Implementing change is considered as a difficult task for public organizations. Some individual dispositional factors have been suggested to influence recipient responses to change in public organizations. Past research has shown a link between public service motivation (PSM) and employee positive responses to organizational change. However, the psychological processes underlining this relationship are not specified. Building on the PSM theory and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study examines the role of psychological variables (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control) in mediating the relationship between PSM and change-supportive intention. A sample of 143 employees is collected from a public university in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq that was going through a change initiative. The results revealed that PSM predicts change-supportive intention, and the relationship between PSM and change-supportive intention is mediated by change-related attitude and subjective norm. The implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed.

This study examines the motivations of government-sponsored Kurdish students to study abroad and the reasons for choosing a particular country as their destination choice. Based on data we collected through an online survey and follow-up interviews, we compare demographic differences to explore the diversity among this cohort. The findings of the study show that motivations for overseas education are mainly related to career advancement and experiencing a good quality education. The study also shows that social agents have less influence on Kurdish students who tend to be older and more independent than most study abroad students.

The purpose of this article is to examine the differences between public and private sector employees’ public service motivation (PSM) levels and also examine the impact of Islamic work ethic (IWE) as a potential antecedent of PSM in a non-Western setting. This quantitative investigation is based on a sample of 419 employees in 13 public and private organizations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Independent t test results reveal no statistically significant differences in PSM level between public and private sector employees. The analysis of the data also reveals that PSM is significantly influenced by IWE. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.

PurposeThis paper builds on and extends the theory of planned behavior (TPB) by examining empirically the underlying mechanism through which red tape is associated with employee change-supportive intention (CSI). It investigates red tape as an antecedent of CSI and examines the mediation role of change-related attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control (PBC) in the relationship between red tape and CSI.Design/methodology/approachTo test the study's hypotheses, cross-sectional data were collected from 183 employees working at a public organization in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq that was going through a major change. Regression analyses and the PROCESS macro for SPSS were used.FindingsConsistent with our expectations, the results indicate that red tape negatively predicts CSI. Red tape also predicts change-related attitude, subjective norm and PBC, which consequently predict CSI. The results also reveal that the relationship between red tape and CSI is mediated by change-related attitude and subjective norm.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited in using cross-sectional data at a point in time and in investigating intention only, rather than actual behavior.Originality/valueWhile prior work shows that red tape is a relevant factor that may affect employee responses to change in public sector, the psychological processes on which this relationship is based are still not fully explained. Therefore, this is the first study that aims to shed some light on this relationship.