Common Threats to an Organization
What do you understand by threats to an organization? Threats refer to negative influences which not only hamper the productivity of an organization but also bring a bad name to it. Let us go through common threats faced by an organization. One of the most common threats faced by organization is employees with a negative […]
Organizational Learning and Change Management
Over a past few decades the concept of “Organizational Learning” has acquired increasing importance, due to rapid changes in the business environment and increasing competition. An extensive review of the Literature stresses on the fact that the organizations which build their learning capabilities can enjoy a leadership edge in the competition, can remain innovative and […]
Benefits of Reinsurance
The concept of reinsurance is fairly simple. When a person takes on insurance, they transfer their risks to the insurance company. The insurance company sells the same contract to many people to create a pool of money. Since all the people are not likely to face an adverse event at the same time, insurance companies […]
The Need for Certainty and Control over the Future in Decision Making
Decision Making in the Past and Decision Making in the 21st Century Decision-making is a process that involves responding to short term and immediate term events and incidents as well as strategizing for the longer term with plans that are more sustainable and durable. This mix of reactive decision making in response to changing threats […]
Between Two Paradigms: The Changing Role of Management
From the Smokestack Era to the Digital Era The role of management has changed over the decades as the paradigm shift from manufacturing to services and then to the emerging view of organizations as a holistic whole interacting with its environment in a symbiotic manner. This paradigm shift has engineered and engendered a corresponding shift […]
There are different kinds of change that an organization might undertake or be forced to undertake because of internal and external factors.
The internal factors for change include reorganization and restructuring to meet the challenges of the future and also to act proactively to initiate change as a means of staying ahead of the competition.
The external factors include change that is forced upon the organization because of falling revenues, changing market conditions and the need to adapt to the ever changing business landscape.
Change can be organic which means that it evolves slowly and is like meandering up the gentle slope of a mountain. In this case, the organization and the management have enough time to prepare for change and reorient themselves accordingly. This is the kind of change that is adaptive meaning that firms have the opportunity to adapt themselves to the change.
Change can be radical which is rapid, sudden and uncertain. This is the kind of change that is disruptive and often forces organizations to reorient themselves without adequate notice and warning. It is better for organizations to anticipate change rather than be forced into accepting change that is rapid and sudden.
We have seen how managers at different levels resist change and how this resistance manifests itself. Apart from the ideological and personality issues, there is the very real possibility of change being resisted because the “visibility” of what comes next is not clear.
For instance, many managers tend to resist change because the change initiators have not clearly spelt out the outcomes of the changes and the possible impacts that such changes have on the organization. This is the realm of the “Known Unknowns” and the “Unknown Unknowns” which arise because of ambiguity, complexity and uncertainty.
Hence, the resistance to change can come about due to the lack of coherence in the vision and mission and because the change is not clearly communicated as well.
Finally, the rapidity with which change is introduced can upset the organization structures that are usually rigid and bureaucratic with bean counters at all levels resisting and actively thwarting change.
Hence, it needs to be remembered that change initiators take into account all these factors when introducing changes. The possible approaches in dealing with these resistances would be discussed in the next section.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
How Relevant is the Corporate Planning Function in the Digital Age of Agile Organizations
February 12, 2025
Contingency Model of Change Management: Dunphy and Stace’s Model of Change
February 12, 2025
