Investigating Causes of Resistance to Change in Kenyan Public Sector: A case of Postal Corporation of Kenya
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Date
2013-08-24
Authors
Mwangi, Irene Njeri
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Abstract
Resistance is an inevitable response to any major change. Individuals naturally rush to defend
the status quo if they feel their security or status is threatened. Resistance has been defined
differently by different scholars. Most organisations are facing aggression and frustration in
employees as the emotional factors that caused undesirable behaviours and resistance to
change. The study investigated the effects of leadership, employee attitude, organisation
culture and communication in organisation on resistance in change. The study adopted a
descriptive survey design. Data was collected from 57 employees in top level, middle level
and low level management working' in Postal Corporation of Kenya. Since the population of
the study is small, the study was conducted through a census approach. The study collected
both primary data and secondary data. Primary data was collected using questionnaires while
secondary data was collected from companies' annual reports, manuals and newsletters. After
data collection analysis was done using descriptive statistics. The study findings were
presented using tables and graphs for further analysis and to facilitate comparison. Further in
the descriptive analysis, the study used multivariate regression model to determine the
relative importance of each of the four variables with respect to resistance to change in public
sector. The study found that leadership through management involvement, documentation,
employee motivation, employees' involvement, consistency and control influence resistance
to change at Postal Corporation of Kenya. The study further deduced that organisation culture
influence resistance to change at Postal Corporation of Kenya. The study also concludes that
communication in organisation influence change resistance at Postal Corporation of Kenya to
a very great extent. There is a clear vision that governs change in the organization and change
management is communicated effectively within the department. The study finally concludes
that organisation culture had the greatest effect on the resistance to change at PCK, followed
by leadership while level of communication had the least effect to the resistance to change at
PCK. The study recommends that managers should be self motivated towards attending their
responsibilities in order to realize the intended results of strategic change decisions within the
organization. The study also recommends that the organization culture should ensure that
coordination of activities are streamlined to enhance success in strategy implementation by
ensuring that employee across the organization understand their roles to ensure that they stay
focused on the key targets given the everyday pressures. Formal education should be
emphasized that would broaden the employees level of knowledge and skills and enable them
cope with the change without resistance. Further, there should be a mutual relationship
among the workers which enables communication and hence reduced resistance.
Description
HD 58.8 .M9