Exploring Employees’ Resistance towards Digital Transformation: A Case Study of Higher Education Institution
Keywords:
Digital transformation, Employees resistance, Lack of training and rewardsAbstract
Abstract
Organizational transformations often encounter employees’ resistance, creating significant hurdles for the successful implementation of digital change. Although existing literature focused on organizational leaderships, employees’ resistance and technology implementation but there is a lack of in-depth exploration of how individual differ in attitudes at different levels of management working in an organization. The purpose of this case study was to identify the psychological factors that contribute to employee’s resistance and explore the underlying reasons which are creating hurdles in technology adoption. Explanatory sequential mixed method approach was employed followed by a case study design. The participants were employees of three categories; top management, middle management and lower management placed at different sections of said organization. The target population comprised 835 employees out of which two hundred sixty-four participants were selected through stratified random sampling technique. Quantitative data were collected through survey method followed by Focus Group Discussion. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA test was applied to compare three groups of management to reach the group within extreme resistance. The results of the quantitative study showed higher level of resistance among employees of lower management. The pertinent resistance factors exhibited by employees, ranging from overt opposition to subtle forms of sabotage; lack of understanding, lack of training, different types of fears and lack of motivation. The implications highlight the importance of proactive engagement, transparent communication, training and fostering a culture of trust and collaboration to mitigate resistance and facilitate successful digital transformation initiatives.
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