Examining Predictors of Openness to Organizational Change: An Interactionist Perspective
[Thesis]
[Thesis]
[Thesis]
[Thesis]
Negar Arefi
O'Byrne, Kristin K.
Northcentral University
2014
276
Committee members: Hansen, Katharine; O'Byrne, Kristin K.
Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-321-38608-0
Ph.D.
School of Business and Technology Management
Northcentral University
2014
Only with constant change can organizations hope to remain competitive, yet studies show that approximately 70% of organizational change initiatives fail mainly due to leaders' minimal attention to human elements of the process. In order for the organizational change to succeed, employees must accept the change. Openness to change is an initial condition for acceptance; hence, it is essential to understand its predictors and how their interactions explain variances in openness to change. From an interactionist perspective, the purpose of this study was to examine (a) the predictive relationship of growth-need strength, self-efficacy, leader-member exchange, change communication, and participation in change process on openness to change; and (b) the moderating role of leader-member exchange, change communication, and participation in change process on the relationship of growth-need strength and self-efficacy with openness to change. This quantitative, non-experimental study used a cross-sectional survey-based design. A total of 316 employees of IT organizations in Iran, which either experienced or expected to experience organizational change in the near future, participated in the study. The results indicated that growth-need strength, self-efficacy, and participation predict openness to change. The findings also showed that participation moderates the relationship between self-efficacy and openness to change such that the relationship is stronger when participation is low (B = -0.970, p < .05). The results of an alternative model, developed based on the findings of factor analyses, indicated that career-growth-need strength, self-efficacy, and participation predict openness to change. Furthermore, analysis of interactions showed that leader-member exchange weakens (B = -0.79, p < .05); however, communication (B = 0.69, p < .10) and participation (B = 0.71, p < .10) strengthen the relationship between career-growth-need strength and openness to change. The relationship between self-efficacy and openness to change is strengthened by leader-member exchange (B = 0.55, p < .10) but is weakened by participation (B = -0.64, p < .10). This study also contributes to the literature by investigating the interaction of individual differences and contextual factors in predicting employees' openness to change in a different cultural context. Managerial and theoretical implications of research findings are also discussed.
Social sciences;Psychology;Change management;Communication;Growth-need strength;Leader-member exchange;Openness to change;Organizational change;Participation