Self-efficacy and means-efficacy as a strategy for reducing resistance to change—Transition from frontal learning to asynchronous learning

Modern organizations often face challenges implementing initiatives due to the rapidly changing business landscape and encountering internal obstacles like resistance and delays. This research examines the application of the internal and external efficacy model and its effect on resistance to change in work organizations by raising self-efficacy and means-efficacy (a person’s belief in the ability of the tools available to him to perform the task). Raising the two types of efficacies creates a Pygmalion effect in which high expectations for successful performance encourage the investment of efforts; therefore, ultimately, they will lead to more successful performances. In addition, since individuals with an external locus of control place a higher emphasis on resources that are external to them, the moderating effect of the degree of locus of control on the relationship between means-efficacy and resistance to change was studied. The study that included 138 participants was conducted in a logistics and international forwarding company in Israel and examined a change in learning method from face-to-face learning to an asynchronous learning module. During the study, the level of self-efficacy and means-efficacy of participants was raised, and the level of resistance to change and the level of locus of control as a personality trait were measured. The study showed a distinct effect of increasing self-efficacy on the degree of resistance to change (t = −1.66, p < 0.05), but no significant effect of increasing means efficacy on resistance to change was found (t = −0.87, p > 0.05). The effect of means-efficacy on the degree of resistance was found to be moderated by locus of control (t = −2.3, p < 0.05), meaning that those who had an external locus of control were more impacted by the increase in means-efficacy. This means that people with an external locus of control are more affected by means-efficacy than by self-efficacy.