Analysis of Resistance to Change and Its Management Strategies

This essay delves into the critical issue of resistance to change within organizations, examining its significance and impact on organizational activities. It explores the relationship between power dynamics and resistance, highlighting the ethical considerations for both managers and employees. The essay emphasizes the importance of effective change management, discussing managerial implications and strategies to mitigate resistance. It covers the reasons behind employee resistance, such as uncertainty, disruption of routines, and lack of understanding, while also stressing the need for clear communication and employee support. The essay concludes by emphasizing the role of ethics in managing change and the need for managers to adopt rational decision-making processes to ensure successful change implementation. The importance of identifying and addressing the root causes of resistance through effective communication and strategic planning is also highlighted, with the ultimate goal of fostering a more adaptable and successful organizational environment.

Running Head: Resistance to change 1
Management of Change

Resistance to change 2
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Resistance as a problem...................................................................................................................4
Relationship between power and resistance....................................................................................5
Ethics for managerial and resistant position....................................................................................5
Managerial implications for managerial position............................................................................6
Conclusion of overall part...............................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
This essay is basically talking about the significance of change within an organization
along with the problem of resistance to manage the organizational activities. This essay basically
discuses about the relationship between power and resistance while implementing g the change
within the organization. Further, ethical issues and managerial implications in change process are
also discussed. Objective of this essay is to focus on the process of change management with the
topic ‘resistance to change’. This essay describes the role of change process within the
organization. Along with this, essay is also focused on the main reason of the resistance to
change. There are many researchers who have provided their viewpoints on the resistance i.e.
resistance to change is very time consuming and costly process which can impact and delay the
process of change implementation in the organization. Along with this, there is one more
assumption that resistance to change in the organization can be significantly used as the learning
point by the managers and leaders to develop in the business (Jabri, 2012).
Change process within the organization can be described as the movement from present
state to future state for making or doing something different within the organization. The
organizational change basically includes significant planning to present stage to future stage.
Change can be implemented in various functions of the organization i.e. mission, technological
changes, operational changes, change in the behavior or change in the working style of the
employees etc. Resistance to change takes place when employees are unable to understand the
cause of change in the organization. There can be various reasons for the resistance of the change
in the business process i.e. dislike of change, lack of clarity about the change, perceived negative
impact of change by the employees etc. Basically, change is not any problem. The actual
problem is resistance to change. So, the issue of resistance to change must be managed by the
organizations with the implementation of proper change management program. Resistance in the
organizations happens when the employees do not feel comfortable with the new changes or they
are feeling some king of pressure due to the changes. So, it is crucial for the managers to
understand the need and requirement for implementing the change according to the employees
(Smith, 2015).

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Resistance as a problem
Change is a crucial process for every organization. If an organization wants to achieve
high level of success in the operation market, change is essential. The change can be
implemented in many operations i.e. change in business operations, change in the business
strategy, and change in vision or mission of the business etc. But it is understood that the process
of implementing change is not an easy task. Employees do resistance to the change. Main cause
of resistance in the organization is that they are afraid of certain things like how the change
would affect on their performance, their working relationship with others and many other job
related things. Sometimes, psychological resistance also can takes place by the employees (Mar,
2013). There are some reasons of resistance that can take place within the organization:
 Sometimes, the reason of resistance is uncertainty as people want to avoid some uncertain
things in their job role. All the past things are well known for them and in such case, they
become afraid of adopting new things.
 One of the main reasons of resistance is disturbance in their routine life. It is well known
that every person has some habitual routines and patterns in their life so; it is not easy to
change of the employees with the new routine. So, they move towards resistance to
change (Hjorth & Daniel, 2005).
 Employees sometimes are not sure about the new strategies so they resist exchanging the
old and familiar strategies with the new strategy. Sometimes, they do not have proper
knowledge about the new strategies and in such case, they move to resistance.
 Sometimes, employees can feel pressure due to the change in the organization. When the
employees face some difficulties in achieving the business objectives and goals then they
move towards resistance to change (Rick, 2013).
In the organization, small amount of resistance is acceptable for the business operations, but
high level of resistance is not acceptable in the organization as it impacts on the success and
growth in the operating market. Resistance can be serious problem when it moves over the set
lines and creates negative impact on the organizational process and the employees. So, it is
important to manage the resistance in timely manner otherwise it would be difficult for the
organization to manage the business operations with the employee resistance. The cause of
resistance can be decreased efficiency, lower mortality among employees, and depressive

