In responding to Discussions and to other students, please be sure to use the course material using in-text citations and a reference list to cite the source(s) used. Please label each paragraph.
(1) Learning Activity #1 for Response to (JR)
Piderit (2000) believes that the definition of the term resistance must incorporate a much broader scope. She states that “a review of past empirical research reveals three different emphases in conceptualizations of resistance: as a cognitive state, as an emotional state, and as a behavior” (p. 784).
What is your understanding of these three types of resistance? Can you give an example of each type?
When looking at the conceptualizations of resistance, there are three categories, cognitive, emotional, and behavior. Below are the defined resistance terms in their categories.
Cognitive: This type of resistance can be with individuals who are not trying to be a team player. They are always looking at what is going wrong, how they are right, and causing different types of arguments within the workplace. Cognitive resistance should be handled by a manager who is willing to have an open mind, and have patience (Webster, 2017). Allowing the individual to act out during meetings can promote a negative energy in the workplace and allow others to think it is alright to have cognitive resistance.
Emotional: This type of resistance can also influence a negative environment. In an article I read, it appears that emotional change occurs when there is a change in management. “Some employees are unwilling to adapt for leaders they do not trust, when changes are too abrupt, or if they feel the changes will threaten their livelihoods” (Day, 2017) this occurs with new managers because they need to learn how to work with someone new. Employees will have their routine they are used to and when change tries to come in, a wall can go up because it challenges them to change how work normally goes until they begin to see the benefit in change.
Behavior: When defining behavior resistance, it is a combination of cognitive and emotional resistance. With behavior resistance, employees will become aggressive, passive, not accepting change, and can lack credibility (Brighten, 2013). The important thing is to address this type of behavior immediately instead of allowing someone to continue acting this way. If the behavior continues, it can distract the culture that is established within a team and can cause others to think it is okay to act this way.
Brightman, B. (2013, December 12). How to Overcome The 6 Most Toxic Employee Behaviors. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from https://www.fastcompany.com/3023318/how-to-overcome-the-6-most-toxic-employee-behaviors
Day, A. (2017, May 09). Investigating Emotional Resistance To Organizational Change: A Descriptive Qualitative Research Study Of Local Television Newsroom Leaders. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from http://repository.cityu.edu/handle/20.500.11803/653
Webster, M. (2017, June 04). How to Recognise the Signs of Cognitive Resistance to Change. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from https://www.leadershipthoughts.com/how-to-recognise-the-signs-of-cognitive-resistance-to-change/
(2) Learning Activity #1 for Response to (MA)
Cognitive: This occurs when people don’t have enough knowledge or information to the change that is given
People can be naturally become uncomfortable when they don’t know what is about to happen, or what to “anticipate”. If they don’t have the proper knowledge how would they be able to prepare themselves? For those who lack experience on the field that they are working at, they might be hesitant or misunderstand what the leader is trying to explain, when he/she shares the vision.
Emotional: perceptive or attitude towards the change
When change occurs, it will depend on how the person will perceive it. Some take it as an advantage, but most people would take it as a stressful moment, due to fear of making a mistake. Personally I get emotionally effected in many situations. Anxiety attacks, that I usually can’t sleep at night due to overthinking or resisting the new change that was implemented to the organization.
Behavior: how they would react towards it by putting into action, doing the opposite or old process.
Employees might not be persistent on trying to understand due to resisting the new way that was implemented. An example could be seen in the organization I work. People there have been working for more than a decade, and who have been expert on their jobs. A new manager comes with a new way of overcoming the problems which the employees might not like as if the manager hasn’t earned their trust yet. Employees might still practice their way of doing their jobs and on the surface showing as if they are accommodating change into their organization.
