Resistance to Change

Menar Wahood
Dr Jimmy Brown
MBA 530
March 15th 2015 Globalization is reshaping our future. No longer can we remain idle in technological advances while the our rivals and neighbors are upgrading daily. Our skills of yesterday may not be suitable for today's market place. The best example is introduction of computers into our daily lives. Although this eliminated the thousands of wasted paper of documentation and sped up how we perform our tasks in shorter periods of time. It made providing presentations more interactive and entertaining to be attentive and learning more aquirable by additions of visual aids, videos and audio. However, with every advance comes at a price. Like learning a new language, one must first be aquianted with the basics prior to instituting the advance colloquial discussions. We must first learn how to utilize the functionalities of the computers, the hardware designed to stabilize our information and our networks that allow us to become closer than ever. An article by BBC recently published how the changes of computers have even affected the methods that we learn. We no longer rely on text books and libraries to search for our information, but smart phone applications and internet is used now to acquire our knowledge. This "change" is the crucial tipping point between riding the waves of advancement or drowning with the antiquated methods. In the Article "Steve Jacksons faces resistance to change," Jackson was aware that in order to be competitive in the engineering world, the old software system either needed to be changed or adjusted, or they will suffer. In his corporation, he uses a software to calculate and construct bids for potential projects, in congruity with the other departments in the corporation. He has extensive contact with the Project evaluation group (PEG) about the software analytics in a certain project. Jackson was working in the best interest of the company by discovering new avenues of project development. He performed his research on what systems are currently used in the engineering field, and stumbled upon one that he deemed fit to wave the company in the correct direction, the BSO system. He was concerned that if the company did not advance in their technology it will get left behind against its competitors. We currently live in an work enviroment that is expected to be more efficient with ample time. Projects are expected to be performed with less amount of time, whilst being of superior quality. This is what Jackson was interested in. He consulted the higher ups about the implentation and the benefits of utilizing the BSO system. Through subsequent demos, initially with Luke Williams, the head of the PEG project, and then with the boss's boss Abu Dija. It was correctly played by Jackson to arrange meetings and demonstrations of the new software system, to adequately display the benefits and added functionalities. Mostly, to also understand why their competitors are moving in that direction. With Jackson being the head of Software implentation and training, it was the right move. Although it would have been appropriate to not only discuss the program with the higher ups, but to aquire feedback from the employees that will be in the future using it. Jackson used self-fulfilling prophecy to assume that all the members of the organization will learn the new system from scratch, regardless of how complicated the system may be. He was assuming that the team will have no difficulty adjusting to the new system because his "people are smart." This will suppose additonal pressure on the work force, that those who cannot comply with the new implenetation, they are deemed "not smart." If the company does not fully have the support staff to train the individuals who are not as smart as their peers, it will force the existing employees to change old habits. This is what Barrett feared. Responsible for international bidding and contracting, Mike