MSG Team's other articles

9275 Factors affecting Interpersonal Relationship

Interpersonal relationship refers to individuals with similar tastes and mindsets entering into an association. Individuals who share identical goals and interests enter into an interpersonal relationship. It is essential for individuals in a relationship to get along well. Let us go through various factors affecting interpersonal relationship: Compatibility Two individuals in a relationship must be […]

10027 Accelerating out of the Slow Growth Economy: Invest in oneself

Why One Should Invest in Oneself A recurrent theme among the leaders and the potential leaders is about how to succeed in a low and slow growth economy. With job opportunities diminishing and pay hikes being lesser, there is a need for leaders and aspiring leaders to upgrade their skills and be valuable to their […]

11503 Team Building – Meaning, Exercises and its Need

When individuals with similar interest, attitude, and taste come together to work for a common objective, a team is formed. Every individual contributes equally and performs his level best to meet the team targets and achieve the organization’s goal. Team members strive hard to live up to the expectations of others and successfully accomplish the […]

9691 How to Build an Agile Business ?

Constant change is a norm in today’s fast-paced business environment. It’s become important for companies to respond almost immediately, in order to sustain in a business world where: Geographical boundaries are continually diminishing; Technology is rapidly advancing; Customer expectations are ever changing; and The whole world is 24/7 connected. Agility is one of the most […]

9876 Importance of Motivation

Motivation is a very important for an organization because of the following benefits it provides: Puts human resources into action Every concern requires physical, financial and human resources to accomplish the goals. It is through motivation that the human resources can be utilized by making full use of it. This can be done by building […]

Search with tags

  • No tags available.

It is often the case that when change programs are initiated in firms, there is a level of resistance from senior managers due to a number of reasons. These range from protecting their turfs to uncertainties regarding their position after the change is implemented and to ego clashes as well as power politics.

The ways in which they can manifest their resistance to change ranges from citing time pressures and constraints involved in implementing the change, citing operational pressures in bureaucratic and mechanistic organizations where the rigid structure does not lend itself to change and finally, by pointing out earlier instances of change that have failed.

The point to note is that it is human nature to be comfortable with the status quo and hence barriers to organizational change are psychological more than anything else.

In the case of senior managers, the barriers to change arise because they would want to protect their turfs, resist change because it has been initiated by a rival power group and finally, there is a tendency to resist change because the senior managers do not see a role for them after the change is implemented.

It needs to be remembered that while bad strategies result in failed change initiatives, good strategies without proper execution and implementation lead to the same result. Hence, it is not enough to have a good strategy in place if there is no viable means of execution and implementation.

When we discuss about the barriers of change from senior managers, we need to distinguish between the levels of managers. This is necessary as the barrier to change is different at each level.

  • For instance, the front line managers often resist change because they fear for their positions post change. Since these managers are vulnerable to the changes wrought by technology where their positions become obsolete because of automation, the front line managers tend to resist change because of this aspect.

    The front line managers might also be disinterested in the change if it does not impact the day to day workings or the operational issues. This is the case of the “distance” between the change initiators and the operational managers that can result in the change being remote and the front line managers being unconcerned with the change.

  • The middle level managers who form the “sandwich” between the workforce and senior management have a pivotal role to play in change management initiatives as they are the ones who communicate the changes to the workforce and in turn have to report on the success or otherwise of the initiatives to the senior management.

    These middle tier managers often resist change because of inertia and a status quo mentality which makes them impervious to new realities.

    It is a fact that the middle tier managers in bureaucratic or machine structure organizations have a lot from continuing with the status quo because of the tangible and intangible benefits that accrue to them.

  • Finally, and most importantly, the managers in the upper echelons tend to resist change because they have personal fiefdoms that they protect jealously.

    Further, they have big personalities because of which the possibilities of ego clashes among the top management are very real.

    In cases where the change is initiated by one faction, the rival faction tends to oppose such change purely on personality issues alone.

    It is also noteworthy that senior managers and managers at all levels exhibit tendencies that are described in theory as value enhancing or utility maximizing (the so-called “agency problems”) which would make them behave in ways contrary to the interests of the shareholders.

These are some of the characterizations of the levels of managers and their tendencies to resist change.

Article Written by

MSG Team

An insightful writer passionate about sharing expertise, trends, and tips, dedicated to inspiring and informing readers through engaging and thoughtful content.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *