Managing Change in Organisations

Managing Change in Organisations

Abstract

A schema, first proposed by Fiske and Taylor (1984), is a cognitive structure that represents organized knowledge on a given concept or type of stimulus. Lau and Woodman (1995) further explained that when an organisation experiences changes, its members have various interpretations of and expectations for those changes. The cognitive understanding of change is guided by a mental map that represents the knowledge structures of the attributes of change and relationships between different events of change. This mental map refers to the so-called change schema (Lau and Woodman, 1995). The objectives of this study are to apply this change schema to organisational change in hotels, and to examine the antecedents and consequences of organisational change. Employees have been identified as a potential source of resistance to change (Okumus and Hemmington, 1998), therefore with this study we assess the perceptions of organisational change of front-line employees in hotels. The sample group was drawn from 246 hotel employees in Taiwan. Results confirm that the five dimensions of the organisational change schema (Salience, Impact, Significance, Meaning, and Control) are applicable in a hotel setting. Furthermore, only communication (not participation and training) has a strong influence on organisational change. In turn, the nature of the organisational changes themselves contributes significantly to employees' attitudes toward both organisational change and organisational commitment. This study also indicates that employees recognize and are concerned about changes within their hotels, suggesting that hotel managers need to be aware of the influences of such changes on hotels and go about the implementation changes very carefully.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT2

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 212

CHAPTER 336

CHAPTER 439

CHAPTER 564

REFERENCES66

Chapter 1

Background

Due to globalisation, economic crises, technological innovation, and information accessibility, today's increasingly turbulent and aggressive business environment often forces organisations to make changes. Taking Taiwan hotels as an example, recent tourism policy changes allow more Chinese tourists to come to Taiwan for leisure travel. Many hotels are developing new properties or reconstructing old facilities in Taiwan to accommodate these Chinese tourists. Several hotel chains are entering the Chinese market under both new and old brands. In response to the declining global economy, some economy-class hotels are growing and many older hotels are merging with leading brand hotels. Presently, many of Taiwan's hotels face an unpredictable future, and most of them are going through significant changes.

Results of unsuccessful changes, such as a decrease in morale or productivity, may negatively affect an organisation, and ultimately lead to organisational failure. Okumus and Hemmington (1998, pp.283-288) identified and investigated the barriers and the sources of resistance to change in hotel firms in a study that detailed numerous changes in the hotel industry: re-positioning, re-branding, installing computer systems, updating computer systems, opening new departments, restructuring the organisational chart, creating new management positions, introducing training programs, and changing the menus and service style in the F&B department. Their findings claimed that new management positions, updating computer systems, and opening new departments were not significant barriers for hotel managers. However, re-branding and re-positioning were found to be significant ...