Organizational Change Readiness

by

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW3

2.1 What is Organizational Change?4

a. Organizational Change Leadership7

b. Resistance to Change10

c. Employee Commitment to Organizational Change14

2.2 What is Readiness for Change?16

a. Readiness for Change Models23

2.2 Readiness for Change Factors35

a. Individual Change Efficacy43

b.Personal Valence45

c.Appropriateness of the Change46

d.Principal Support47

e.Need for Change48

f.Understanding of the Change50

2.4 Communicating Organizational Change and Readiness for Change52

REFERENCES57

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This literature review provides an overview of different organizational change models and how these models relate to an employee readiness for change model. Organizational change is further explored in terms of the dynamic change process explaining organization centered and employee focused process models. The last part of this chapter provides an extensive review of readiness drivers that are considered cognitive precursors to facilitate organizational change within the employee. This chapter's objective is to present the current state of the literature as it relates to organizational change and, in particular, the change dynamics experienced by organizations during change implementation. Furthermore, this chapter highlights the importance of an employee focused implementation strategy compared to an implementation strategy purely based on organizational readiness (Armenakis 2002). The employee focus is justified given that employees are a vital part in influencing the success or failure of the change implementation outcome (Burke and Trahant, 2000). Once it is accepted that employees are an important part of the dynamic change process, it follows that change agents may want to assess and monitor the change readiness of their employees to provided strategic change interventions (Holt et al., 2007; Holt et al., 2003; Isabella, 1992).

Employee change readiness sentiments can be assessed and monitored during change implementation to identify change issues that affect employees (Ashforth and Lee 1990). Examination of change readiness will provide information on how to and where to focus on change (Burke and Trahant, 2000). Furthermore, this data can assist change agents in selectively addressing and managing the identified factors through to positively influencing the change implementation.

What is Organizational Change?

The change process encompasses all activities aimed at helping the organization to successfully adopt new attitudes, new technologies and new ways of doing business (Bandura 1982). Effective management of change allows the transformation of the strategy, processes, technology and people to reorient the organization to achieve their goals, maximize their performance and ensure continuous improvement in an ever changing business environment (Armenakis, 1999).

A change process occurs very efficiently if everyone is committed to it. Meanwhile, for people to commit, they cannot be "run over" by the process, as something far away from it, because they are not. In truth, change occurs through people. And to be considered as part of the process of change it is necessary that people know their values, their beliefs, their behaviors (Bordia et al. 2004). In organizations, some changes occur because of the opportunities that arise, while others are projected (Calder et al. 1981). The term development is applied when the change is intentional and planned.

The word change has become familiar in the most diverse organizations and has become a protagonist of business ...