Name: Dr. Cathal Doyle Twitter: Website: cathaldoyle.comcathaldoyle.com

 Technological change is taking place all around us  The rate of change of technology means that the technology used by any organisation is in a constant state of flux (Buchanan, and Huczynski, 1985)  Each generation of business application and IT infrastructure is superseded by the next wave of developments - (think of the “in my day…”)

 Advances in technology bring potential benefits and risks, which are not always easy to predict  Such a technology might be an app called “Yo” – anyone got any other examples?  Another example would be the internet

 In 1973, the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated a research program to investigate techniques and technologies for interlinking packet networks. This project became known as the “Internetting Project”  In 1973, the advantages of the Internet as we know it today were unknown  It has since brought us advantages such as global purchasing power at our desktop, an “information superhighway”, a valuable research tool, etc.

 However, being unable to foresee the advantages, it was impossible to foresee the disadvantages  For example  exposure to dangerous and illegal information facilitating international crime  supporting drug trade networks  a continued battle against software viruses and cyber attacks  These are just some examples of the unforeseen directions that technology can take us

 Technology is not inherently good or bad, however, the value of technology depends on how it is used  It is in any organisations best interest to adapt and grow with technological change, however, the rate of change of technology is not going to slow down anytime soon (Kotter, 1996)  Thus, it needs to be managed

 The strategic management of technology involves the top team in making a commitment to certain goals, analysing the organisations performance in relation to its technologies and future prospects and producing a vision and a mission statement (Anderson et al., 1997)  There is constant pressure for organisations to reduce costs, improve the quality of products and services, locate new opportunities for growth and increase productivity  In order to facilitate these needs and requirements, adapting to technological change is a must (Kotter, 1996)

 To overcome the obstacle of “resistance to change”, it is necessary to achieve “buy- in” from perspective users of the system  The likelihood of achieving “buy-in” is enhanced with the effective use of change management  The main focus should be to understand the existing culture and skills set and communicate the new vision and plan for the future (Born, 1995).

 It is widely assumed that resistance to change is a common and natural phenomenon (Buchanan and Huczynski, 1985)  Major technological changes or innovations can anticipate resistance, especially when proposed changes alter values and visions related to existing order (Trader- Leigh, 2002)  Technological change that satisfies one group of people can often reduce the satisfaction of other groups. (Trader-Leigh, 2002; Morton, 1991, ITIL, 1999)

 Trader-Leigh (2002) identifies six key resistance forces to organisational change  These key forces are also valid when applied to technological change  How many of these have we already seen?  Self-interest  Psychological impact  Tyranny of custom  Redistributive effects  Destabilisation effects  Culture compatibility

 To control resistance to change, it is important to manage the people aspects of change program  Quite often managers focus on the business dimension of change, the business need for change, the scope of the project, the processes that require reengineering and the implementation of the solution (Prosci, 2004)  The people dimension of change is how the employees experience and react to the change process (Prosci, 2002) and is commonly cited as a major reason for project failure (Hammer, 1990; Prosci, 2002; Kotter, 1995; Bergy et. al, 1999)

 ADKAR is an acronym for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement  The ADKAR model is a management tool that can be used to diagnose employee resistance, help those employees through the change process and create a change management plan for them (Prosci, 2002)  The model proposes that employees must go through the five stages (ADKAR) in order to change