Lecture 6 - The Nature of Restistance Flashcards
THE BASIC CONCEPT:
What is meant by “Resistance”?
Resistance is a complicated concept. It might be both positive (used as a resource) and negative, and it is hard to distuinguish between background resistance and resistance related to a specific project. It might be used as a bad excuse for failing projects, exist only in the head of change agents, and change agent behaviour might increase ”resistance”
THE BASIC CONCEPT:
What is meant by “workarounds”?
Where a mismatch occurs between the expectations of technology and actual working practice, employees may implement a ‘workaround’ by deviating from set procedures. This notion of workaround is defined as: ‘informal temporary practices for handling exceptions to workflow’.
THE ESSENCE:
Mention the two strategies used to deal with resistance.
Strategy I:
Avoid resistance by developing solutions that people would like to use.
Strategy II
Overcome resistance by understanding what it is and where it comes from.
THE ESSENCE
Mention the three theories of where resistance comes from.
- Persons
- Systems
- Interaction
THE ESSENCE:
This first theory in understanding where resistance comes from is “Persons”. Explain this.
Resistance is caused by factors (characteristics) internal to persons or groups:
- The person or subunit may be believed to have resisted because of factors internal to the person or group. These factors may be common to all persons and groups or unique to the one being examined.
Examples of explanations compatible with this theory are:
- people resist all change – no readiness for change
- people with analytic cognitive styles accept systems, while intuitive thinkers resist them
- people with little experience with technology, resist new technology
THE ESSENCE:
This second theory in understanding where resistance comes from is “Systems”. Explain this.
Resistance is caused by factors (characteristics) internal to systems:
- The person or group may be believed to have resisted because of factors inherent in the
system being implemented.
Examples of compatible explanations are:
- people resist technically deficient systems (e.g. very slow systems),
- systems that are not ergonomically designed / user friendly are resisted
THE ESSENCE:
This third theory in understanding where resistance comes from is “Interaction”. Explain this.
Resistance is caused by the interaction between factors (characteristics) related to the people and factors (characteristics) related to the system.
Examples:
- Centralization cs. decentralization: systems that centralize control over data are resisted in
organizations with decentralized authority structures.
- Loose vs. gain power: systems that change the balance of power in organizations will be resisted by those who lose power and accepted by those who gain it.
- Systems vs. social context: and resistance arises from the interaction of technical design features of systems with the social context in which the systems are used (e.g. mobile apps that disturbs during social events).
THE ESSENCE:
What is “Socio-technical Explanations” in regards to interactions?
The sociotechnical variant: focuses on the distribution of responsibility for organizational tasks across various roles and on the work-related communication and coordination around this division of labor.
Socio-technical design focus on achieving excellence in technical performance and quality in people’s work lives through joint optimization.
THE ESSENCE:
What is “Political Explanations” in regards to interactions?
The political variant : Resistance is explained as a product of the interaction of system design characteristics with characteristics related to the intra-organizational distribution of power.
THE ESSENCE:
As an implementer holding the person-determined theory of resistance, what tactics would you use?
(Have the assumptions of the People-Determined, System-Determined and Interaction Theory in mind when answering this)
An implementor holding the person-determined theory of resistance would typically chose tactics like:
- Selecting users: carefully selecting the people who will use a new system or allowing users to self-select after careful explanations about the system
- Educating users: to change their cognitive styles or attitudes about technology and computing
- Increase commitment: getting users to participate in the design process so that they will feel more committed to the outcome
- Management support: gaining support of the users’ bosses who will encourage or demand compliance of from users
- New incentives: changing organizational structures or reward systems to conform to the features of the system
THE ESSENCE:
As an implementer holding the system-determined theory of resistance, what tactics would you use?
(Have the assumptions of the People-Determined, System-Determined and Interaction Theory in mind when answering this)
An implementor holding the systems-determined theory of resistance would typically chose tactics like:
- Modify the system: modifying the system to conform to the ways people think, work, or do business
- Training system designers: to improve technical efficiency, ergonomic excellence, and a smooth man-machine interface
- User participation: involving users in the design process so that the design is better than that which would have been developed without user input
THE ESSENCE:
As an implementer holding the Interaction-determined theory of resistance, what tactics would you use?
(Have the assumptions of the People-Determined, System-Determined and Interaction Theory in mind when answering this)
lmplementors who hold the interaction theory of resistance find that no tactics are useful in every situation.
Analyze the existing situation: identify factors that will facilitate or hinder the change.
- The best prescriptions for an implementation strategy and for the specific design of a system will follow from a thorough diagnosis of the organizational setting in which the system will be used.
- So, designing the system (and the organizational changes) AND planning the implementation are closely related and the two activivites will inform each other
- No designers are ever completely neutral. The implementor / designer must consider himself or herself as one of the parties in the analysis.
Don’t overcome resistance – avoid it: the goal is not to “overcome” resistance, but to avoid it, if possible, and to confront it constructively.
Perceive resistance as a clue: resistance is not a problem to be solved so that a system can be installed as intended. It is a useful clue to what went wrong and how the situation can be improved.
THE ESSENCE:
Explain the essence of resistance as a biased perspective.
In favor of change agents: The predominant perspective on resistance is decidedly one sided, in favor of change agents and their sponsors.
Most studies appear to take the perspective, or bias, of those seeking to bring about change: Change agents are doing the right things while change recipients throw up unreasonable obstacles or barriers “screwing up” the change.
Change agents are portrayed as undeserving victims of the irrational and dysfunctional responses of change recipients.
But maybe:
- Resistance is an interpretation assigned by change agents to the behaviors and communications of change recipients, and maybe
- these interpretations are either self-serving or self-fulfilling.
THE ESSENCE:
Change agents can contribute to resistance thorugh communication breakdown, but what must they do?
Justify the change - Change agents must provide justifications for the appropriateness and rationality of change, create readiness for change, and increase the likelihood of fast user acceptance and participation in the change.
Explain the benefits - Users acceptance of and participation in the initial stages of a change has been shown to depend on users’ assessment of the likelihood the change will lead to personal and organizational benefits. Be clear about what users can expect (e.g. lag effects, errors).
Take objections toward change serious and use them to improve - Well-developed supporting justifications tend to be accepted and weak ones rejected. By dismissing objections as resistance, change agents not only miss the opportunity to provide compelling justifications that help make users more supportive.
Mobilize for action - Change is fundamentally about mobilizing action, and although talk isessential, not all talk leads to action. You have to tell people exactly what you expect them to do. “Before you …. Now you must….”.
Provide the needed resources for change - Time, training, support…. acceptance of temporary performance drops…
THE ESSENCE:
Change agents can contribute to resistance by resisting resitance, but how?
Change agents may be resistant to the ideas, proposals, and counteroffers submitted by change recipients.
If change agents fail to treat the communications of change recipients as genuine and legitimate, or as extensions and translations of the change, they may be seen as resistant (e.g., “defensive” “unreceptive“)
Change agent defensiveness may also be more likely when recipient reactions indicate that more effort will be required to accomplish the change than was originally planned or that there will be undesirable budget or other performance impacts, or when the change agent has career consequences associated with the success of the change.
The cost of this defensiveness is the persistence of resistance and its escalation in a vicious cycle, in which resistance create resistance.
