RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

In Southern Punjab
M. Zeeshan Aslam # 30 MBA (HRM) 3rd
Zeeshan.hashme@gmail.com
Introduction and Literature Review
My eyes already touch the sunny hill, going far ahead of the road I
have begun. So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp; it has its
inner light, even from a distance.
and changes us, even if we do not reach it, into something else, which,
hardly sensing it, we already are; a gesture waves us on, answering our
own wave... but what we feel is the wind in our faces.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Introduction

The same road goes both up and down.
The beginning of a circle is also its end.
Heraklietos of Ephesos, 500 B.C

Change is the nature of human nature. Thus is the sole reason for
human existence. The human race has survived through many changes
and is been living for millenniums in different parts of the world, infect
human species have inhabited almost all the world from the burning
desert of Sahara to the freezing lands of Antarctica. Invention is the key
word here different inventions have helped human race to survive
throughout rough times from the most important invention was wheel
and the most important discovery is fire. It is the human nature which
thrives through any situation. Human have adopted the changes which
come in time by time and give them the hope to live. Human was made
in couple thus, can live and survive in a society. Society where human live
and interact and help each other to live and thrive. The human have been
adopting different changes, some willingly and some forcibly. The reason
why human is so resilient is because, they have been adopting to changes
throughout the way since they started to live on the Earth. Different
countries have different cultures and societies. These cultures and
societies are different from country to country. This change is due to
different environment and geological changes in the world. Weather and
environment is not the same in all parts of the world it vary from
continent to continent then country to country. Pakistan is situated in
South Asia and have a geological position where, there are four seasons
and also Pakistan have four Provinces. Which represents four different
cultures and different norms and customs and eventually different
languages. Punjab province in particular have different regions, Southern
Punjab in particular as compared to other regions of Punjab is the most
backward one. Southern Punjab have the lowest education rate in all
over the Punjab. The people here rely on farming and agricultural crops
as their primary source of income all other sources are related to these.
For example there are only three Universities in this region to facilitate
the almost 12 million population which is a very poor number for such
population. The reason for this is education has been the least point of
interest for the people. But it changed and people eventually came to
know the importance of education and to fulfill their many Private
universities have started to operate in the region. But it this change was
adopted earlier the region would have been on a higher level and been
developed. But its never too late but late compared to other parts of
country. The people here have been enslaved by land lords and they do
what their masters asks them to do. It has developed their mind in a way
that they seek permission from their so called masters, this practice has
made them resilient to change. People here wont accept changes in
time to get benefits from it. If people here adopts the changes in time it
can help them to improve their living situations. I am not talking about
the big changes but small change to make a big change. People have not
much broader perspective about changes. What happens here is a chain
reaction.
o Denial
o Anger
o Confusion
o Depression
o Crisis
o Acceptance
o New Confidence
In one paragraph I would describe it as. When a change comes in
people Denies it, if the change is imposed or evident it makes them
Angry, if they get any orientation about the benefits and rewards of the
change they get Confused about the end results and outcomes which is
still unclear to them which leads them to Depression and depression
always leads to Crisis, crisis makes them think again and instead of
suffering more eventually they Accepts the change and enjoys the
benefits of the change which gives them New Confidence.
Above mentions reasons leads to long-term depression and
backward. At what pace the world is moving we as people of Southern
Punjab have to adopt changes and join the race of development and
come over our resilient nature to changes. If we open mind and adopts
change good changes it will not only help develop the regions position
but also it will help improve living standards in the region. It is developing
at a good pace but it is not fast enough to catch up with others. I will try
to discover the reason behind such behavior and will give suggestions
about the improvement of regions situation.


Literature Review
As Ayesha Khan and Rabia Khan suggested in their arti cle
we would need to go deeper than normal to understand the
reasons behind misconceptions about changes for the people
of Pakistan. This is because not much research is been
conducted in Pakistan about the society and the reasons for
being so closed to changes. (Ayesha Khan and Rabia Khan
2004). Employees have several job insecurities about their job
fear of being replaced, fear of losing the job, if they dont
cooperate with the changes it can cause the organization to
fail. Author have suggested that manager can play an important
role in implementing these changes as a driver (Aric Hall 2008).
Why and how people resist to change, reason maybe change
not needed, purposed change does more harm than good, lack
of respect for person responsible for t he change objectionable
way of implementing the change negative attitude towards the
organization before the change no opportunity to have input
into change perceived as implying personal criticism change
simply adds more work and confusion. Change requires more
effort than to keep status quo bad timing of the change a desire
to challenge authority hearing about the change secondhand.
Then comes The Uncertainty Principle; the people dont know
the outcome and are uncertain about what to come thus resist
to those changes which are unclear to them. (Robert Bacal,
M.A.)
Make employees understand the changes by providing
them proper training and orientation about the change. The
training must be provided according to the new change and to
save time on the job training is preferred. According to their
survey many respondents indicated they have not been
provided with the basic training about the changes. The
following table will explain the things how change works in
organization. Which organizations faces change management
issues and in which perspecti ve they uses it.

