Behavioral Influences There are many behaviors that can influence change in criminal justice organizations. Social behavior influences change because the social systems that exist within an organization can help to disseminate change, or build resistance to it (Qian, 2007). Organizational change requires buy-in from the people that comprise the organization, so social behaviors such as the formation of social groups, gossip and other social communication and behavioral norms will all play a role in how quickly buy-in to the change occurs.

Political behaviors also matter, not just in terms of how the leaders leverage the formal political systems within the organization, but how informal systems are leveraged as well. Within any organization, there are key influencers, and they are not always in positions of formal power. The ability of management to leverage both these influencers and the formal political systems to disseminate a change program will have an influence on the success of that program (Duan, Sheeren & Weiss, 2014). Both the political and social factors influence organizational behavior. In turn, some other elements of organizational behavior, such as the prevailing norms and values that exist within the organizational culture, will also have a significant influence over how change works in a criminal justice organization.

Organizational Behavior and Organizational Systems

Organizational behavior and systems have a symbiotic relationship....

Flowing from systems to behavior, the systems can influence the behavior of the organization because they govern the means and direction of information flows and influence throughout the organization. Flowing the other way, behavior includes both inertia that challenges changes to the systems, and reinforces existing systems. Behavior also includes facets like the propensity for change. Most criminal justice systems are highly formalized, and generally have a high level of inertia, both of which provide the means for change to be disseminated through formal channels, but also the structures by which change to be resisted at the systemic level.
Stakeholder Perceptions Management

Clear communication is the best means by which the perceptions of stakeholders can be managed. This actually starts with understanding who the different stakeholders are, and what their stakes are. Then, organizational leadership should ensure to communicate as openly and honestly as possible about the change – managing perceptions is often a matter of delivering an accurate take on what stakeholders should expect, so that they can be ready for the change when it comes. There are times when the perception will be negative, but that cannot be helped – it is better that expectations of change align with reality, and that change is framed in realistic circumstances, rather than attempting to present the change as something it is not – people are smart enough…