Employee Resistance to Change

Term Paper # 147516

Business > Human Resources
Business > Management

Looks at managing employee resistance to change as illustrated in the case of a national food distributor.

2,650 words () | 14 sources | APA | 2011 | United States

Published on: May 05, 2011

Paper Summary:

This paper first explains that restructuring is perceived negatively by employees because of the changes it must make; however, in today's business environment, change is necessary for organizational survival. Next, the author explores the effectiveness of U.S. Foodservice in establishing a learning organization that enables employees to learn required new behaviors and attitudes during periods of change. The paper concludes that this company was not a learning organization or a good change manager, but rather it created issues of poor trust, employee turnover, damaged morale and negative company culture.

Table of Contents:
Abstract
Introduction
Restructuring
Reasons for Change Resistance
Learning Organizations
Change Management
Implementing Change
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Most theories of organizational change originated from the landmark work of social psychologist Kurt Lewin. According to Kinicki (2009) Lewin developed a three stage model of planned change which explained how to initiate, manage, and stabilize the change process. Lewin's change model; change involves moving from one static state to another static status via a three-stage process of managing change: unfreezing, changing and re-freezing. Kurt Lewin's change model recognizes that people like the safety, comfort and feeling of control within their environment."

Sample of Sources Used:

Argyris, C., & Schon, D. (1978) Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective, Reading, Mass: Addison Wesley
Dixon, N. (1994). The Organizational Learning Cycle, McGraw-Hill.
Food Industry Review. (2008). Consumer dining statistics. Retrieved March 03, 2010 from http://www.foodindustryreview.org/consumerdiningstatistics
Fossum, Lynn. (1989) Understanding Organizational Change: Converting Theory into Practice. Boston, MA. USA: Course Technology Crisp, Retrieved March 7, 2011, from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford/Doc?id=10058837&ppg=11
Hansen, Soren & Jakobsen, Henning Sejer, Ideudvikling pa den creative platform, 2006