An empirical evaluation of competency requirements for first-line managers to deal with resistance to change.

Continuous changes in markets needs require effective and corresponding change management at all levels in organisations. First-line managers are directly responsible for meeting the demands of clients and resistance to change at this level could result in sub-standard outputs. The effectiveness of change interventions will be largely determined by the competence of first-line managers to facilitate the desired change taking into account resistance to change. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the competencies required by first-line managers to deal with resistance to change as identified by Lombard & Crafford (2003). The findings of this article are based on an empirical study