The chapter notes that transition to a team-based organization represents a massive organizational change and may meet strong resistance for many reasons. Some of that resistance is likely to come from employees who have spent considerable time in the company. How might you respond to a disgruntled employee who says during the change, "This isn't what I signed up for. This place is turning into a circus and nobody knows what's going to be let loose in the next act."

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The Answer is It may be tempting to dismiss the employee as stuck in the past and unwilling to accept change. As such, students may point out the many general benefits of change and those specific to change to team-based organizations.Still, there is reason for skepticism. As discussed in Chapter 8, Managing Change, employees may have various reasons, personal or not, to resist change. For instance, they for instance, see the change as an unnecessary "flavor of the month," the company's attempt to blindly follow fads. In a Dilbert cartoon, the pointy-haired boss says, "… companies need to embrace change," to which all his employees think, "Uh-oh, it's another management fad. Will it pass quickly or will it linger like the stench of a dead woodchuck under the porch?" When the boss then says, "I think we should do a 'change' newsletter," his employees think together, "Woodchuck." So, it is always important to determine whether change is really appropriate before communicating and implementing it.Part of the reason for the employee's frustration may be that changes often take time for full and successful implementation. During the change process the benefits of change may not be evident at early stages, though problems and difficulties are seen everywhere. As noted by Rosabeth Moss Kanter in Chapter 7, "Facilitating Team Processes," "Everything looks like a failure in the middle." As such, careful attention to the principles for successful implementation of change that were discussed in Chapter 8 is critical. Further, as the employee suggested, the company seems to be (at least in his or her view) violating its "psychological contract." That is, the employee joined the organization to do a certain job in a certain work environment, structure, and organizational culture. Major change, such as to a team-based organization, deviates from that implicit contract, just as would be the case if the employee decided not do the job for which he or she was hired. Whatever the need for the change, the employee's perspective should be recognized and considered. Students may also point out that the disgruntled employee may actually learn to enjoy the new teams-based organization and the opportunities it offers. As noted in Chapter 4, Socializing, Building Trust, Training, Motivating, and Leading Teams, a finding contradicting Maslow's hypotheses regarding his need hierarchy is that the importance of higher order needs such as self actualization actually increases as employees are given chances to satisfy them; growth need strength actually increases with exposure to opportunities for personal growth.

The Chapter Notes That Transition to a Team-Based Organization Represents