...2000 Revised May 2001 Accepted May 2001 Resistance to organisational change: the role of defence mechanisms Wayne H. Bovey Bovey Management (Certified Consultants), Queensland, Australia Andrew Hede University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia Keywords Organizational change, Resistance, Defence, Humour Abstract Observes that the published literature on resistance to organisational change has focused more on organisational issues rather than individual psychological factors. The present study investigated the role of both adaptive and maladaptive defence mechanisms in individual resistance. Surveys were conducted in nine organisations undergoing major change and responses were obtained from 615 employees. The results indicate that five maladaptive defence mechanisms are positively correlated with behavioural intention to resist change, namely, projection, acting out, isolation of affect, dissociation and denial. The adaptive defence mechanism of humour was found to be negatively correlated with resistance intention. Identifies two intervention strategies which can be used by management to address the effects of defence mechanisms on resistance during periods of change in organisations. Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 16 No. 7, 2001, pp. 534-548. # MCB University Press, 0268-3946 Introduction Individuals go through a reaction process when they are personally confronted with major organisational change (Jacobs, 1995; Kyle, 1993). According to Scott...
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...Organisational Change Management Name Institution Course Date Organisational Change Management Introduction Currently, the economic pressures and changing political priorities allow the need for organisational change in the public and private bodies (Bauer, 2008). However, carrying out changes in an organisation is a complex process that can lead to negative and positive outcomes, thus it is important to concentrate on accessible evidence that would make the process effective and efficient. Change is considered a multi-level phenomenon. There is a gap on the literature regarding to management change in administration perceptive. Management literatures provide a number of cases of sectorial and organisational in the public sector (Sminia and Van, 2006). This indicates the relevance of exploring a number of literatures to determine the nature and range of evidence that is based on the change within public sector. This paper establishes an exclusive literature review that will provide evidence related to organisational management change (Fernandez and Rainey, 2006). This paper will explore some examples of organisational change, factors that leads to resistance to change before looking at the psychological contract concept of change. The paper will also set out research on sustainability of change and psychological change theories before concluding by exploring a number of literatures to determine in detail information on management change. Due to the technological development...
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...importance of conversation in organisational change Steve Ryan, 17 Aug 15 INTRODUCTION Change is often forces upon organisations, be it through internal forces (e.g. a change in organisational strategy) or external forces (a change in government legislation or customer demand) (Jabri, 2012, p. 4). No matter the reason, it is important that managers, leaders and change agents are able understand the change process, predict issues and react appropriately. In an effort to further our understanding of organisational change, this paper will discuss how change is relational and, therefore, the product of mundane conversations. In achieving this, the paper will consider the meaning of organisational change, the meaning of conversations and social construction, and the role of conversations within change. In discussing these definitions and examining the role of conversations within organisational change, we will be able to highlight fictions within the change process and identify methods of negating them. UNDERSTANDING ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE The definition of change is one that has been discussed and debated by philosophers throughout the ages. An ancient criterion of change states that an object, x, changes if and only if there are distinct times, t and t’, and property p, such that x has p at t and fails to have p at t’, or vice versa (Lombard, 1978, p. 63). This criterion looks at change in the widest sense. To understand organisational change, we need look deeper...
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...(1.0) Introduction. Managing organisational change one believes is like running a household. There is going to be the members of the family who will resist the change and those who will embrace the change. It is said that managing organisational change involves processes and tools for managing the people within the organisational. It was necessary for Corus to have change management employed as there was the need for becoming more competitive and to reduce or even close the gaps between European competitors and themselves. This deemed to be the main reason behind Corus’s change. However, as you read along one goes in to more debt on organisational change and managing organisational change. (2.1) Why organisations change? When it comes to organizational change there are two main categories by which change transpire. These are internal reasons for change and external reasons for change. (1.1.1) Internal reasons for change. Internal triggers can often be seen as changes in response to influences in the organization’s environment. Table (1) Showing Internal Triggers of Change. Formation or disbandment of a labour union inside the company | Appointment of a new CEO or other top executive | Changing the administrative structures | Job redesign affecting many employees | Factory redesign or office layout | New IT equipment | New marketing strategy | Outsourcing | Layoffs | More resources to research and development department | ...
