Resistance to Change phenomenon as a positive force for organisations Essay - 1

Resistance to Change phenomenon as a positive force for organisations - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that change is pervasive in every organization with the current economy, and it happens continuously at a rapid speed. On the other hand, resistance remains an inevitable response to any major change, and people naturally rush to defend their status quo especially during compromising status or security threats. According to Tanachart and Islam, organizational change can create cynicism and resistance in employees, which may sometimes make it difficult to implement organizational change. Nieuwenhuizen et al. define resistance as an action proposed to defend a person from the effects of change. The competition is quite high making change inevitable hence the need for every organization to manage change. Researchers argue that the employees will resist change despite its benefits to them and the organization. However, change resistance is the last thing that management would like during any changing process although theorists argue that it is helpful. Change is here to stay and any company, according to Hill and Jones without change risks a competition that could drive them out of business and possible closure. In any organizational structure, change comes from above, and therefore managers should possess a change management skill. Unfortunately, most employees do not respond positively to change, and that calls for managers to understand why they resist the change. Robert Kennedy once quoted that 20% of the people resist change. No matter the effectiveness of a leader, the change efforts will always face challenge or sabotage. For this reason, organizational change does not come easy, and two-thirds of organizational changes fail. Therefore, it is important for an organization to expect resistance and plan for it before commencing the change. This expectation will help the organization to prepare for the worst and apply change management skills in handling the resistance. Campbell emphasizes the need for managers to pos sess change management skills for the sake of handling resistance. Hill and Jones argue that the greatest significance of a change in any organization is that it presents conceptual scaffolding for people, the process, and the organization implementing change.