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Book part
Publication date: 15 July 2019

Dave Bouckenooghe, Gavin M. Schwarz, Bradley Hastings and Sandor G. Lukacs de Pereny

The vast majority of interventions during organizational change tend to focus on individually-held attitudes toward change. However, groups often form collective attitudes that…

Abstract

The vast majority of interventions during organizational change tend to focus on individually-held attitudes toward change. However, groups often form collective attitudes that are distinct from those held by its individual members, and organizational change often necessitates collective attitude change within teams, work units, or even the entire organization. We challenge the dominant view that collective attitudes to organizational change merely reflect an aggregation of individual attitudes by considering how and why collectively-held change attitudes are formed and activated. Drawing on social network theory, we propose an alternative approach toward an understanding of change. Acknowledging and detailing attitude formation as a social response to change – a social system of interaction among change recipients – we explain how collective attitudes to organizational change emerge. With this stance, individuals may hold broad and differing attitudes, but as a group can come together to share a collective attitude toward change. Using this approach, we explain how collective attitudes and individual attitudes are linked through top-down or bottom-up processes, or a combination of both. Developing this alternative perspective improves our understanding of how collective attitudes to change develop and evolve and enables both scholars and practitioners to better manage and influence the formation of change-supportive collective attitudes.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 November 2022

Rui-Ting Huang

The primary purpose of this study is not only to examine the connections between self-determined motivation, attitudes toward change and participation in change, but also to…

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Abstract

Purpose

The primary purpose of this study is not only to examine the connections between self-determined motivation, attitudes toward change and participation in change, but also to explore the moderating impact of perceived organizational support on organizational change, and the mediating role of attitudes toward change in the link between perceived competence and participation in change.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from one semiconductor manufacturing company (study 1) and one logistics service company (study 2). Employees who experienced organizational change before were invited to finish the survey. The partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique and SPSS PROCESS (model 14) were utilized to analyze the data.

Findings

The study findings indicated that the perceived autonomy and relatedness were positively connected with perceived competence, which in turn would lead to better attitude toward change. Additionally, it was found that the perceived competence and attitude toward change would positively predict participation in change. More importantly, perceived organizational support would reinforce the positive relationship between attitude toward change and participation in change.

Originality/value

Although there are many organizational change reports, relatively little attention has been paid not only to the mediating role of attitudes toward change in the implication of organizational change but also to the moderating impact of perceived organizational support on the final success of organizational change.

研究目的

: 本研究的主要目的, 除了探討自決動機和對變革的態度兩者與參與變革的關係;也探究組織支持感對組織變革所起的緩和作用, 以及對變革的態度在感知的才能和參與變革兩者的關聯上所起的調節作用。

研究設計/方法/理念

: 有關的數據取自一間半導體製造商 (研究一) 和一間物流服務公司 (研究二) 。 曾體驗過組織變革的僱員被邀參與一項調查, 研究人員採用結構方程模式: 偏最小平方法 PLS-SEM、以及SPSS PROCESS (模型14), 來分析調查得來的數據。

研究結果

: 研究結果顯示、感知的自主和關聯性兩者與感知的才能有正關聯的關係, 而這反過來則會引來對變革有較良好的態度。研究結果亦顯示、感知的才能和對變革的態度兩者均能積極預測變革的參與;更重要的是、組織支持感會強化對變革的態度與參與變革之間的正關聯。

研究的原創性/價值

: 雖然有關組織變革的研究報告唯數不少, 惟於組織變革上的啟示而言, 探討對變革的態度所起的調節作用的研究實唯數不多, 而且、探討組織支持感對組織變革能否最終成功所起的緩和作用的研究似頗稀少。

Details

European Journal of Management and Business Economics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2444-8451

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2017

Sjoerd van den Heuvel, Charissa Freese, René Schalk and Marcel van Assen

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the quality of change information influences employees’ attitude toward organizational change and turnover intention. Additionally, the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the quality of change information influences employees’ attitude toward organizational change and turnover intention. Additionally, the role of engagement, psychological contract fulfillment and trust in the relationship between change information and attitude toward change is assessed.

Design/methodology/approach

In a technology services organization that was implementing a “new way of working,” questionnaire data of 669 employees were gathered. The organizational change in question sought to increase employees’ autonomy by increasing management support and improving IT support to facilitate working at other locations (e.g. at home) or at hours outside of regular working hours (e.g. in evening).

Findings

The results showed that change information was positively related to psychological contract fulfillment and attitude toward change. Engagement and psychological contract fulfillment were positively related to attitude toward change and negatively related to turnover intention. Contrary to what was expected, trust did not influence attitude toward change but was negatively related to turnover intention.

