Management Fundamentals 5th Edition by Robert Lussier

Exercise 22

Objective
To improve your skill at identifying resistance to change.
Skills
The primary skills developed through this exercise are:
1. Management skill - decision making (conceptual, diagnostic, analytical, and critical-thinking skills are needed to understand resistance to change)
2. AACSB competency - analytic skills
3. Management function - organizing
Preparing for Skill Builder 1
Below are 10 statements made by employees who have been asked to make a change on the job. Identify the source and focus of their resistance using Exhibit 6-4. Because it is difficult to identify intensity of resistance on paper, skip the intensity factor. However, when you deal with people on the job, you need to identify the intensity. Place the number of the box (1-9) that best represents the resistance on the line in front of each statement.
1. "But we never did the job that way before. Can't we just do it the same way as always?"
2. The tennis coach asked Jill, the star player, to have Louise as her doubles partner. Jill said, "Come on, Louise is a lousy player. Betty is better; don't break us up." The coach disagreed and forced Jill to accept Louise.
3. The manager, Winny, told Mike to stop letting everyone in the department take advantage of him by sticking him with extra work. Mike said, "But I like my coworkers and I want them to like me, too. If I don't help people they may not like me." 4. "I can't learn how to use the new computer. I'm not smart enough to use it."
5. The police sergeant asked Chris, a patrol officer, to take a rookie cop as her partner. Chris said, "Do I have to? I broke in the last rookie. He and I are getting along well."
6. An employee asked Chuck, the manager, if she could change the work-order form. Chuck said, "That would be a waste of time; the current form is fine."
7. Diane, an employee, is busy at work. Her supervisor tells her to stop what she is doing and begin a new project. Diane says, "The job I'm working on now is more important." 8. "I don't want to work with that work team. It has the lowest performance record in the department."
9. A restaurant worker tells the restaurant manager, "Keep me in the kitchen. I can't work in the bar because drinking is against my religion."
10. "But I don't see why I have to stop showing pictures of people burning in a fire to help get customers to buy our smoke detector system. I don't think it's unethical. Our competitors do it."
Apply It
What did I learn from this experience? How will I use this knowledge in the future?
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Your instructor may ask you to do this Skill Builder in class in a group. If so, the instructor will provide you with any necessary information or additional instructions.