Introduction:

The organizational development entails the context of theory, research and practice that is dedicated to the expansion of knowledge and the effectiveness of people in accomplishing the successful organizational change and the performance related to the same (Cummings & Worley, 2014). The organizational change happens in an organization faces some problems inside the organizational workplace that affect the ultimate business outcome. To resolve the issues emerged inside the organization, the same requires some change. The human resource management department is the responsible for the implementation of change. The following report is based in a case study that presents the change implementation process with all the resistance related to it. In addition, the report also presents a comparative analysis of the case study with another suggested case study.

Major Sources of Resistance to Change:

It is evident from the case study that the management of the company noticed several factors in the company that resisted the change. The major resistances to the change that are observed in the company are:

1. Reluctance of the employees was the first cause that resisted the change implantation of the company. The employees of the company previously blame other departments for the delays in the process or in some applications. They found out that the change implementation by the replacement of technology would be able to track the process and therefore, they could not be able to blame others henceforth.
2. Confusion and stress from the new system were created in the mind of older employees. They were about their ‘face losing’ the implementation of change as because they have to learn the new technology from someone younger than them. This created reluctance in the older employees that resulted into the resistance to change.

• Role of union played an important role is resisting the change in the organization. The union wanted the management to add a small pay rise for the employees who will be using the technology as because they have to learn it first and use it for the organization. The rejection of the proposal by the management resulted into the nonparticipation of the union for the change implementation.

1. Poor change history is another major source that resisted the change. The organization previously had taken some change implementation, which were however, unfinished. Hence, the employees do not believe in the change.

Strategies for Dealing the Resistance:

The management of the company is to deal with the resistance to change as the highest priority, because the change implementation in the workplace is needed for some specific and inevitable reasons that are affecting the business outcome (Hrebiniak, 2013). Few strategies are suggested here to deal with the resistance to change (Bareil, 2013).

1. Prior preparation for the resistance to change is needed in the management. The employees are accustomed with the current way o working and in most of the cases they tend to not accept the change. This is why the management needs to be prepared for the resistance to change, as this is the most usual and common for the employees to resist the change.
2. Communication is one of the effective strategies that the management needs to follow to manage these resistances from the employees. The management must communicate with the employees and find out the root cause for their resistance (Prosci, 2017). Proper communication can often remove the misunderstanding of the cause. Thus, an effective communication must be conducted by the management.

• Provide acceptable reasons to the employees for acceptance of the change in the company can also be an effective strategy followed by the management. The management must show some motivating and beneficial reasons to the reluctant employees such as incentives (Academlib.com, 2017). This strategy can definitely be effective to the employees unwilling to accept the change.

These primary strategies are suggested to the management of the company for dealing with the resistance of the employees and the unions to change.  

Role of leadership:

The leaders of the organization are the managers of the same. Hence, the management processes are based on the leadership style. The mangers being the leaders of the organization plays vital role in managing any issues in the organization. The role of the management covers a wide range of area. It is also noted that it is the management who faces lot of hazards in playing their role properly.

The role of leadership or management initially focuses on the employee activities and motivates the same in achieving the desired goals. Apart from motivating the employees for the meeting the business objectives, this is also the role of the leaders of the organization manage properly the resistance to change (Hayes, 2014). The leaders of the organization are to help the employees to follow the right path and play the right role in the organizational process and outcomes.

The attitudes and behavior or the leaders of the company also impacts on the employees activities. Therefore, this is the role of the leaders to reflect positive and proper which can influence the employees for accepting the change in the organization (journal-archieves18, 2017). It is the role of the leaders to handle the disrupted situations emerged from the employee resistance wisely. In addition, the functions of the leaders also imply that they should understand the employee perspective as well the management perspective and develop strategies accordingly make the change happen in an unhindered way (Cameron, & Green, 2015). In short, it is the roe of the leader to lead the organization with proper inclusive vision and capabilities to manage the inside issues.

Role of Consultants:

The consultants are the external agents, who manage the change implementation process in an organization by designing strategies for the same. Not is all the cases the change agents are consultants, but for some special cases where the management of the organization are unable to manage the process, the consultants are hired. However, the managers sometimes play the role of the consultants. The role of the consultants includes (Wright, Sturdy & Wylie, 2012):

1. Bringing about the change in the organizational structure
2. Involving himself/herself into the job design for understanding the need for change

• Implementing the change management equipments or system into the job design to resolve the exiting issues

1. Motivating and encouraging the employees for undergoing the training process in order to have the proper implementation of the change
2. Bringing about the modifications in the workplace
3. Playing the role of the leader as well as the mentor for changing the mindset of the employees of the organization in accepting and using the change

However, if I were the consultant for the case I would have added another point into the role of mine as a consultant. I would like to communicate with each employee personally and tried to identify his or her hesitation and cause for resisting the change. I strongly feel that it would b effective in implementing the change.

Conclusion:

However, the conclusion of the report implies that the case study presents a lack of co-operation and understanding between the management and the employees of the organization. The resistance of the employees needs to be handled wisely and intelligently. It is found from the

case that the management accepted the proposal of the unions under the pressure and the high need for change.

References:

5 Tips for Managing Resistance to Change | Prosci. (2017). Prosci.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017, from https://www.prosci.com/change-management/thought-leadership-library/managing-resistance-to-change

Bareil, C. (2013). Two Paradigms about Resistance to Change. Organization Development Journal, 31(3).

Bruch, H., & Sattelberger, T. (2001). Lufthansa’s transformation marathon: Process of liberating and focusing change energy. Human Resource Management, 40(3), 249-259.

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.

Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2014). Organization development and change. Cengage learning.

Hayes, J. (2014). The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Hrebiniak, L. G. (2013). Making strategy work: Leading effective execution and change. FT Press.

journal-archieves18. (2017). Retrieved 14 September 2017, from https://journal-archieves18.webs.com/466-477.pdf

Roles of Change Agent, Role of a Change Agent, Reasons for Resistance to Change, Strategies to Minimize Resistance to Change, Education and Communication, Overcoming Resistance to Change – Perspective management – Academic library – free online college e textbooks. (2017). Academlib.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017, from https://academlib.com/7817/management/roles_change_agent

Wright, C., Sturdy, A., & Wylie, N. (2012). Management innovation through standardization: Consultants as standardizers of organizational practice. Research Policy, 41(3), 652-662.