¶ … Coping with Change
In many cases, change is a daunting prospect. Although the world effectively exists in a continuous state of change, alterations to people's daily lives -- particularly as related to their families or to their workplace environments -- can frequently generate resistance from the individuals most affected. Still, there are other times in which change is desired and readily embraced. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze a host of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors that are responsible for producing resistance to change in people, in order to better understand this phenomenon and to ultimately cope with it.
External resistance to change stems from a number of factors, particularly in an organization or workplace environment. One of the most readily identifiable of these is lack of trust in management (Pasubathy, 2010, p. ). Quite simply, there are numerous situations in which people are not consulted about change, and it is suddenly sprang on them. When these people do not trust the underlying reasons that management has effected such a change, they tend to be more resistant to it. Another external factor relates to communication regarding change. If such communication is not sufficient -- if people do not get sufficient notice or the reasons for change and their impact upon people are not relayed lucidly -- individuals are more likely to resist it.
Internal factors for change largely involve psychological reasons. These reasons include emotional factors such as aggression and frustration -- whether directly related to the workplace, its change, or not -- (Bolognese, 2002). Also, employee perception of the reasons for change are considered internal factors that can engender resistance to change. Any sense of ambiguity related to change in the workplace, in which there are aspects of it that are not perfectly clear to employees, can produce resistance to change. Additionally, if change involves personal aspects...
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