Change Recipients’ Reactions to Organizational Change

Abstract

This study reviews quantitative empirical studies of change recipients' reactions to organizational change. The authors reviewed studies published between 1948 and 2007, out of which 79 met the criteria of being quantitative studies of change recipients' reactions to an organizational change. Through an inductive review, the authors unravel a model of (a) explicit reactions to change, in which these reactions are conceptualized as tridimensional attitudes; (b) reaction antecedents that comprise prechange antecedents (viz., change recipient characteristics and internal context) and change antecedents (viz., change process, perceived benefit/harm, and change content); and (c) change consequences, including work-related and personal consequences. On the basis of their review the authors conclude by proposing directions for future research and practical managerial implications. Keywords change research, change recipients, reactions to organizational change Since 1974 (Friedlander & Brown, 1974), literature reviews on the topic of organizational change and development have been published primarily in two journals (i.e., the Annual Review of Psychology and the Journal of Management). Some of these To identify studies for our review, we searched the literature using terminology typically associated with organizational change. Specifically, in the PsychInfo and Proquest databases, we conducted an electronic search of the abstracts for the terms reactions to change, resistance to change, openness to change, attitudes toward change, willingness to change, readiness to change and receptivity to change. This initial search yielded more than 600 articles published (a) as early as 1948 (Coch & French, 1948) and (b) in many diverse journals, which complemented those that typically publish organizational change research. Furthermore, we manually searched 10 journals known to have published empirical articles on organizational change, for the period 1980 through 2007, which resulted in an additional 78 articles that were not identified in the electronic search. Our selection of journals included the following:

The Changing Context and the Organizational Justice Impact on the Employee Well-Being

“…The literature indicates that, when change is implemented, new behaviors can be required that are necessary to change, but can also evoke unplanned effects, such as denial, resistance, stress, cynicism, reduced commitment or illness in the employees. These effects are potential indicators of the success or failure of change actions (Fugate et al, 2012;Oreg et al, 2011;Self et al, 2007). Paschoal, Torres, and Porto (2010) affirm that wellbeing is mixed up with other phenomena, such as health, suffering and satisfaction in the field of organizational studies.…”

“…Este estudio contribuye a la investigación de las reacciones a los cambios organizacionales y sus impactos en las personas, enfatizando la influencia de la percepción de justicia en el proceso. In recent years, the study of behavioral and affective aspects has been highlighted in the theme area organizational change, due to the progressive acknowledgement of the importance of employees' engagement for the success of interventions (Bordia, Restubog, Jimmieson, & Irmer, 2011;Fugate, Prussia, & Kinicki, 2012;Oreg, Vakola, & Armenakis, 2011). In the literature, the influence of the change context on the perception of justice (Ahmed, Rehman, Asad, Hussain, & Bilal, 2013;Giessner, Ullrich, & Van Dick, 2011, 2012Gleibs, Täuber, Viki, & Giessner, 2013;Kickul, Lester, & Finkl, 2002;Saruhan, 2014) and on the well-being (Bordia et al, 2011;Burke & Greenglass, 2000;Cunningham, 2006;Harenstam, Bejerot, Leijon, Scheele, & Waldenstrom, 2004;Rafferty & Griffin, 2006;Rafferty & Restubog, 2010) is emphasized.…”

“…In the literature, the influence of the change context on the perception of justice (Ahmed, Rehman, Asad, Hussain, & Bilal, 2013;Giessner, Ullrich, & Van Dick, 2011, 2012Gleibs, Täuber, Viki, & Giessner, 2013;Kickul, Lester, & Finkl, 2002;Saruhan, 2014) and on the well-being (Bordia et al, 2011;Burke & Greenglass, 2000;Cunningham, 2006;Harenstam, Bejerot, Leijon, Scheele, & Waldenstrom, 2004;Rafferty & Griffin, 2006;Rafferty & Restubog, 2010) is emphasized. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated the relation among these variables (Harenstam et al, 2004;Neiva, 2012;Oreg et al, 2011;Rafferty & Restubog, 2010).…”

Organizational uncertainty and stress among teachers in Hong Kong: work characteristics and organizational justice

“…Preliminary evidence suggest that employees typically report an increased workload during times of organizational change and uncertainty (Kieselbach et al, 2010;Oreg et al, 2011), with some evidence to suggest employees voluntarily increasing their Workloads in order to remain valuable to the organization (Kieselbach et al, 2010). Due to the cross-sectional nature of this study, it was not possible to examine the trajectory nature of perceived job demands as influenced by the organizational context from a temporal perspective.…”

“…The pervasive level of change occurring within organizations and across occupation sectors is most certainly a global trend, with increasing globalization, constant technological developments and a volatile economic climate acting as likely macro-level driving forces (Oreg et al, 2011). Over 15 000 large-scale restructuring events within companies were recorded by the European Restructuring Monitor Database between 2002 and 2012; with an estimated 20-30 new entries each week (EMCC, 2013).…”