Exploring the Course and Causes: A Case Study on Navigating the Transition from Manual to Biometric-Fingerprint Attendance at a Sri Lankan State-owned Enterprises

Employee resistance to change at State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) is a visible phenomenon in both local and global contexts. Though it’s an expanding and significant area, it’s also heavily understudied, depicting both literature and empirical gaps in the said scope. Under a qualitative approach, a case study strategy has been used to explore change and employee resistance in the Healthway General Hospital (HGH). In the light of the context, this study emphasizes the reasons behind employee resistance to changes, opportunities, and recommendations for improving change implementation in the SOE set. This paper recommends establishing a comprehensive employee union, actively involving employee unions’ inputs in strategy formulation, and for the Sri Lankan government to intervene in establishing a separate human resources department in HGH hospital. These key findings will contribute to expanding literature while strengthening the understanding of the researchers and practitioners in the scope of change management in SOEs.