(Survey Report A Study by the Society for Human Resource
Management 2007). Due to complexity of events and rapidity
of technologies in the environment, organizations are subject
to many pressures for change. Continuous developments and
range of triggers force organizations towards change
initiatives. Indeed, these pressures on organizations to change
emanate from external and internal environment of the
organizations. Forces encountered in turbulent external
environment and dynamic internal environment are equally
valid forces for educational organizations as well because non-
profit organizations (e.g., schools) also undergo technological,
structural, social and financial changes like the case of profit
organizations (Levin, 1993). Globalization, developments in
information and communication technology, economic crises,
demographic changes dramatically forces human beings to
change (Ragsdell, 2000). Actually, some main external triggers
originated outside the organization can be ranked as law and
regulations of the government, globalization of markets with
adopting standards and values, demographic characteristics,
social and political pressures created by main political and
social events, and improvements in technology (Dawson, 2003;
Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). Internal forces come from inside the
organization that encourage organizational change proposed
by Leavitt (1964) are technology (e.g. Plant, machinery and
tools), primary task (e.g. The major field of business), people
(e.g. Human resources constituting the organization) and
administrative structures (e.g. Formalized lines of
communication, formation of working procedures, managerial
hierarchies, reward systems and disciplinary procedures).
Therefore, it can be stated that internal forces for change come
from both human resources and managerial behaviour or
decisions (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). These external and internal
factors are all related to speed, direction and outcomes of
change in organizations (Dawson, 2003). In school
organizations, government intervention, societys values,
changing technology, administrative processes and fulfilment
of school members needs are pressures on schools to change.
Specifically, government has an important role in educational
matters. That is, governments intervention in educational
policy making through legislation which deals with right for
education, equal educational opportunity, educational justice
and agenda of the government for handicapped and
economically disadvantaged. Moreover, societys values and
school members educational needs affect government
legislation and in turn influence school organizations with
updating coordination mechanisms and organizational design
in education system, updating job designs for individuals and
administrative processes in school organizations. Changing
technology, improved equipment and facilities also improve
productivity and competitiveness in schools (Lunenburg &
Ornstein, 2008). However, main purposes of change in schools
come from external forces. In order to ensure the survival and
future success of educational organizations, it is necessary to
be readily adaptable to the external demands placed upon
these organizations. Actually, schools should be properl y
prepared to face the demands of a changing environment and
responsive to needs of the environment for change. In
searching for the truth be ready for the unexpected. Blind
resistance, political resistance, ideological resistance are the
type or resistance which a firm faces when a change comes.
Ways to resolve education and communication, participation
and involvement, facilitation and support, negotiation and
agreement, manipulation and co-operation, explicit and
implicit coercion, can make people accept the change(Derya
Ylmaz a and Gkhan Klolu 2013). Three-E strategy is used
for overcoming according to the resistance to change. Evident;
the change must be clear to the people and they must know the
effects of the change. Easy to use; the change must be easy to
use and must not be difficult for the people to adopt it and it
is they must be properly trained for the change both skill wise
and mentally so that the wont resist. Essential; until or unless
the change is essential for the survival it must be and it will
cause some crisis if not adopted. (Tom Haymes 2008).
Resistance in innovation improving the ways how things work
is a special kind of resistance. It can be at any level from
production to finance to marketing to board of directors it can
cause trouble at any level of organization. If innovation is not
adopted it can cause serious problems to the work effeciancy
(Jose Vicente Berna-Martinez, Francisco Macia-Perez 2012). 1.
Appreciate the impact of the change. While something like
eating with your non-dominate hand is simple to do, it can be
very unnatural and uncomfortable for people to embrace.
Understand the impact your change represents. 2. Gain buy-
in from key influencers. From the beginning, involve and
include input from those most respected in your organization.
Ensure they support, feel ownership for and become advocates
of the change initiative. 3. Break the mold. Engrained
processes, systems, attitudes and traditions are like molds.
They are rigid and inflexible. They will continue to be used until
they are no longer a viable option. 4. Ensure alignment.
Nothing in an organization exists in isolation. Processes,
systems, structures, incentives, strategies, resources, values
and other organizational attributes should be considered and
put into alignment. 5. Provide sufficient resources. Provide the
appropriate resources needed to fully enable the change.
Dont skimp on documentation, training or other supporting
resources. They add to the cost, but will be more than offset
by a speedier and more effective implementation. 6.
Reinforce. Doing or communicating something once or twice is
rarely sufficient. It must be reinforced and practiced many
times before it moves into peoples unconsciousness and
comfort zone. Ensure managers are equipped to coach and
lead their teams through the change initiative until it becomes
business as usual. These are the ways how a leader can
overcome the changes. (Mike Hawkins 2008). How Uniliver
makes the changes Make it Understand, Make it easy, Make it
Desirable, Make it rewarding, make it habit these simple can be
implemented anywhere regarging the changes.