LEAD 707

1. © Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

2. Chapter 11
The Nature, Impact and
Management of Attitudes towards
Change
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

3. Learning Outcomes
• Discuss how individuals react to change
• Explore resistance to change
• Identify what can be done to reduce opposition to change
• Identify key stakeholders in the change process
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

4. ‘No change will work if employees don’t help
in the effort … Any organisation that believes
change can take hold without considering
how people will react to it is in deep delusion’
(Jick & Peiperl, 2003)
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

5. People and Change
• The hard stuff’s the easy stuff.
• The soft stuff’s the hard stuff.
• Organizational change is 90% a people
deal
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

6. Defining Resistance
‘An action or intentional inaction that
defies, opposes, or sidesteps the rules,
roles, or routines of the organization.’
(Brower and Abolafia, 1995: 151)
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

7. Organisational factors from which
resistance can result
– Substantive change in job
– Reduction in economic security or job displacement
– Psychological threat
– Disruption of social arrangements, and lowering of
status
(Dawson, 2003)
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

8. How to overcome resistance to change
Schlesinger & Kotter (1979)
• Education & commitment
• Participation & involvement
• Facilitation & support counselling
• Negotiation & agreement
• Manipulation & co-operation
• Implicit & explicit coercion
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

9. Discussion
• What are the tangible and intangible
manifestations of resistance to change in
organisations?
• Why is resistance to change problematic for
those managing change?
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

10. Critical perspective
• Resistance may help to stabilise an organisation
(De Wit & Meyer, 2004)
• Resistance is an important and integral element
of the organisational politics of change
(Watson, 2002)
• There may be benefit in terms of thinking about
responses to change rather than about resistance
(Piderit, 2000)
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

11. Morale/performance
Time
Loss of focus/ Shock
Temporary Euphoria/Denial
Resignation
Testing
Acceptance
Anger
Letting Go
Commitment
Exit
Emotional Response to Change
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

12. Some typical behaviours
Willingness
tochange
Ability to Change
CAN'T & WILL
CAN’T & WON’T
CAN & WILL
CAN & WON’T
 Recognizes importance of change
 Actively supports the change
 Believes in the change as a good thing without
necessarily seeing the big picture
 Doesn't have the skills / behaviors required for the
'new world' (e.g. coaching, empowering, process
improvement focus, teamworking)
 Sees change as a process not an event
 Focuses on end goals and means to achieve
 Recognizes how change will impact on the bottom line
 Active enthusiast for the change; enthuses others
 Role model for new skills and behaviors
 Does not recognize the need to change
 Shows no support for the change Does not want to
change (e.g. overprotective of self / empire / old
ways of working)
 Doesn't have the skills / behaviours required for the
'new world'
 Strives for success at expense of new behaviours
 Focuses on ends at expense of means
 Shows no support for the change
 Understands the need but is embarrassed to change
 Understands the need but disagrees with extent or process of
change
 Possesses new skills but won't use them
 Won’t change due to peer pressure
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

13. Willingness
to change
Ability to Change
 Coach
 Train
 Involve
 Delegate
 Empower to lead
aspects of the change
 Counsel & Coach
 Train & Involve
 Align / Sell the benefits
 Tell / Discipline
 Fire / Replace
 Counsel
 Involve
 Align / Sell the benefits
 Negotiate
 Fire / Replace
CAN'T & WON’T CAN & WON’T
CAN'T & WILL CAN & WILL
Possible responses
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

14. Hilltops
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

15. Questions to discuss
• Why do people struggle with change?
• How can you (as leaders) work with people to
minimize the disruption caused by change and
make it stick
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

16. Stakeholder Management
• In order to ensure the successful introduction
of change it is essential that change leaders
secure the assistance of powerful stakeholders
and build a critical mass of support for the
change.
• Stakeholders are any individuals or groups
who can affect or are affected by a change
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

17. Stakeholder Management
• In order to ensure the successful introduction of change it is
essential that change leaders secure the assistance of powerful
stakeholders and build a critical mass of support for the change.
• Stakeholders are any individuals or groups who can affect or are
affected by a change.
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

18. Stakeholder Mapping: Power / Interest matrix
Level of interest
Power
Low High
High
Minimal effort Keep informed
Keep satisfied Key players
A B
C D
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

19. Group Activity
• Break into small groups. Consider changes your organizations have faced in recent
years.
– Who were the key stakeholders?
– Which stakeholders exhibited the most / least influence?
– Who was / were the main agents for change?
– What were their main strengths?
• Report back to the class.
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

20. • Recognise that there will often be a time
• lag between the announcement of a
change
• and an emotional reaction to it:
• Different individuals or groups will
progress
• through the cycle at different rates and in
• different ways.
• Change managers need to beware of
getting out
• of phase with their staff.
Implications for managers
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

21. Summary
• Individuals will react in different ways to change depending on factors such
motivation, empowerment, participation.
• Stakeholder management helps deal with stakeholder expectations and
reactions.
• Managers and leaders need to consider reactions to change rather than resistance.
• Understand what people are seeing from their hilltop.
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill

22. References
Brower, R. S., & Abolafia, M. Y. (1995). The structural embeddedness of resistance among public
managers. Group & Organization Management, 20(2), 149-166.
Dawson, P. (2003) Understanding Organizational Change: The Contemporary Experience of People at
Work. London: Sage.
De Wit, B. and Meyer, R. (2004) Strategy: Process, Content and Context. London: Thomson Learning.
Jick, T.D. and Peiperl, M.A. (2003) Managing Change: Cases and Concepts. New York, NY: McGraw-
Hill/Irwin.
Piderit, S.K. (2000) ‘Rethinking resistance and recognizing ambivalence: A multidimensional view of
attitudes toward and organizational change’, Academy of Management Review, 25(4): 783–94.
Watson, T. (2002) Organising and Managing Work. Harlow, FT/Prentice Hall.
© Julie Hodges and Roger Gill