Discomfort and organizational change as a part of becoming a world-class university
International Journal of Educational Management
ISSN: 0951-354X
Article publication date: 22 April 2020
Issue publication date: 3 August 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This study examined organizational change in universities as it relates to discomfort among the organization's members.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the critical incident technique (CIT), data was collected from the informants in an Indonesian public university that had been mandated by the government to enter the top 500 world university ranking. This would make it a “World-Class” university.
Findings
The findings describe the causes, courses and consequences of the discomfort felt in response to the organizational change in the university context. The causes of discomfort were categorized as a fear of loss, organizational culture, systems and policies, work overload and a lack of resources. Discomfort can manifest through negative affective, cognition and behavioral tendencies. Meanwhile, the consequences result in active and passive participation in the process of the organizational change itself.
Originality/value
Discomfort with organizational change is a new variable that has rarely been explored, thus it requires testing and validation using different methods and contexts, as offered by this study. We have also shown that in the initial stage of organizational change (unfreezing), discomfort will always emerge that must be immediately managed in order not to trigger resistance to change. Furthermore, this study exhibits the use of the critical incident technique in the context of organizational change. Finally, we offer comprehensive views by exhibiting the causes, the reactions shown and the consequences of discomfort with the change.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
PMDSU Scholarship Batch III, Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education, Republic of Indonesia. Indonesian Research Collaboration 2018, Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education, Republic of Indonesia.
Citation
Nadia, F.N.D., Sukoco, B.M., Susanto, E., Sridadi, A.R. and Nasution, R.A. (2020), "Discomfort and organizational change as a part of becoming a world-class university", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 34 No. 8, pp. 1265-1287. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-09-2019-0348
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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