Why do individuals and organisations tend to resist change?

Authors Avatar

Khashim Hussain        0902896                 Leadership and Management

Why do individuals and organisations tend to resist change?

Introduction:

 One of the most important factors of any given company maintaining/increasing business is how they manage and adapt to changes. This could be changes in technological factors, changes in business operations, economic changes etc...Every organisation has to manage their changes which ultimately effect’s the structure of the organisation. There are numerous reasons to why organisation’s and individual’s resist change. It is essential an organisation implements change effectively. The approach and manner in which a company tackles change will depend on the size and nature of the organisation.

Managing Change:

Every business will have their methods and approaches to managing change within the business environment. Depending on what the change is and the type of company will result in the way change is managed. For example a major company like Woolworths which went bust during the current recession did not respond well to the recession. They did not make any changes to their organisation which was effective in dealing with the recession. But take another organisation such as Marks&Spencer which has actually grown during the current recession, they implemented changes and managed changes effectively throughout their whole business environment. This has lead to them becoming a stronger brand and growing their business in terms of size and profitability.

Why does Organisation’s Need Change:

Organisations are changing rapidly every day, the way in which organisations were run a decade ago is not the same as today. For example McDonalds a fast food giant is a very successful international organisation and they have stayed successful over the years due to them managing change effectively. One of the major factors concerning the fast food giant is ‘healthy eating’ and McDonalds have tackled this effectively as they have proved still to be an increasingly profitable company. They have introduced healthy foods in their menus and have invested money in healthy eating.

Due to the current economic recession every organisation has become increasingly conscious about managing their costs effectively and keeping costs to a minimum. This has meant that organisations are reluctant to overstaff their company and are spending less in areas which they think are less important.

Join now!

Reasons for Resistance:

Individuals and organisations as a whole will always resist change due to a number of varying factors.

Complexity: As an organisation it can be a very complex process in effectively managing change and implementing change. For example if an organisation had to implement changes in their daily business operation’s which they have been using for a number of years it can be very difficult. The company will have to strategically manage their manpower to suit the new changes in their business operations. Managing their manpower could mean increasing or decreasing the number of employees or even ...

This is a preview of the whole essay