Challenges in Organizational Change Management Report

This report presents a detailed literature review on the challenges of organizational change management. It explores critical issues such as conflicts arising from change, instances of failed embracement, the importance of strategic planning, the impact of poor communication, and employee resistance to change. The analysis draws upon peer-reviewed journal articles to examine these challenges, offering insights into their effects on company growth and employee morale. The report highlights recommendations for effective change management, emphasizing the need for employee involvement, transparent communication, and flexible leadership. It uses real-world examples to illustrate the impact of these challenges, providing a comprehensive overview of strategies for successful organizational transformation.

Running head: CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Change Management
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Abstract
The literature review has thrown light on identifying and analyzing the various types of
challenges faced by various companies in successfully managing the change. In the complex
business environment, there are issues faced by the company which includes lack of
transparency, communicate and flexibility that affects the growth prospects of the company
and due to the same, it affects the confidence of employees. In managing such scenarios,
there are different recommendations which have been provided that has been successful in
managing the effectiveness of the company suitably.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of Challenges Faced in the Field of Organizational Change Management.................3
Conflicts.....................................................................................................................................4
Failed Embracement...................................................................................................................5
Planning......................................................................................................................................5
Lack of Proper Communication.................................................................................................6
Resistance to Change Among Employees..................................................................................7
Recommendations......................................................................................................................8
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The report throws light on understanding the various challenges which are faced by
the different organizations in managing the change. It is a difficult approach for the
management of the companies to incorporate the changes in the workplace without the proper
consent of the different employees working in the companies, therefore in such scenario,
proper strategic planning is the most suitable aspect which will be beneficial in managing the
required change and improve their morale for increasing the overall productivity effectively.
As opined by Destler (2016), the change in organizations involves some kind of
threats which may vary from job insecurity or to disturbance of the conventional routine. The
main idea is that the different human beings resist the change which is entrenched in the
thinking regarding the change. The change rate is escalating in virtual manner in the different
companies and the pressure is becoming intense day by day which is affecting the growth of
the company negatively. As commented by Noe et al. (2017), change affects each and every
individual working in the company in a positive or negative manner whether it is the
restructuring or the business merger. The change is one of the most crucial elements which is
growth as well as evolution and, in such scenarios, there can be facilitation of smooth
transition in the new age of the business.
Analysis of Challenges Faced in the Field of Organizational Change Management
As commented by Petrou, Demerouti and Schaufeli (2018), in the article named
“Crafting the change: The role of employee job crafting behaviors for successful
organizational change”, the different companies in the market have to change in a constant
manner and it becomes difficult to change unless the employees and employers are of the
same thinking relating to the change. Moreover, as opined by the author, the change affects

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each and every one in the company whether it includes the minor restructuring of the staffs or
the business merger. Moreover, as commented by Vidgen, Shaw and Grant (2017), change is
considered to be the crucial element of the evolution and growth and with the implementation
of change, it will be suitable for the facilitating the smooth transition in the new age of the
business.
As commented by Petrou, Demerouti and Schaufeli (2018), the resistance is the key
element which is expected when the change occurs in the workplace due to which it affects
the different kinds of prospects related to growth. There is inclusion of conflicts which
disrupts the working schedules which can affect the company’s growth and the morale of the
employees will decrease. In addition, due to the lack of proper planning, the change in the
companies fall apart or cause problems than the benefits.
Conflicts
As commented by Destler (2016), in the article Creating a performance culture:
Incentives, climate, and organizational change, the change can evoke the different kinds of
uncertainty as well as fear among the different individuals working in the company and due
to the same, it leads to the huge turnover among the different employees as they are frustrated
regarding the job-related aspects. Moreover, as opined by Vidgen, Shaw and Grant (2018),
the conflicts can disrupt the entire schedule due to which the different employees face various
difficulties which affected their growth prospects.
As opined by Asrar-ul-Haq and Anwar (2016), the low morale of the employees can
be a huge barrier to the organizational change as the staffs are likely to resist such changes
and due to the same, the resistance makes it more difficult for the leaders to facilitate the
effective growth prospects in the company and it may affect the transition and productivity
negatively. As commented by Cooper and Sommer (2018), when the different employees are