Practical implications

The study presents a model that can help management to foster positive affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses to change, as well as to reduce employee turnover. Fulfilling employees’ psychological contracts and cultivating engagement is important in this respect, as well as continuously considering whether information about the organizational change is received in good time, is useful, is adequate and satisfies employees’ questions about the change.

Originality/value

As one of the first studies in its field, attitude toward change was conceptualized and operationalized as a multidimensional construct, comprising an affective, a behavioral and a cognitive dimension.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 38 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2004

Zabid Abdul Rashid, Murali Sambasivan and Azmawani Abdul Rahman

This study investigates the influence of organizational culture on attitudes toward organizational change in Malaysia. Based on the work of Goffee and Jones and Dunham et al., a…

48640

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of organizational culture on attitudes toward organizational change in Malaysia. Based on the work of Goffee and Jones and Dunham et al., a structured questionnaire was developed and self‐administered to 258 companies listed in the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturing directory. The results showed that there is an association between organizational culture and the affective, cognitive, and behavioral tendency of attitudes toward organizational change. The findings also showed that different types of organizational culture have different levels of acceptance of attitudes toward organizational change. This means that certain type of organizational culture could facilitate the acceptability of change, while other types of culture could not accept it. The implications of this research are also discussed.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 July 2012

Majed M. El‐Farra and Mohammed B. Badawi

This paper aims to identify employee attitudes toward organizational change in the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility in the Gaza Strip and factors affecting these attitudes.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify employee attitudes toward organizational change in the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility in the Gaza Strip and factors affecting these attitudes.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used descriptive and analytical methods to investigate the phenomena. The study population includes all the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility employees. The population number was 128. A semi‐comprehensive survey was used. A close‐ended questionnaire was considered as a main tool for data gathering from the field.

Findings

The study concluded that employee attitudes toward organizational change were positive but weak, which could elicit some supportive behaviors. Employees hold ambivalent cognitions; they believe that change benefits all employees and would increase work efficiency, but they do not see themselves or their departments as contributors to this improvement. In addition, they hold moderate positive emotions of happiness, excitement, relief, and hope. Moreover, employees hold moderate intentions to support the change passively by complying with, and showing acceptance of change. Multiple regression analysis indicated moderate prediction of attitude toward organizational change by four predictors: organizational support, self‐efficacy, quality of information, and threat appraisal. The model explained 52.0 percent of variance in employee attitudes toward organizational change.

Practical implications

The paper provides a managerial framework for applying change to organizations successfully and generating a positive employee attitudes and behavior toward change.

Originality/value

This research is the first to be conducted in Palestine and to consider a practical and empirical approach to evaluate management of change in one of the most important service provider institutes in the Gaza Strip.

Details

EuroMed Journal of Business, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1450-2194

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2000

Darwish A. Yousef

This study investigates the role of various dimensions of organizational commitment and job satisfaction in predicting various attitudes toward organizational change in a…

10215

Abstract

This study investigates the role of various dimensions of organizational commitment and job satisfaction in predicting various attitudes toward organizational change in a non‐western work setting. The study uses a sample of 474 employees in 30 organizations in the United Arab Emirates. Path analysis results reveal that employees’ affective and behavioral tendency attitudes toward organizational change increase with the increase in affective commitment, and that continuance commitment (low perceived alternatives) directly and negatively influences cognitive attitudes toward change. Results further show that affective commitment mediates the influences of satisfaction with working conditions, pay, supervision and security on both affective and behavioral tendency attitudes toward change. Continuance commitment (low perceived alternatives) mediates the influences of satisfaction with pay on cognitive attitudes toward change. Satisfaction with various facets of the job directly and positively influences different dimensions of organizational commitment. Implications, limitations and lines of future research are discussed.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 29 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2016

Sjoerd van den Heuvel, René Schalk, Charissa Freese and Volken Timmerman

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model on how business managers perceive that an employee’s psychological contract influences his or her attitude toward an organizational…

4291

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model on how business managers perceive that an employee’s psychological contract influences his or her attitude toward an organizational change. More specifically, it aims to provide insight into the managerial views on: first, the affective, behavioral and cognitive responses of employees toward organizational change; second, the pre-change and change antecedents of these responses; and third, the role of the psychological contract as a pre-change antecedent.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from in-depth interviews with 39 human resource directors, change managers and management consultants in eight European countries. Based on detailed grounded theory-driven analyses of the qualitative data, a conceptual model was developed.

Findings

Based on the grounded theory analysis, a model emerged that positions the individual change perception and individual answer to the “what’s in it for me?” question as central determinants of an employee’s attitude toward change. Moreover, the model distinguishes between “influencing” variables that shape the employees’ change perception, and “overruling” variables that can potentially reverse the change perceptions.

