Effective Strategies for Managing Organizational Change Resistance

This report delves into the critical aspects of organizational change management, with a specific focus on strategies for managing resistance to change. It begins by highlighting the inevitability of change in today's business environment and the increasing prevalence of resistance. The report then explores various techniques and theories, including the importance of effective communication and employee participation in mitigating resistance. It examines the Lewin and McKinsey models of change management, discussing their strengths and weaknesses, and emphasizes the crucial role of leadership in fostering employee engagement and motivation. The report also presents an empirical study, analyzing different perspectives on the Lewin model and other approaches, and concludes with a critical analysis of the discussed literature, offering insights into the complexities of managing resistance to change in organizations.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Organizational change management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Topic: managing resistance to change
Introduction
Organizational change is inevitable in the current business scenario and it is
becoming more common and frequent with time. Furthermore with the increase in the
importance for organizational change, resistance to change is also becoming evident.
There are number of reasons that are contributing in resisting for change. Thus, along
with the initiation of the change management, it is also becoming important for the
change agents to effectively manage the change (Ashkenas 2013). There are number
of theories and concepts that are being initiated in relation to management of change
management.
Literature review
Communication
According to Mckay, Kuntz and Naswall (2013), there are number of techniques
that can be initiated by the change agents in order to effectively manage the resistance
to change. One of the major mechanisms stated by the authors is communication and
participation of the stakeholders in the change process. It is discussed by the authors
that associated stakeholders in the change process should be communicated effectively
about the aims and objectives of the change management. Moreover, the stakeholders
should also be communicated about the benefits that can be gained from the initiation of
the change process in the organization. Thus, if the stakeholders are aware about the
details of the change process, then they will less likely to resist to the change.
It is also to be noted that the major resistance to the change process comes from
the side of the lower level employees. This is mainly due to the reason that lower level
employees have the perception that initiation of the change management process in the
organization will affect their job security and value in the workplace. Thus, according to
the authors, effectively communicating with the lower level employees regarding the
aspects of the change management process will help to reduce the negative perception
from the lower level employees.

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Employee participation
Employee participation is another measure stated by Hon, Bloom and Crant
(2014) in managing the resistance to change. According to the authors, employees
always have the fear of reduction in their organizational valuation in case of the initiation
of the change management process in the workplace. They fear that they will have less
voice in the decision making process due to the reason of the implementation of the
change management. According to the authors, change agents should enhance the
participation of the employees in the implementation process of the change
management. This is due to the reason that employees should be involved in the
implementation process in order to gather their feedback and opinion in the process.
This will help the change agents to have the information about the issues with the
employees and they can overcome the shortcomings. As per the authors, the more will
be the participation of the employees in the change process, the less will be the
resistance from the side of the employees.
Change management in Honda, Japan is initiated based on the employee’s
issues and challenges. Thus, they face much less challenges in terms of resistance
from the side of the employees.
Lewin model of change management
Apart from initiating the internal techniques of managing the resistance of the
change management, there are number of theories and models being discussed by
different authors. One of the major theories initiated in relation to the management of
resistance to change is the Lewin model of change management. According to
Cummings, Bridgman and Brown (2016), Lewin change management model will help
the change agents in preventing the resistance in the implementation process of the
change. According to this theory, there are three steps that should be initiated in
managing the resistance to change. The authors have also discussed about the step to
be followed in initiating the Lewin change management model.
It is stated that unfreezing, change implementation and refreezing should be
effectively implemented in sequential manner in order to fulfill the desired objective of