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not happy with the decisions which are being made in the company, they are far less likely to
implement the respective decisions in the manner that can be suitable for the company in
achieving success.
There are different kinds of aspects which needs to be incorporated as it will be
beneficial in improving the resistance to change and the change management process can be
implemented successfully. While implementing the change process, the leaders are required
to convey the objectives related to the change to the employees as it will be helpful for
understanding their viewpoints and it can be effective for company’s success positively and
benefit the company (Leon and Murphy 2018).
For instance- While the leaders of the company try to transform the business, it can
be seen that there are few employees who feel comfortable with the traditional system and
there occurs the conflict which will be creating huge issues and it will be affecting the
company’s growth negatively. As commented by author, when the organizational change is
not accepted by the different employees or they dislike the change, it impacts the morale of
employees negatively in which the different employees are being encouraged to provide
feedback and help in making decisions which can be suitable for their effectiveness and it
will be beneficial for the effectiveness of company.
Failed Embracement
As commented by Mathews and Linski (2016), it can be seen that when the change
has been implemented in a successful manner, however there can be different issues which is
relating to the commitment of the employees towards making their proper effort in managing
the change. Change is eminent, however adapting the same is eternal and it is the entire
responsibility of the leaders that the different leaders need to direct the change appropriately

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which will be beneficial in gaining competitive advantage and improve morale of employees
appropriately.
Planning
As commented by Mathews and Linski (2016), in the article Shifting the paradigm:
reevaluating resistance to organizational change, it can be seen that change will fall apart
without proper kind of planning. As commented by the authors, most of the change efforts
fail in the companies as there is lack of proper understanding of the different dynamics of the
organizational change. The different companies behave like the biological system and it
attempts to achieve the proper balance through resisting agents of interruption or
intervention.
As commented by Chang (2016), the preparation for the challenge of the
implementation of change is difficult as the employees do not agree to implement the change
as decided by the top authorities of the company and it influences company negatively. In
respective scenario, as commented by the author, there can be different kinds of
recommendations which can be incorporated by the company wherein there should be
involvement of the employees in the change management process which will be suitable for
improving the performance management of the company and it will be enhancing the
performance of the employees suitably (Uhl and Gollenia 2016).
For instance- While introducing the self-checkout system at Woolworths, the
management of the company did not inform regarding the same to the employees and it
affected their morale. Due to the same, the different employees felt that they were not valued
and they were not being considered as the part of the system as well. From the respective
instance, it can be recommended that while introducing a new system, the top management of
the company needs to make the different employees compatible with the old system, provide

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them with proper training and development related activities which will be beneficial in
making them effective in the different work operations which are being provided by the
company (Telegraph.co.uk 2019).
Lack of Proper Communication
As commented by Heckmann, Steger and Dowling (2016), in the Organizational
capacity for change, change experience, and change project performance article, in the
present scenario of the business environment which is complex in nature, it can be seen that
there are different kinds of resistance of change among the employees as they are not able to
understand the entire process which affects their morale and it disturbs the productivity of the
company negatively. The main purpose of the literature review is to analyze and understand
the different kinds of challenges of the existing pattern of the resistance to the organizational
change through offering perspective which is interdisciplinary. As commented by Mathews
and Linski (2016), in the article Shifting the paradigm: reevaluating resistance to
organizational change when the different employees feel too comfortable in the working
environment, there is no such room for the growth in future environment.
For instance- In McDonald’s, the change management process was not effective as
there was lack of flexible leadership approach. The leaders at McDonald’s which includes the
CEO did not include the team members in the process related to change management and due
to the same, it has affected morale of employees negatively. The leaders did not take the
feedback from the different employees and due to the similar reason, it led to the failure of
the process of change management (Businessinsider.in 2019). From the respective aspect, it
can be seen that due to the improper leadership and lack of communication, there was huge
issues which incurred in the change management process of McDonald’s and it affected the
profitability of the company.

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Resistance to Change Among Employees
As stated by Lau, Lee and Chung (2019), in the article “A collective organizational
learning model for organizational development”, the different challenges which are being
faced by the different companies is related to resistance to change among the different
employees and it has affected the growth of the employees negatively. In the current scenario
of complex business environment, the main issue which leads to the challenge related to
change management process is the lack of the communication and planning which affects
growth of company. As commented by Skogland and Hansen (2017), the companies need to
communicate the change process to the different employees and other employers which will
be suitable for improving the change process effectively. There can be different employees
who dislike the change and it can lead to the resistance to change and it will be ineffective for
the productivity of the company.
For instance- Due to the improper leadership skills and the lack of communication
related aspects, it affected the growth of the company and the employees negatively. In case
of Woolworths, when the self-check out system was incorporated, it was being noticed that
there were different issues faced by employees as they felt that their views were not being
valued. Due to the same reason, there was huge resistance to change among the employees
and it affected the productivity of company negatively as well (Telegraph.co.uk 2019).
In such scenarios, as commented by Weijerman et al. (2018), there are different
individuals in the companies who prefers to work under the traditional method and due to the
same, they may not agree with the process of change negatively. As stated by Lau, Lee and
Chung (2019), the training and development is the most suitable aspect which should be
implemented by the companies as it will be solving them in adopting to the different changes
which are taking place in the companies and will be appropriate for making the project
successful. As per Kurt Lewin’s Model of Change Management, there can be inclusion of the

