Question:
Discuss about the Relationship Between Power And Resistance.
This essay is basically talking about the significance of change within an organization along with the problem of resistance to manage the organizational activities. This essay basically discuses about the relationship between power and resistance while implementing g the change within the organization. Further, ethical issues and managerial implications in change process are also discussed. Objective of this essay is to focus on the process of change management with the topic ‘resistance to change’. This essay describes the role of change process within the organization. Along with this, essay is also focused on the main reason of the resistance to change. There are many researchers who have provided their viewpoints on the resistance i.e. resistance to change is very time consuming and costly process which can impact and delay the process of change implementation in the organization. Along with this, there is one more assumption that resistance to change in the organization can be significantly used as the learning point by the managers and leaders to develop in the business (Jabri, 2012).
Change process within the organization can be described as the movement from present state to future state for making or doing something different within the organization. The organizational change basically includes significant planning to present stage to future stage. Change can be implemented in various functions of the organization i.e. mission, technological changes, operational changes, change in the behavior or change in the working style of the employees etc. Resistance to change takes place when employees are unable to understand the cause of change in the organization. There can be various reasons for the resistance of the change in the business process i.e. dislike of change, lack of clarity about the change, perceived negative impact of change by the employees etc. Basically, change is not any problem. The actual problem is resistance to change. So, the issue of resistance to change must be managed by the organizations with the implementation of proper change management program. Resistance in the organizations happens when the employees do not feel comfortable with the new changes or they are feeling some king of pressure due to the changes. So, it is crucial for the managers to understand the need and requirement for implementing the change according to the employees (Smith, 2015).
Change is a crucial process for every organization. If an organization wants to achieve high level of success in the operation market, change is essential. The change can be implemented in many operations i.e. change in business operations, change in the business strategy, and change in vision or mission of the business etc. But it is understood that the process of implementing change is not an easy task. Employees do resistance to the change. Main cause of resistance in the organization is that they are afraid of certain things like how the change would affect on their performance, their working relationship with others and many other job related things. Sometimes, psychological resistance also can takes place by the employees (Mar, 2013). There are some reasons of resistance that can take place within the organization:
In the organization, small amount of resistance is acceptable for the business operations, but high level of resistance is not acceptable in the organization as it impacts on the success and growth in the operating market. Resistance can be serious problem when it moves over the set lines and creates negative impact on the organizational process and the employees. So, it is important to manage the resistance in timely manner otherwise it would be difficult for the organization to manage the business operations with the employee resistance. The cause of resistance can be decreased efficiency, lower mortality among employees, and depressive working environment. Due to these issues, there can be conflicts among the employees within the organization. In such manner, there is the need to develop an effective strategy to deal with the issue of resistance to change. Managers need to communicate with the employees to understand their thoughts and viewpoints so that exact problems and issues of the employees can be identified effectively. For the managers, it is important to manage the change without resistance as it can be a serious issue for business operations in future. By the facilitation, communication, support, co-operations or manipulation, managers would be able to deal with the issue of resistance (Thomas & Hardy, 2011).
It is understood that change is an important part for the organizational growth. to stay competitive in the operating market, organizations have to adopt some innovative strategies to lead success in the business. By adopting effective strategies, organization would be able to deal with the challenges during the implementation of change. Because of resistance, the change process can be delayed. So, it is crucial for the organizations how to manage the resistance to change. There is the significant relationship between power and resistance. Power is considered as the important element to manage the resistance to change (Leming and Spicer, 2006).
The term ‘power’ can be described as the process that impact on thoughts, viewpoints, behavior and opinions of employees by respecting their desires. The term ‘power’ is expected to have among the managers to deal with the resistance in the organization. Managers can use power to gather important information by which impact of resistance can be reduced in the business practices. Resistance can be the problematic for the managers and organizations and they need to tackle this issue with their capability and understanding. According to various researches, power has the ability change the assumption or perception of someone for some process. If the term ‘power’ is used effectively by the managers, the impact of resistance can be reduced at some level (Erkama, 2010).
It is well known that change is an ongoing process and organizations are continuously adopting the change process to achieve competitive advantage in the market. For managing resistance to change, ethics and ethical responsibilities of the managers are the crucial part in the change management process. There are ethical codes of conducts which have to be fulfilled by the change managers during the change process. They basically ensure the satisfaction level of employees during the implementation of change. Further, change managers also have responsibilities in terms of managing change within the organization. There are some ethical issues that lead to resistance while implementing change (Ka¨rreman & Alvesson, 2009).
To deal with the ethical issues, managers have some duties and responsibilities to manage the change within the organization. Managers in the organization have significant position which makes them accountable for the ethical conducts in the business operations. They have to analyze the behavior and attitude of the employees i.e. their behavior is appropriate for the organization or not. Along with this, managers are accountable to reduce the unethical behaviors that have negative impact on the business activities. Further, managers are also responsible for the effective change process along with the ethical conducts so that the organizational goals and objectives can be achieved easily (Stemwedel, 2014).
