‘Partly Reversed Measures’: Critically Assessing the Management of Resistance Within Radical Changes - Accompanying Banking Employees on Their Identity Journey During Digital Transformation
(2019) BUSN49 20191Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- The omnipresent megatrend digitalization significantly challenges traditional banking organizations. Banking employees’ work life, including their job role and identity are subject of radical change. Due to banks’ importance to societies and economies, those consequences of digitalization need investigation to prepare for expected future changes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the significance of digitalization for the underlying dynamics of employees’ work life, including identity conflicts, change management, and the management of potential change resistance. We conducted interviews with a diverse group of customer-oriented banking employees and management representatives in various branches and offices within... (More)
- The omnipresent megatrend digitalization significantly challenges traditional banking organizations. Banking employees’ work life, including their job role and identity are subject of radical change. Due to banks’ importance to societies and economies, those consequences of digitalization need investigation to prepare for expected future changes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the significance of digitalization for the underlying dynamics of employees’ work life, including identity conflicts, change management, and the management of potential change resistance. We conducted interviews with a diverse group of customer-oriented banking employees and management representatives in various branches and offices within Nordea in South Sweden and Copenhagen. Following an interpretivist and abductive research approach, we establish multiple key learnings which are of interest to academics and practitioners. We argue that radical changes cause identity conflicts. Consequently, resistance is likely. We reason that an organization can ease this resistance and reach acceptance of an overall continuing change direction by partly reversing some changes. These ‘partly reversed measures’ offer employees the opportunity to retain parts of their pre-change identity. However, they prevent employees from engaging in identity work, which is required for creating a post-change identity stability that is altered accordingly and anchored sustainably. Banking employees perceive an elusive sense of security and, consequently, avoid to critically reflect on future changes that might impact their work life. We finally conclude that engaging in identity work is of utmost importance to process past and prepare for future changes. We invite researchers to continue examining identity work in light of digitalization due to its relevance for all kinds of industries. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8980469
- author
- Jahn, Constantin Gustaf LU and Kruse, Philipp LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- BUSN49 20191
- year
- 2019
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- digitalization, change, radical change, change management, managing resistance, identity, identity work, work life, banking industry
- language
- English
- id
- 8980469
- date added to LUP
- 2019-07-04 16:32:26
- date last changed
- 2019-07-04 16:32:26
@misc{8980469,
abstract = {{The omnipresent megatrend digitalization significantly challenges traditional banking organizations. Banking employees’ work life, including their job role and identity are subject of radical change. Due to banks’ importance to societies and economies, those consequences of digitalization need investigation to prepare for expected future changes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the significance of digitalization for the underlying dynamics of employees’ work life, including identity conflicts, change management, and the management of potential change resistance. We conducted interviews with a diverse group of customer-oriented banking employees and management representatives in various branches and offices within Nordea in South Sweden and Copenhagen. Following an interpretivist and abductive research approach, we establish multiple key learnings which are of interest to academics and practitioners. We argue that radical changes cause identity conflicts. Consequently, resistance is likely. We reason that an organization can ease this resistance and reach acceptance of an overall continuing change direction by partly reversing some changes. These ‘partly reversed measures’ offer employees the opportunity to retain parts of their pre-change identity. However, they prevent employees from engaging in identity work, which is required for creating a post-change identity stability that is altered accordingly and anchored sustainably. Banking employees perceive an elusive sense of security and, consequently, avoid to critically reflect on future changes that might impact their work life. We finally conclude that engaging in identity work is of utmost importance to process past and prepare for future changes. We invite researchers to continue examining identity work in light of digitalization due to its relevance for all kinds of industries.}},
author = {{Jahn, Constantin Gustaf and Kruse, Philipp}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{‘Partly Reversed Measures’: Critically Assessing the Management of Resistance Within Radical Changes - Accompanying Banking Employees on Their Identity Journey During Digital Transformation}},
year = {{2019}},
}