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unfreeze, change and freeze can be followed which will be appropriate for making the
employees requirement of the change.
Recommendations
In order to improve the respective situations in the different companies, there are
different recommendations which can be incorporated by the companies and the leaders to
improve the confidence of the employees and it will appropriate for the effectiveness of the
company and employees positively. As stated by Tidd and Bessant (2018), the different
employees need to be kept updated with the different changes which are taking place in the
company as it will be suitable for improving the growth and productivity of the company and
the employees suitably, through conducting the regular meetings, it will be helpful for the
company in creating and setting up the proper brainstorming sessions which will be leading
to the success of the company and it will be enhancing the effectiveness.
As commented by Uhl and Gollenia (2016), in order to incorporate the change process
positively and making the employees become a part of the same, there should be inclusion of
the different kinds of new procedures such as brainstorming sessions which will make the
employees feel that they are part of the process of the management and it will encourage
them to perform positively and gain competitive advantage in the positive manner. According
to Jones et al. (2019), as a leader, the setting of the example with the organizational change
management and the staffs will follow as it will be suitable for the successful implementation
of the change management process. Moreover, according to Teece, Peteraf and Leih (2016),
the organizational capacity is the most appropriate aspect which will be suitable for analyzing
the experience of the change and it will be beneficial in improving the performance of the
company that will be suitable for managing the growth of employees and organizations

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successfully. Through the same, it will increase morale of employees and they can be liking
the change and managing change through suitable management practice.
With the help of Kurt Lewin’s Three Step Model, as commented by Fernandez and
Rainey (2017), the change which is required to be implemented needs to be unfreeze, in
addition, there should be change which can be incorporated and refreeze which will be
appropriate for the effectiveness of the goals of the company positively. The force field
analysis can create a huge impact on the success of the company as it will be adopted by the
employees as it will be important for determining what needs to be changed. In such scenario,
the different leaders need to be vocal regarding the change and ask for the opinions of the
different employees working in the company as it makes them feel that they are important
and it will be suitable for enhancement of the company’s goals which can be hard to achieve
at times.
As commented by Stouten, Rousseau and De Cremer (2018), the embracement of the
change along with reaping the rewards is the most suitable aspect along with understanding
the areas wherein the company is likely to face resistance is the first and foremost step in
creating strategy for overcoming the barriers to the organizational change. Moreover, as
opined by Fernandez and Rainey (2017), the organizational setting, the different employees,
managers and peers will be resisting the change which includes administrative as well as
technological change which can lead to loss of status or job security in the company. The
respective literature review discusses the resistance to change among employees and there are
no other factors which affects the growth of individuals.
In the respective scenario, as commented by Stouten, Rousseau and De Cremer
(2018), there should be proper visibility in the process of change as it can be suitable for the
consistency and harmonization which will be solving dilemma of losing sight. Moreover, as

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stated by Jones et al. (2019), a well-planned change management system will be beneficial in
maintaining the change and it will creating a huge role in ensuring that the employees are
working towards achievement of the similar goals and it will be beneficial for the
enhancement of the success of the company appropriately. In the global environment of
business, there should be proper inclusion of the appropriate change management process that
will be enhancing growth of the company successfully.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that proper change management is needed to be
implemented in the different companies as it will be suitable for the growth of company and
employees appropriately. From the various instances, it can be analyzed that proper flexibility
and the communication are the two key elements which needs to be incorporated by the
leaders for successful application of the change management which will be becoming
successful. Moreover, the organizational capacity is the most appropriate aspect which will
be suitable for analyzing the experience of the change and it will be helpful in improving the
performance that will be suitable for managing the growth of employees and organizations
successfully. Through the same, it will increase morale of employees and they can be liking
the change and managing change through suitable management practice.