Results 1 - 10
of
78
Organizational change as shifting conversations
- Academy of Management Proceedings, Organization Development and Change
, 1998
"... Abstract This article explores producing and managing change within conversationally constructed realities. Conversations are proposed as both the medium and product of reality construction within which change is a process of shifting conversations in the network of conversations that constitute org ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 42 (1 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
Abstract This article explores producing and managing change within conversationally constructed realities. Conversations are proposed as both the medium and product of reality construction within which change is a process of shifting conversations in the network of conversations that constitute organizations. In this context, change entails bringing new conversations into a sustained existence and the job of change managers is to create the conversational realities that produce effective action rather than to align organizations with some ` ̀ true' ' reality. What might be the implications for organizational change management if we took the idea of organizations as socially constructed realities seriously? Although some of the organization change literature adopts such a constructivist view (e.g. Czarnawaska, 1997; Tenkasi and Boland, 1993), most of it adopts a structural-functionalist view (Burrell and Morgan, 1979) in which the job of change agents is to align, fit, or adapt organizations, through interventions, to an objective reality that exists ` ̀ out there''. The efficacy of these interventions is seen both as a demonstration of a change agent's ability to accurately mirror reality, i.e. the world is as the agent knows it to be (Watzlawick, 1990), and the ability to apply the appropriate intervention(s) for that reality (Beer, 1980). Successful change, therefore, ultimately depends on the ability to accurately mirror or represent reality and to choose and implement interventions appropriate to that reality. But what if we consider organizations as socially constructed realities in which the reality we know is interpreted, constructed, enacted, and maintained through discourse (Berger and Luckmann, 1966; Holzner, 1972; Searle, 1995; Watzlawick, 1984a; Weick, 1979). What if our knowledge and understanding of reality is not a mirror of some underlying ` ̀ true' ' reality, nor a reproduction of that reality? Rather, what if our knowledge of reality is itself a construction that is created in the process of making sense of things (Astley, 1985; Knorr-Cetina,
Can positive employees help positive organizational change
- Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
, 2008
"... This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Management Department at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska- Lincoln. It has ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 36 (2 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Management Department at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska- Lincoln. It has
Advances in career theory and research: A critical review and agenda for future exploration
- Journal of Management
, 2009
"... In this review the authors critically examine the nature of contemporary careers and the direction in which careers research has developed over the past decade. Specifically, career concepts that emerged in the 1990s, including the protean and boundaryless career frameworks, as well as the next gene ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 21 (0 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
In this review the authors critically examine the nature of contemporary careers and the direction in which careers research has developed over the past decade. Specifically, career concepts that emerged in the 1990s, including the protean and boundaryless career frameworks, as well as the next generation of career concepts, including integrative frameworks, hybrid careers, and the kaleidoscope career model, are discussed. The authors examine conceptualizations and measures of these models as well as related research. This review aims to improve our understanding of careers in today’s dynamic work environment, provide a comprehensive discussion of current discourse, and offer major directions for future research.
Employee Commitment in Times of Change: Assessing the Importance of Attitudes toward Organizational Change
- Journal of Management
, 2009
"... Organizations are dynamic and changing entities. Variables associated with organizational change have been shown to serve as mediators of several individual difference variable/work-related outcome relationships. This study examines three potential antecedents of 258 police offi-cers ’ attitudes tow ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 14 (0 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
Organizations are dynamic and changing entities. Variables associated with organizational change have been shown to serve as mediators of several individual difference variable/work-related outcome relationships. This study examines three potential antecedents of 258 police offi-cers ’ attitudes toward organizational change (ATOC), and whether ATOC mediates the relationships between these antecedents and affective organizational commitment (AOC). At the time of data collection, the officers ’ police department was restructuring its organizational design. Structural equation modeling indicates the growth need strength/AOC relationship is fully mediated, whereas the focus of control/AOC and internal work motivation/AOC relationships are partially mediated by ATOC. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Even if the tower is "Ivory," it isn't "White:" Understanding the consequences of faculty cynicism
- Academy of Management Learning & Education
, 2007
"... Prompted by a seemingly growing level of cynicism within academia, on the part of Academy of Management members in particular, I developed a new measure of cynicism and investigated a previously untested structural model in which cynicism is related in sequence to organizational identification, affe ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 7 (0 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
Prompted by a seemingly growing level of cynicism within academia, on the part of Academy of Management members in particular, I developed a new measure of cynicism and investigated a previously untested structural model in which cynicism is related in sequence to organizational identification, affective commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Data were obtained from 379 faculty members who were participants in the 2004 Academy of Management Meeting. Structural equation modeling was used to represent and test the hypothesized latent structure of the respective constructs, as well as the proposed structural paths between constructs. Support was found for the convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs underlying the structural model and for the network of proposed relationships. The implications of these findings for management education and learning, as well as avenues for future research, are discussed. “The power of accurate observation is com-monly called cynicism by those who have not got it.”
