Sevo - Dissertation

The University of Sheffield International Faculty, CITY College
MSc in Business Management, Technology and Innovation
THE IMPACT OF AGE AND EXPERIENCE
AS RESISTANCE TO CHANGE FACTORS
A STUDY IN THE BANKING SECTOR IN ALBANIA
This report is submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Business Management and Technology
GRIGOR SEVO
October, 2013
Approved
Dr. Alexandros Psychogios

DECLARATION
All sentences or passages quoted in this thesis from other people’s work have been
specifically acknowledged by clear cross-referencing to author, work and page(s). I
understand that failure to do this, amounts to plagiarism and will be considered
grounds for failure in this thesis and the degree examination as a whole.
Name : GRIGOR SEVO
Signed: ………………………………………………………
Date: ………………………………………………………..

ABSTRACT
There are a lot of factors that influence resistance to organizational change. Age and
experience are among them. This is an industry study of the banking sector in
Albania. It analyzes how age and job experience act as resistance to change factor.
By means of quantitative and qualitative research this study shows that older
employees are more resistant to change than younger employees. On the other hand
it shows that experienced employees are less resistant to change than the other
employees.
In order to reduce age driven resistance to change the study suggests that older
employees have less resistance to change if the reasons and goals of the change are
clearly explained to them and if they are more involved during the change
implementation.
To reduce job experience related resistance the study suggest that experienced
employees are less resistant to change if they are part of the decision making process
and if they have room to introduce their ideas during the change process.

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TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1 - Participant's bank_________________________________________________________ 21
Figure 2 - Gender__________________________________________________________________ 22
Figure 3 - Age_____________________________________________________________________ 23
Figure 4 - Age * Gender Cross tabulation ______________________________________________ 24
Figure 5 - Years of experience in the banking sector ______________________________________ 25
Figure 6 - Years of experience in the current bank________________________________________ 26
Figure 7 - Job title _________________________________________________________________ 27
Figure 8 - Division/Department_______________________________________________________ 28
Figure 9 - Personal characteristics - Age _______________________________________________ 30
Figure 10 - Org. supports change - Experience in the sector________________________________ 31
Figure 11 - Org. doesn't support change - Experience in the bank ___________________________ 32
Figure 12 - Org. doesn't support change - Experience in the position_________________________ 33
Figure 13 - Time of last change implementation__________________________________________ 35
Figure 14 - Experience in the job position when change occurred ___________________________ 36
Figure 15 - First reaction – Age ______________________________________________________ 37
Figure 16 - First reaction - Experience in the sector ______________________________________ 38
Figure 17 - First reaction - Experience in the bank _______________________________________ 39
Figure 18 - Personal difficulties - Age _________________________________________________ 40
Figure 19 - Most relevant informant ___________________________________________________ 42
Figure 20 - Change management process - Age __________________________________________ 43
Figure 21 - Change management process - Experience in the current bank ____________________ 46
TABLE OF TABLES
Table 1 - Participant's bank__________________________________________________________ 20
Table 2 - Gender___________________________________________________________________ 21
Table 3 - Age _____________________________________________________________________ 22
Table 4 - Age * Gender Cross tabulation _______________________________________________ 23
Table 5- Years of experience in the banking sector _______________________________________ 24
Table 6 - Years of experience in the current bank_________________________________________ 25
Table 7 - Job title __________________________________________________________________ 26
Table 8 - Division/department ________________________________________________________ 28
Table 9 - Personal characteristics - Age ________________________________________________ 29
Table 10 - Org. Supports Change - Experience in the sector ________________________________ 31
Table 11 - Org. doesn't support change - Experience in the bank ____________________________ 33
Table 12 - Org. doesn't support change - Experience in the position _________________________ 34
Table 13 - Time of last change implementation __________________________________________ 34
Table 14 - Experience in the job position when change occurred ____________________________ 35
Table 15 - First reaction - Age________________________________________________________ 37
Table 16 - First reaction - Experience in the sector _______________________________________ 38
Table 17 - First reaction - Experience in the bank ________________________________________ 39
Table 18 - Personal difficulties - Age __________________________________________________ 40
Table 19 - Most relevant informant ____________________________________________________ 41
Table 20 - Change management process – Age __________________________________________ 43
Table 21 - Change management process - Experience in the current bank_____________________ 46
Table 22 - Comparison of findings ____________________________________________________ 49

II
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. BACKGROUND 1
1.2. AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND BENEFITS OF THE STUDY 2
1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 4
1.4. RESEARCH AREA 5
1.5. STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY 5
2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6
2.1. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AND RESISTANCE TO CHANGE 6
2.2. AGEING AND JOB EXPERIENCE AS RESISTANCE FACTORS 8
2.3. LITERATURE GAP 11
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (1850/2000) 12
3.1. METHODOLOGY 12
3.2. SAMPLING 13
3.3. REASONS FOR CHOOSING THIS METHODOLOGY 14
3.4. LIMITATIONS OF THE CHOSEN METHODOLOGY 15
3.5. STUDY DESIGN 17
4 RESULTS 20
4.1. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 20
4.2. QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 47
4.3. COMPARISON OF FINDINGS WITH LITERATURE REVIEW 49
5 DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS 50
5.1. CONCLUSIONS 50
5.2. ANSWERS TO RESEARCH QUESTIONS 52
5.3. FUTURE RESEARCH SUGGESTIONS 54
6 REFERENCES 55
7 BIBLIOGRAPHY 60
8 APPENDIXES - 1 -

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1 INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background
More and more often, change is part of our life. We either need to adapt to it and
advance, or resist it and stay behind. Nowadays more and more companies embrace
organizational change as a normal way of doing business. To follow this way of
operating, employees need to constantly take measures and adapt. This process is
often followed by employee’s resistance to change. The main reason is the fact that
people don’t want to change the status quo and don’t want to exit their comfort zone.
Among other factors that influence employee’s resistance to change, age and job
experience are the most important ones.
This study analyzes the importance of age and job experience as resistance to change
factors. It is an industry study, focused on the banking sector in Albania. Participants
in this study are employees of different age categories and with different job
experience, working in the banking industry in Albania. The study analyzes how
ageing operates as a resistance to change driver and how employees of different age
categories react to organizational change. It also investigates the relationship
between age and job experience in the process of change management. Job
experience can either be experience in the banking sector, experience in the current
organization or experience in the job position. This study analyses all the three types
of experience. The information gathered is used to provide grounding theory to
propose a change management framework to be used in different age categories and
job experience in order to reduce resistance to change.

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To identify the current state of knowledge regarding ageing, experience and
resistance to change, articles from EBSCO, JSTOR, Elsevier ScienceDirect and
Emerald Management Reviews were analyzed. The study covers the current state of
research regarding organizational change and how it affects employees. It also covers
types of resistance to change and how ageing is related to resistance to change. The
literature review part also identifies the gaps in the actual state of research regarding
ageing and resistance to change in the banking sector.
1.2. Aims, Objectives and Benefits of the Study
The overall aim of the study is to find a correlation between resistance to change and
two employee’s individual characteristics, age and job experience. It analyzes how
employees of different age and job experience act and react given a particular change
in their working environment; whether they embrace and accept change or they reject
it. To accomplish this, the study focuses on the two individual factors of resistance to
change: age and job experience. There are stereotypes that imply that older people
are more resistant to change than younger people. The same stereotypes exist for the
job experience also. The more experience an employee has the more resistant to
change he is. On the other hand there are studies that suggest the contrary.
Another aim of the study is to find a pattern for resistance to change in the
employee’s behavior and propose actions to minimize it. By analyzing employee’s
responses the study identifies possible approaches to implement change with
minimal individual resistance.

