¶ … Organizations
Why are people resistant to change? What psychological factors can inhibit change, particularly technological change? Technology is supposed to (and often does) make human being's lives easier, yet switching to a new operating system, even an obviously more efficient one, frequently brings profound resistance on the part of employees. One possible answer is that change resistance is hard-wired into the psyche of many human beings and regardless of how necessary and logical the change may be, there will be inevitable unconscious resistance. This resistance can manifest itself in anger at management for instituting the changes, unproductive complaining and claiming to 'not understand' the change.
Change resistance can also occur for more practical reasons, namely that people may feel that their positions within the organization will be threatened if the change is instituted. They may fear that their jobs will be outsourced or subsumed by new technology, or that expanding the company will dilute their power. If the change is technological in nature, people may fear the employees who have more experience in the new system may gain predominance. Or, if the change involves a merger, people may resist having to accept strangers into their workplace. Personality conflicts can also fuel resistance, if the change agent is not well-liked. And workers who have seniority may resist taking...
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