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This multi-wave study uses the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (TMSC) to investigate whether employees may view task changes as an organizational event that stimulates skill development or engenders job risks (i.e., qualitative job insecurity) and thereby affect employee job satisfaction. Additionally, drawing on Regulatory Focus Theory (RFT), the indirect effect of task changes on job satisfaction through these two mediators was theorized to depend on individual’s regulatory focus (i.e., prevention or promotion). Mediation effects from task changes to job satisfaction via skill development and qualitative job insecurity were tested at the within-person level, while the moderating role by regulatory focus at the between-person level was tested using cross-level interactions. Results supported most of our hypotheses and also offered some unexpected insights. Task changes increased perceptions of qualitative job insecurity, which subsequently decreased job satisfaction. Although task changes did not show a significant direct link with skill development, skill development did positively predict job satisfaction six months later. We found no moderated mediation effects, however our moderator directly influenced job insecurity and skill development. Overall, the current study contributes to science and practice by providing valuable insights into the stressful processes that can evolve from task changes. ispartof: European Journal Of Work And Organizational Psychology vol:32 issue:4 status: Published online

The capacity to deal with digital transformation is a valuable asset for established organizations, and employees play a crucial role in this process. This study contributes to the understanding of employees’ sensemaking of digital transformation in the tour operating industry. Using prior digital transformation research, construal-level theory (CLT), and dynamic change perspectives, our scholarly work focuses on the complexities of organizational change in a digital transformation context. Although employees generally support digital transformation, our findings show that their perceptions change over time across a range of specific challenges experienced during the employee change journey. Our findings stress the importance of adopting a social exchange lens in digital transformation knowledge as this represents deep structure change that might cause well-designed transformation processes to fail. Implications for hospitality and tourism management are discussed.

Although dynamics within and outside organizations emphasize the importance of employee adaptability, a validated scale that assesses employee adaptability as an individual difference construct is still lacking. Five studies were conducted to develop (Study 1, N=235) and validate a 10-item scale for employee adaptability and investigate its factor structure and measurement invariance (Study 2, N=331; Study 3, N=375), convergent validity and discriminant validity (Study 4, N=117), and concurrent validity, predictive validity and measurement stability (Study 5, N=263 T1, N=113 T2). Overall, the findings revealed good internal consistency, convergent, discriminant, concurrent and predictive validity, and adequate measurement invariance. Potential applications for the adaptability scale are discussed. ispartof: European Journal Of Psychological Assessment vol:37 issue:2 pages:81-85 status: published

Objectives Starting with the spring of 2020, COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives. Due to its threatening nature, along with the rapid rise in contamination and mortality figures, the spread of the virus has caused a considerable rise in individuals' anxieties. To enable the assessment of the COVID-19-triggered individual rumination, we developed and tested a COVID-19 Rumination Scale (C-19RS).Design and Methods Demographics (i.e., gender, age and education) and several items assessing the proximity of one's exposure to the virus (i.e., whether one's family and close friends are affected) were evaluated as antecedents of C-19RS that provided evidence for the criterion validity of the scale. A sample of 523 Dutch employees working in different companies and sectors completed the online survey in March 2020.Results Results showed that women, older individuals and workers with lower educational level ruminated considerably more about COVID-19. In keeping with prior theoretical and empirical work on stress and coping, we established that COVID-19 ruminative thoughts can unlock withdrawal coping reactions (i.e., self-handicapping) and drain individual's energy (i.e., causing emotional exhaustion), whereby providing evidence for the predictive validity of the new instrument. In addition, we examined how the COVID-19 rumination evolved during the nearly 3-week period of the data collection, a time-frame that coincided with the introduction of the national restrictive measures in the Netherlands. Results showed a drop in the level of rumination, which might be indicative of potential habituation with the stressor.Conclusions The results supported the sound psychometric qualities of the scale.