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To have a clearer view of the final aim, the study will pursue the following
objectives:
• Determine employers and/or managers perception of how employees, from
different generations, react to change
• Determine how different generation of employees percept and react to change
• Explore how ageing is related to resistance to change
• Find a relationship between job experience and resistance to change from a
managing prospective
• Propose change management actions or models to be applied to different
generations of employees, and employees with different levels of expertise in
order to reduce resistance to change
On the theoretical field the study aims to contribute to the research carried out by
Posthuma and Campion (2009) regarding age stereotypes in the working
environment. It also aims to contribute to the Albanian academic environment where
this kind of study is never done. It will create the theoretical basis for future research
in the field of overcoming resistance to organizational change.
On the practical field this study is going to contribute to the work environment. More
specifically it will help the managers to have a clear picture of how to deal with
employees of different age categories, in order to minimize resistance, when they
need to apply some organizational change in their working environment.

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1.3. Research Questions
Research done so far has shown that there are some connections between age and
resistance to change. In order to determine if this connection is either positive or
negative, first age needs to be analyzes as a moderator of resistance. The first
research question that this study answers is:
Q1. How is ageing related to resistance to change?
Stereotypes exist that experienced employees are more resistant to organizational
change than the less experienced ones. This research evaluates if this stereotypes are
true by studying how job experience is related to resistance. The next research
question is this:
Q2. How is job experience related to resistance to change?
People of the same age category might have different job experience. Since there is a
possibility that job experience might influence the results then it needs to be taken
into account. So the third research question that this study answers is:
Q3. In what ways do ageing and job experience correlate in resisting change?
The study analyzes the responses from both employees and managers in order to
determine how both parts consider change. By finding common patterns in their
behaviors the study creates practical guidelines for reducing resistance to change:
Q4. How to reduce age driven resistance to change?
The study shows that employees with different job experience have different
approaches to accepting/resisting change. For this reason different approaches should

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be used to help experienced and non-experienced employees to overcome resistance.
Hence the fifth research question is:
Q5. How to reduce job experience driven resistance to change?
1.4. Research Area
This study combines information from the area of economy and psychology. First it
studies organizational change and change management. Then it focuses in depth on
employee’s individual attributes, like age and job experience, as resistance to change
factors.
1.5. Structure of the study
After the introductory part, the study continues with the literature review. It analyses
the current state of knowledge regarding organizational change and resistance to
change drivers. It focuses on age and job experience as resistance to change factors.
The literature review part explains form a theoretical point of view how
It continues with the explanation of the methodology used in the research. It covers
some important aspects like sampling and design of the research. It also covers the
reason for choosing this methodology and the limitations this methodology has.
The study continues with the research results. It explains the analysis and the results
of the quantitative research and the findings of the qualitative research. It concludes
this part with the comparison of the findings with the literature review.
The last part of the study is the discussion and conclusion part. This section explains
the findings of the research. It also gives the answers to the research questions set
forth in the beginning. The section concludes with some suggestions for future
research.

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2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Organizational Change and Resistance to Change
What is change, type of changes (organizational, individual), and schools of
thought?
Change is an integral part of every organization. According to Burnes (2004),
organizations treat change either as a one-off event or as a continuous event in their
everyday operations. The later have considered change as a normal way of doing
business. External drivers can trigger change, like: globalization, politics,
demographics, economy, information and technology. On the other hand it can have
internal triggers, like: human resources and managerial decisions.
Change management theory is based on three schools of thought:
The individual perspective – The supporters of this school are focused on the
individual behavior in order to manage change.
The group dynamics – This school is based on the work of Kurt Lewin and the
supporters of this school focus on the behavior, norms and values of groups in an
organization in order to manage change, Cummings and Huse (1989).
The open system – The supporters of this school believe that inside the
organizations there are some sub-systems that interact with each other and with the
external world and these sub-systems need to be managed in order to manage
change, Scott (1987).

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There are two main approaches for change management:
Planned approach – It is based on the three step model of Kurt Lewin (Unfreezing –
Moving – Refreezing). It was later developed by other authors like: Bullock and
Batten (1985), Lippit (1985), Cummings and Huse (1989).
Emergent approach – It considers that any organization has five areas that need to
be considered in order to have a successful change management. They are:
Organizational structure, Organizational Culture, Organizational learning,
Managerial behavior, Power and politics. The emergent approach is mostly based on
the work of Kanter, Kotter (1996) and complexity theorists like: Bechtolt (1997),
Arndt and Bigelow (2000) and Burnes (2005).
Any organizational change is followed by resistance to change. It can be:
organizational resistance or individual resistance from the employees. The later resist
because they feel frightened that they comfort zone will be disturbed. Maybe they
will lose their job, their status or the economic benefits, Caruth et al (1985), Baker
(1989). According to Smollan (2011) organizational change should be seen as a
game where there are winners and losers and people do not want to lose and that is
why they resist. Individuals can have: open active resistance, hidden/indirect
resistance, passive behavior. According to Oreg (2003) the resistance to change can
somehow be measured in order to find the appropriate way of dealing with it. To
overcome individual’s resistance, managers should: create attitude for change,
communicate, set good examples, solicit opinions and reward acceptance, Caruth et
al (1985), Garvin and Roberto (2005).

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2.2. Ageing and Job Experience as Resistance Factors
2.2.1. Workforce is ageing
There is strong evidence that a demographic shift related to ageing is happening.
This shift has direct relation to productivity which is why it is threatening companies
and economic growth, around the world, Feyrer (2007). Especially in developed
countries, people are living better, are healthier and live longer. On the other hand
the birth rate has dropped drastically and in many countries it is below the population
replacement level. This means that the workforce is ageing and very soon the
companies will face a shortage on new workforce needed to replace the retiring
workforce, Shultz and Adams (2012). For these reasons the companies need to find
ways to manage and overcome the ageing workforce problem, in order to reduce the
imminent threat, Dychtwald et al (2004). According to Sørensen et al (2000)
organizations lose their innovative side because of the ageing workforce. For this and
other reasons organizations have started addressing this issue by increasing
workforce diversity and introducing technology in their work processes but still more
needs to be done, Burke and Ng (2006).
Managing and coping with the ageing workforce is a very delicate issue for the
companies and it is constantly threatened by negative age stereotypes that employees
and employers have against ageing personnel, Hedge et al (2006). There is a lot of
legislation that protect older workforce but sometimes it is not known by the
employers, Barnes et al (2009). Sometimes these negative age stereotypes and
discrimination have cost companies millions of dollars, and this is why companies
need also to fight against negative, age stereotypes, Lieber (2007). Even though