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the change management process. This model also states that it is important to generate
the feedback and opinions from the side of the employees and the change management
should be implemented in phased manner. This is due to the reason that phased
implementation process will ensure identification of the shortcomings of the change
process. Accordingly, the change process can be rectified and modified and
implemented in the next phase. Majorly, this model concentrated on the importance of
evaluation of the effectiveness of the change process. This will ensure that issues with
the employees get solved in the primary stage and employees are less resisted towards
the change process.
McKinsey’s model of change
According to some authors, McKinsey’s model of change management is also as
effective in managing the resistance in the change management process. According to
Singh (2013), McKinsey’s model of change management can help the organizations in
achieving organizational excellence by the way of change management process. This is
due to the reason that according to the McKinsey’s model of change management,
there seven steps that should be initiated by the change agents in having effective
management of the resistance from the side of the employees. According to the
authors, the seven steps includes strategy for implementing change process to
providing training to the employees to get accustomed with the new systems. It is stated
by the authors that initiation of the McKinsey’s model of change management will
ensure that all the aspects to be considered in the implementation process of change
management are being fulfilled.
Leadership roles
Another major factor that should be considered in managing the resistance in
change management is leadership roles. According to Yilmaz and Kilicoglu (2013),
leadership roles in the organizations play an important role in managing the resistance
of the employees in relation to the implementation of change process. According to the
authors, the more effective will be the leadership roles, the more will be the level of
engagement and motivation of the employees. Motivated and engaged employees are

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highly unlikely to resist in change process (Shell.com 2018). Furthermore, initiation of
the effective leadership approach will also enable the change agents to determine the
issues and opinions of the employees regarding the change process. Accordingly, they
can implement the change process without having the resistance from the stakeholders.
Shell went for successful change management due to their leadership
effectiveness. However, there were number of complexities faced by them in their
implementation of change management. Initiation of situational style of leadership
helped Shell to succeed in the process rather than maintaining similar leadership
approach.
Empirical Study
The analysis of different literature shows that various authors have contrasting
opinion about the resistance to change. Lewin was the founder of the change
management concept and all other theories can be simplified to develop the three step
model of unfreezing, change and refreezing. Cummings, Bridgman and Brown (2016)
stated that the model developed by Lewin has been oversimplified and the idea of
refreezing in today’ context is not applicable as flexibility and adaptability are two most
essential factors of sustainability in the modern environment. Lewin’s model is the
template of applying change management where it has been considered as the
repackaging of a philosophy that is mechanistic in nature mainly known as the Taylor’s
scientific management concept. On the contrary, Georgalis et al. (2015) defended
Lewin’s Model by stating that the analysis is only partial and does not consider the other
three pillars such as group dynamics, action research and field theory. The authors
made a misinterpretation of the Lewin’s Idea by not taking into account the important
factors of change management.
Lewin’s theory of change management has been considered as one of the
elements that are interrelated but no evidence can be provided by the supporters of this
model. The reality of change is not correctly represented by the Lewin’s Model. Even
though, many consider change at three steps model as the major change management
model, only 33% of the model is accurate (Steigenberger 2015). As stated by Altamony

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et al. (2016), the counter historical approach of change management when used to
analyze the Lewin’s model showed that different authors have outlined different patterns
while studying change management model of Lewin as pre paradigmatic disciples has
differentiation in interpretation and inputs variables. This shows that following the Lewin
Model blindly will result in development of similar results so it essential to think
differently and find other alternatives to this model Matos Marques Simoes and Esposito
(2014). On the other hand, researches conducted by other researchers have provided
different opinion about the research elements as they have interpreted this model as
effective for implementing change management where different phases have been used
for different purposes. This empirical literature shows that contrasting opinion among
different authors and researchers, some opinionated that there the model is not
applicable in the modern context where some thinks that this is the founding model to
change management. The findings of the articles is still not conclusive about the model
and further analysis of the model is required using the Michel Foucault counter historical
approach.
Critical analysis
The above discussion of the literature shows that there are different views in
relation to the management of the resistance in change management process.
However, these views are having their own shortcomings and advantages from different
perspectives. Mckay, Kuntz and Naswall (2013), stated that communication is one of
the major factors to be considered in managing the resistance in change management.
The major competing element in their view is that communication is the key element for
the organizational excellence and it helps in reducing the distance between lower and
higher level internal stakeholders. Therefore, the authors have stated the most
important factor in managing the resistance in the change management.
However, on the other hand, there some weaknesses also being identified from
the discussion of these authors. This article assumed that communication problem is
the only problem that may get aroused in the change process. However, in the current
business scenario, business organizations face more complex and diverse set of
challenges (www.cps.co.uk 2018). In this case, the approach of the change