Resistance to change 5
working environment. Due to these issues, there can be conflicts among the employees within
the organization. In such manner, there is the need to develop an effective strategy to deal with
the issue of resistance to change. Managers need to communicate with the employees to
understand their thoughts and viewpoints so that exact problems and issues of the employees can
be identified effectively. For the managers, it is important to manage the change without
resistance as it can be a serious issue for business operations in future. By the facilitation,
communication, support, co-operations or manipulation, managers would be able to deal with the
issue of resistance (Thomas & Hardy, 2011).
Relationship between power and resistance
It is understood that change is an important part for the organizational growth. to stay
competitive in the operating market, organizations have to adopt some innovative strategies to
lead success in the business. By adopting effective strategies, organization would be able to deal
with the challenges during the implementation of change. Because of resistance, the change
process can be delayed. So, it is crucial for the organizations how to manage the resistance to
change. There is the significant relationship between power and resistance. Power is considered
as the important element to manage the resistance to change (Leming and Spicer, 2006).
The term ‘power’ can be described as the process that impact on thoughts, viewpoints,
behavior and opinions of employees by respecting their desires. The term ‘power’ is expected to
have among the managers to deal with the resistance in the organization. Managers can use
power to gather important information by which impact of resistance can be reduced in the
business practices. Resistance can be the problematic for the managers and organizations and
they need to tackle this issue with their capability and understanding. According to various
researches, power has the ability change the assumption or perception of someone for some
process. If the term ‘power’ is used effectively by the managers, the impact of resistance can be
reduced at some level (Erkama, 2010).
Ethics for managerial and resistant position
It is well known that change is an ongoing process and organizations are continuously
adopting the change process to achieve competitive advantage in the market. For managing
resistance to change, ethics and ethical responsibilities of the managers are the crucial part in the

Resistance to change 6
change management process. There are ethical codes of conducts which have to be fulfilled by
the change managers during the change process. They basically ensure the satisfaction level of
employees during the implementation of change. Further, change managers also have
responsibilities in terms of managing change within the organization. There are some ethical
issues that lead to resistance while implementing change (Ka¨rreman & Alvesson, 2009).
 One of the ethical issues is self-gain. This issue occurs when the manager or any
powerful person take advantage of his position for their personal benefit during the
change. To deal with this, organizations need to define the ethical conducts for the
employees and their knowledge.
 Further, social impact is another ethical issue that organizations have to face while
executing the change. For example, in some case, raw materials and labors are cheaper
and an organization would save many resources but the social impact might be failed as
the employees are not motivated.
To deal with the ethical issues, managers have some duties and responsibilities to manage the
change within the organization. Managers in the organization have significant position which
makes them accountable for the ethical conducts in the business operations. They have to
analyze the behavior and attitude of the employees i.e. their behavior is appropriate for the
organization or not. Along with this, managers are accountable to reduce the unethical behaviors
that have negative impact on the business activities. Further, managers are also responsible for
the effective change process along with the ethical conducts so that the organizational goals and
objectives can be achieved easily (Stemwedel, 2014).
Managerial implications for managerial position
Change management is an integral part of the change process in any organization.
Change management process is performed and implemented the change managers for the success
of the organization. Change management basically include managing resistance and focusing on
the achievement of organizational objectives and goals. For the successful change management
process, managers have to focus on some rational views while performing the change process
within the organization. The process of change is an important activity to reduce the impact of
resistance to change. There must be proper decision making process in the change management.