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many organizations are very sensitive about this issue only a small part of them have
actually implemented adequate changes, Capowski (1994).
2.2.2. Age stereotypes and discrimination
Posthuma and Campion (2009) followed later on by Posthuma et al (2012) identified,
analyzed and summarized researches done so far, in age stereotypes. Results showed
that both negative and positive stereotypes exist. The most common age stereotypes,
they identified, include:
• Older employees have lower ability to learn, lack motivation and are less
productive than younger workers, Nelson (2004).
• Older workers cost more to organizations. This is because in comparison to the
younger workers they use benefits more and are paid more.
• Older workers are more loyal, trustworthy and more committed to the job than
the younger workers.
• Older workers are less flexible and are more resistant to organizational change.
These age stereotypes and negative attitudes toward older employees exist not only
among younger employees but among older employees also, Taylor and Walker
(1994). This means that even the older employees think negatively for coworkers of
the same age category, Hassell and Perrewe (1995), Kite et al (2005).
It is because of the negative stereotypes that often, older worker suffer age
discrimination, either in the recruitment process or in the job environment. As
research shows, this is mainly because they are considered to be ineffective, are
missing the required skills and not adaptive to the job, Taylor and Walker (1994),

10
Doering et al (1983). Even though according to Williams et al (2006), older people
are more emotionally stable and can deal better with negative situations and stress,
than the younger ones.
2.2.3. Age and job experience as a resistance factor
One of the typical stereotypes about age is that older employees are more resistant to
change. This is often connected to the fact that managers consider their older workers
to be slow learners and unmotivated, Rosen and Jerdee (1977). Their result was later
supported by the study of Weiss and Maurer (2004). They also concluded that
managers think that older employees are more resistant to change than the younger
employees, Chiu et al (2001). This is not always the case. Some research has shown
that the contrary is true. According to Kunze et al (2010), younger employees are
more resistant to change than their older colleagues. The study argues that this might
happen because older employees are more emotionally stable and can suppress better
their negative reactions, Williams et al (2006).
Research shows that less experienced employees tend to be less resistant to change.
This is because according to O'Connell et al (2008) when employees are new to a job
position they are eager to learn the new way of working. This result is backed up also
by other authors. According to Sagie et al (1985) the more job experience an
employee has, the more resistant to change he is and organizations should persuade
their employees into change by emphasizing personal benefits rather than
organizational benefits.

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2.2.4. Bank environment
The bank environment is not immune to the resistance to change. As different case
studies show the main issue in implementing a new process or technology is the
employees resistance to change, Chew and Choo (2008).
According to Munir et al (2013), managers have a very important role in facilitating
the change process to their employees. They should do so by explaining the reasons
for change and the benefits of it, Gaertner (1988), Garvin and Roberto (2005).
Another study states that in order to deal with resistance to change every successful
organization, including banks, should create a change leadership team that will guide
the whole change process, Brown, G. F. (2013).
2.3. Literature gap
The actual state of knowledge coves extensively organizational change and
resistance to change. It partly covers the ageing as a resistance to change factor.
Research in this field is rather contradictory so this study helps in sorting out some
stereotypes and replaces them with real findings. On the other hand the current state
of knowledge does not cover the ageing in the banking sector and also does not cover
how ageing and job experience are related in influencing the resistance to change.
There is a lack in literature especially for the Albanian context. These are the points
that this study explores.

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3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (1850/2000)
3.1. Methodology
The objective of the study is to understand how employees of different age and
experience react to organizational change. Another objective is that of finding ways
of reducing resistance to change. To have a thorough understanding of the problem
the study needs the prospective of the employees and the managers. Opinions of both
groups need to be taken into consideration in order to create a cross check of the
findings.
In order to analyze how different generations react to change in the working
environment and how job experience is related and influences change acceptance, a
quantitative research is conducted. The research methodology chosen is cross-
sectional. It is an on-site survey through paper-based questionnaires that is
distributed to 180-250 employees of ten second level banks. Where not possible the
questionnaires are to be distributed in electronic form. The chosen sample is not a
random sample; rather it is a purposive sample, which comprises that the employees
fall on different age categories and with different job experience. They are chosen to
have participated in some change recently or are going to participate in some change
in the near future. The questionnaire focuses on the personal opinions of the
participants regarding personal characteristics, organizational behavior and change
management process. The data is collected personally from the employees and is
processed via SPSS, in order to find the trends and relationships between age, job
experience and resistance to change. The full questionnaire structure can be found on
APPENDIX A.

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In order to understand the manager’s perception on how employees of different
generations and job experience, react to change a qualitative research is conducted. It
is a one-to-one, face to face interview, with 3-6 middle/top managers of the banking
sector. Even though it is not favorable, where not possible to have a face to face
interview the electronic approach is to be followed. In this case the managers need to
respond by email. Again the sample is chosen to be a purposive sample including
that the managers are from departments where different age categories of employees
operate and also that have participated in some change in recent time or are going to
face change in the near future. The interviews focus on the actions and measures that
the managers follow in order to communicate the need for change, to their employees
and to follow change implementation. The interviews are semi-structured and have
only open questions. The answers to the interview questions are used to analyze how
managers percept age and experience as resistance to change factors. The answers
are also used to help in identifying how, age and experience driven, resistance to
change can be minimized in future changes.
3.2. Sampling
Sampling is the process of sizing down the population into a smaller group consisting
of representatives from different categories of the population. It is impossible to
collect data from the entire population, hence the need to sample. The main reasons
for using sampling are to save time and money. Even though it offers a better view, it
is very costly and time consuming to gather data from the entire population. Another
reason is that sometimes it is not physically possible to include the entire population
in the research. Choosing the right sample method is very important because it helps
in making more accurate inferences regarding the research questions. Sampling is

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divided in two main categories: probability and non-probability. Probability
sampling means that sample cases have equally chances to be selected from the
entire population. Non-probability sampling means that some cases have higher
probability than others to be chosen by the research.
This study uses the non-probability sampling method. This is because the employees
chosen to participate in the study do not represent a random sample of the entire
bank’s personnel, rather they are chosen to be from departments that have recently
underwent change or are going through change in the near future. The chosen
sampling method is a combination between purposive sampling and self-selection
sampling. First only the departments that have experienced change are chosen and
next the group of employees in these departments is invited to participate. The study
focuses on identifying patterns on how employees of different age categories resist
change and this is better done through heterogeneous sampling. For this reason the
employees that participated in the research fall in different age groups, sex and
education.
3.3. Reasons for choosing this methodology
In order to create a better understanding of the issue both the employees and the
managers prospective are needed. Employees are the ones that experience change in
their everyday job and the ones that can have resistance to change. On the other hand
managers are the ones that initiate and manage change through its lifecycle. We need
both variables in the equation in order to understand how resistance to change is
related to age and how to overcome it.

