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Most previous studies of organizational change and resistance take an organizational perspective as opposed to an individual perspective. This paper investigates the relationship between irrational ideas, emotion and resistance to change. Nine organizations implementing major change were surveyed providing data from 615 respondents. The analysis showed that irrational ideas are positively correlated with behavioural intentions to resist change. Irrational ideas and emotion together explain 44 percent of the variance in intentions to resist. Also outlines an intervention strategy to guide management in developing a method for approaching resistance when implementing major change.

This review reports on the current state and the potential of tools and systems designed to aid online searching, referred to here as online searching aids. Intermediary mechanisms are examined in terms of the two stage model, i.e. end‐user, intermediary, ‘raw database’, and different forms of user — system interaction are discussed. The evolution of the terminology of online searching aids is presented with special emphasis on the expert/non‐expert division. Terms defined include gateways, front‐end systems, intermediary systems and post‐processing. The alternative configurations that such systems can have and the approaches to the design of the user interface are discussed. The review then analyses the functions of online searching aids, i.e. logon procedures, access to hosts, help features, search formulation, query reformulation, database selection, uploading, downloading and post‐processing. Costs are then briefly examined. The review concludes by looking at future trends following recent developments in computer science and elsewhere. Distributed expert based information systems (debis), the standard generalised mark‐up language (SGML), the client‐server model, object‐orientation and parallel processing are expected to influence, if they have not done so already, the design and implementation of future online searching aids.

Observes that the published literature on resistance to organisational change has focused more on organisational issues rather than individual psychological factors. The present study investigated the role of both adaptive and maladaptive defence mechanisms in individual resistance. Surveys were conducted in nine organisations undergoing major change and responses were obtained from 615 employees. The results indicate that five maladaptive defence mechanisms are positively correlated with behavioural intention to resist change, namely, projection, acting out, isolation of affect, dissociation and denial. The adaptive defence mechanism of humour was found to be negatively correlated with resistance intention. Identifies two intervention strategies which can be used by management to address the effects of defence mechanisms on resistance during periods of change in organisations.

Children with disabilities are made to be invisible, excluded from school, hidden by their families, and abandoned by their governments, especially in developing countries. These children are less likely to start school; and if they do, they are unlikely to transition to secondary school. Access to quality programs or schools for children with disabilities is often limited by the lack of understanding about their needs, well-prepared or trained teachers, classroom supports, learning resources, and facilities. Denying these children their right to education has a lifelong impact on learning, achievement, and employment opportunities, and thus hinder their potential economic, social, and human developments. To ensure that all children enjoy their basic human rights without discrimination, the inclusion of children with disabilities should be promoted in all programs and schools. In addition, they must be included to ensure their presence, participation, and achievement. Regardless of ability, all children have a right to reach their full potential. It is critical to build the political will, policies, and infrastructure for truly inclusive programs. In this chapter, we examine historical trends, important relevant issues, and legislations that protect young learners with disabilities (the 13 categories) and the challenges and advances made in special education advocacy and policy to enable or enhance positive direction for the education of young learners with disabilities.

This paper aims to identify employee attitudes toward organizational change in the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility in the Gaza Strip and factors affecting these attitudes.

The study used descriptive and analytical methods to investigate the phenomena. The study population includes all the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility employees. The population number was 128. A semi‐comprehensive survey was used. A close‐ended questionnaire was considered as a main tool for data gathering from the field.

The study concluded that employee attitudes toward organizational change were positive but weak, which could elicit some supportive behaviors. Employees hold ambivalent cognitions; they believe that change benefits all employees and would increase work efficiency, but they do not see themselves or their departments as contributors to this improvement. In addition, they hold moderate positive emotions of happiness, excitement, relief, and hope. Moreover, employees hold moderate intentions to support the change passively by complying with, and showing acceptance of change. Multiple regression analysis indicated moderate prediction of attitude toward organizational change by four predictors: organizational support, self‐efficacy, quality of information, and threat appraisal. The model explained 52.0 percent of variance in employee attitudes toward organizational change.

The paper provides a managerial framework for applying change to organizations successfully and generating a positive employee attitudes and behavior toward change.

This research is the first to be conducted in Palestine and to consider a practical and empirical approach to evaluate management of change in one of the most important service provider institutes in the Gaza Strip.

The change management literature on strategy implementation identifies different dimensions of resistance to change. The contrary view – that of dimensions of acceptance of change when implementing strategy – has received less attention. The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of environmental sustainability strategies by Nordic insurers, the role of leadership in implementing these changes, and employee acceptance of change.

For achieving this purpose, this paper reports on an explanatory case study of Nordic non-life insurers, where interviews with insurance executives and specialists were the primary source of data.

The authors have developed simple strategy maps, focusing on insurers’ own operations, product offerings, loss prevention and claims settlements, investments and influence on stakeholders, to show how common elements of environmental strategies are implemented within the insurance industry. The importance of leadership in organizational change is evident in the data, as well as in employees’ positive attitudes towards implementation of environmental sustainability strategies.

The scientific contribution of this paper is the empirical mapping of a hitherto unexplored area of the implementation of environmental sustainability strategies within the Nordic insurance industry, highlighting the leadership role in implementing environmental sustainability strategies and the elements shaping employee acceptance of change when implementing environmental sustainability strategies.

The Perception of Change Strategy Scale (PCS) measures an individual’s perception of the change strategies being used by change agents during an organizational change. To ground the reader in the tool’s history, two published studies are briefly discussed: one in which the measure was developed and a second in which the tool’s reliability was appraised. In a third study presented here a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the theoretical framework and to select the best fitting model amongst several competing models of the constructs identified in the PCS. The results support a three-factor model as the best fit for a change strategy framework based on Chin and Benne’s (1961) three-part conceptualization for leading change: empirical-rational, power-coercive, and normative-re-educative.

Large-scale organizational change, such as seen through mergers and acquisitions, CEO succession, and corporate entrepreneurship, sometimes is necessary in order to allow firms to be competitive. However, such change can be unsettling to existing employees, producing considerable uncertainty, conflict, politics, and stress, and thus, must be managed very carefully. Unfortunately, to date, little research has examined the relationships among change efforts, perceptions of political environments, and employee stress reactions. We introduce a conceptual model that draws upon sensemaking theory and research to explain how employees perceive and interpret their uncertain environments, the politics in them, and the resulting work stress, after large-scale organizational change initiatives. Implications of our proposed conceptualization are discussed, as are directions for future research.