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...Abstract Resistance to organisational change is seen as one of the impediments to organisational expansion and growth due to its negative repercussions. This study therefore sought to investigate the factors that influence resistance to or- ganisational change at Oti-Yeboah Complex Limited. De- scriptive survey design was adopted to collect information using stratified sampling and self-administered question- naires. Descriptive statistics, bi-variate correlation, regres- sion analysis and t-test were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that less employee participation in deci- sion making and lack of trust in management contributed highly to resistance at Oti-Yeboah Complex Limited. In addition, factors such as lack of motivation, poor chan- nels of communication, and information exchange also contributed to resistance. The study suggests that manage- ment should encourage employee participation in decision making, build confidence, accept constructive criticism, be transparent and communicate clearly the need for change to employees. INTRODUCTION Organisations operate within an increasingly volatile environment and are in a state of constant change. The pressure to change stems from a variety of internal and external sources such as political, economic, social and technological factors (Boojihawon & Segal-Horn, 2006). Leana and Barry (2000) posit that organizational change is aimed at adapting to the environment, improvement...
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...provides examples of faux change and superfluous change. Within this discussion, these areas of change context are considered and evaluated with regard to how they may be identified and resisted. The report also defines and evaluates organisational change and the frameworks within which it may be undertaken. The impact of change is discussed and is followed by an analysis of resistance to change and the factors that may enhance or weaken it. The report then focuses on force field analysis before concluding with the point that although change may be seen as being inevitable, it must be carefully considered and strategically planned and justified before being implemented. Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 1 2.0 What is Organisational Change? 2 2.1 Definitions of organisational change 2 2.2 Frameworks in which organisational change can be undertaken 3 3.0 Faux Change and Superfluous Change 4 3.1 Faux change 4 3.2 Superfluous change 4 3.3 Case study examples 5 4.0 Impact of Change 6 4.1 Organisational culture and change suitability 7 4.2 Resistance to change 8 Conclusion 9 References 9 1.0 Introduction This report is concerned firstly with organisational change and then with the extent to which a change may be necessary and whose interests may be served by a change process. The case study which provides the background and scenario for the report has two examples where change is instigated by an incoming manager but this change is either not necessary...
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...What are the different forms of organisational learning and how can these concepts be useful? Organisations today are faced with a constant change and very turbulent economic environment. Due to fast growing economies and need to survive in such a “hostile” environment organizations are enforced to continuously seek for different approaches on how to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. As Senge (1990) remarks: "The rate at which organizations learn may become the only sustainable source of competitive advantage." Continuous learning in organisations was presented as a requirement and advocated by Argyris and Schon in 1978. “Organisational learning has been viewed as a source of competitive advantage that helps organisations respond to changes in their institutional environments via adopting and diffusing innovations that will contribute towards improving their performance”. (Sisaye and Birnberg, xiii) Pressures from globalization, technology developments, mergers and acquisitions are testing organisations and forcing them to learn how to anticipate and respond to these rapid changes, complexities and most importantly uncertainties that are hard to predict. Schein (1983) argues that there are three levels of organizational learning culture, cognitive, behavioral and artifactual, where: 1. Behavioral learning deals with the capacity of organizational processes, structures and systems to support learning. 1. Cognitive learning opposite to behavioral...
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...Strategies to reduce resistance to change 1. Using Lewin’s Change Model, successful unfreezing can set the stage for change to take place. <INSERT CONTEXT: why is the change needed?> By understanding the need to change, employees become dissatisfied with current practices, hence motivated to change. The organization must always create the motivation to change. This creates favourable predisposition towards change, reducing resistance. 2. From Kotter’s six strategies to overcome resistance to change, education and communication can be utilised. Educating by rationalising the change creates successful unfreezing. <INSERT CONTEXT: why staff is resisting?> Clear communication using accurate information creates accurate perceptions of change outcomes, reducing fear of unknown among employees. Employees must be well informed of the need to change and the rationale behind the changes. 3. From Full Range Leadership Model, transformational leadership can be utilised. Change leaders can create inspirational motivation by establishing attractive vision to attract commitment and create meaning for employees <INSERT CONTEXT: what is the aim of the change?>. This transforms employees to pursue organisational goals and hence adapt themselves to the changes when they see them as contributing to organisational goals. Moreover, research show this style of leadership is able to implement change smoothly. 4. Using Systems Model of Change, change leaders can come up...