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Cross-sectional methodology is chosen instead of longitudinal because there are
limitations of time and money that don’t allow for an extended on job study.
Questionnaires are chosen as a way of collecting data because they are easier to
distribute to the chosen sample and can be filled in an appropriate moment and in
total privacy by them. On the other hand face to face interviews with change
initiators are an appropriate way of identifying body language, hidden expressions
and fully benefit from open questions.
3.4. Limitations of the chosen methodology
Being a social study in a very busy environment like the banking sector, the chosen
methodology has some limitations. First of all it is difficult for the employees to
explain their emotions/feelings/behavior/evaluation, on some change that happened
in the past. It is even more difficult for them to express themselves about some
change that is going to happen in the near future. This raises the level of uncertainty.
For this reason the questions were chosen to be as simple as possible and beside
focusing on the employees opinions and behavior they were chosen to analyze the
employees actions. The participants were instructed to answer regarding actions they
have taken during the last organizational change or future actions to be taken in cases
of an upcoming change.
Another limitation of the chosen methodology is the difficulty in identifying
employees, which have expressed high levels of resistance to change. By not
accepting the new organizational behavior these employees could have left the
company or could have been fired. Otherwise they could still be working for the

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company but in another department. To overcome this limitation as much as possible
the sample will be carefully chosen in order to contain employees from different
departments. This way, the chances of including the most resistant employees in the
sample, are higher.
The banks have very strict security policies regarding entering their premises making
it difficult to meet employees from their head office. Where possible the participants
were met in person. In the banks that physical contact was not possible the
questionnaires were delivered in electronic form by using Google Forms. This
method has its own limitations. First of all the response rate is lower than paper
based questionnaires and second there are some banks that have restrictive internet
access policies. This limitation also reduces the response rate. To overcome these
limitations a representative was chosen for each bank, where the electronic
questionnaire was distributed. The representative role was to increase the response
rate by doing periodic follow ups on the participants. This method drastically
increased the response rate up to 70% on the electronic questionnaires.
The final limitation of the chosen methodology is the diversified nature of the
participants and the organizational changes considered. It is difficult to include in the
study all the organizational changes that the participants may have experienced. It is
in the participants decision to choose which change he is going to respond for. On
the other hand the magnitude of organizational change may vary and hence the
magnitude of resistance may be different for different participants. In fact even
though two participants may have responded equally to all the questions this doesn’t
mean they have equally resisted to the change.

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3.5. Study Design
The study is based on primary source data, gathered from questionnaires and face to
face interviews. The questionnaire used in this study is designed in 3 sections:
Introduction and Individual characteristics; Organizational behavior; Change
process. In the first section the participant is asked about personal data like: age,
education, marital status, job position, years of experience in the banking sector and
years of experience in the current bank. The first section also contains some
questions in which the participant should describe his attitude toward change. These
questions help understand if the participant considers himself a person that likes
change or a person that doesn’t like change.
The second section is about organizational behavior. The questions are organized in a
way to understand the participant’s perception about his organization. If the
participant’s perception is that his company doesn’t support change then chances are
that the participant will be more resistant to change. Otherwise if the participant
considers his organization to be supportive about change then expectations are that
the participant will be less resistant to change.
The third section is about change itself. It helps understand when the change
occurred and what the participant’s reactions were. This section also helps identify
how the change was notified and who were the people that helped the most during
the change phase. The section concludes with some questions that help understand
what the participant considers to be the most helpful actions during the change
process.

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Answers to most of the questions are going to be analyzed using the age and the job
experience variable in order to answer the first three research questions: how do age
and job experience influence resistance to change. The last part of section 3 and the
interviews will help answering the last two research questions: how to reduce age
and job experience driven resistance to change.
First the questionnaire was piloted with 10 participants from one bank. The pilot
phase offered very good insights regarding the questionnaire content and layout.
Afterwards the final questionnaire was distributed in all the banks. Where possible
the questionnaire was distributed in electronic form. In the banks where the
participants didn’t have access to internet the questionnaire was distributed in hard
copy. With little exception, the number of questionnaires in each bank was the same.
The response rate was 85%, 200 questionnaires were collected out of the 230 that
were distributed.
The interviews on the other hand were face to face, opened questions, interviews
with high management of the banks. The interviewees consisted of CEO’s, Deputy
CEO’s and CIO’s that offered a different prospective to the problem and a real
benefit to the study. The interview was built around but not limited to the following
questions:
• Please describe the most challenging organizational change implemented in your
bank.
• Which were the major difficulties during the implementation of the change?
• Related to personnel of the bank, what were the most significant problems
faced?

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• Adaptation to the change was easier for the experienced personnel or easier
for the less experienced? Regarding age have you noticed any trend?
• According to you, what where the reasons that influenced personnel’s
resistance to change?
• Beside the difficulties encountered can this organizational change considered
a success story for your bank?
• From your experience, what are the actions that a manager should do in order
to reduce personnel’s resistance to change?
Full interview design can be found in APPENDIX C.

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4 RESULTS
4.1.Quantitative analysis and findings
4.1.1. Section 1 - Demographics
The data gathered by the questionnaires were carefully formatted and then analyzed
through SPSS. It was in dual form: hard copy and electronic form. The first step was
to convert the hard copy responses to electronic copy. For this reason all the paper
based responses were inputted manually to an online questionnaire in Google Forms.
After that all the responses were formatted and prepared to be imported into SPSS.
Following are the main results from the SPSS analysis.
There were 200 participants in the survey from 10 second level banks in Albania.
With very little exception, the number of participant was chosen to be almost the
same from each bank. The rationale behind this decision is to equally analyze how
organizational change is managed across the banking sector, regardless of the size of
the organization.
Frequency Percent
Valid
Credit Agricole 20 10.0
International Commercial Bank 12 6.0
Intesa SanPaolo Bank 28 14.0
ProCredit Bank 15 7.5
Raiffeisen Bank 36 18.0
Societe Generale 15 7.5
Tirana Bank 17 8.5
Union Bank 14 7.0
United Bank of Albania 19 9.5
Veneto Banka 24 12.0
Total 200 100.0
Table 1 - Participant's bank

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Figure 1 - Participant's bank
Of the 200 employees from 10 second level banks that participated in the survey,
58% were women and 42% men. Women have an advantage against men when it
comes to working in the banking sector. This may come because for offering their
services the banks prefer women instead of men, or the other way around, it is the
women who prefer the type or jobs that the banking sector has to offer.
Gender
Frequency Cumulative Percent
Valid
Female 116 58.0
Male 84 42.0
Total 200 100.0
Table 2 - Gender

22
Figure 2 - Gender
Results show that there is a big difference in numbers between age 40+ and the other
age categories. Only 12.5% of the participants were above 40 years old, whereas the
other age categories covered up 44% (20-29) and 43.5% (30-39) respectively. This
means either the banking sector in Albania is more attractive to the work force below
40 years old or the banks in Albania do not prefer to employ over 40 years old
personnel.
Frequency Percent
Valid
20 - 29 88 44.0
30 - 39 87 43.5
40+ 25 12.5
Total 200 100.0
Table 3 - Age

23
Figure 3 - Age
Following are the results of a cross tabulation between age and gender. As the results
the banking sector is employing male and female working force almost equally. On
the other hand there is a visible difference when it comes to ages above 40. This
could mean two things: the banking sector in the past was not preferred by masculine
work force; male employees over 40 years are less preferred in the banking sector
than women of the same age.
Gender Total
Female Male
Age
20 - 29 42 46 88
30 - 39 55 32 87
40+ 19 6 25
Total 116 84 200
Table 4 - Age * Gender Cross tabulation

24
Figure 4 - Age * Gender Cross tabulation
The participants have various years of experience in the banking sector. As the
results show 41.5% of them have less than 5 years of experience whereas 40.0% fall
in the range of 5-10 years and 18.5% have more than 10 years of experience in the
banking sector. This fact helps a lot the research because the responses about the
organizational change come from employees of various experience, making it easier
to find a correlation between resistance to change and experience in the banking
sector.
Frequency Percent
Valid
Less than 1 year 10 5.0
1 - 5 Years 73 36.5
5 -10 Years 80 40.0
Over 10 Years 37 18.5
Total 200 100.0
Table 5- Years of experience in the banking sector

