CH 16

Organizational
Behavior, 9/E
Schermerhorn, Hunt, and
Osborn
Prepared by
Michael K. McCuddy
Valparaiso University
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Chapter 16 Study Questions
 What is organizational change?
 What change strategies are used in
organizations?
 How is resistance to change best managed?
 How do organizations innovate?
 How does stress affect people in change
environments?
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 2
Study Question 1: What is
organizational change?
 Transformational change.
– Results in a major overhaul of the organization
or its component systems.
– Described as radical change or frame-breaking
change.
– Organizations experiencing transformational
change undergo a significant shift in basic
characteristic features.

 Incremental change or frame-bending
change.
– Part of the organization’s natural evolution in
building on the existing ways of operating to
enhance or extend them in new directions.
– Introduction of new products, new
technologies, and new systems and processes.
– Continuous improvement through incremental
change is an important asset.
 Change agents.
– Individuals and groups who take responsibility
for changing the existing behavior patterns of
another person or social system.
– Success of change efforts depends in part on
change agents.
– Being an effective change agent means being
a great change leader.

 Unplanned change.
– Occurs spontaneously and without a change
agent’s direction, and such change may be
disruptive.
– Appropriate goal is to act quickly to minimize
the negative consequences and maximize any
possible benefits.
 Planned change.
– The result of specific efforts by a change
agent.
– Direct response to someone’s perception of a
performance gap.
• A performance gap is the discrepancy between the
desired and actual state of affairs.
• Performance gaps represent problems to be
resolved or opportunities to be explored.
 Organizational forces for change.
– Organization-environment relationships.
– Organizational life cycle.
– Political nature of organizations.

Study Question 1: What is organizational
change?

 Reasons for failure of transformational change.
– No sense of urgency.
– No powerful guiding coalition.
– No compelling vision.
– Failure to communicate the vision.
– Failure to empower others to act.
– Failure to celebrate short-term wins.
– Failure to build on accomplishments.
– Failure to institutionalize results.

 Phases of planned change.
– Unfreezing.
• Preparing a situation for change by disconfirming
existing attitudes and behaviors.
– Changing.
• Taking action to modify a situation by altering the
targets of change.
– Refreezing.
• Maintaining momentum and eventually
institutionalizing the change.
Study Question 2: What change
strategies are used in organizations?

Study Question 3: How is resistance
to change best managed?
 Resistance to change.
– Any attitude or behavior that indicates
unwillingness to make or support a desired
change.
– Alternative views of resistance.
• Something that must be overcome for change to be
successful.
• Feedback that can be used to facilitate achieving
change objectives.
 Why people resist change.
– Fear of the unknown.
– Lack of good information.
– Fear for loss of security.
– No reasons to change.
– Fear for loss of power.
– Lack of resources.
– Bad timing.
– Habit.

 Resistance to the change itself.
– People may reject a change because they believe it is
not worth their time, effort, or attention.
– To deal with resistance to the change itself, all those
affected should know how it satisfies the following
criteria:
• Benefit.
• Compatibility.
• Complexity.
• Triability.
 Resistance to the change strategy.
– Force-coercion strategy.
• Likely resistance among individuals who resent management
by “command” or the use of threatened punishment.
– Rational persuasion strategy.

• Likely resistance when the data are suspect or the expertise
of advocates is unclear.
– Shared-power strategy.
• Likely resistance if it appears manipulative and insincere.
 Resistance to the change agent.

– Resistance to the change agent is directed at
the person implementing the change and often
involves personality and other differences.

 How to deal with resistance.
– Education and communication.
– Participation and support.
– Facilitation and support.
– Negotiation and agreement.
– Manipulation and cooptation.
– Explicit and implicit coercion.


Study Question 4: How do
organizations innovate?
 Innovation.
– The process of creating new ideas and putting them
into practice.
 Product innovations.
– The introduction of new or improved goods or
services to better meet customer needs.
 Process innovations.
– The introduction of new and better work methods and
operations.


 Features of innovative organizations.
– Strategies and cultures that are built around a
commitment to innovation.
– Structures that support innovation.
– Staffing with a clear commitment to
innovation.
– Top-management support for innovation.

Study Question 5: How does stress affect
people in change environments?
 Stress.
– A state of tension experienced by individuals
facing extraordinary demands, constraints, or

opportunities.

 Source of stress.
– Stressors.
• The wide variety of things that cause stress for
individuals.
– Types of stressors.
• Work-related stressors.
• Life stressors.

 Work-related stressors.
– Task demands.
– Role ambiguities.
– Role conflicts.
– Ethical dilemmas.
– Interpersonal problems.
– Career developments.
– Physical setting.

 Life stressors.
– Family events.
– Economic difficulties.
– Personal affairs.
– Individual’s needs.
– Individual’s capabilities.
– Individual’s personality.
 Stress and performance.
– Constructive stress (or eustress).
• Moderate levels of stress act in a positive way for
both individuals and organization.
– Destructive stress (or distress).
• Low and especially high levels of stress act in a
negative way for both individuals and
organization.
– Job burnout.
• A loss of interest in and satisfaction with a job due
to stressful working conditions.
 Stress and health.
– Stress can harm people’s physical and psychological
health.
– Health problems associated with stress.
• Heart attack.
• Stroke.
• Hypertension.
• Migraine headache.
• Ulcers.
• Substance abuse.
• Overeating.
• Depression.
• Muscle aches.
– Managers and team leaders should be alert to signs of
excessive stress.
 Stress management.
– Stress prevention.
• Taking action to keep stress from reaching
destructive levels in the first place.
– Once stress has reached a destructive point,
special techniques of stress management can
be implemented.
– Stress management.
• Begins with the recognition of stress symptoms
and continues with actions to maintain a positive
performance edge.
 Stress management (cont.).

– Personal wellness.
• Pursuit of one’s job and career goals with the
support of a personal health promotion program.
– Employee assistance programs.
• Provide help for employees who are experiencing
personal problems and related stress.

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Organizational

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 3

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 5

 Organizational forces for change.

– Organizational life cycle.

– Political nature of organizations.

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 8

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 9

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 10

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 12

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 14

– Rational persuasion strategy.

 Resistance to the change agent.

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 17

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 18

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 19

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 20

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 21

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 22

– A state of tension experienced by individuals

facing extraordinary demands, constraints, or

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 23

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 24

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 25

 Stress management (cont.).

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 30

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 16 31

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