Successful organizations understand that doing things the same way will produce the same result and that sometimes changing things is needed to take an organization to the next level.

thethrivingsmallbusiness.com/8-steps-to-implementing-successful-organizational-change/

I think sometimes individuals feel threatened by change as Krishnan pointed out. At other times it might be that "It's not my idea" syndrome, so the change idea or suggestion would not be supported so that others would not be promoted. However, I have found that students are more open to change than faculty. Early this year, I decided to make a change to the alarming number of students (80%) who ask for extended deadlines in submitting their master's theses. I wrote and got funding for a small grant to run Research e-clinics one month before the thesis submission date. Students' reactions to these e-clinics were very positive in helping to answer general questions about their research, making requested revisions from their supervisors, and finding articles to support their Lit. Review. I have attached the recent conference paper in this regard which I hope could be useful to your question.

Many thanks,

Debra

Many thanks,

Debra

Conference Paper Piloting Graduate Research E-clinics Toward Completion of Ma...

Dear Vibha,

There are good decisions and bad decisions. You have not indicated why employees do not want to accept the changes. Regarding my experience, many bosses make decisions without inquiring opinions of others in spite of their own ignorance and so their judgements are bad. Your question is too general. Things and situations can be assessed only on the basis of case by case.    

It's of course true that change is needed, if one expects to improve upon what was done before. But this need for change, if indeed there is a need, has to be clearly explained to the employees, if conflict is to be avoided (or at least, mitigated).

People adjust their lives around certain daily routines. When your employer makes a change, this may have a big impact on the rest of the employees' daily obligations, or even just on the employees' way of conducting their own business at work. Either way, once the employee has optimized his or her routines, any major disruption cannot help but be met with resistance. Unless, of course, and this does happen occasionally, the change is actually beneficial to the employee.

Furthermore, all too frequently, it's not at all clear that the change mandated from on high is helpful at all. We all want to have an impact with what we do at work, and this also holds true for corporate management. If the change being implemented is perceived, by the employees, as a manager merely wanting to leave his or her mark, while disrupting the employees' lives, this can be expected to cause resentment.

By default, I would expect most cases of "organizational change" to be met with resistance, for the above reasons at least. It is therefore incumbent upon management to make such changes wisely and to very clearly articulate the intent, if they want to maintain workplace harmony.

Dear Andras

Organisational change here means a positive change. A change that is required either due to changing socio-economic circumstances, rules/regulation, technology, way of functioning and so on. A change that is beneficial for the organisation but that requires the employees to leave their comfort zones. 

Regards

Vibha Sharma

'Organisational Change' is inevitable. Yet employees resist. Why?

This might due to the following reasons:

Do you resist change? if yes, why?

No, because change is constant especially in Information Technology (IT) arena.  Finding "swim along is better than swim against the current".

How do you cope with change?

My personal view is:

Dear Han Ping Fung

Thanks for a very elaborate response. I also feel that since change is inevitable it is better to be proactive and respond to the impeding change in a positive manner.

Regards

Vibha Sharma

Change is dynamic -- it occurs continuously. But employees do not want to come out from complacent position.

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

"The eight most common beliefs and reasons that people resist change

Please, the original article for details - 1st link, and the other interesting websites that talk about the thread:

http://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/change-is-not-the-problem-resistance-to-change-is-the-problem/

http://www.newfoundations.com/OrgTheory/Bolognese721.html

http://management.simplicable.com/management/new/why-people-resist-organizational-change

http://www.esghr.com/Blog/tabid/190/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2113/Change-is-Inevitable-Good-Management-Makes-It-Successful.aspx

There are about 50 articles available about the issue of resistance to organizational change. Link follows.

https://www.researchgate.net/publicliterature.PublicLiterature.search.html?type=keyword&search-keyword=resist+to+organisational+change&search-abstract=&search=Search

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

Here is another very interesting article related to the thread, hope you like it.

It is entitled "Ten Reasons People Resist Change",....

https://hbr.org/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang

Yes I agree with you Vibhaji . Organisational change is inevitable  due dynamics of the organisation mandate . It is the leadership which affects the organisational change , not the employees.

Dear madam,

Here are some good articles regarding the reactions of employees towards organisational changes. Hope that these articles will be useful to you.

http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.odnetwork.org/resource/resmgr/odp/odp-v44,no2-wittig.pdf

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-reactions-organizational-change-17732.html

http://www.peterstark.com/employee-responses-change/

http://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=116044

http://www.utgjiu.ro/revista/ec/pdf/2013-02/48_Volosban%20Raluca.pdf

Some changes are actually totally different from the usual way of doing things, so employees may find it difficult to comply at first but gradually, they adjust to it

Resistance to change is embedded in the organizational culture.

Source - Evelyn Chiloane - Tsoka (2013), The influence of corporate culture on organisational change of first national bank of Namibia

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

"Rapidly changing technologies and competition in the global economy is causing monumental change and transformation in organizations.