25
Figure 5 - Years of experience in the banking sector
Regarding years of experience in the current bank, results show that only 10% of the
participants have less than 1 year in the current bank. This means that 90% of the
participants are capable of giving valid opinions regarding the bank they are
currently working. This is a good indicator that the responses are about recent
organizational changes.
Frequency Percent
Valid
Less than 1 year 20 10.0
1 - 5 Years 90 45.0
5 -10 Years 68 34.0
Over 10 Years 22 11.0
Total 200 100.0
Table 6 - Years of experience in the current bank

26
Figure 6 - Years of experience in the current bank
Seen from another prospective the participants have job positions that reflect their
job experience in the banking sector. As results show almost 40% of them hold a
Junior or Specialist position/title, 42% hold a Senior or Team Leader position and
almost 20% of them are in managerial position either middle line or first line.
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Valid
Junior/Specialist 78 39.0 39.4
Senior/Team Leader 84 42.0 42.4
Mid-Line Manager 28 14.0 14.1
First-Line Manager 8 4.0 4.0
Total 198 99.0 100.0
Missing NA 2 1.0
Total 200 100.0
Table 7 - Job title

27
Figure 7 - Job title
Initially there was no intention to differentiate between organizational position
between the participants. After analyzing the banking sector context and the nature of
the study, it was decided to favor the IT department and the Operations department
the most. The rationale behind this decision is the fact that IT and Operations
department are the ones that participate in most of the organizational changes in the
banking sector. Participants from IT & Operations constitute 53% of the overall
participants, followed by the Business and Finance department with 22%. The other
departments left have more or less same weight as it is in their participation in
number of employees in the bank.

28
Frequency Percent
Valid
Finance 20 10.0
Risk 12 6.0
Operations 43 21.5
IT 60 30.0
Organization 12 6.0
HR 6 3.0
Business 22 11.0
Audit 8 4.0
Treasury 6 3.0
Legal 3 1.5
Marketing 1 .5
Compliance 1 .5
Total 194 97.0
Missing NA 6 3.0
Total 200 100.0
Table 8 - Division/department
Figure 8 - Division/Department

29
The mean scores chart between Personal characteristics and participant’s Age shows
that employees over 40, scored less in almost every segment of question 11.
Although, according to ANOVA test, the difference is statistically significant in the
questions:
• I like to do the same old things rather than try new and different ones.
• I'd rather be bored than surprised.
• I sometimes find myself avoiding changes that I know are good for me.
This means that older employees do not consider change as part of their lives
and sometimes they even avoid change. This kind of behavior is a significant
indicator that older employees are more resistant to organizational change.
Age
Personal characteristics Sig.
Changing plans doesn’t bother me much .260
I generally consider changes to be a negative thing .061
I like to do the same old things rather than try new and different ones .028
I often change my mind .311
I sometimes find myself avoiding changes that I know are good for me .031
I'd rather be bored than surprised .007
My views are very consistent over time .789
Often, I feel a bit uncomfortable even about changes that may potentially
improve my life
.108
Once I've come to a conclusion, I'm not likely to change my mind .428
When I am informed of a change of plans, I tense up a bit .077
When things don't go according to plans, I adapt .878
Whenever my life forms a routine, I look for ways to change it .336
Table 9 - Personal characteristics - Age

30
Figure 9 - Personal characteristics - Age
On the other hand results show that there is no significant statistical difference
between personal characteristics and experience. ANOVA tests show that neither
experience in the banking sector, experience in the current bank nor experience in the
job position when change occurred, influence participants responses on the personal
characteristics section.
4.1.2. Section 2 – Organizational behavior
Results show that participant’s age is not related anyhow to the questions:
• Organization supports change by…
• Organization does not support change by…
This because according to the results there is no significant statistical difference
between the responses from participants of different age categories. This is not the
case with the experience. In different questions, of the same section, responses have
shown statistical differences related to experience in the banking sector or experience
in the current bank. For example, the answer to the question: Organization supports
change by…; is related to the experience in the banking sector of the participants.
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MeanScore
Personal Characteristics - Age
20 - 29
30 - 39
40+

31
The more experience in the banking sector the more employees think positively
about their bank. This is a good indicator that the more experienced employees
are less resistant to change.
Figure 10 - Org. supports change - Experience in the sector
Experience in the banking sector
Organization supports change by… Sig.
Communicating the impacts of change 0.02
Communicating the need to change 0.03
Conducting more external customer research 0.26
Eliminating products/services that are no longer viable 0.09
Empowering employees 0.34
Informing employees regarding the change process 0.04
Providing career transition services when needed 0.75
Table 10 - Org. Supports Change - Experience in the sector
The same trend is even more visible when the employee has a large experience in the
current bank. As the results from ANOVA test show, employees with more than 10
years have lower mean scores than the least experience ones. This means that the
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
MeanScore
Org. Supports Change - Exp. Sector
Less than 1 year
1 - 5 Years
5 -10 Years
Over 10 Years

32
more experience in the same bank the more employees think positively about the
organization.
The reason behind this attitude might be the fact that employees are
accustomed to the organization’s way of doing things and they accept it easier
than the less experienced. As a result, experienced employees show less
resistance to organizational change.
Figure 11 - Org. doesn't support change - Experience in the bank
Experience in the current bank
Organization does not support change by… Sig.
Allowing certain departments to be excluded from change 0.09
Being unwilling to hire from outside the company 0.89
Delaying implementing changes after their announced time 0.23
Focusing only on profits, not people 0.04
Holding back information on where things are going 0.78
Moving good people to other departments 0.03
Not asking employees if there is a better way to do things 0.01
2
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3
3.2
3.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
MeanScore
Organization Doesn't Support Change - Exp.
Bank
Less than 1 year
1 - 5 Years
5 -10 Years
Over 10 Years

33
Not encouraging a team effort 0.12
Not fully exploring the consequences of change 0.19
Not having a common goal shared throughout the company 0.86
Not making managers accountable for resisting change 0.04
Not preparing employees soon enough for change 0.03
Not sharing the successes of change with employees -
Table 11 - Org. doesn't support change - Experience in the bank
Figure 12 - Org. doesn't support change - Experience in the position
Job experience when change occurred
Company does not support change by… Sig.
2
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3
3.2
3.4
3.6
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
MeanScore
Org. doesn't support change - Exp. position
1-3 Months
4-12 Months
More than 1 Year

34
Not sharing the successes of change with employees 0.46
Table 12 - Org. doesn't support change - Experience in the position
4.1.3. Section 3 – Change process
Regarding time of the last organizational change the results were very positive.
Almost 75% of the participants have experienced an organizational change during
the current year, 35% of which were actually experiencing an ongoing change in
their organization. Since the change is recent, the answers to the questionnaires
reflect with high accuracy the participant’s behavior and opinion during the change.
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Valid
Currently Going On 71 35.5 35.7
1-3 Months 30 15.0 15.1
4-12 Months 45 22.5 22.6
More than 1 Year 53 26.5 26.6
Total 199 99.5 100.0
Missing NA 1 .5
Total 200 100.0
Table 13 - Time of last change implementation

35
Figure 13 - Time of last change implementation
The question: “How long have you been working in your position when the change
occurred?”; has also given some positive results regarding the quality of data. 65%
of the participants stated they have had more than 1 year of experience in the job
position when the organizational change, that affected their work, was implemented.
This means that 65% of the responses come from employees that know very well the
processes of their everyday job and can express, with more confidence, their
opinions regarding change. Only 14% of the participants were new in the job
position before the change occurred.
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Valid
1-3 Months 28 14.0 14.1
4-12 Months 41 20.5 20.7
More than 1
Year
129 64.5 65.2
Total 198 99.0 100.0
Missing NA 2 1.0
Total 200 100.0
Table 14 - Experience in the job position when change occurred

36
Figure 14 - Experience in the job position when change occurred
Analysis of the question: What was your first reaction when you heard about the
change? - shows that employees over 40 score lower than the others. This means
their first reaction is more negative than the reaction of the other employees. The
difference is statistically significant in segment 2 and 4 of this question. Results of
the answers to this question show an interesting trend. According to the means the
employees of age 30-39 show more positive reaction than the younger employees of
age 20-29.

