Failure category

Description

Source

Lack of knowledge about the future state

· Is the lack of knowledge about the future state, as change is a journey into the unknown.

· Fear of the unknown (uncertainty).

Kunert and Staar (2018) ; Dempsey et al. (2021)

Dysfunctional organizational culture

· Values, norms and behavior restrictions do not support development.

· Organizational culture becomes dysfunctional driven by cultural change forces.

Schein (1985) ; Schein, Turner, Schein, and Hayes (2021) ; Schein (2010: pp. 22-23)

Bad management and poor leadership

· Too many activities without prioritization.

· Interests/target conflicts of the parties involved or no clear objectives.

· Lack of support from the line management.

· Lack of commitment from the management board.

· Paralysis of the organization due to persistent reorganization.

Srivastava and Agrawal (2020) ; Dempsey et al. (2021)

Disregarded human integration

· Employees may experience negative emotions such as anger and insecurity.

· Lack of participation due to top-down steering.

Bansal (2015) ; Dempsey et al. (2021)

Resistance (dissenting actions that can slow, oppose, or obstruct a change management effort)

· Listlessness, opposition, discomposure.

· Evasion, arguing, open criticism.

· Spreading negative words.

· Reluctant compliance and delaying or misguided application.

Cameron and Green (2019) ; Kotter (2012) ; Dempsey et al. (2021)

Cynicism (form of self-protection from the part of the employees in the face of ambiguous or disappointing events)

· Unsuccessful attempts of change decrease in trust in the agents of change as apathy, resignation, alienation.

· Lack of hope, lack of trust in others.

· Suspicion, disillusion.

· Low performance.

· Interpersonal conflicts, absenteeism, and exhaustion.

Stanley, Meyer, and Topolnytsky (2005)

Resignation

· Feel they have lost control over a situation and as a result have accepted the current state of affairs.

· Result of sustained or continual change processes.

· Past experiences can influence an individual’s current expectations of their ability to influence a situation (self-efficacy).

· Helpless person expects that active behavior will have no effect on the outcome.

· The impairment that learned helplessness has on negative learning processes.

· Feelings of helplessness, sadness, hopelessness and even fear can take over when one believes that their actions are futile, and they are at the mercy of the world.

· Perceived loss of control, security, or status.

· Fear of failure.

Scheier, Weintraub, and Carver (1986) ; Abramson, Seligman, and Teasdale (1978) ;

Barysch (2016) ; Seligman, Petermann, and Rockstroh (1979) ;

Dempsey et al. (2021)

Value system

· Organization may have different views on the values being promoted can create tension and further complicate the process of change.

Marginson (2009)