Resistance to change and fear of the unknown keeps people and organizations inside their comfort zone. Breaking free from the confines of complacency is difficult, requiring time and energy to accomplish."...

Please, see the original article for more information...

http://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/change-management-need-a-sense-of-urgency/

Dear Vibha,

Make everyone know change is inevitable. New suggestions and modifications are not welcome from the beginning of humankind. Yet change keeps the Earth rolling.

Although the British are relatively conservative, but I admired their approach to changes in organizations. Within 5 years of my stay in Great Britain, the president of Bradford University was changed twice & the convincing reason was allowing "fresh blood" into the system. Each president tried his best to serve the University knowing that he is accountable & his performance is watched closely.

In some 3rd world countries, the university's president is "theoretically" appointed for 4 years with a possible extension for another 4 years. However, some of them will hold the post for 16 years or more (!) which is a sure recipe of stagnation & freezing any "real" progress. In such countries, politics plays the key role in "fixing" high management posts in universities & in important organizations.

Change is a natural phenomenon but there are persons who resist change for personal selfish reasons no more. Such persons do not really belong to their countries but belong to their narrow interests. As always, there are "hypocrites" who declare the "bosses" as being fantastically unique & irreplaceable!

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

"Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed – the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day."

                                                                             – Frances Hesselbein

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

Here is a very short quotation but it is so lovely and interesting:

"Paralyze resistance with persistence. "

                                                          ~Woody Hayes

7 Common reasons why employees resist change and how to encourage them to embrace new developments!

It’s all very well knowing what may be causing workers to resist change, but for business owners, the key is being able to overcome this resistance...

By understanding the reasons for resistance and the above advice to help your team embrace the desired change, new behaviours and systems will be integrated faster and more effectively.

http://www.bytestart.co.uk/employees-resist-change-encourage-embrace.html

“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.

[These words are also inscribed upon his grave]”

― Karl Marx, Eleven Theses on Feuerbach

Сhanges don't need to resist. Everything happens in its own time. Whatever people tried to do things in their own way.

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

"Why change is inevitable, but progress is not

Regardless of the market an enterprise is operating in, or how successful it has been in the past, change is an inevitable factor in the life-cycle of any enterprise:

• Change is driven by factors within the enterprise itself, such as the wish to reposition the enterprise within a market, or to implement a new business model, to merge with another enterprise, or to expand into a new market,
• Change is driven by factors external to the company, such as market rivalry, disruptive technologies, demographic changes and new government regulations.

Why does change not always lead to progress?

When it comes to transforming enterprises, many different factors have to be considered:

• Enterprises are complex. Even small enterprises are multi-faceted and interconnected with their environment and markets in multitudinous ways.
• Change affects structures and processes. Change affects both processes (such as business processes, internal processes and technolgical processes) and structures (such as who you do business with, your enterprises geographical and functional structure, and which systems you work with).
• Change affects different layers of the enterprise. Change affects different layers of your enterprise: your business model (how does the enterprise make money?), your organizational model (what activities do your employees perform to achieve this, in which roles?) and the technological level (what technology does the enterprise use to support its activities?).
• Change affects the hard and the soft. Next to these “hard”, tangible aspects of an enterprise the even more important “soft” aspects of change need to be considered: enterprises are made and kept alive by us humans, and our emotions often run high when it comes to change.
• Change does not always start at the same spot. Change is not always initiated by top-management. Depending on the driver for change and the current situation an enterprise is in, you may see changes at the technological level rippling up through the enterprise giving rise to new business models (e.g. the internet and mobile communication giving rise to new ways of working and doing business), sometimes changes at the business level lead to reorganization and the implementation of new technology to support the business (e.g. the merger of two companies leading to changes in organization and technology).".....

Please, see the link ....

https://www.business-prototyping.com/the-business-prototyping-manifesto/why-change-is-inevitable-but-progress-is-not/

Thanks to all my colleagues for their elaborate responses. It will greatly help me in my endeavor to find answers to organisational change related questions and also teach organisational behaviour to students.    

Keep on going dear @Vibha!

Organizational Change: 8 Reasons Why People Resist Change!

"With the rate of technological growth, our Information Age, and the global economy, change is now the normal state of business. Organizational change does not come easy, however. Many organizational change efforts fail to reach their objectives.

Senior sponsors of the change often blame its failure on employee and middle manager resistance to change. At times, this is true. More often, however, senior leaders and managers over-estimate how much change they can force on the organization. Some also do not understand how difficult it is to lead and implement change effectively. Leading and implementing change requires people skills!..."

https://managementisajourney.com/organizational-change-8-reasons-why-people-resist-change/

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

"Organisations are now confronted with two sources of change: the traditional type that is initiated and managed; and external changes over which no one has control."

                                                    ----   Margaret J. Wheatley