37
Figure 15 - First reaction – Age
Age
First reaction to change Sig.
I believe the change will improve my everyday job .192
I don’t like the change and will not accept it .002
I fear of losing my current position/status/importance at work .060
I like changing things at work .006
If I find other employees that don’t like it then maybe it will not be
implemented
.456
This change is not the best it could happen to me but I’m still going to
accept it
.779
Table 15 - First reaction - Age
On the other hand results show that first reaction is not related to the experience of
the employee to the banking sector. As the chart of the means show there is no
covariance in the experience in the sector and the first reaction.
2.5
2.7
2.9
3.1
3.3
3.5
3.7
3.9
4.1
4.3
4.5
1 2 3 4 5 6
MeanScore
First Reaction - Age
20 - 29
30 - 39
40+

38
Figure 16 - First reaction - Experience in the sector
Experience in the banking sector
First reaction Sig.
I believe the change will improve my everyday job 0.10
I don’t like the change and will not accept it 0.18
I fear of losing my current position/status/importance at work 0.90
I like changing things at work 0.32
implemented
0.04
accept it
0.25
Table 16 - First reaction - Experience in the sector
Almost the same results are valid even for the experience in the current bank. As the
chart shows the means are very scrambled. This means that there is no relationship
between first reaction and experience in the bank, even though there are statistically
significant differences. On the other hand, between experience in the same job
position and first reaction, there is no significant statistical difference and this means
they are not related too.
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
-1 1 3 5 7
MeanScore
First Reaction - Exp. Sector
Less than 1 year
1 - 5 Years
5 -10 Years
Over 10 Years

39
Figure 17 - First reaction - Experience in the bank
First Reaction Sig.
I believe the change will improve my everyday job 0.28
I don’t like the change and will not accept it 0.31
I fear of losing my current position/status/importance at work 0.76
I like changing things at work 0.80
implemented
0.01
accept it
0.04
Table 17 - First reaction - Experience in the bank
As the results show employees over 40 have more difficulties in adapting to the
organizational change. They have scored lower than the other employees, especially
in the last two questions:
• System/Process (was way more difficult than the existing one)
• Training (was lacking or missing)
This means that they feel uncomfortable with the change either because the new
process is more difficult than the existing one or because they think that they were
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
MeanScore
First Reaction - Exp. Bank
Less than 1 year
1 - 5 Years
5 -10 Years
Over 10 Years

40
not trained enough. Both of these issues are related to the ability to learn new
technology/process and in this case the employees over 40 demonstrate that they
need more attention when it comes to implementing a change.
On the other hand employees of age 20-29 show more difficulties in adapting to
change than the employees of age 30-39. As the chart shows employees of age 20-29
have scored lower than employees of age 30-39. This demonstrates that there is no
clean relationship between personal difficulties and age.
Figure 18 - Personal difficulties - Age
Age
Personal difficulties Sig.
Documentation (was very technical, small or missing) 0.09
People (were not so cooperative) 0.50
Responsibilities (were not well defined or not defined at all) 0.68
System/Process (was way more difficult than the existing one) 0.01
Training (was lacking or missing) 0.05
Table 18 - Personal difficulties - Age
2
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
MeanScore
Personal Difficulties - Age
20 - 29
30 - 39
40+

41
Analysis of personal difficulties and experience does not show any significant
difference between mean scores. Neither of the experiences (sector, bank, position)
did not have significant differences, so it can be concluded that they are not related
also to personal difficulties.
To the question: “Which individual or group provided you with the most relevant
information regarding the changes at your organization?” the participants responded
in a very interesting way. Even though it is expected that organizational change to be
explained top down, from the managers to their dependents, in this case 43.5% of the
participants responded that their Co-workers and the Senior Executives were the
people that provided the most relevant information regarding change. Instead, only
46% put the Managers as the people that provided the most important information
regarding change. This means the participant’s perception is that their direct
managers are not explaining the organizational changes as they should.
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Valid
Co-workers 64 32.0 35.8
Manager 92 46.0 51.4
Senior Executives 23 11.5 12.8
Total 179 89.5 100.0
Missing NA 21 10.5
Total 200 100.0
Table 19 - Most relevant informant

42
Figure 19 - Most relevant informant
The last question of section three: How was the change process managed by the
organization? ; is very important because it gives some hints about how the change
process can be managed in order to avoid resistance to change from the employees.
The responses to this question and the interviews are the key elements in defining the
theory about resistance to change minimization. Statistical significant differences are
found on the following assertions:
• I would vigorously support a change in work place if the reason for the
change was effectively communicated to me
• Key implementation personnel were chosen, put in charge and left unchanged
• The reasons for change were unclear and there were different views of the
goals of the implementation

43
Age
Change Management Process Sig.
Conflicts within the change process were avoided 0.73
I would vigorously support a change in work place if the reason for the
0.05
Ideas were openly communicated and encouraged within the
implementation
1.00
If asked for feedback regarding a newly implemented change, I am
willing to provide it with suggestions for improvement if needed
0.86
If I feel a process has been implemented incorrectly, I will volunteer a
corrective action
0.86
If I was involved in the decision making process regarding significant
changes, I would be less resistant to the change
0.51
Key implementation personnel were chosen, put in charge and left
unchanged
0.08
The implementation was influenced by resistance to change 0.57
The reasons for change were unclear and there were different views of
the goals of the implementation
0.05
There were guidelines for how the change is to be managed and these
were followed
0.82
Training was frequently given with supporting materials creating
confidence with the system and the processes
0.28
Table 20 - Change management process – Age
Figure 20 - Change management process - Age
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
MeanScores
Change Management - Age
20 - 29
30 - 39
40+

44
Analysis of the mean scores shows that younger employees are more eager to support
change in the workplace than the older employees. From another prospective it can
be concluded that older employees are not so eager to support change because they
think that the organization does not communicate effectively the reasons for change.
Hence the first suggestion about reducing, age driven, resistance to change:
Older employees accept change only if effectively communicated to them.
Mean score chart also shows that older employees value the importance of key
personnel put in charge and left unchanged during the process of change
implementation, more than the younger employees. Seen from another prospective,
younger employees think that key implementation personnel is not carefully chosen
or is changed often during the change process. These results build the second
suggestion for resistance to change minimization:
Key personnel should be carefully selected and left unchanged during the
change implementation process.
The third result that can be deducted from the mean scores is the fact that older
employees are more negative than the other employees, regarding reasons for change
and goals to be achieved by the change. Either they think that the organization does
not have a clear vision of the change goals, or the organization does not state these
goals in a clear way for its employees. Younger employees do not seem to share the
same opinion. They are more positive regarding the organization’s vision and goals.
Hence the third suggestion for reducing age driven resistance to change:

