Is Obedience, Not Resistance, the Real Organizational Change Killer?

Abstract

In peer-reviewed organizational change literature, most scholars have examined resistance to change (R2C) and commitment to change (C2C) as separate, distinct constructs. Industry research often cites employee R2C as one of the top reasons for organizational change initiative failure. Industry and scholarly researchers, alike, have studied many facets of R2C, often making the value judgment that R2C is negative or an inhibitor of successful organizational change. Most practitioners, and a handful of scholarly theorists, view R2C and C2C as opposite ends of the same spectrum. This group also views reactions to organizational change in a value frame. The purpose of this paper is to examine the behavioral reactions to change through a value free lens. Building upon the work of several different scholars, this theoretical paper presents a new framework that includes R2C and C2C types of behaviors, but from a non-evaluative point of view.