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...role of leaders and leadership in serving as effective change agents. Abstract Change has an important place in the study of organizational life. Whether a corporate giant or a small start-up, every organization today faces the challenge to change and adapt, either as a response to the external environment or simply a deliberate internal procedure to re-look at business operations to maintain its viability. Generally, people are usually inclined to defend the status-quo and resist change for a multitude of reasons ranging from a straightforward intellectual disagreement to deep-seated psychological factors. The degree of skepticism and resistance to change from employees make implementation difficult and their counter-productive behaviors tend to jeopardise the success of the change process and thus the intended objectives. Successfully reducing resistance and motivating employees through the transition is vital in organizational change efforts. Salient factors from literature reviews in enabling organizational change are presented and the need of leadership and role of leaders as effective change agents is discussed in this essay. Successful organisational change is about the interplay of all organizational elements such as human resources, systems and technologies. Good leaders and leadership skills have been identified as pivotal to garnering support of people in championing change initiatives that steer organisations to new frontiers...
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...INTRODUCTION 1- Observation and evaluation of organisational behaviour a) Stakeholder’s change b) Managerial and leadership change c) Changing models of organizational behaviour -Various degrees of collegiality -Other models: political and ambiguity d) How do we successfully move forward? 2- Managing change and conflicts / resistance a) Organisation change management b) Resistance to change -Why does resistance occur? -Positive effects of resistance / Using resistance to generate successful changes CONCLUSION Aurélie’s dissertation Intro As my desire to grow as an educational leader continues to expand over time, I have also become more and more interested in the challenge for International education organisations to adapt to the pressure and new demands of our rapidly changing and globalized world. “Contemporary organizations are immersed in a virtual cyclone of change as they strive to adapt to the ever increasing demands of their domestic and global markets” (Chandler, 1994; Morrison, 1981). In International schools, this has naturally generated changing contexts of education. Organizational change is becoming an increasing priority and is quite clearly at the forefront of management concerns. I would like to use this assignment to broaden my understanding of the workings of educational structures in the context of international teaching. I will first attempt to analyze the theory of educational...
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...WEEK 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE Organisational change is an organisation’s response in process to external environmental changes. The pendulum of change: organisations will be at various stages, but desire to be on the OD side Organisational Focus vs. Organisational Transformational Focus OD – planned, long term, internal focus (strengthening the company for the future) (evolutionary) OT – unplanned, short term, reactive, external focus (revolutionary) Planned vs. Unplanned Planned change: an organisation’s ability to anticipate and respond to change (implementing new technologies) Unplanned change: organisations have limited time to respond and anticipate change (emerges as a response to unanticipated threat or event) Evolutionary vs. Revolutionary Evolutionary change: Slow, incremental but stable, change individual parts or departments, improve existing products Revolutionary: Fast, massive and establishes new equilibrium, transform entire organisation, new structure/management, introduce new products (Apple created a new smart phone in response to NOKIA, due to Steve Jobs). 1st order and 2nd order change First Order: incremental/episodic, adjustment in systems, changes maintains & develops Second Order: discontinuous, transformational, radical change that fundamentally alters the organisation (Revolutionary) Type of Organisational Change 1. Tuning: Incremental 1st order) 2. Adaptation: Incremental, reactive 3. Reorientation:...