45
Older employees are more sensitive about organization’s goals and objective, so
these must be carefully decided and communicated to them.
When compared to the employee’s experience, change management process seems to
be related only to experience in the bank of the participant. The experience in the
sector and in the job position when the change occurred does not seem to offer any
statistically significant difference. Experience in the current bank shows significant
differences in the following three assertions:
• Ideas were openly communicated and encouraged within the implementation
• If I was involved in the decision making process regarding significant
• The reasons for change were unclear and there were different views of the
goals of the implementation
Change Management Process Sig.
Conflicts within the change process were avoided 0.24
I would vigorously support a change in work place if the reason for the
0.88
Ideas were openly communicated and encouraged within the
implementation
0.05
If asked for feedback regarding a newly implemented change, I am
willing to provide it with suggestions for improvement if needed
0.97
If I feel a process has been implemented incorrectly, I will volunteer a
corrective action
0.43
If I was involved in the decision making process regarding significant
-
Key implementation personnel were chosen, put in charge and left
unchanged
0.64
The implementation was influenced by resistance to change 0.22

46
The reasons for change were unclear and there were different views of
the goals of the implementation
-
There were guidelines for how the change is to be managed and these
were followed
0.65
Training was frequently given with supporting materials creating
confidence with the system and the processes
0.38
Table 21 - Change management process - Experience in the current bank
Figure 21 - Change management process - Experience in the current bank
Analysis of the mean scores shows that experienced employees think that ideas from
the personnel were not encouraged during the implementation. This can also
interpreted that experienced employees did not consider themselves involved enough
in the change process. Hence the first suggestion to reduce experience related
resistance to change:
Experienced personnel should be as much as possible involved in the change
implementation and allowed to express their ideas and opinions during the
process.
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
MeanScore
Change Management - Exp. Bank
Less than 1 year
1 - 5 Years
5 -10 Years
Over 10 Years

47
Analysis of the means on the second assertion, shows that experienced employees
scored lower than the less experienced. This means that experienced employees are
more interested in being part of the decision making process.
More experienced personnel need to be involved in the decision making process.
The last significant finding in the analysis of the mean scores is the fact that
experienced personnel are more sensitive to the organization having clear goals and
objectives, than the less experienced personnel are. They have scored lower in this
assertion meaning that they think that the organization does not have clear reasons
for change and stable goals about the implementation. The suggestion for minimizing
resistance in this case is:
The organization must have clear reasons for implementing change and also
must have clear goals and objectives until the end of the change implementation
process.
4.2. Qualitative analysis and findings
The interviews were conducted in person with high executives of the banking sector.
The interview was constructed around organizational change: how it was deployed;
what difficulties it faced; how did the personnel respond. The interview concluded
with some suggestions on what managers should do in order to reduce resistance to
change. Full interview structure is found on APPENDIX C.
When asked about the most challenging organizational change the interviewees
responses included from organizational structure change to new product
development. All of the changes included a lot of personnel in the process so

48
apparently the most challenging changes according to the executives are the ones that
have to do with a lot of people.
When asked about the major difficulties during change implementation, all the
respondents said, the personnel. The most difficult part in implementing change was
to persuade the personnel that the change is good for the organization and as a result
for them. The resistance was mostly because of the fear of exiting the comfort zone
so the personnel needed to be persuaded into the change. A lot of effort has gone in
this direction but once the objectives and benefits were clear and the trust was build
everything went ok.
When asked about the relationship between age and resistance to change almost all
the respondents stated they did not notice any. There was a minority although, which
stated that, older employees are by nature more resistant to change than younger
employees, because of the comfort zone.
When asked about the relation of experience and resistance to change the
interviewees responded that according to them the more experienced employees are
less resistant to change because they have learn to adapt to the new conditions. This
is not to be mistaken with the case in which there is a revolution in the job process or
technology. In that case it is the most experienced employees that are more resistant
to change because they do not want to lose their knowledge. On the other hand less
experienced employees are not by default more resistant to change but instead,
sometimes they face difficulties in understanding the change because of their direct
managers which are not able to pass through the information coherently.
The last part was related to the suggestions on how managers should deal with
resistance in order to minimize it. The interviewees responded more or less the same.

49
In order to reduce resistance to change, either related to age or experience, it is
important to have a clear vision of the change and you should explain to the
dependents the benefits, the goals and the objectives of the change itself. You should
involve the employees in the decision making process and in the implementation
phase. By doing so you gain the trust of your employees and this is very important.
You should also create a collaborative environment and should never impose the
change.
4.3. Comparison of findings with literature review
Literature findings Research findings
Older employees have lower ability to
learn
Older employees consider the new
process/technology more difficult than the
existing one
Older workers are less flexible and
are more resistant to organizational
change.
Older employees are more resistant to
change than younger employees
Younger employees are more resistant
to change than their older colleagues
Younger employees tend to be less resistant
to organizational change
Older employees are considered to be
ineffective, are missing the required
skills and not adaptive to the job
Older employees are considered with more
skills than the younger employees
Managers consider their older
workers to be slow learners and
unmotivated
Managers do not have this opinion regarding
the older employees. They do not see a trend
between age and resistance to change
Experienced employees are more
resistant to change
Experienced employees are less resistant to
change because they have expertise.
Managers think experienced
employees play an important role in
explaining the change process to the
less experienced
Managers think that experienced employees
are a key success factor to the change
implementation
Table 22 - Comparison of findings

50
5 DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS
5.1.Conclusions
Overall, the participation can be considered satisfactory. In total 200 employees from
10 second level banks participated in the study. They represented almost all the
departments of a bank. Beside IT and Operations that were chosen to be more
numerous the other departments had more or less the same percentages in the study.
The participants also had a very good ratio between age and gender. Regarding age it
can be concluded that employees over 40 years old are hard to find in the banking
sector, especially male employees over 40 (6 out of 200 participants).
The participants had various experiences in the banking sector. 5% of them had less
than one year of experience in the sector whereas on the other hand 18.5% of the
participants had more than 10 years of experience in the sector. The in between
categories had almost the same participation. Almost the same percentages also
followed the experience in the current bank.
Results showed that older employees tend to be more resistant to organizational
change than younger employees because they seem to not like change in their lives.
They prefer to do the same things over and over, than try new ones. They also avoid
change even though they know change is good for them. Older employees had also
shown more negative reactions to organizational change. They responded they do not
like change at work and will not accept it. Older employees have shown more
difficulties in adapting to the change. They consider the new process/technology very

51
difficult and think they did not have enough training. Overall it can be concluded
that older employees have more resistance to organizational change than
younger employees.
Another conclusion derived from the results was the fact that the more experience in
the banking sector, the more positively employees think about their organization. The
same result was true even for the experience in the current bank. More time in the
same bank the more positive employees were about the organization and this is a
very good indication that experienced employees tend to be less resistant to
organizational change. On the other hand no relation was found between personal
characteristics and experience (experience in the sector, experience in the bank and
experience in the job position when the change occurred).
Regarding ways of reducing resistance to change, results showed that older
employees are less resistant to change if the reasons for the change are effectively
communicated to them. They do not like the key implementation personnel to be
changed during the implementation phase and they also value if the goals of the
implementation are clearly defined since the beginning. The interviews showed that
resistance to change is reduced if the employees are involved in the change process
and the objectives and benefits are explained clearly to them, first to the managers
and then they need to explain it to their dependents.

