Change is every transformation from one state to another, and in the world of business organizations it means: transformation, movement, or modification at the level of objectives, organizational structure, functions, processes, procedures, rules… for positive interaction with the environment, with the aim of preserving and developing the current competitive position, and from In this sense, change management can be defined as: the process through which the organization’s leadership adopts a certain set of values, knowledge and techniques…, in exchange for giving up other values, knowledge or techniques. Change management expresses how to use the best economical and effective methods to bring about change in stages. It occurs with the intention of achieving the specific organizational goals to carry out the responsibilities dictated by the dimensions of effective change.
At the present time, various organizations deal with environmental conditions that are characterized by dynamism, rapid change and intensity. In view of this changing environment, those in charge of them must adopt strategies that allow them to confront environmental threats and maintain and develop their competitive position. Perhaps one of the most important sources of competitive advantage that can achieve this bet for this type of institution is the quality of the products it provides to the customer, and this requires its supervisors to adopt administrative approaches that focus on quality, but the partial modification of operations may not produce results achieved for this type of institution. The target competitive position, so it is necessary to radically rethink the various processes that take place in the organization, especially those related to quality, and redesign them based on a strategy for change based on modern methods such as administrative re-engineering and total quality management.
Change in itself is a necessary and necessary requirement for every organization to be from the worst to the best and not vice versa. Change is the basis for all development, improvement and repair of past mistakes, just as stagnation and monotony in anything leads to gradual death and its end. time and dependence on chance.
It is worthwhile for us, in the context of talking about this subject, to anticipate the first leader whom we consider the first man in the management of change, “Muhammad bin Abdullah, may the best of prayers and peace be upon him,” who brought us out of backwardness and vice and led us towards advancement and progress, since he did not borrow his method of change from the thought of his time or from the thought of those who preceded him, but rather the words of the Lord of the heavens and the earth. The Almighty said ((And he does not speak of passion (3) it is only a revelation revealed (4))). This person who led the change from loss to righteousness and peace has gathered in him qualities and skills that they did not meet and would not be combined in others.
Now we must address the concept of change, which was mentioned in many administrative and psychological books on the tongues of many scholars, some of which we mention:
Picard defines organizational development and change as a planned effort that includes the entire organization and is managed from the top in order to increase the effectiveness of the organization and strengthen it through studied interventions in the organizational process, using the theory of behavioral sciences.
French defines it as a long-term effort and activity aimed at improving the organization’s ability to solve its problems and renew itself through joint, collaborative and effective management of the organization’s climate that gives special emphasis to comprehensive teamwork.
In another definition, it is a series of continuous and long-term efforts aimed at improving the organization’s capabilities to introduce innovation, keep pace with development, and enable it to solve its problems and face its challenges through the employment of contemporary behavioral theories and techniques that call for mobilizing collective efforts, achieving team participation, and assimilation of organizational civilization. And reformulating them, approving field research and work studies, seeking help from experts of change and development from inside and outside the organization to lay out its plans and contribute to following up on their implementation.
Gibson defines it as the efforts aimed at increasing the effectiveness of organizations by achieving integration between the desires and personal goals of individuals with the goals of the organization by developing planned programs for comprehensive change for the entire organization and its elements.
Alderfer defines it as “a yearning to improve the quality of life of the human side of the organization and to increase the effectiveness of its organizational dimension.”
Others define it as a process of self-renewal, through which the organization seeks to revive modernity, prevent regression, remove rust, and remove the ice that accumulates on systems and regulations or affects individuals or is exposed to equipment, so that the organization maintains its vitality, youth, and credibility, capable of adapting and responding to crises and difficult circumstances.
It is noted from these definitions that organizational development for one is (change), for another it is (improvement), for a third it is (renewal), and for a fourth it is (modernization).
It is noted that these definitions agree that:
The essence of the process of organizational change and development is related to the behavior of the individual and the behavior of the work group in work organizations, whether governmental or non-governmental. The tool for implementing change is through developing human capacities and skills and constantly solving their problems in accordance with environmental, economic, technical or technological variables.
