Running Head: UNDERSTANDING AND COPING WITH CHANGE 1

Understanding and Coping with Change

Teresa Jones
Organizational Behavior

Bus 610

Dr. Guevara

December 06, 2015

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Change is an evolutional event that causes a transformation or modification, which

occurs when something passes from one phase to the other. Change in inevitable, why are we

resistant to it? Surely, we are all aware that as we are born, we will develop; as we develop, we

will progress, as we evolve, as we evolve we will expire. Change is everywhere, why do we

resist it and why does change disrupt our behavior?

Change is a good thing: it prevents stagnation; it prompts improvement, and it links

directly to the ongoing success of organization's Forsyth, Patrick. Creating Success,

Volume 44: Managing Change. London, GBR: Kogan Page, 2012. ProQuest ebrary.

Web. 15 September 2014.

According to (Kotter & Schlesinger, 1979) employees may resist change for several

reasons such as self-interest, lack of understanding, lack of trust in management deferring

assessments of the need for change, and a general low tolerance for change (Baack, 2012 Sec.

10.4 Para. 2). The only thing that is consistent about change is change. Change affects

individuals in different ways; some may welcome it while others may struggle with it. Change is

a step process of growth that we all must treasure and respect as it will surely happen. Change

can be positive for an organization, and one must confront it as it provides us the ability to create

value-added services for the organization and the public.

Individuals who struggle with change may be more concerned with themselves.

Although, change is inevitable for growth in a business organization, change is also inevitable

also in individuals for personal growth and development. Change should be considered as

normal part of life and living. Many have not learned to embrace change, some may become

complacent with their level of growth, and the effect caused them to be stagnant in life. Some

individuals may fear change will cause unwarranted stress, and they want to shield themselves
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from it. However, we must learn to prepare for change at any time, and we must learn to

manage change instead of allowing change to manage us. The basis of managing change is

accepting the reality that change is unavoidable and sometimes unpredictable, and regardless of

the nature, it will occur.

Managing change required that we must first acknowledge it, as we look around us, we

can see changes happening. Whether is minor and considered unimportant or large and

challenging. Observing the signs of change allows us to better prepare ourselves to deal with

them. By acknowledging the possibility of change, we are creating a mental perception of

caution. This perception allows us to create a coping process or system to effectively shield

ourselves from harm of disappointment. By understanding change we are able to cope with the

situation thereby, avoiding an over saturation of emotions. Coping with change may also require

that you look at the situation from the outside in and decide worst-case scenario.

Deciding the worst-case scenario can assist in the development and planning process that

will allow you to empower yourself to authorize the change. Accept the fact that change will

happen whether or not we are ready for it. If change knocks you down you must proudly pick

yourself up and start again. Change can be appalling to some individuals because it is now

viewed an opportunity as it should be. Change forces us to re-examine our lives. It is similar to

establishing a new link to growth and development. It reinforces our lifes routine and assists us

in avoiding complacency. We should expect new outlines and designs throughout our life cycle

and treasure the memories of the past but welcome the knowledge of the future.
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My previous organization had undergone many changes over the last few years, including

relocation the corporate office to implementing a new computer system. Prior to implementing a

new system, our leaders initiated a meeting announcing the company will be undergoing many

changed over the next several months, as our divisional office will become the new home of the

Business Service Center (BSC). The BSC will combine several divisions of our organizations,

including South, Mid, and NW territories. Our leaders further detailed that we will be

implementing a new computer program called SAP, which was capable of handling all

transactions and reporting that our company will need in order to operate.

During the course of several months, we were provided information about the process

and the next steps as well as the period that changes would occur. As this information became

available, changes were being implemented, the process was happening quickly. First, we

moved to a new building capable of holding a large group of people. Then communications

were published about implementing a new computer system. The system is an ERP (Enterprise,

Resource, and Planning) business management system capable of integrating several applications

that organizations use to collect, store, manage and interpret data computer system known as

SAP (System Applications and Processes).

SAP is a massive program and can cover various departments, including manufacturing,

purchasing, sales, accounting. Just the sheer thought of this new system frightened my coworker

Laura. Laura 59 years old and close to retiring, she worked in cash application department. As

part of the change, our organization was communication about migrated from an old dos based

program known as Computers Unlimited (CU) to a new innovative program called SAP, which

is windows based program. Laura feared the process of learning a new system at her age; she

was a long-time employee and was used to the old dos based program Computers Unlimited
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(CU). Laura believed this program would alienate her from the new younger employees because

the technology was foreign to her.

CU was the only system she has worked on her entire life. She feared she would not

navigate through the new system processes with ease. Every part of the system was alien and

accelerated. Laura dreaded learning a new system to the point making herself ill. Although, she

was not ready to retire, she contemplated it, as she feared being laid-off or fired. Although, the

new computer system was idea for our organization, and it would enable easy access to

information sharing that flows between our leaders and shareholders it had a negative element

for Laura. Laura was in a sense selfish; she serves as a great example of an employee who was

not embracing change.

Laura sought stability in her last few years before retiring, she was not ready for to

embrace the change. Although, change is necessary for growth in a business organization

change must also occur in individuals who are part of the organization. However, individuals

such as Laura sometimes become complacent with their level of growth and are resistant to

change. Laura believed was older and feared she would not be able to navigate through the new

processes of SAP and her job nor did she feel the desire to learn something new. Laura was

having difficulties coping with change. The first step in coping with change is to become

educated on it and communication about it, and remember we are going to be trained.

During our many discussions regarding SAP, I informed Laura the system massive, but it

is very easy to navigate as I have worked on it in the past is very similar to Microsoft Excel and

windows. Laura and I met on break and often communicated about relocating the office to the

new system we were to be put in place, and she must get comfortable with the idea that she was
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must learn how to work. She became calm and did not fight the change. Our progressive

conversations appeared to have given her confidence that she would be able to handle it.

In a sense, this method a sense of urgency as described by Kotter in his eight-step plan

regarding change. I was able to assist Laura in seeing the need for the change. Over the next

several months, our leaders chose several people that trained offsite in order to gain the

knowledge required in order to train employees. This followed the second step Kotters plan of

forming a power coalition to lead the change. Once it was time for the training, our leader was

ready to provide the knowledge we required in order to navigate the system.

Once the training was complete, we were required to take a series of test to evaluate and

certify the training. Laura performed wonderfully; she ultimately saw importance to embrace the

change despite her initial fears and challenges. Although, Laura was resistant to change she

ultimately saw that change was going to happen whether she was part of the organizational

process of not. Laura was able to acknowledge, accept and cope with change by embracing it

through the communication, and the raining provided by the company.

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References

Baack, D. (2012). Organizational behavior. San Diego CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Forsyth, P. (2012). Managing change [electronic resource] / Patrick Forsyth. London;

Philadelphia: Kogan Page, 2012.

Fugate, M., Kinicki, A. J., & Prussia, G. E. (2008). Employee Coping with Change

Organizational Change: An Examination of Alternative Theoretical Perspectives and

Models. Personnel Psychology, 61(1), 1-36. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2008.00104.x

Lawrence, S. A., & Callan, V. J. (2011). The Role of Social Support in Coping during the

Anticipatory Stage of Organizational Change: A Test of an Integrative Model. British

Journal of Management, 22(4), 567-585. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8551.2010.00692.x