52
According to the results of the questionnaires, experience related resistance to
change is reduced by involving the experienced employees to express their ideas
during the whole change process, especially during decision making. The
experienced employees have shown they are less resistant if the goals and objectives
are clear and followed until the end of the process. This is backed up by the
interviewees, which said that experienced employees need to be involved in the
process because they have a lot to give to it. One of the most important things is the
fact that they act as tutors for the less experienced employees.
Results showed that more than 43% of the participants weren’t very satisfied with
their direct managers. They put co-workers and senior executives as the people that
provided the most relevant information about the change process. This means that the
managers did not do a good job in explaining the reasons of the change and the steps
to follow. As the interviews showed the managers should be leaders of the change.
They should give example to their dependents and should involve them as much as
possible during decision making and implementation phase.
5.2.Answers to research questions
Q1. How is ageing related to resistance to change?
Older employees tend to be more resistant to change, than younger employees. This is
because older employees have a tendency to avoid change and also because they have shown
negative reactions when the change has occurred. Another indicator is the fact that older
employees have shown more difficulties in adapting to change.

53
Q2. How is job experience related to resistance to change?
Experienced employees, especially the ones experienced in the banking sector and in the
current bank, are less resistant to organizational change. This is because overall they show
positive opinions about how the organization communicates and implements changes in the
working environment.
Q3. In what ways do ageing and job experience correlate in resisting change?
Age and experience follow the same trend, so older employees normally are more
experienced than younger employees it can be concluded that resistance to change increases
with age because of the personal characteristics but on the other hand it is balanced by the
organizational trust that the experienced employees develop.
Q4. How to reduce age driven resistance to change?
According to the results from the questionnaires analysis older employees tend to be less
resistant if the change process is effectively communicated to them by the managers. They
are very sensitive regarding the goals and objectives of the change process. They should be
clear and communicated to everyone. Another important factor that reduces age driven
resistance to change is about change implementation key personnel. They should be carefully
selected and left unchanged during the implementation process. The above are backed up by
the interviewee’s responses. Almost all the executives interviewed considered crucial the
involvement of the personnel in decision making and implementation phase.
Q5. How to reduce job experience driven resistance to change?
Results show that experienced employees are less resistant to change if they are part of the
decision making process about significant changes. Like the older employees, the
experienced employees are very sensitive about the goals of the change. The goals should be

54
very clear and not to change during implementation. Experienced employee also prefer to
participate in a change process that allows their ideas to be implemented. On the other hand
the managers should be more involved in passing the information through and should allow
space for the experienced employees to help during decision making and implementation
phase.
5.3.Future Research Suggestions
The age categories of 20-29 and 30-39 were a large part of the sample (almost 90%).
Sometimes during analysis, this participation created problems in finding trends. It is
suggested that the age groups are cut down in groups of 5 years, for example: 20-24,
25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+. This division can make it easier to identify other details on
how age is related to resistance to change.
This study showed that there were some incongruences between answers of
employees of age 20-29 and employees of age 30-39. They did not respond as
expected. Instead in some questions the younger employees showed more resistance
to change than the employees of age 30-39. This could be a change in trend that the
future generation is introducing. It is recommended to further investigate in this area
in order to find if really there is something that influences their resistance.

55
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A - 1
8 APPENDIXES
APPENDIX A – QUESTIONNAIRE STRUCTURE

A - 5
APPENDIX B – OTHER QUESTIONNAIRES RESULTS
Marital Status
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid
Un-Married 86 43.0 43.2 43.2
Married/Co-habitant 109 54.5 54.8 98.0
Divorced 3 1.5 1.5 99.5
Widowed 1 .5 .5 100.0
Total 199 99.5 100.0
Missing 9 1 .5
Total 200 100.0
Education Level
Valid
Graduate 106 53.0 53.0 53.0
Master 92 46.0 46.0 99.0
Doctorate 2 1.0 1.0 100.0
Total 200 100.0 100.0

A - 6
What is the approximate size of your company (in employee number)
Valid
Less than 100 14 7.0 7.0 7.0
100 - 300 64 32.0 32.0 39.0
301 - 500 46 23.0 23.0 62.0
More than 500 76 38.0 38.0 100.0
Total 200 100.0 100.0

A - 7
ANOVA – Company supports change – Age groups
Sig.
Using public relations to show the company is changing 0.58
Supporting new ideas brought forth by employees 0.87
Providing new technologies and tools to get the work done 0.78
Providing internal/external trainings 0.67
Relocating the right people to different divisions 0.52
ANOVA - Company does not supports change and Age groups
Sig.
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
4
0 2 4 6 8 10
MeanScore
Organization Supports Change - Age
20 - 29
30 - 39
40+

A - 8
Not sharing the successes of change with employees 0.58
Job experience when change occurred
Company supports change by… Sig.
Using public relations to show the company is changing 0.56
Supporting new ideas brought forth by employees 0.52
Providing new technologies and tools to get the work done 0.12
Providing internal/external trainings 0.65
Relocating the right people to different divisions 0.04
2
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3
3.2
3.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
MeanScore
Organization Doesn't Support Change -
Age
20 - 29
30 - 39
40+

A - 9
APPENDIX C – INTERVIEW STRUCTURE
Interview with the CEO of bank X
This interview is part of the diploma thesis of Grigor Sevo, for the
conclusion of the " MSc in Business Management and Technology", in the
University of Sheffield. The study objective is to understand how the
personnel of the banking sector in Albania, reacts to organizational
change. In particular, if there is any resistance to change. Another is if it
accompanies adversity more young people ( age work experience ) or
older .
1 . What was the most challenging organizational change implemented
during the time you were in this position?
2 . What were the greatest difficulties during the implementation of this
change?
3 . What were the major problems regarding personnel?
4 . Were more difficult to adapt to change personnel with less work
experience or the more experienced? Related to age did you notice any
tendency?
5 . In your opinion, what were the main causes that influenced the
adaptation of the staff ?
6 . Judging from you experience can this organizational change, be
considered a success story ?
7 . From your perspective what are the actions to be taken by management
to reduce the resistance to organizational change?

A - 10
Intervista al Direttore Generale della banca Y
Questa intervista è parte del tesi di diploma di Grigor Sevo, per la
conclusione del “MSc in Business Management and Technology”,
preso l’Università di Sheffield. Il compito e quello di capire come il
personale, del settore bancario in Albania, reagisce ai cambiamenti
organizzativi. In particolar modo, se esiste avversità al cambiamento è
se questa avversità accompagna di più i giovani (età è esperienza
lavorativa) o i più anziani.
1. Quale stato per voi il cambiamento organizzativo più impegnativo
durante il periodo come Direttore Generale della banca?
2. Possiamo considerare questo cambiamento una storia di
successo?
3. Quali sono stati le più grandi difficolta durante l’implementazione
di questo cambiamento?
4. Per quanto riguarda il personale quali sono stati le problematiche
maggiori?
5. Sono stati più difficili da adattarsi al cambiamento il personale con
meno esperienza lavorativa o i più anziani al lavoro?
6. Secondo lei quali sono stati le cause principali che hanno
influenzato l’adattamento del personale?
7. Dal vostro punto di vista quali sono le azioni da intraprendere dai
manager per ridurre la resistenza al cambiamento organizzativo,
del personale?

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