Resistance to change 7
On the other hand, it must be noted that implementation of change is a difficult process also so; it
needs proper and sufficient resources for the effective change management plan (Kreinen,
Hollensbe & Sheep, 2006). With the rational view of change management, managers must gather
proper information related to the decision problem so that the set goals and objectives can be
achieved easily by the managers. If the managers adopt effective decision making process then
organization would be able to achieve success in the competitive market. There are some steps
which can be adopted by the managers in the change management process for implementing
effective change (Hersey & Blanchard, 2012). Those steps are as follows:
 Identifying and analyzing issues and problem in the organization,
 Finding alternative of the problem,
 Understanding the options for the problem,
 Selection most appropriate option,
 Implementing the solution, and
 Evaluation of the success of the change management plan (McKay et al, 2012)
By adopting above described process, organization would be able to understand the thoughts,
view points and the problem which they are facing during their job role. Along with this, by
adopting these steps in the change management plan, managers would be able to minimize the
negative impact of resistance to change on the business activities.
Conclusion of overall part
This essay focuses on the problem of resistance within the organization while the
managers are implementing the change for the profit of business. Based on the above discussion,
it is observed that the process of resistance is problematic for the organizations. The success of
the organizations depends upon the satisfaction level of the employees. It is analyzed that
resistance can be the cause of conflicts among the employees and reduce their efficiency in the
business activities. To deal with the problem of resistance, organizations must find out effective
and innovative ways so that the change management plan can be implemented significantly. It is
well known that change is an ongoing process which is crucial for the business operations. Foe
managing resistance to change, ethics is important part of the organization. By understanding the
ethical responsibilities, managers would be able to achieve success. Further, it is also observed

Resistance to change 8
that managers have responsibility to encourage the employees who are facing problem during the
implementation of change. Change management is an important activity to stay competitive in
the operating market so it requires decision making process by the managers. It basically
involves the evaluation of the actual problem the employees are facing and potential solution for
implementing the change successfully. In conclusion, it is analyzed that for leading change
successfully, organizations need to identify the actual reason of resistance why it is problematic
so that the impact of this problem can be minimized. Further, managers must adopt some
business ethics during the change process to ensure that employees are satisfied with the
implemented change or not because employees are backbone of the organization. So, they must
be satisfied with their job role.

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References
Erkama, N. (2010). Power and resistance in a multinational organization: Scandinavian Journal
of Management. 26. pp 151-165.
Jabri, (2012). Understanding and managing organizational resistance. pp. 219-236.
Ka¨rreman, D., & Alvesson, M. (2009). Resisting resistance: Counter resistance, consent and
compliance in a consultancy firm: Human Relations, 62(8), 1115—1144.
Mar, A., (2013). Why Resistance to Change is a Big Problem. Retrieved on 7th October 2017
from http://management.simplicable.com/management/new/why-resistance-to-change-is-
a-big-problem
McKay, J., Marshall, P., Grainger, N., & Hirschheim, R., (2012). Change Implementers’
Resistance: Considering Power and Resistance in IT Implementation Projects: Change
Implementer’s Resistance. Retrieved on 7th October 2017 from
https://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30049124/mckay-changeimplementers-2012.pdf
Rick, T., (2013). CHANGE IS NOT THE PROBLEM – RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IS THE
PROBLEM. . Retrieved on 7th October 2017 from
https://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/change-is-not-the-problem-
resistance-to-change-is-the-problem/
Stemwedel, J. D., (2014). Resistance to ethics is different from resistance to other required
courses. Retrieved on 7th October 2017 from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/doing-
good-science/resistance-to-ethics-is-different-from-resistance-to-other-required-courses/
Thomas, R. & Hardy, C. (2011). Reframing resistance to organisational change. Scandinavian
Journal of Management. 27 pp. 322-331
Hersey, P. & Blanchard, K. (2012). Management of organizational behavior. Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Smith,C., (2015). 5 Barriers to Change Management and How to Easily Overcome Them,
retrieved on 7th October 2017 from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-barriers-change-
management-how-easily-overcome-them-smith
Hjorth, & Daniel (2005). ‘Organizational Entrepreneurship: with de Certeau on Creating
Heterotopias (or spaces for play)’: Journal of Management Inquiry. 14(4). 386- 398.
Kreinen, G. E., Hollensbe, E. C., & Sheep, M. L. (2006). On the edge of identity: Boundary
dynamics at the interface of individual and organizational identities. Human Relations.
59(10). 1315—1341.

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Leming and Spicer (2006). The faces of power in organisations. In Contesting the corporation:
Struggle, power and resistance in organizations. Cambridge University Press. Chapter