Balancing Change and Employee Involvement: A Case Study

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After reading this case study the two concerns that Mr. Sparks is encountering can be balanced by involving the employees in the detailed change. As stated in the case study “the best way to get people to change is to lay out the objective in basic terms and then ask them how they would go about getting there” (O’Brien, Marakus, 2011, p.33). By involving your employees in the development of a new application system can reduce the risk of end-user resistance. Employees that are encouraged to participate in the development of this technology can help change the attitude towards the new system from resistance to acceptance. Any new way of doing things in an organization can be met with resistance by the employees because instinctively …show more content…

Whether he had to bring in other managers to help with explaining the benefits to the change, or an outside consultant. By doing this he would have been prepared to deliver his case to his employees with all the facts and details about the new system instead of going in there blind. Even though you know all the details and benefits that are associated with a new system, it still doesn’t mean that everybody is going to accept the new system without resistance. In an article it states that “resistance to change can have a significant impact and influence upon the success of an organizational change project” (Van Dijk, & Van Dick, 2009, p.2). Employees instinctively anticipate change as the possible loss of status, pay, or simply loss of comfort in their current work environment. They may not resist the actual change itself, but they do however, resist the possible consequences that is associated with the change. That is why it very important to be open to the possibility of being met with resistance, instead of going in to the situation with the mindset of “this is how we are going to do it, and that is just how it is going to

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