Organizations change. Leading global companies like Samsung Electronics show that constant innovation is the key to success. When companies talk about their future strategies, they do not forget about innovation and change. As you may know, stagnant water is bound to corrupt. Change is indispensable to organizations.

But change is not easy. According to research, about 70 percent of enterprises that attempted change experienced failure, and only 30 percent of executives of global corporations said that programs that introduced change succeeded. These results are closely related to the fact that there is resistance to change. I recently saw that only 20 percent of people accepted change, and the remainder either resisted change (20%) or were indifferent to change (60%). This was in an investigation respecting the attitude of members about change.

I agree with the investigation. I have experienced the same results. After I became the chief editor of The Campus Journal, I tried to incorporate various changes in our system. I introduced a computer remote control program, a cloud document system, and a video conference. I also redesigned our paper’s layout and made a Facebook page. I made a lot of changes rapidly in our newspaper to maximize our work efficiency. I expected all the reporters to embrace the changes because they were very convenient and could innovatively reduce their working hours. But several reporters who were computer illiterate did not understand why the changes were needed and distrusted them. I taught them how to use the programs, and how they could be involved in the changes as well.

Now, I am sure that the innovations and changes in our system are very successful and making progress. This experience let me know that the resistance to change occurs because of fear of uncertainty and the need to stay in stable conditions. I also realized that organization members who don’t become active agents of the change can feel left out and powerless. I think managers should provide a forum for their members to improve themselves as innovation leaders. We should understand that when a manager tries to rapidly change an organization, the members may resist.

Jung Hwan-su  -

<저작권자 © The Campus Journal, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지>