Conflict & Resolution

Importance of Anticipating the Need for Change

Today , change is an inevitable part of everyday business operations (Chapman , 2005 . Thus , organizations need to prepare themselves for the changes that will affect them . Thriving organizations of today will not be successful if they are not continuously anticipating and managing economic , technological , political , social , market , and competitive intensity changes (Chonko et al , 2004 . Causes of economic change include globalization of markets and changes in value of currency and tariffs . Technological change , on the other hand , involves the developments in information technology . Changes in governmental

policy such as taxes and trade are examples of changes in the political environment . Meanwhile , examples of social change include increasing environmental concerns and changes in population demographics . A company must also be wary of market change which involves the changes in the constitution of customers and their needs and preferences . Competitive intensity changes as well . An example of this includes the introduction of new products or services by competitors . All of the changes mentioned in the text may directly or indirectly affect the company . Regardless of the extensiveness of their effect , a company needs to adjust the company structure , policies , culture , and /or business strategies accordingly (Hutchison 2001 cited in Chonko et al , 2004 . The organizational changes must be effectively implemented and welcomed with little or no resistance by employees in to survive

Employee 's Resistance to Change

In her article , Reynolds (2005 ) provided several reasons why employees resist change despite its inevitability . One of the reasons could be attributed to the employees ' lack of understanding why organizational changes will take place . This occurs when the reason for the change is not fully and /or honestly explained by the leaders of the company . The change may also be resisted when it appear inconsistent with or in contrast to the goals previously declared by the company . It also occurs when it is perceived as a threat to the progress or income of employees Change is also defied by employees when they are de-motivated or discouraged to work caused by feeling burned out , overworked , and underappreciated

Manifestation of resistance to change in employees may be observed when their level of anxiety increases . However , this is hard to detect . The presence of resistance to change among employees is often discreetly or passively displayed . For instance , on the outside , the employees seem to approve of the changes but other forces , motivations , doubts , and anxieties lie within themselves (Chapman , 2005 . To reduce employee resistance to change , Chapman (2005 ) suggested some simple ways . The first thing that the leaders have to do is to understand the resistance as a real , physiological reaction (Chapman , 2005 . Then the leaders must focus on minimizing the negative emotions while promoting positive ones and maximizing the opportunities that the organizational change will bring for the employees . To achieve this , the company must involve the employees in the process of change . For instance , the leaders may conduct a working session where all the relevant work issues and possible...