Academic Leadership

Academic Leadership: Fundamental Building Blocks

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11.2 Managing Resistance to Change

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Staff within universities may be very resistant to change. When using the Innovator role

you will need to be able to manage resistance to change which will most likely require

that you manage conflict.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this activity is to assist you in

understanding and managing resistance to change.

Even changes that are seen as necessary and desirable by the majority may be

vehemently resisted by some. Resistance to change can come from individual people or

organisational units/groups of people. Existing organisational routines, structures and

cultural mores are often very strong barriers to change.

Six personal and six organisational factors have been identified as contributing to

resistance to change (Robbins, Millett, & Waters-Marsh, 1994). They are:

Personal Factors

• Habit – there is some truth in the expression, "Old Habits Die Hard".


• Security – some individuals have a much higher need for security. If there are other
  stressors in a person's life, added change may threaten security needs further, thus
  creating resistance. This is often referred to as 'tolerance of ambiguity'.


• Economic Factors – there may be concerns that change will lower income, access
  to resources and hence lead to an increase in resistance.


• Fear of the Unknown – like security, some individuals have a very low tolerance for
  ambiguity, hence, change that is bringing uncertainty can increase resistance.


• Selective Information Processing – everyone has their own world view or map of
  their environment. When change threatens that map and how that individual has
  constructed their reality, information processing may become selective such that they
  only 'hear or see' what helps them to preserve their map.


• Revenge – in some cases resistance to change may stem from personal revenge,
  because people feel aggrieved and so they put energy into blocking the change.
  Alternatively, the resistance may take the form of a personal crusade, because the
  change violates people’s values and because people do not believe the change is in
  the best interests of the program, School or University.

Organisational Factors

• Structural Inertia – large organisations like a University have systems in place that
  produce stability, but in doing so, they create inertia that makes even small changes
  seem like monumental tasks. For example, changing a software program in a small
  office is a minor change initiative compared to undertaking that kind of a change in
  an organisation as large as a University.