Prospect theory as an explanation for resistance to organizational change: some management implications

Abstract

The problem in organizational change projects is that people often resist organizational change. Many change projects in organizations do not reach their goals. The question is why? This paper investigates how prospect theory can be used to explain people’s resistance to organizational change. Prospect theory is based on research from Kahneman and Tversky. If we know why people resist organizational change, we as leaders can do something to promote the change project. The objective of this article is to advise managers and leaders on ways of reducing resistance to organizational change. The authors identify seven propositions that explain how managerial strategies reduce organizational change. They recommend seven measures that may be employed by management to obtain support for projects implementing organizational change