The research register for this journal is available at http://www.mcbup.com/research_registers Journal of
Managerial
Psychology
16,7
534
Received September
2000
Revised May 2001
Accepted May 2001
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com/ft Resistance to organisational change: the role of defence mechanisms Wayne H. Bovey
Bovey Management (Certified Consultants), Queensland, Australia
Andrew Hede
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Keywords Organizationa l change , Resistance, Defence, Humour
Abstract Observes tha t the published literature on resistance to organisational change has focused more on organisational issues rather than individual psychological factors. The present study investigated the role of both adaptive and maladaptive defence mechanisms in individual resistance. Surveys were conducted in nine organisations undergoing major chang e and responses were obtained fro m 615 employees. The results indicat e that five maladaptive defence mechanisms are positively correlated with behavioural intention to resist change , namely, projection, acting out, isolation of affect, dissociation and denial. The adaptive defence mechanism of humour was found to be negatively correlated with resistance intention. Identifie s two intervention strategies which can be used by management to addres s the effects of defence mechanisms on resistance during periods of chang e in organisations.
Journal of Managerial Psychology,
Vol. 16 No. 7, 2001, pp. 534-548.
# MC B University Press, 0268-3946
Introduction
Individuals go through a reaction process when they are personally confronted wit h major organisational change (Jacobs, 1995; Kyle, 1993). According to Scott and Jaffe (1988) this process consists of four phases: initial denial, resistance, gradual exploration, and eventual commitment. Unconscious processes arise as individuals respond to the threats of change (Halton, 1994; O’Connor, 1993).
Individuals unconsciously use well-developed and habitual defence mechanisms to protect themselves from change and from the feelings of anxiety change causes (Oldham and Kleiner, 1990; de Board, 1978). These defences can sometimes obstruct and hinder an individual from adapting to change (Halton, 1994).
Resistance is a natural part of the change process and is to be expected
(Coghlan, 1993; Steinburg, 1992; Zaltman and Duncan, 1977). Resistance occurs because change involves going from the known to the unknown (Coghlan, 1993;
Steinburg, 1992; Myers and Robbins, 1991; Nadler, 1981). Typically, individuals seek a comfortable level of arousal and stimulation and try to maintain that state (Nadler, 1981; Zaltman and Duncan, 1977). Individuals differ in terms of their ability and willingness to adapt to organisational change
(Darling, 1993). This is because individuals experience change in different ways (Carnall, 1986). Some people tend to move through the change process rather quickly, while others may become stuck or experience multiple transitions (Scott and Jaffe, 1988).
The failure of many large-scale corporate change programs can be traced directly to employee resistance (Maurer, 1997; Spiker and Lesser, 1995; Regar et al., 1994; Martin, 1975). A longitudinal study conducted by Waldersee and
Griffiths (1997) of 500 large Australian organisations during 1993 and 1996 revealed that employee resistance was the most frequently cited implementation problem encountered by management when introducing change. Over half the organisations surveyed experienced employee resistance.
These findings raise questions about how effectively the resistance phase is managed when implementing change. Managing employee resistance is a major challenge for the initiators of change, and according to O’Connor (1993) outweighs any other aspect of the change process.
It could be argued that the vast majority of
Related Documents: Defence Mechanism and Organisational Change Essay
Futures 36 (2004) 201–218 www.elsevier.com/locate/futures Wild cards, weak signals and organisational improvisation Sandro Mendonca∗,1, Miguel Pina e Cunha b, Jari Kaivo-oja c, ¸ Frank Ruff d a ˆ ISCTE and Dinamia, Av. das Forcas Armadas 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal ¸ ˆ Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Economia, Rua Marques de Fronteira 20 1099-038 Lisboa, Portugal Finland Futures Research Centre, Turku School of Economics and Business Administration, P.O. Box 110 FIN-20521…
November 2002.) Making whole of government approaches work better for ministers and government is now a key priority for the APS. A vital issue for the APS in delivering quality advice, programs and services is ensuring work is effective across organisational boundaries. Making whole of government approaches work better for ministers and government is now a key priority for the APS. There is a need to…
Quo vadis? Towards an effective predatory pricing provision Garth Campbell* The level of criticism directed at s 46 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) for its inability to capture predatory pricing indicates that smaller businesses are extremely concerned about this practice. Such criticism reached its peak following the High Court’s decision in Boral Besser Masonry Ltd v ACCC (2003) 215 CLR 374, which rejected a claim of predatory pricing. Since then, the Birdsville Amendment and other recent…
Application Of E-Commerce Principles to Business Markets Executive Summary With advances in technology and development, E-Commerce has become the best new trading tool of the era which has been accepted by more and more people, that includes individuals to large companies. The types of E-Commerce is numerous, but the most representative of E-Commerce is Business to Business(B2B) and Business to Customer(B2C). In this report, we will focus on the B2B E-Commerce, and explore…
Chapter 1 PPT1-2-8 – A field concerned with the use of technology in managing & processing information. – The business function and academic discipline covering the application of people, technologies, and procedures to solve business problems. PPT1-2-10 – Raw facts that describe the characteristic of an event. – Data converted into a meaningful and useful context. – Applications and technologies that are used to gather, provide access to, and analyze…
ON PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL Prepared and Presented to: Under The Guidance Of : Company’s Guide:- Faculty Guide:- Mr. C.S Bhama Mr.Bhupendra Tripathi (Training Manager) (Submitted in the partial fulfillment for the award of the degree of Master Of Business Administration from G.B Technical University, Session-2009-2011) Submitted By :- SHALINI SHARMA Roll No. 0914170052 (MBA III Sem.) [pic] Sagar Institute Of Technology & Management…
TASK 18 – Outline the factors that influence learning. Learning is influenced by many factors such as attention, motivation and emotions as well as by learner characteristics like prior knowledge, cognitive and learning styles and intellectual capabilities. The following list shows a number of other factors that may also have a bearing on a pupil’s capability to learn: * Family * Culture * Gender * Impact of peers * Subject content * Teaching style * Learning skills…
Topic 1: International Business 1. Why companies engage in international business? There are three major operating objectives that underline the reasons for companies to engage in international business: -expanding sales: pursuing international sales usually increases the potential market and potential profits -acquiring resources: foreign sources may give companies lower costs, new or better products, additional operating knowledge -minimizing risk: international operations may reduce…
Your Induction Workbook Name Elizabeth Freshwater Job title Team Leader Organisation Northerncare Date 20/04/2012 Induction Standards Workbook Contents 2 Contents Contents 3 Chapter 7: Standard 1: understand the principles and values essential for working with children and young people 37 Chapter 9: Standard 3: understand health and safety requirements 56 Chapter 10: Standard 4: know how to communicate effectively 69 Chapter 11: Standard 5: understand the development of children and young…