Reasons and Motives to Resist Change



Change Management (Iceberg)
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Marten van der Zee
Analyst, Netherlands

Reasons and Motives to Resist Change

I'm trying to collect a list of all motives for resistance to change by employees.
Henk Kleijn and Fred Rorink in their book 'Change management' indicate that there are multiple psychological motives for showing resistance by employees or managers during a 'change':
1. FEARS (I don't know if I can handle in practice...)
2. GUILT (I can't do that to my colleagues... (to cooperate)
3. ALIENATION (The change can't replace me...)
4. PERSONAL DISADVANTAGE (Financially I'm going to receive less than before...)
5. NEED (The change does not correspond with what I want)
6. THREAT (Due to the change, my position in the company gets weaker...)
7. DOUBTS (I don't know what risks are involved...)
Any further suggestions / improvements?
 

Rating
 
11
David Wilson
Manager, Canada
 

Reasons for Resistance to Change

8. FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH (We have already tried this before and it did not work before and it will no... Sign up

 
2
Harry Whitney, United States
 

On 4. Personal Disadvantage

This basically means the perception is: "I have a stronger motivation not to change". The total of ... Sign up

 
1
Jan Vermeulen
Manager, South Africa
 

Reasons for Resistance to Change

I agree with 12. and 13. The change will negatively impact business - no clear understanding of impa... Sign up

 
4
Philip Jehu
Accountant, Nigeria
 

Causes of Resistance to Change

17. CHANGE AGENT APPROACH: the manner of approach (attitude) of the change agent is also very import... Sign up

 
15
Verbeeck
Management Consultant, Belgium
 

Resistance to Change is not Always for Personal Reasons

Change" is the consequence of implementing "a solution" to solve "a problem". So people resist beca... Sign up

 
2
Peter Kaepernick
Strategy Consultant, Germany
 

Reasons not to Change

The fact is, change is constant and will take place all the time. With or without fear, guilt, threa... Sign up

 
2
Haragopal, India
 

Reasons for Resistence to Change

I agree with 12. 13 and 14, the main reason for resistence comes from a lack of understanding the im... Sign up

 
3
HUPIN, France
 

Reasons for Resistance to Change

19. LAW OF ARCHIMEDES: Resistance to change can be compared to Archimedes' principle (Editor: law of... Sign up

 
0
Modekets
Accountant, Botswana
 

On Motives to Resist Change #6: Threat

A particular relevant form of this motive to resist chjange is when the change might render my job o... Sign up

 
2
Ramesh Victor
Management Consultant, Malaysia
 

Why People Resist Change

In my experience people resist change for two reasons: I. Aptitude problem. This is where the perso... Sign up

 
10
Leena Bissoonauth
Student (University), Mauritius
 

Reasons for Resistance for Change

I would like to contribute the below reasons for resistance for change since I have just completed t... Sign up

 
4
Juan Perez Eras, Mexico
 

On Motives for Resistance to Change #8: Flavour of the Month

@David Wilson : I agree and would like to suggest a variant of your Flavour of the Month: 20. LACK ... Sign up

 
1
Tykhonenko
Analyst, Ukraine
 

Motive for Resistance to Change: Uncertainty

Similar to #7 (Doubt) we could also use the term UNCERTAINTY. Changes lead to uncertainty and uncer... Sign up

 
3
FAYEZ, Saudi Arabia
 

Most Important is what THEY Believe

21. CONFLICTING VALUES / BELIEVES. In case that the change is in conflict with personal believes, re... Sign up

 
2
Gabriel Lira
Manager, Mexico
 

This List of Motives for Reistance to Change is Important to me

The situation that I have in my plant is a high resistance to change in all levels. So I am going to... Sign up

 
0
Fareed Ezz
Analyst, Saudi Arabia
 

Is it a Cause or Just an Excuse?

I would like to highlight the importance to distinguish between causes and excuses; you can hear a l... Sign up

 
3
Lenore Miller
Student (MBA), United States
 

Causes of Resistance to Change: Not Engaging the People Affected via True Dialogue

@Haragopal : I agree that NOT ENGAGING the people affected by a future change during the design phas... Sign up

 
1
edward sevume
Sweden
 

The Notion of Change and Human Motivation

@Lenore Miller : While reading all of these wonderful contributions to the MOTIVES to resist change,... Sign up

 
2
TEMILADE OKE
HR Consultant, Nigeria
 

Causes and Motives to Resist Change

Similar to @Philip Jehu (17. Change Agent Approach), we can add: 22. CHANGE AGENT CREDIBILITY. Cred... Sign up

