ORGANIZATIONAL RESISTANCE AND RECEPTIVITY: THE CASE OF COMPSTAT

Öz

Organizational change has become a regular part of organizational functioning. Despite the popularity of planned change efforts, the failure rates of implementation are as high as 70 percent. Operationally, this failure rate is of great concern due to the substantial loss of time, morale, financial resources, and damage to an organization’s ultimate survival. While these efforts are affected by many different factors, resistance to change is thought to play a very critical role. The central purpose of this study is to examine the reaction of police officers in Newark Police Department in terms of resistance and receptivity after the implementation of a popular planned organizational change model known as Compstat. This planned change model has been implemented by numerous police organizations in the United States over the second half of the 90’s. Data were collected in this case study through in-depth interviews, documents and observation of the Compstat meetings, and analyzed using grounded theory. The study revealed that resistance was the dominant reaction in the early phases of this model. The reasons for resistance included uncertainty about new processes and procedures, fear of departing from habit and routine, loss of power and status, increased workloads and demands, tough tone of the Compstat meetings, and the way the change was introduced by the police chief. The degree of resistance to the Compstat model decreased overtime and accepted by the officers in the NPD in the following years. The main reasons for the acceptance was the change in the tone and form of the meetings, retirement and/or replacement of active resisters, new officers with different values, perceived success of the model and learning the expectations of the upper echelon over these years. In terms of suggestions, first, the concepts of resistance to change and resistance to the consequences of change need to be differentiated. In this line of thought, different policies and practices should be put into practice based on different considerations of each group. Secondly, involvement to the change process increase the level of understanding and information regarding what was expected and why and thus increases receptivity of the change models. Finally, a leadership style that coaches officers in the adoption of the new procedures and practices increases the level of change acceptance and other positive outcomes.

KURUMSAL DEĞİŞİME DİRENME VE KABULLENME: COMPSTAT ÖRNEK OLAYI

Öz

Örgütsel değişim kurumsal işleyişin düzenli bir parçası haline gelmiştir. Planlı örgütsel değişim çabalarının popülerliğine karşın, uygulamada yaşanan başarısızlık oranları yüzde 70’leri bulabilmektedir. Bu başarısızlık zaman, moral ve maddi kayıplara yol açmakta ve uzun vadede kurumun yapısına ciddi zararlar verebilmektedir. Başarısızlık birçok farklı nedenden kaynaklanmakla birlikte, değişime olan direnç çok önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Bu bölümde, ABD’de son on yılda birçok polis teşkilatı tarafından uygulamaya konulan Compstat isimli değişim modelinin uygulanması sonrasında, polis memurlarının direnç ve kabullenme yönündeki tepkilerini ve nedenlerini ortaya koymayı amaçlanmaktadır. Bu örnek olay çalışmasının verileri yapılan mülakatlar ve Compstat toplantılarının gözlemlenmesi ile toplanmış, tümevarım yaklaşımı ile analiz edilmiştir. Çalışma sonuçları, modelin ilk uygulandığı dönemlerde baskın tepkinin direnme şeklinde olduğunu göstermektedir. Bunun temel nedeni ise, yeni süreçler ve işlemlere ilişkin belirsizlik, alışkanlık ve rutinlerden ayrılma korkusu, güç ve statü kaybetme endişesi, artan iş yükü ve talepler, Compstat toplantılarının sert atmosferi ve bu değişim modelinin polis müdürü tarafından personele tanıtım yöntemidir. Bu direncin derecesi zaman içinde azalmış ve devam eden yıllarda, Compstat modeli memurlar tarafından önemli ölçüde kabullenilmiştir. Bu kabullenme sürecinin arkasında yatan nedenler ise toplantı formatı ve tonunda yaşanan değişim, aktif direnç gösterenlerin emekli olması veya yerlerinin değiştirilmesi, farklı değerlere sahip yeni memurların işe başlaması, modelin algılanan başarısı ve yıllar içinde üst makamların beklentilerinin öğrenilmesidir. Uygulayıcılara bakan yönleri itibariyle, değişime direnç ve değişimin sonuçlarına direnç kavramları birbirinden ayrılmalı ve her bir duruma uygun politika ve pratikler uygulamaya konmalıdır. Ayrıca, memurlara koçluk yapan bir liderlik tarzı yeni prosedürlerin kabullenilmesi ve diğer çıktıların pozitif olmasını sağlayacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Örgütsel değişim
• polis kültürü
• compstat
• belirsizlik
• direnç ve kabullenme

Kaynakça

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