Perceptions of integrity, competence, and trust in senior management as determinants of cynicism toward change
- Journal of Public Administration and Management, 320–343. Retrieved October
, 2002
"... As Public Sector organizations continue to undergo transformational change, it is important to identify organizational factors that impact on employee attitudes to change. There is limited empirical evidence about the determinants of cynicism toward change. In this paper, a model is proposed which i ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 7 (0 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
As Public Sector organizations continue to undergo transformational change, it is important to identify organizational factors that impact on employee attitudes to change. There is limited empirical evidence about the determinants of cynicism toward change. In this paper, a model is proposed which identifies three key trust-related antecedents of cynicism toward change: perceptions of integrity, competence, and trust in senior management. Data were collected from two Public Sector organizations to identify levels and correlates of cynicism toward change and to test the proposed model. The results of confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling suggest that perceptions of integrity and trust in senior management influence cynicism toward change. Integrity, as an element of trustworthiness, was found to directly influence trust in senior management as well as cynicism toward change. Contrary to expectations, employee perceptions of the competence of senior management did not to have a direct influence on trust nor on cynicism toward change. Collectively the antecedent variables accounted for approximately forty percent of the variance in cynicism toward change. In general terms, the findings will prove helpful to human resource practitioners interested in diagnosing and managing organizational trust and attitudes toward organizational change.
Conversational profiles: A tool for altering the conversational patterns of change managers
- Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
, 2008
"... This article provides a practical tool that managers and change agents can use to see their own conversational patterns in the management of a change, determine whether those patterns may be contributing to the progress of change, and if so, provide insights into what modifications might enhance pro ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 4 (0 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
This article provides a practical tool that managers and change agents can use to see their own conversational patterns in the management of a change, determine whether those patterns may be contributing to the progress of change, and if so, provide insights into what modifications might enhance progress. Based on the conversational model developed by Ford and Ford, this article explains a methodology for creating and ana-lyzing a conversational profile, provides three illustrative cases, and explores implica-tions for research and practice.
The impact of change process and context on change reactions and turnover during a merger
- Journal of Management
, 2010
"... The authors examined relationships among two measures of the change process adopted by a firm and a measure of the change context and employees ’ reactions to a merger. A longitudinal study was conducted. An employee’s perception that he or she had a poor change history was negatively associated wit ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 4 (0 self)
- Add to MetaCart
The authors examined relationships among two measures of the change process adopted by a firm and a measure of the change context and employees ’ reactions to a merger. A longitudinal study was conducted. An employee’s perception that he or she had a poor change history was negatively associated with affective commitment to change. As the number of formal change information sessions attended increased, anxiety decreased. High quality change information was negatively associated with anxiety and positively related to affective commitment to change. Affective commitment was positively associated with job satisfaction and negatively associated with turnover intentions, which were positively associated with voluntary turnover.
Ecological Factors Impacting Provider Attitudes Towards Human Service Delivery Reform1
"... Although reform efforts are substantially altering the structural operations and guiding ideological framework of the human service delivery system, little empirical work has been done to systematically examine these transfor-mations. This study examines providers ' attitudes regarding two refo ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 3 (0 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
Although reform efforts are substantially altering the structural operations and guiding ideological framework of the human service delivery system, little empirical work has been done to systematically examine these transfor-mations. This study examines providers ' attitudes regarding two reform ele-ments that are being widely implemented: an increased emphasis on inter-agency collaboration and a shift from a medical model service delivery philosophy, that focuses on client deficits, to one that emphasizes consumer strengths. Through survey data collected from 186 providers from 32 human service agencies in one county, the relationship between providers ' percep-tions of contextual support for human service delivery reform and providers' attitudes towards these initiatives is explored. The findings from this study support the importance of attending to the ecology in which we initiate system reform efforts. For both reform elements, working within contexts that are perceived as providing ideological and functional support for change was associated with positive provider attitudes towards those changes. Staffs'
2 READY OR NOT…? WHAT’S THE RELEVANCE OF A MESO LEVEL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF READINESS FOR CHANGE
"... 3 Organizational change often yields limited success. Failure in many cases is due to the lack of motivation or readiness for change among organizational members. This study proposes and tests a meso-level model of readiness for change. More specifically this article examined the influence of organi ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 2 (0 self)
- Add to MetaCart
3 Organizational change often yields limited success. Failure in many cases is due to the lack of motivation or readiness for change among organizational members. This study proposes and tests a meso-level model of readiness for change. More specifically this article examined the influence of organizational climate factors on readiness for change over and above the effects of their eponymous lower level psychological climate variables (i.e., trust in top management, history of change, participation in decision making, and quality of change communication). By means of a large scale survey administered in 84 Belgian companies, a total of 2543 responses were collected. HLM analyses revealed a contextual effect for quality of change communication on the three components of readiness for change (emotional, cognitive and intentional), even after controlling for psychological change climate. Furthermore, the results indicated that the individual perceptions of history of change, participation in decision making, and quality of change communication were positively correlated with readiness for change. These findings are discussed in relation to previous literature. Key words: readiness for change, meso-level perspective, history of change, trust in top management, participation in decision making, and quality of change communication. 2 4