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...LEADING ORGANISATION CHANGE 1.0 Introduction Organisations can consider as dynamic and complex social systems where changes need to be done as whole within the organisation system. Today, OD is counted on to improve organisations that are operating in a quite different environment than that of the 1960s. The nature and forms of organisations are changing dramatically. The field of organization development requires its own evolution to accommodate the evolution of organisations. 2.0 The Philosophy of Change Management In order to understand change management we need to look it as strategy and strategic management. According to Viljoen (1994) defines strategic management as “the process of identifying, choosing and implementing activities that will enhance the long term performance of an organisation by setting direction and by creating ongoing compatibility between the internal skills and resources of the organisation, and the changing external environment within which it operates. Change Management is the process of aligning an organisation‟s people, processes, and culture with changes in business strategy, structure and systems. It can be reactive or proactive and strategic or operational in nature. “Organization Development is the attempt to influence the members of an organisation to expand their candidness with each other about their view of the organisation and their experience in it, and to take greater responsibility for their own actions as organisation members...
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...Recommendations– Amalgamation of Rural Ambulance Victoria (RAV Case Study Organisational Development & Change Word count 3144 (including references) Review and Recommendations– Amalgamation of Rural Ambulance Victoria (RAV) Organisations facing global pressures and rapidly evolving technology have become key drivers in decisions relating to organisational change. Pressure to remain competitive in a global market has resulted in demand and increases in strategic change initiatives across within organisations. These demands are not limited to private, profit orientated organisations. Government entities are also faced with environmental challenges that create a necessity to adapt through various change management initiatives. Generally more bureaucratic and less malleable than private organisations, change projects are likely to require greater planning and focus to ensure success. Facing some of these difficulties, Rural Ambulance Victoria (RAV) underwent a restructure in 1999 in order to amalgamate six existing rural services into a single provider. Restructuring health care providers is not uncommon in current times as they aim to adopt a patient focused care model through integrating processes, technology, facilities, organisational design and employees (Clarke and Lee 1994). Experts have attempted to provide guidance and sequence to organisational design in healthcare (see Decker et al, 2001; Henderson & Williams 1991) demonstrating...
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...Organisational Change – A literature Review Introduction Organisations are changing faster and the change is inevitable in the modern world. Business leaders have identified that the business growth would be the top priority in the post financial crisis and one of the critical factors for this growth is the capacity for a change of their people. However, it also says that a major drawback for Organisational change would be the inability or limited capability of the leaders to manage the Organisational change (IBM Business Consultancy Services 2004 cited in Karp 2004). Mullins, 2002 also suggests that managing the Organisational change is of paramount important to organisations today. This literature review (during the period 2000 and 2012) examines the organisational change and the purpose is to recognize the OC with the key challengers faced by change leaders whilst identifying the drivers for change. The following issues i.e. that the skills that: 1) a change leader would require to take part in change management programs and to develop new ways of approaching organisational change, 2) directly transfer across various contexts 3) are required for OC, but not evident in the literature are being discussed in detailed in this document. Finally the document shows how the each skill will be used to counter the challenges faced by the leaders and how they would be helpful to drive a change. Skills required to take part in change management programs Emotional...
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...There are many different types of change management interventions that can be used to implement change into an organisation, or in this case, the organisation, ‘Office Tigers’. It is part of the change agent’s role to assess which one will be the most beneficial, taking into account the organisations ‘unique problems (Lee, 2012), environmental forces and workforce’ (Allen & Macklin, 2012, p. 22). This essay will look at three different change management interventions, employee stress and wellness intervention, reward systems intervention and goal setting intervention, and will then assess the strengths and weaknesses of each intervention, taking into account which one will be the best option for addressing some of the problems identified. The goal setting intervention, as the chosen intervention, will then be analysed, addressing what resistance may be expected upon its implementation at Office Tigers, the best way to overcome this resistance, and how to know if it the intervention has been successfully institutionalized into the organisation and as a result, has improved its performance and effectiveness (Cummings & Worley, 2008, p. 161). Analysis of selected interventions Each of the interventions that will be critically analysed are human resources (HR) management interventions. A HR management intervention aims to solve the problems created by HR issues. These issues revolve around ‘attracting competent people to the organisation, setting goals for them, appraising...
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