Research on resistance to change as an obstacle to productivity

¶ … Human Resource Executives:

Understanding the dynamics of change has become increasingly significant to organizations due to the trend of human resource professionals to step into the role of change leaders. In addition to being considered as either fast or slow, change is usually earnestly approved or stubbornly opposed in many organizations. Currently, the three distinct dynamics of change that researchers have focused on are resistance, readiness and developing and sustaining momentum. The failed attempts at organizational change have always been attributed to the human factors in resistance to change. These factors basically incorporate a series of behaviors from passive resistance to active or even aggressive resistance. While resistance to change is commonly associated with individual resistance, it's believed that this resistance rarely occurs.

With this kind of belief, the barriers to organizational change are always attributed to the structure of the organization, performance appraisal or compensation system that are not in accordance with the desired new behavior (Jansen, n.d). In this case, the observation moves from individuals to the entire organizational system within which the change is taking place. Moreover, the human factors that contribute to resistance to change are those behaviors that are not in line with the attempts of the change agent to create change.

To understand and deal with human factors that result in resistance to change, human resource executives need to employ several strategies. First, these executives need to think beyond resistance in order to address the particular reasons for the resistance like loss of self-efficacy and control. Secondly, these executives should create and promote readiness and momentum in order to influence the change perceptions of individuals. Thirdly, managing the social energy of change is a strategy that enables the executives to move beyond the message and timing of events.

HR Professionals and Change Management Capabilities:

The attempts of human resource professionals to significantly drive organizational change have been inadequate though they have increased their change management capabilities. This is evident from the fact that in multinational companies, one of the major concerns is the ability of human resource professionals to significantly contribute to successful organizational change. The major concern of these professionals in multinational enterprises is what it takes to bring a rational and acceptable strategic human resource change initiative that is corporate-wide while simultaneously allowing different subsidiary development as a source for change.

While they have increased their change management capabilities, the inadequate role of HR professionals to drive organizational change is evident from the fact there have been many incidents of success and failure in the implementation of strategic change programs (Martin & Beaumont, 2001). The processes and models of strategic change that have been adopted by these professionals especially in multinational enterprises have failed to contribute to successful organizational change outcomes. This is largely due to the inability of such processes and models to deliver their expectations and identify the challenges of top-down programs of organizational change. As a result, the implementation of a universal organizational change program in multinational enterprises has continued to be a major concern to both academics and human resource practitioners.