 
2
Juan Jauregui
Professor, Mexico
 

Neuroscience Explanation for Resistance to Change

23. NEUROSCIENCE EXPLANATION. A neuroscience hypothesis is that there is a natural resistance of the... Sign up

 
0
Dr. Francis G. Adjei
Lecturer, Ghana
 

Motives for Resistance to Change also Depend on Region

The points raised in this discourse are very rich and real. In Africa, in view of widespread povert... Sign up

 
0
Goran Stille, Sweden
 

Reasons for Resistance to Change

@David Wilson: I am curious about your thinking pattern as you create "a list of reasons to resist c... Sign up

 
0
Heidi Mureau
Management Consultant, Australia
 

Control, Slight or Envy, and Sabotage

This group has compiled an impressive list of change resistance drivers. I would add a few human fac... Sign up

 
5
David Wilson
Manager, Canada
 

Resistance - Reasons and Values

@Goran Stille : if people understand the reasons or causes of change, they may be better prepared to... Sign up

 
2
Fauzi Arif
Manager, Indonesia
 

No. 4: Personal Disadvantage

Will no. 4 personal disadvantage (financially...) be a reason also for a person who is in self-estee... Sign up

 
8
Jaap de Jonge
Editor, Netherlands
 

Why This List of Motives for Resistance to Change?

@Goran Stille: thank you for your question - why this list? This list (of motives for resistance to... Sign up

 
1
Fathi Ben Amer
Management Consultant, Libya
 

On Motives for Resistance to Change #4: Personal Disadvantage

Implementing change in organizations means gains for some people, and a loss to others. Hence, thos... Sign up

 
2
edward sevume
Sweden
 

Why This List and the Importance of Networking

@Jaap de Jonge (Editor): Thank you for the answer regarding this list of motives for resisting chang... Sign up

 
1
kapukha patrick, Kenya
 

Effects of Organization's Change Process to Staff

Note that any organizational change may affect four pillars of staff: their competencies, control, c... Sign up

 
2
Kalindi
HR Consultant, India
 

One Obvious and Missed Out Cause of Resistance to Change

24 SHEER LAZINESS (inertia / complacency / sluggishness). This is another big culprit. One may see... Sign up

 
4
Jaap de Jonge
Editor, Netherlands
 

Layers of Resistance to Change (Goldratt)

Also take a look at Goldratt's 5 Layers of Resistance: 1. Raising problems having one thing in comm... Sign up

 
2
debahooti basu
Teacher, India
 

These Reasons for Resistance to Change are Perceptions

Note that most or all of these reasons are (subjective) perceptions by people/employees. I feel tha... Sign up

 
0
Janice Johnson-Lorde
Lecturer, Trinidad and Tobago
 

Resistance to Change

Resistance may be disagreement with the change focus and purpose. Where it is felt that the cost ben... Sign up

 
4
Jean-Marc Guillemette, Canada
 

Resistance is an Emotional Reaction!

@Verbeeck: some people affected by change have trouble understanding proposed solutions, either beca... Sign up

 
5
Kathy Hevey
Management Consultant, United States
 

Resist the Risk of Failure

Consider it's not "the change" that people resist... What they resist is giving up who they are and ... Sign up

 
2
edward sevume
Sweden
 

Motives to Resist Change: 'Know Thy People'

@Kathy Hevey: Thanks Kathy for that insightful contribution. One thing that emanates from what you a... Sign up

 
4
Verbeeck
Management Consultant, Belgium
 

One More Reason to Resist Change to Add to the List...

25. LACK OF SUCCESSES / RESULTS. When it takes too long to see positive results, people tend to get ... Sign up

 
0
Juan Perez Eras, Mexico
 

Lack of Success Because of no Evaluation of Changes

@Eric Verbeeck: It's not cost-effective to wait for getting long-term results. Leaders should evalu... Sign up

 
0
Fareed Ezz
Analyst, Saudi Arabia
 

One More Reason to Change Resistance

26. Parental Control Allergy. Some people resist certain changes just because it reminds them of the... Sign up

 
4
Chloe Xu
Director, Australia
 

Major Reasons for Change Resistance

People's resistance to change indeed attributes to countless reasons. Many however centre around a n... Sign up

 
1
Vidyut chandra Patange
Management Consultant, India
 

Reason for not Changing: Lack of Flexibility

Organization normally have human factor we'll set in working for long long time and do not want new ... Sign up

   

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