Restraining forces for change

Restraining forces

• Forces that work against, create resistance or act as a barrier to the change taking place

Manager

• Managers roles is to direct business towards ongoing success

• Can be a restraining force for change if they are fearful the change will negatively impact on the role in the business and their job security

• Dont have the skill(leadership)

• Adopt an inappopriate management style when trying to implement the required change

• If they make poorly timed decisions regarding change or put off making about change entirely

Employees

• Members of a business that complete the day to day activities of the business

• If employees feel that change is being forced upon them or if change may result in job losses or reduced job security, they will be less accepting of the change

• In these circumstances employees will be resistant to change

Time

• Businesses that dont allow appropriate amount of time to implement changes effectively will make it difficult for changes to be accepted and understood

• Conversely a business that takes too much time when trying to implement a change can miss out on the identified opportunity, making the business questoin whether or not to proceed with the planned change

• Examples of how time can act as restraining force when trying to imeplement changes

Organisational inertia

• Refers to management inactivity or lack of response when faced with proposed changes because they are satisfied with the status quo

• Being steadfast in their ways and harbouring a mindset of they know best can be a contributing factor in a business not embracing change

• Reason why organisational inertia is considered to be a restraining force

Legislation

• Refers to the laws that a business must abide by

• Can act as a restraining force for change as businesses need to ensure that any proposed changes comply with appropriate laws and regulations, can delay changes taking place or stop changes from being implemented entirely

Financial considerations

• Changes that a business would like to made, need to be considered in light of how much these changes will cost the business

• whether that is redundancy payments to employees because a business is downsizing, the cost associated with purchasing new technology and equipment or having to pay for staff retraining because of changes to how a business operates

• With no guarantee of improved financial performance because of the proposed change, the costs of any changes need to be analysed and considered before going ahead, hence why the financial consideration of proposed changes can act as a restraining force