A decision-based approach for measuring human behavioral resistance to organizational change in strategic planning

This article is an attempt to use multiple criteria optimization models in measuring and incorporating human behavioral resistance in strategic decision-making problems. To show the application of the proposed approach, the selection of a proper strategy for an information technology project within a service company is presented. A set of decision parameters is defined, by considering both internal and external environments of the organization. The necessary qualitative and judgmental data from different sub-systems of the organization is collected. Next, using the TOPSIS multiple attribute decision-making method and the Entropy weighting technique, a resistance factor for each recommended strategy is quantified and used next to a set of performance criteria to choose a proper strategy. It is shown that such decision cases, with multiple performance criteria and a behavioral resistance criterion, may be resolved by different decision scenarios. Comparing outcomes of these scenarios can facilitate a better evaluation of the effect of the resistance criterion before making a final decision.