Change management and organizational development processes will remain one of the most important challenges facing leaders in business organizations, given what is required for planning processes and mobilizing various resources to implement these plans in order to be able to interact positively with the continuous changes at the level of the internal and external work environments, by seizing opportunities and minimizing the impact of External threats, rationalizing the exploitation of strengths, and finding appropriate and quick solutions to weaknesses.
The concept of resistance to change: It is the series of efforts through which a number of individuals affected by the change process and those who are not in favor of it for various reasons try to refrain from it and not submit to the change intended to be implemented on a specific process, procedure or behavior and the desire to preserve the status quo and remain as it is in current reality.
But this resistance may not be negative in most cases, but may be positive, where the positive is the
Resistance when the proposed change is negative in the sense that the benefits achieved from it are less than the costs paid, and non-compliance with it is in the interest of management.
Reasons for resistance to change:
The process of change is not an easy process, rather it is met with resistance by many people in any organization, because human nature by nature prefers stability and steadfastness, so we will discuss here the most important factors and reasons through which there is resistance to change:
1- Financial reasons: This is considered one of the important and main reasons that may be followed by violent resistance, especially if it pertains to higher groups in the organization as partners or within senior management, as change is usually accompanied by an increase in costs during the short period, which leads to their resistance to it without thinking about the consequences. It can result in the long term, or when you try to improve the level of service or do things that would motivate workers, some managers do not see the benefit of that because he wants to evaluate it directly financially. This manager cannot understand the relationship between customer satisfaction, worker motivation, and profitability. It is true that you cannot specify this with specific numbers, but the relationship is quite clear. Focusing on cost figures may make some managers not see the benefit of changes that have an indirect impact, or we may find resistance from the various workers in the organization when one of them sees that the other will achieve material gains for his benefit in exchange for his personal interest.
2- Fear of the unknown: Many individuals resist change because the results are not clear or certain. Preserving what is present is easier and easier than falling into the spiral of the unknown, according to their belief, because this gives them a sense of security and stability. However, in practice, if an organization manages its business in the same manner for more than four years, then there must be an error in its management.
3- Fear of losing some advantages: Change may be accompanied by workers’ fear of losing their sources of strength. The worker who has been working for years in a traditional manner is afraid that he will become educated like the worker who joined the service recently. And when you try to apply the methods of electronic work, some managers fear that the information that used to belong to them will be available and they will only see it if they want. It may come to the fear of job loss or lack of material incentives as a result of the change. There is a social aspect, which is the fear of labor redistribution, which may lead the worker to move to a new work group and distance from the current group with which he has strong relationships.
4- Change in personal relationships and attachments: Wherein lies the fear of the impact of change on personal relationships, especially when a change occurs in the technical aspects. For example, the boss may refuse to change the job of one of his subordinates for fear that this will disturb the relationship between them.
5- Trying to avoid risk: Any change carries an aspect of risk, and therefore many managers prefer not to change anything for fear of failure of change. They are trying to portray that it is not possible to be more creative than it was so that they do not have to face the risk.
6- Not understanding the goals and justifications of change, in addition to not seeing the advantages: any change has negative and positive aspects, but we have to bring about changes whose positive aspects are greater than their negative aspects. But some focus on the negative aspects, and start preparing problems and risks for you, and do not pay attention to the benefits that will occur as a result of this change. Among the usual problems is that the workers are used to the current situation, that there is a cost and effort required to make the change, that this requires training the workers again. This point can be formulated in another way, which is not seeing the need for change, which may mean not seeing the current problems that require change.
7- Loss of a sense of participation: Failure to consult the workers who will be affected by the change makes them resist this change because they feel that they did not participate in it. On the contrary, the participation of workers and managers in the change makes them do everything they can to overcome the difficulties for the success of this change.
8- Unavailability of appropriate resources for change: Resistance to change may stem from the lack of material resources necessary for change, the lack of necessary tools or labor, or the expectation that this will not be provided in the future.
