An initial analysis of software engineers’ attitudes towards organizational change

Abstract

Employees' attitudes towards organizational change are a critical determinant in the change process. Researchers have therefore tried to determine what underlying concepts that affect them. These extensive efforts have resulted in the identification of several antecedents. However, no studies have been conducted in a software engineering context and the research has provided little information on the relative impact and importance of the identified concepts. In this study, we have combined results from previous social science research with results from software engineering research, and thereby identified three underlying concepts with an expected significant impact on software engineers' attitudes towards organizational change, i.e. their knowledge about the intended change outcome, their understanding of the need for change, and their feelings of participation in the change process. The result of two separate multiple regression analysis, where we used industrial questionnaire data (N=56), showed that the attitude concept openness to change is predicted by all three concepts, while the attitude concept readiness for change is predicted by need for change and participation. Our research provides an empirical baseline to an important area of software engineering and the result can be a starting-point for future organizational

Qualitative Research Methodology in Social Sciences and Related Subjects

“…For example, a researcher wants to study the effects of physical punishment in schools in the 20th century, is a narrative research [Grbich, 2007]. In narrative research observations, diaries, letters, interviews, artifacts, and photographs collect data [Lenberg et al, 2017].…”

Characteristics that affect preference of decision models for asset selection: an industrial questionnaire survey

“…A potential direction for decision model research should therefore be to look further into the core human factors that affect the decision-maker and their final asset selection. Such research is also warranted by related software engineering research into, for instance, how human factors affect cost estimation (Magazinius et al 2012), process improvement (Lenberg et al 2017), and behavioral software engineering (Lenberg et al 2015).…”

Openness Toward Organizational Change Scale (OTOCS): Validity evidence from Brazil and Portugal

“…Openness towards organizational change also depends on both individual variables (e.g., self-esteem, optimism, perceived control) and context-specific variables (e.g., information, participation, change selfefficacy, social support, personal impact). Furthermore, Lenberg et al [7] reported that workers' feelings of participation in the change process, the knowledge about the intended changes outcomes, and their understating of the need for organizational change together impact on their attitudes towards said change. Occupational stressors, particularly poor work relationships, were negatively related to the attitudes towards change.…”

“…Changes in work contexts, negative perceptions of key members, the perceived lack of reciprocation of trust and respect, and negative perceptions of leadership/management contribute to the decline in organizational commitment [6]. As individuals' attitudes towards change play a fundamental role in the change process [7], conceptual work on measuring attitudes toward change appropriately continues to compel interest [8,9]. One such employee attitude, openness to change, can be defined as positive affect and support for change and its consequences [10].…”