Coch, Lester, and John R. P. French Jr.: Overcoming Resistance to Change

Coch and French are best known for their research on resistance to change. In a study at a textile manufacturing company in Virginia, Coch and French used Lewin’s field theory and his approach to action research to study resistance to change. They found that the keys to managing resistance is involving organizational members in planning the change and effectively communicating the rationale behind the change. Their results were quickly generalized – employee participation is central to managing resistance when leading any sort of change in any type of organization. Today, the term resistance to change is universally discussed in most management textbooks, with some scholars viewing resistance as a universal phenomenon to be overcome, rather than to be understood. Other scholars view resistance as the cognitive, conative, and affective components of attitude that need to be recognized and appreciated. Regardless of various interpretations, Coch and French stand with their two important principles on overcoming resistance to change: resistance does not arise from the individual, but from the context in which the change takes place, and the way to change the forces in the field to achieve a desired outcome is not to attempt to impose change, but to encourage participative decision-making through action research.