| Abstract [eng] |
Change management is a popular and wide-ranging topic as change implementation is a complex process that requires considerable skill (Burnes, 2007). Despite the fact that there is quite a lot of literature with case studies and tips, how to introduce change and how to behave when confronted with resistance to change, it is not clear, why change management in many cases fail (Burnes, 2007; Szabla, 2007). Of course, it is not possible to plan all the process as everything changes very fast. Moreover, there is a huge information flow which should be managed by the implementer as well (Holbeche, 2006). As a result sometimes for unforeseen reasons it is not possible to avoid resistance to change. Consequently, there comes another question – what change agents do when faced with resistance to change. Their reactions and actions affect the course of a process (Holbeche, 2006). During this study there five interviews were conducted with people who were implementing changes in order to find out if they imply about possible resistance to change, whether they prepare for such reactions, how they perceive employees’ reactions and what do they do in response. Two respondents where using people involvement and tight contact with employees as a strategies during change. As a result they did not confront with resistance to change. Only in one case, employees were enthusiastic about the change and took a part in change implementation, however. In other cases, where change agents were not ready for possible resistance, people involvement, as one of the most effective strategies for overcoming resistance (Bordia, Hobman, Jones, Gllois, Gallan, 2002), was not used and other strategies where not so effective. During these changes agents observed negative reactions towards change. Of course, some level of negative reactions should be tolerated, though very often resistance to change is a symptom that something goes wrong and something should be done about that (Burke, 2001). However, these agents did nothing in response to help people in adapting to the new situation. Although during interview they could explain possible causes of employees’ reactions. Further investigations could analyze more deeply agents’ views towards employees’ reactions and why faced with resistance change agents do not use strategies for overcoming these negative reactions and not revise their change implementation plans in response. |
