ABSTRACT
Organizational change involves moving from the organization’s present state to a future or target state. The future state can include a new strategy, changes in the organization’s culture, introduction of a new technology, and so on. These are just a few examples; many other possible future states exist. This chapter describes how managers and other change agents can affect that force field and move the organization to a desired new state. People resist change for many reasons. Managers may view resistance to change as a problem to overcome or as a new source of information about the organization. The chapter describes some ways to manage the change process to reduce resistance and different orientations managers can have to resistance to change. Forces for change that press managers to change the organization can come from outside or inside the organization. Competition for market share can force managers to change the organization’s strategy and then its structure to carry out that strategy.
