Steve Jackson Faces Resistance to Change

Resistance to Change: Steve Jackson Case Study
Student’s Name
Institution
Resistance to Change
1 Summary
In the case “Steve Jackson Faces Resistance to Change,” Inkpen and Pearson (2011) outline the turn of events and some fierce resistance following Steve Jackson's recommendation of a new ICT software solution, BSO, at Western Construction. Jackson headed the software implementation and testing docket underneath the Project Evaluation Group (PEG) that was under Luke Williams. Mike Barnett headed the international bidding and contracting department, directly reporting to Abu Dija. This implies that Barnett and Williams were in the same hierarchy ahead of Jackson. Jackson had presented the BSO project that was appealing to many, including Abu Dija, the most senior of the four aforementioned officials. There was one major obstacle to the adoption of Jackson's BSO project, resistance from Barnett.
Although the other officials were on board with the project, their main concern was Barnett's resistance. Jackson tried to respectfully persuade Bernett into giving in to the project but all were in vain. Both Dija and Williams seemed to be of little help in talking out Barnett, given that William ranked the same as Barnett, and Dija, although senior among the two, had some personal relationship with Barnett spanning over decades, and he recognized the influence he had on the company. Even after seeking Dija’s intervention, Barnett remained adamant, claiming that the project would slow things down and cost them money and best personnel (Inkpen & Pearson, 2011). He even expresses his satisfaction with the existing software, claiming that it is working just fine when Jackson reached him out personally via email. Both Williams and Dija’s interventions failed to yield any fruits, and they both bestow the challenge of talking out Barnett to Jackson, claiming that there will be no progress without his blessing. Jackson is left in suspense, and he keeps asking himself a myriad of questions about Barnett's behavior.
1 What Jackson has Done Right
Jackson acted professionally in most of the undertakings towards unveiling the BSO software project at Western. The fact that he had followed the protocol in the presentation of the project, following a bottom-up approach, is commendable. He first presented the project to his immediate boss, Luke Williams, detailing all the pros and cons in case the project is adopted. Jackson also made good use of the BSO consultants to unmask the strengths and weaknesses of the BSO software. In terms of communication, Jackson did an exemplary job in passing information to his seniors, including Barnett. He employed all sorts of communication to pass the information to the relevant recipients. He used face-to-face communication, email communication, and even proxies.
The idea of presenting a demo before the official launch of the software product is an excellent opportunity to ensure in-depth scrutiny of the software product as well as capture the opinion of other intended users. It is also an opportunity to present some captivating features of the proposed system. Jackson did an exemplary job with the demo, attracting the attention of many who had attended the ses...