This research seeks to examine how organizational development influences organizational effectiveness within Jordanian universities, with resistance to change acting as an intervening variable. A descriptive–analytical approach was adopted to capture participants’ viewpoints. Accordingly, a survey instrument was developed and administered to members of the academic staff at Jordanian universities. The study sample included (436) faculty members. The findings indicate that continuous development exerts a statistically significant negative effect on resistance to change, while individual resistance shows a statistically significant positive effect on organizational resistance. In addition, resistance to change was found to partially mediate the relationship between organizational development and organizational effectiveness. The value of this study lies in addressing a gap in the organizational development literature related to the higher education sector, as empirical investigations linking organizational development, organizational effectiveness, and resistance to change remain limited to date. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study to test the indirect effect of organizational development on organizational effectiveness through resistance to change.
