Identifying the Reducing Resistance to Change Phase in an Organizational Change Model

• Main Author: Daniela Bradutanu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Danubius University 2012-04-01
• Series: Acta Universitatis Danubius: Oeconomica
• Subjects: resistance to change; organizational change model; change leaders; communication; involvement.
• Online Access: http://journals.univ-danubius.ro/index.php/oeconomica/article/view/1270/1108

In this article we examine where in an organizational change process it is better to placethe reducing resistance to change phase, so that employees would accept the new changes easier andnot manifest too much resistance. After analyzing twelve organizational change models we haveconcluded that the place of the reducing resistanceto change phase in an organizational changeprocess is not the same, it being modified according to the type of change. The results of this studyare helpful for researchers, but especially for organizational change leaders. As change leaders areusually the ones confronted with resistance from their subordinates, they must know exactly how todeal with it and when is the best moment to reduceit, depending on the type of change that is desiredto be implemented. The key contribution to this paper is that the best way to gain employee’s supportand change attachment is to try and reduce resistance to change before the actual implementation.Only when an immediate or imposed change is required to be implemented, the methods and ways forovercoming resistance should be applied during andafter the implementation stage, to ensure asuccessful implementation of the change.