when people do not have trust among themselves
and the decision makers then they cannot be able to accept the changes which are done in the
organisation form that (Falloon, ed., 2015). It is essential for a manager to throw light on it and
see resistance of change as a serious problem which had occurred in organisation and they
should try to solve it properly. Manager has to look to this as a problem because resist the
changes can create problem to the firm, for example if any of the policies or rules are is been
changed and employees resist to it and do not follow it then it could create problems in their day
to day working, etc. management should focus on this and influence employees to adopt the
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Illustration 1: TOP 12 REASONS WHY PEOPLE RESIST CHANGE

changes. It is their talent or skill how they will be able to influence their employees to the
changes.
Management should communicate to employees for the changes and tell them about its
benefit. They should make plans to how and by what ways employees should be made satisfied
for the changes. Employees should be involved in decision making process so that opinion from
their sides can be taken as it will be easy to make the changes and implement them by their
satisfaction will be best as that will not resist it. Individuals objectives can be linked with the
organisational objective and that can be make understand them about and this will help the
employees to accept it more easily (Kunze, Boehm and Bruch, 2013). Changes which are done in
the organisation, are helpful for the business to achieve competitive advantage in market, so that
will be beneficial both for the company and the employees too as that will increase the sales and
profits of the company so employees will get better things. To have competitive advantage in
market is very beneficial so to make change for that in business means a lot. All the problems
which employees think while having changes in the firm has to be resolved and make them
understand about the actual benefits about it to them by management is very essential otherwise
employees will not adopt the changes easily and soon and that will effect on their working also
and according to time, it is very important to make appropriate changes in the firm, whether
technically, socially, politically or by any other basis but it has to be done, or they can face
problems in the modern and changing world (Lozano, 2013). Yes it is hard for the employees to
adopt any kind of changes at sudden but they have to understand its consequences and accept it
and at some point that will increase their skills and knowledge.
Ethical implication
In an organisation, there are various human resource which are working at different levels
and positions all have their powers to perform and do things, it has to be used by them according
to the limit which they have, and that is very important. No one has rights to misuse that,
whether it is superior or employee. Superior has to make decision about what all things has to be
changed and what has to be performed in the organisation, to employees and the employees has
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to follow it and perform what all task is been provided to them. The work which is given to them
should be according to the limit and their skills and abilities and they should be lawful as the
superior cannot misuse their power (Murtagh, Gatersleben and Uzzell, 2012). And the employees
has to perform their given work and they have to follow the rules and policies which are decided
by their superior if they are lawful, and employees cannot deny it. Superiors and employees both
cannot use their power in a wrong way. Even the employees are the workers which are appointed
to work in the organisation and have some of the rights too, but if the work for which they are
been appointed in the firm has to be performed by them they cannot resist their superior and
therefore superiors cannot misuse their powers. All the changes which are made by the superiors
should be lawful and beneficial to the firm and that should not affect anyone.
In organisation there are various people from top level to middle and to the lower level,
this is a hierarchy which is been followed in mostly all the companies and all the level of people
have various duties and responsibilities as well as powers and that powers they have to be used
properly they cannot be able to misuse it (Pieterse, Caniëls and Homan, 2012). They top level
have to make decisions according to which is required in the organisation and that should be
lawful as well effective, and whatever changes which they want to make in the firm has to be
passed through the middle level and they will pass it to lower level. So and if it is effective and
lawful then it has to be adopt by all the employees. The work which is been decided by the
management has to be followed by the employees if they are according to their profession and
they cannot resist it. The things has to be passed through the hierarchy structure which are
followed in the firm so that all the things can be performed properly and in correct manner. None
of the superior can make misuse of the powers which they have if anything happens like that
employees can resist to it otherwise they cannot resist.
All have various things to perform and to focus on, that has to be seen properly and make
changes according to it as well as work to make beneficial for the organisation. Power has to be
taken in care as no one can misuse their power they can perform the task and take decisions in
their power limits they cannot take advantages of their power. All the changes which are made
and all the decisions which are taken in the firm by the superiors has to be implemented properly
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and after studying all things properly so that issues cannot arise in the firm (Starr, 2011). It is
also important to make decisions regarding employees by taking opinion according them and
studying them properly, that might be easy as if the changes in social way would be after
discussing with the employees or including them in the decision making process then that will be
very helpful and easy for them as if it will be according to the employees then they can adopt it
at fast and in easy manner. Implementation of the changes which are made in, has to be proper
and in better manner so the changes can be made in use in appropriate manner. If it is not
implemented in proper way then it can create issues in the firm regarding the changes and the
employees has to be influence by the manager in a proper and correct manner so that they will
not resit for the change and make proper use of it so that will make them achieve for what the
changes are been done (Yılmaz and Kılıçoğlu, 2013).
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be analysed that changes which are made in organisation
are important according to the changing time and it has its own benefits at some parts that have
to be followed in the organisation, changes are been made as per the requirement of the
organisation. It has to be consider and make it clear so that it will be beneficial for the people
working over there as well the organisation. Resistance can take place at any time and in every
organisation it is the duty of managers to influence the employees which are resisting that
changes. There are various people working in the organisation at different level and they all are
having different kinds of powers with them and they have to use it appropriately, the supervisor
has to use their power at right place and in proper manner.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bateh, J., Castaneda, M.E. and Farah, J.E., 2013. Employee resistance to organizational change.
International Journal of Management & Information Systems (Online). 17(2). p.113.
Chung, S.H., Su, Y.F. and Su, S.W., 2012. The impact of cognitive flexibility on resistance to
organizational change. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal. 40(5).
pp.735-745.
Craig, A.R., Nevin, J.A. and Odum, A.L., 2014. Resistance to Change. The Wiley Blackwell
handbook of operant and classical conditioning, p.249.
Falloon, I.R. ed., 2015. Handbook of behavioural family therapy. Routledge.
Kunze, F., Boehm, S. and Bruch, H., 2013. Age, resistance to change, and job performance.
Journal of Managerial Psychology. 28(7/8). pp.741-760.
Lozano, R., 2013. Are companies planning their organisational changes for corporate
sustainability? An analysis of three case studies on resistance to change and their
strategies to overcome it. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management. 20(5). pp.275-295.
Murtagh, N., Gatersleben, B. and Uzzell, D., 2012. Self-identity threat and resistance to change:
Evidence from regular travel behaviour. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 32(4).
pp.318-326.
Pieterse, J.H., Caniëls, M.C. and Homan, T., 2012. Professional discourses and resistance to
change. Journal of Organizational Change Management. 25(6). pp.798-818.
Starr, K., 2011. Principals and the politics of resistance to change. Educational Management
Administration & Leadership. 39(6). pp.646-660.
Yılmaz, D. and Kılıçoğlu, G., 2013. Resistance to change and ways of reducing resistance in
educational organizations. European journal of research on education. 1(1). pp.14-21.
Online
How to Deal With Resistance to Change. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://hbr.org/1969/01/how-to-deal-with-resistance-to-change>. [Accessed on 8th September
2017].
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How to Handle Employee Resistance to Structural Changes in Organizations. 2017. [Online].
Available through:
<https://www.td.org/Publications/Blogs/Science-of-Learning-Blog/2015/07/How-to-Handle-
Employee-Resistance-to-Structural-Changes-in-Organizations>. [Accessed on 8th September
2017].
Rick, T., 2017. TOP 12 REASONS WHY PEOPLE RESIST CHANGE. [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/12-reasons-why-people-resist-
change/>. [Accessed on 8th September 2017].
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