5

Social and Human Factors

Reactions to Change

Key Topics Covered in This Chapter

  • The rank and file, and how they respond to change
  • Change resisters, and how to deal with them
  • Change agents—the people who can make things happen

ORGANIZATIONS are inherently social systems. The people in these systems have identities, relationships, communities, attitudes, emotions, and differentiated powers. So when you try to change any part of the system, all of these factors come into play, adding many layers of complexity to a change process. Successful management of change requires that you recognize the primacy of people factors and the social systems in which they operate.

The rank and file, the resisters, and the change agents are the three sets of ...

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