Change management is an integral part of the change process in any organization. Change management process is performed and implemented the change managers for the success of the organization. Change management basically include managing resistance and focusing on the achievement of organizational objectives and goals. For the successful change management process, managers have to focus on some rational views while performing the change process within the organization. The process of change is an important activity to reduce the impact of resistance to change. There must be proper decision making process in the change management. On the other hand, it must be noted that implementation of change is a difficult process also so; it needs proper and sufficient resources for the effective change management plan (Kreinen, Hollensbe & Sheep, 2006). With the rational view of change management, managers must gather proper information related to the decision problem so that the set goals and objectives can be achieved easily by the managers. If the managers adopt effective decision making process then organization would be able to achieve success in the competitive market. There are some steps which can be adopted by the managers in the change management process for implementing effective change (Hersey & Blanchard, 2012). Those steps are as follows:
By adopting above described process, organization would be able to understand the thoughts, view points and the problem which they are facing during their job role. Along with this, by adopting these steps in the change management plan, managers would be able to minimize the negative impact of resistance to change on the business activities.
Conclusion
This essay focuses on the problem of resistance within the organization while the managers are implementing the change for the profit of business. Based on the above discussion, it is observed that the process of resistance is problematic for the organizations. The success of the organizations depends upon the satisfaction level of the employees. It is analyzed that resistance can be the cause of conflicts among the employees and reduce their efficiency in the business activities. To deal with the problem of resistance, organizations must find out effective and innovative ways so that the change management plan can be implemented significantly. It is well known that change is an ongoing process which is crucial for the business operations. Foe managing resistance to change, ethics is important part of the organization. By understanding the ethical responsibilities, managers would be able to achieve success. Further, it is also observed that managers have responsibility to encourage the employees who are facing problem during the implementation of change. Change management is an important activity to stay competitive in the operating market so it requires decision making process by the managers. It basically involves the evaluation of the actual problem the employees are facing and potential solution for implementing the change successfully. In conclusion, it is analyzed that for leading change successfully, organizations need to identify the actual reason of resistance why it is problematic so that the impact of this problem can be minimized. Further, managers must adopt some business ethics during the change process to ensure that employees are satisfied with the implemented change or not because employees are backbone of the organization. So, they must be satisfied with their job role.
References
Erkama, N. (2010). Power and resistance in a multinational organization: Scandinavian Journal of Management. 26. pp 151-165.
Jabri, (2012). Understanding and managing organizational resistance. pp. 219-236.
Ka¨rreman, D., & Alvesson, M. (2009). Resisting resistance: Counter resistance, consent and compliance in a consultancy firm: Human Relations, 62(8), 1115—1144.
Mar, A., (2013). Why Resistance to Change is a Big Problem. Retrieved on 7th October 2017 from https://management.simplicable.com/management/new/why-resistance-to-change-is-a-big-problem
McKay, J., Marshall, P., Grainger, N., & Hirschheim, R., (2012). Change Implementers’ Resistance: Considering Power and Resistance in IT Implementation Projects: Change Implementer’s Resistance. Retrieved on 7th October 2017 from https://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30049124/mckay-changeimplementers-2012.pdf
Rick, T., (2013). CHANGE IS NOT THE PROBLEM – RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IS THE PROBLEM. . Retrieved on 7th October 2017 from https://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/change-is-not-the-problem-resistance-to-change-is-the-problem/
Stemwedel, J. D., (2014). Resistance to ethics is different from resistance to other required courses. Retrieved on 7th October 2017 from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/doing-good-science/resistance-to-ethics-is-different-from-resistance-to-other-required-courses/
Thomas, R. & Hardy, C. (2011). Reframing resistance to organisational change. Scandinavian Journal of Management. 27 pp. 322-331
Hersey, P. & Blanchard, K. (2012). Management of organizational behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Smith,C., (2015). 5 Barriers to Change Management and How to Easily Overcome Them, retrieved on 7th October 2017 from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-barriers-change-management-how-easily-overcome-them-smith
Hjorth, & Daniel (2005). ‘Organizational Entrepreneurship: with de Certeau on Creating Heterotopias (or spaces for play)’: Journal of Management Inquiry. 14(4). 386- 398.
Kreinen, G. E., Hollensbe, E. C., & Sheep, M. L. (2006). On the edge of identity: Boundary dynamics at the interface of individual and organizational identities. Human Relations. 59(10). 1315—1341.
Leming and Spicer (2006). The faces of power in organisations. In Contesting the corporation: Struggle, power and resistance in organizations. Cambridge University Press. Chapter
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