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What are the effects of demographic factors on employees’ resistance to change?

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  • Nonye Chukwuma

    (Durban University of Technology)

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate how employees' unwillingness to change is influenced by demographic factors (age, gender, and educational attainment). Employees at car dealerships in the eThekwini region of South Africa make up the statistical population of this study. The means of data collection was by administration of questionnaires distributed across 170 employees from selected dealership automobiles. Cronbach's Alpha was used to compute and confirm the questionnaire's reliability, while factor analysis and the KMO index were used to authenticate its validity. The results demonstrate employees' resistance to change in the cognitive rigidity dimension to be significantly influenced by the mean of the variables in the two groups of men and women. Employee resistance to change in the cognitive rigidity construct is unaffected by age, and employees with better educational backgrounds displayed less cognitive resistance than those with lesser educational backgrounds. The tenure of employment also indicated that those with more years of tenure showed less resistance compared to those with lesser years of the tenure at the organisation. The study suggests that these insights are valuable for organisations seeking to improve their change management practices by considering demographic factors as means to understand change is increasingly essential and promises more successful change efforts in the future. Key Words:Age, Demographic factor, Gender, Educational qualifications, Resistance to change.

Suggested Citation

  • Nonye Chukwuma, 2025. "What are the effects of demographic factors on employees’ resistance to change?," International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293), Bussecon International Academy, vol. 7(4), pages 66-78, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:adi:ijbess:v:7:y:2025:i:4:p:66-78
    DOI: 10.36096/ijbes.v7i4.889
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Francis Donkor & Zhou Dongmei & Isaac Sekyere, 2021. "The Mediating Effects of Organizational Commitment on Leadership Styles and Employee Performance in SOEs in Ghana: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, May.
    3. Jekelle, Helen Elena, 2021. "An Empirical Analysis of Key Antecedents of Workforce Diversity on Job Performance in Nigeria," OSF Preprints ybja2, Center for Open Science.
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