Practical implications

A strong emphasis on managing the employment relationship by fulfilling mutual obligations and by creating trust will yield more constructive responses to organizational change than focussing on managing an organizational change as an independent event.

Originality/value

As one of the first in its field, this study provides insight in the sense-making processes during organizational change, while adopting a managerial perspective. A grounded theory approach by means of interviewing, serves as a first step toward better understanding of the development of employees’ affective, behavioral and cognitive responses to organizational change.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2004

Maria Vakola, Ioannis Tsaousis and Ioannis Nikolaou

Although the role of organisational characteristics in the change process has been extensively analysed and discussed in the literature, individual characteristics, which are…

25752

Abstract

Although the role of organisational characteristics in the change process has been extensively analysed and discussed in the literature, individual characteristics, which are equally crucial for the success of change, have been neglected. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to add a different way of looking and working with organisational change by focusing on individuals’ emotions and personality traits. This paper explores how emotional intelligence and the “big five” dimensions of personality can facilitate organisational change at an individual level by exploring the relationship between these attributes and attitudes toward organisational change. The sample consisted of 137 professionals who completed self‐report inventories assessing emotional intelligence, personality traits and attitudes towards organisational change. The results confirmed that there is a relationship between personality traits and employees’ attitudes toward change. Similarly, the contribution of emotional intelligence to the attitudes to change was found to be significant, indicating the added value of using an emotional intelligence measure above and beyond the effect of personality. The practical implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the phases of a change project.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 19 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 October 2014

Verica M. Babić, Slađjana D. Savović and Violeta M. Domanović

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between transformational leadership and post-acquisition performance, introducing into the analysis the mediating effect…

2561

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between transformational leadership and post-acquisition performance, introducing into the analysis the mediating effect of employee attitudes toward changes, in the specific context of a transitional economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from 208 employees (including 91 managers) from ten acquired companies in Serbia. Using exploratory factor analysis, two dimensions of transformational leadership were identified in the context of a transitional economy: the first one refers to inspiring and stimulating the employees, and the second dimension refers to responding to employee problems. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the research hypotheses.

Findings

The results of the analysis indicate that inspiring and stimulating employees has an indirect impact on post-acquisition performance through the mediating effect of employee attitudes toward changes, whereas responding to employee problems has both direct and indirect impacts on post-acquisition performance.

Practical implications

The results of study may be significant for managers involved in the processes of mergers and acquisitions and may aid them in obtaining adequate levels of employee commitment and trust, which are needed to achieve challenging goals and to improve post-acquisition performance.

Originality/value

The research of the mediating effect of employee attitudes on post-acquisition performance contributes to a better understanding of the relationships between transformational leadership and post-acquisition performance. Research in transitional economies related to subject matter is limited, while in Serbia in particular, there is no prior empirical work on the impact of transformational leadership on post-acquisition performance.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 27 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 May 2022

Meba Tadesse Delle, Ethiopia Legesse Segaro and Lucia Naldi

This study aims to investigate the individual factors that directly and indirectly favor (or hinder) employees’ attitudes toward women in management. Two sides of psychological…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the individual factors that directly and indirectly favor (or hinder) employees’ attitudes toward women in management. Two sides of psychological ownership (PO), promotion-focused and prevention-focused PO, are studied as having a direct effect on employees’ attitudes toward women in management. Past and future temporal focuses are examined as possible antecedents to the sides of PO, and as indirectly affecting employees’ attitudes toward women in management.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey questionnaires were collected from 230 MBA and related program students who were currently working and enrolled in one of six different universities in Ethiopia. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to validate all measurement scales, and structural equation modeling was used to test the study hypotheses using Mplus software.

Findings

Employees with promotion-focused PO and employees with prevention-focused PO had a favorable and unfavorable attitude, respectively, toward women in management. In addition, a future temporal focus had a significant positive effect on promotion-focused PO, and a past temporal focus had a significant positive effect on prevention-focused PO. Overall, this mediation model showed that promotion-focused PO partially mediates the relationship between future temporal focus and attitudes toward equal opportunity for women managers, whereas prevention-focused PO fully mediates the negative relationship between past temporal focus and attitudes toward women in management.

Practical implications

This study provides new insight for organizations by showing how employees’ temporal focus explains their side of PO and how that affects their reaction toward women in management.

Originality/value

A new mechanism for revealing gender inequality in organizations is introduced. Moreover, the relationship between temporal focus and PO is discovered. This study is novel in providing an understanding of the antecedent to and effect of prevention-focused PO, which are largely overlooked in extant research.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 31 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

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