Organizational Behavior
resistance to change and changing collective cognition
Tomáš Ondráček
ondracek.t@mail.muni.cz
Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University
2021
Intermezzo
Intermezzo
·ORBE ·2021 2 / 28
Intermezzo
riddle
Which word in the dictionary is always spelled incorrectly?
·ORBE ·2021 3 / 28
Introduction
Introduction
·ORBE ·2021 4 / 28
Introduction
resistance
Studies of change appear to take the perspective, or bias,
of those seeking to bring about change, in which it is presumed
change agents are doing the right and proper things
while change recipients throw up unreasonable obstacles
or barriers intent on "doing in" or "screwing up" the change
(Dent & Goldberg, 1999a; Klein, 1976).
(Dent & Goldberg, 1999; Klein, 1976) according (Ford, Ford, & D‘Amelio,
2008: 362)
·ORBE ·2021 5 / 28
Introduction
change agent-centric view
objectivity
biases
communication
interpretation
behavior
ignorance, incompetence, or mismanagement
(Ford et al., 2008: 362)
·ORBE ·2021 6 / 28
Introduction
authentic dissent
intention of solving a problem
(Ford et al., 2008: 36š)
·ORBE ·2021 7 / 28
Resistance as a Change Agent Sensemaking
Resistance as a Change Agent
Sensemaking
·ORBE ·2021 8 / 28
Resistance as a Change Agent Sensemaking
change
[...] change presents both agents and recipients with potential
problems that are an occasion and trigger for sensemaking
[...]
Problems are not givens; they are constructed from novel,
discrepant, or problematic situations that are puzzling, troubling,
or uncertain to participants (Weick, 1995). Change is
a situation that interrupts normal patterns of organization
and calls for participants to enact new patterns, involving an
interplay of deliberate and emergent processes that can be
highly ambiguous (Mintzberg & Waters, 1985).
(Ford et al., 2008: 363)
·ORBE ·2021 9 / 28
Resistance as a Change Agent Sensemaking
questions
How will this get accomplished?
What will happen to me?
(Gioia, Thomas, Clark, & Chittipeddi, 1994) according (Ford et al., 2008:
363)
·ORBE ·2021 10 / 28
Resistance as a Change Agent Sensemaking
sensemaking
active process
the interaction of
information seeking
meaning ascription
associated responses
involving
extracting particular behaviors and communications out of
streams of ongoing events (i.e., bracketing)
interpreting them to give them meaning
acting on the resulting interpretation
resulting in
net presentation
(Ford et al., 2008: 363–364)
·ORBE ·2021 11 / 28
Biases
Biases
·ORBE ·2021 12 / 28
Biases
biases
Expectation Effects
self-fulfilling prophecies
the Pygmalion effect
Self-Serving Accounts
scape-goating
self-serving attributions an
(Ford et al., 2008)
·ORBE ·2021 13 / 28
Contributions to Resistance
Contributions to Resistance
·ORBE ·2021 14 / 28
Contributions to Resistance
trust
general trust
psychological contracts
justice
(Ford et al., 2008)
·ORBE ·2021 15 / 28
Contributions to Resistance
communication
legitimizations
Misrepresentations
No call for action
Resisting Resistance
(Ford et al., 2008)
·ORBE ·2021 16 / 28
Resistance as a Resource
Resistance as a Resource
·ORBE ·2021 17 / 28
Resistance as a Resource
activity
search
engage
use (strenghten)
·ORBE ·2021 18 / 28
Reconstructing Resistance
Reconstructing Resistance
·ORBE ·2021 19 / 28
Reconstructing Resistance
reconstructing resistance
recipient action
agent sense making
agent-recipient relationship
(Ford et al., 2008)
·ORBE ·2021 20 / 28
Changing Collective Cognition
Changing Collective Cognition
·ORBE ·2021 21 / 28
Changing Collective Cognition
The links between resources, capabilities,
and competitive advantage
(Grant, 2018: 113)
·ORBE ·2021 22 / 28
Changing Collective Cognition
changes
C stands for commitment by top management to explore change.
Organizations must have the commitment to invest both the
time and resources needed to engage in workshop activities.
H refers to using a holistic approach, which helps ensure
discussion of varied alternatives and perspectives from different
departments, divisions, and constituencies.
A represents an external agent, who is a skilled facilitator.
N stands for using a neutral site away from daily operations for
conducting the workshop.
G represents the group, i.e., the top management team, which
together develops, owns, and is responsible for the new strategy.
E refers to execution of the proposed changes. Maintaining an eye
on execution during the workshop ensures tight coupling
between formulation and implementation
(Grant, 2018: 12,108)
·ORBE ·2021 23 / 28
Changing Collective Cognition
the resource-based view of the firm
Establishing Competitive Advantage
relevance
scarcity
Sustaining Competitive Advantage
durability
transferability
replicability
appropriation
(Grant, 2018: 112)
·ORBE ·2021 24 / 28
Intermezzo
Intermezzo
·ORBE ·2021 25 / 28
Intermezzo
riddle
What can you hold in your right hand, but never in your left
hand?
·ORBE ·2021 26 / 28
Intermezzo
The End
(Randall, 2021)
·ORBE ·2021 27 / 28
Sources
Dent, E. B., & Goldberg, S. G. (1999). Challenging “resistance to change”. The Journal of applied behavioral
science, 35(1), 25–41.
Ford, J. D., Ford, L. W., & D‘Amelio, A. (2008). Resistance to change: The rest of the story. Academy of
management Review, 33(2). doi: 10.5465/amr.2008.31193235
Gioia, D. A., Thomas, J. B., Clark, S. M., & Chittipeddi, K. (1994). Symbolism and strategic change in academia:
The dynamics of sensemaking and influence. Organization science, 5(3). doi: 10.1287/orsc.5.3.363
Grant, R. M. (2018). Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons.
Klein, D. (1976). Some notes on the dynamics of resistance to change: The defender role. in. In W. G. Bennis,
K. D. Benne, R. Chin, & K. E. Corey (Eds.), The planning of change (p. 117-124). Holt, Rinehart &
Winston.
Randall, E. (2021). And that’s all i have to say about that. Retrieved from
https://cz.pinterest.com/pin/563442603353836727/