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management is also more diverse, which not only include communication problem but
some others also (Ohana, Meyer and Swaton 2013). It is also to be noted that if the
authors can put some more diverse issues along with the communication problem, then
the effectiveness of the article would have got increased. The article should have
designed in a way that it will address the different reasons for the resistance with the
help of effective communication process.
Hon, Bloom and Crant (2014) stated that employee participation also helps in
reducing the probability of resistance from the side of the employees in the change
management process. According to them, fear of the employees in relation to the new
systems in the change management process is one of the key reasons for resisting to
the change. The authors have given an effective solution by means of enhancing the
participation of the employees in the change management process. The main
advantage of this article is that it has given the major concentration on engaging the
employees. It is discussed in this article that employees should be participated in the
change management process in order to garner the feedback of the employees. Thus,
opinion of the employees is being given the most concentration. This is important in the
current challenging business scenario.
However, on the other hand, the limitation identified with this article is that, this
article assumed that fear of the employees towards change is the only reason for their
resistance, while there are number of other reasons that are also responsible for the
resistance of the employees. For instance, employees may not be comfortable with the
new techniques and technologies initiated in the change process (Bateh, Castaneda
and Farah 2013). Thus, the impact of the article in determining the factors of managing
resistance to change is limited. The article would get further enriched if some other
issues with the employees can get discussed. It is to be noted that enhancing the
participation of the employees will not solve all the issues related to the employees;
rather it may initiate more issues for the change agents. These factors should get
addressed in the article.
Cummings, Bridgman and Brown (2016) stated that lewin mode of change
management will be effective in managing the resistance in change process. According

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to them, three steps discussed in this model will help the change agents in effectively
implement the change process in the organization. The key positive factor in this article
is that authors have stated a model in analyzing the management of resistance of
change, rather than just stating alternatives stated in the previous articles.
Implementation of this model will help the change agents to proceed in phased manner
and it will ensure that all the factors in the change process are being considered.
However, on the other hand, the key negative factor of this article is that lewin model
difficult to implement in different situation faced by the contemporary business
organizations. This is due to the reason that current business scenario is having more
diverse set of situations to be faced and it will be difficult to implement the lewin model
with same approach in different situations (Shirey 2013). Authors can discussed about
different approaches by which the lewin model of change management can be
implemented in different situations.
Yilmaz and Kilicoglu (2013) stated that leadership roles also play an important
role in determining the emergence of resistance to the change management process.
The key merit of this idea is that leadership roles is one of the major factors in
determining the organizational excellence and it is skipped by majority of the authors in
the previous articles. However, it is also to be noted that leadership roles is diverse in
nature and similar approach to leadership will not be applicable and suitable in every
situation. For instance, transformational leadership will not be applicable in the situation
where employees are not trained and equipped enough to deal with the organizational
challenges. In this case, initiation of the transformational leadership cannot manage the
resistance to change (Bolden 2016). It is suggested that author should elaborate more
about the applicability of different leadership approach for the different situations for the
business organizations and how the resistance to change can get mitigated with
different leadership approaches.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that management of resistance to change is having
different factors to consider for the change agents. Some of these factors are reviewed
with the help of different articles and models. It is analyzed that all the articles are

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having different set of advantages and disadvantages from different point of view. This
essay evaluated these advantages and disadvantages and suggested some points that
are missing in the reviewed articles. However, review of these articles helped to
understand different aspects that should be considered by the change agents in having
less probability of emergence of resistance from the side of the employees. Effective
consideration of these factors will ensure that change management process is
implemented ideally in place.

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