Overview
Resistance to Change Discussions
Response to Bill
Greetings to all,
First, I would like to begin with the results from the resiliency quiz I took. Based on the questions and results, I believe the quiz was fair in grading and my acceptance to change. I scored between a 60-88 which falls within the "Learning" category. What this means is that I am willing to change and opened to different methods to assist me with that. However, I still have room for improvement to help master the skills to be able to cope and accept change. I am on the fence about recommending this method for organization managers to utilize. The reason is due to my belief of the use of surveys or questionnaires to help people change may not highlight the actual factors or weaknesses that need strengthening.
What I would change about the quiz is actually putting managers in realistic situations. From there, study their reactions that can lead to what exactly they can work on, or methods they can use to accept the changes. Being able to see reactions versus using surveys is better in my opinion. The quiz can somewhat help managers adapt to change, but leadership styles stem from personalities. As stated by Buckingham (2011), assessments rate the manager and shows them their results. Therefore, a person can focus more on raising higher scores then actually focusing on their organization and those who help shape who you are as a leader.
References
Buckingham, M. (2011). Leadership development: The fatal flaw with 360 surveys. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2011/10/the-fatal-flaw-with-360-survey
Response to John
To assess employee resistance to change, many organizations use quizzes or questionnaires that gauge individuals' openness or reluctance toward new practices, roles, or policies. I also did another quiz, the resistance to change quiz, in which there are various fictitious situations presented and one has to share the impression; thus, I came to the conclusions about my level of adaptability. Overall, I thought that the quiz was reasonably good at evaluating general feelings about change, although some questions should attempt to probe more profound causes or fears employees might have. Despite this, this quiz could be useful for managers as it offers a rather basic, at least for me – framework for understanding change, and does not address some of the key change-related issues, such as fear of failure and loss of control, which are essential for effective management.
I suggest that managers involved in change initiatives should be required to take a quiz on contextual factors and possible emotional and cognitive responses to change. For example, incorporating questions concerning previous reform experiences or the amount of trust one has in leaders or their own change self-efficiency may make the outcomes more useful (Peng et al., 2021). If the management completes a more elaborative questionnaire, then the management would be in a better position to understand why exactly the resistance is being put up and then accordingly modify their behavior and actions.
The quiz could help the management because it would point out which aspects of organizational behavior should receive more attention in terms of support or training, or where more communication is needed. For example, if results indicate high levels of resistance due to lack of goal clarity, managers might focus on increasing goal clarity, or if they select a high power distance relationship, they might switch to a low PDW relationship. As Metz (2021) suggests, it is essential to recognize that resistance to change has such a social cognition and affective-intentional perspective that can help the leaders in the process of designing relevant strategies to encourage acceptance and participation.
References
Metz, M. (2021). Overview of change in organizations. Resistance to change. a literature review. Ovidius University Annals, Series Economic Sciences, 21(1), 611-620.
Peng, J., Li, M., Wang, Z., & Lin, Y. (2021). Transformational leadership and employees’ reactions to organizational change: Evidence from a meta-analysis. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 57(3), 369–397. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886320920366
Discussions: Social Contract Theory
Response to Cesar
Class,
After serving in the military for 5 years I have an understanding of a social corporate responsibility. The military gives us things such as barracks, food, benefits, and a constructive lifestyle. What we give is our mind and body at all cost regardless of the situation. Sometimes we even forget who we are because of the dedication and standard that we can be held to. Along the way we lose the things we used to. Something I lost was my connection with family, I do not feel the same connection I once did before I joined the military.
Different cultures react to social corporate responsibility differently because everyone comes from a different outlook and a different reaction because of that specific individuals reaction. Within our contract of the military we agree and hold ourselves to a specific expectation, but we are going to have reactions to those expectations. We are held to the same expectations just at a different level.
Response to Jarrod
A situation that comes to mind that applies the social contract theory to me is service in the military. I have been in for 20 years and as a social contract theory construct, my expectation is that the government will provide me with food, clothes, a bed to sleep in, and items to protect me from harm. In return, I serve the government with my mind and body. I do the things that are asked of me in protecting the nation and its citizens, without question. There are freedoms that I may have to give up for this contract to work. Certainly, there are many cultural traditions I have lost. One crude and small example is the celebration of family holidays. In my culture, families get together for Thanksgiving every year. No matter how far apart they are, they travel to see each other. The military does not acquiesce to that tradition and I am not permitted to leave to go home for the holiday. In return, the government provides me with a ‘sort of family’ that I can celebrate the holiday with on the base. If I am not willing to give up that cultural practice, the Army certainly wouldn’t be for me. In the social contract theory, the rules and norms that are followed as based on the agreement we make as part of our enlistment in the service. They are based on the standards of military work and expectations. They are the same no matter which branch one serves in. Society views military service in a certain way and has its expectations of those who serve. And although “diversity plays a significant role in the growth and performance of an organization” (Tamunomiebi & Ehoir, 2019, p. 844), cultural practices cannot always be included. In the cultural realm, standards are based more on moral codes of conduct. They vary differently from culture to culture and are not based on a set of standards but rather on ancestral practices. They really cannot have a place in the military.
Tamunomiebi, M. D., & Ehior, I. E. (2019). Diversity and ethical issues in the organizations. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9(2), 839–864. https://hrmars.com/papers_submitted/5620/Diversity_and_Ethical_Issues_in_the_Organizations.pdf