Although merger and acquisitions (M&As) are acknowledged as an important means to access innovative assets and know-how, firms’ inventive output often declines in the post-M&A period. Financial, managerial and organizational constraints related to the M&A event contribute to inventive output declines and inventors’ departure. Prior literature treats the acquiring firm as a passive observer of invention declines. This study argues that acquiring firms can take measures by hiring new key inventors. We show that the hiring of new key inventors in the post-M&A period can counteract invention declines in two ways. First, these newly hired inventors are associated with an increase of corporate inventive output after the M&A. Second, they are also associated with an improved inventive output of inventors already working for the acquiring firm. These results suggest that an appropriate hiring policy can counteract the declining inventive output of firms in the aftermath of M&As.

Samenvatting De COVID-19 pandemie veranderde onze manier van werken en organiseren drastisch. Zo verrichtten veel werkenden hun taken gedwongen vanuit huis, terwijl ook huisgenoten thuis moesten blijven. Vanuit de Appraisal Theory onderzochten we hoe de evaluatie/waardering van thuiswerk samenhangt met het welzijn (emotionele uitputting en vitaliteit) van thuiswerkers tijdens de eerste COVID-19 lockdown, en welke processen daarbij een rol spelen. Er is gekeken naar de voor- en nadelen van het thuiswerken, het coping potentieel en emoties als voorspellers van welzijn. Veronderstellingen zijn getoetst in een cross-sectioneel onderzoek bij 173 thuiswerkers. Zoals voorspeld door de Appraisal Theory liet coping potentieel sterke relaties met positieve en negatieve emoties zien. De ervaren voordelen van thuiswerk hingen samen met minder emotionele uitputting en de ervaren nadelen van thuiswerk met meer emotionele uitputting. Analyse liet verder twee paden zien: de voordelen van thuiswerk hingen via meer positieve emoties samen met meer vitaliteit, de nadelen van thuiswerk hingen via meer negatieve emoties samen met meer emotionele uitputting. Toepassing van Appraisal Theory biedt meer inzicht in de gunstige en ongunstige mechanismen achter de vastgestelde welzijnsgevolgen voor het COVID-19 thuiswerken. De resultaten hebben implicaties voor toekomstig onderzoek en de praktijk.

This study examined whether remediation (providing another inducement to compensate for an undelivered obligation in the psychological contract) was perceived as a useful way to deal with the consequences of a psychological contract breach in the context of organizational change. Data was collected by means of semi-structured face-to-face focus-group sessions and individual interviews in a restructuring organization in the Dutch banking sector. Fourteen focus groups and eight individual interviews were conducted with 30 non-managerial employees and 48 supervisors/professionals. The results bring the potential of offering compensating inducements to remedy psychological contract breach to the fore and highlight the role of other factors such as communication and the availability of job alternatives. Suggestions are provided for improving employee relations in situations of organizational change by taking the psychological contract into account. MAD statement This article sets out to Make A Difference (MAD) through describing views of employees of different hierarchical levels of a Dutch Bank on how to cope with expected organizational changes and less beneficial employment benefits in the future. The question of ‘how to change the deal while keeping the people’ by remediating breach of the psychological contract is addressed from different perspectives. When organizations are forced to implement changes, taking the mutual obligations in the psychological contract into account can avoid reactive, and unsuccessful management of change. A psychological contract breach can be remediated by providing other inducements for the mutual benefit of organization and employee. Since there are differences between employees in the meaning attached to obligations, an individual approach is necessary.

Changes in societal logics often leave firms’ policies and practices out of step. Yet when firms introduce a change that brings in a new societal logic, employees may resist, even though they personally value the change, because the incoming logic conflicts with existing organizational logics. How can change agents handle logic-based resistance to an organizational initiative that introduces a new logic? We studied elite law firms that introduced a new role into their traditional up-or-out career path in response to associates’ anonymously expressed desire for better work–life balance, which associates resisted because expressing family concerns was illegitimate within the firms. Change agents responded to three forms of resisters’ logic-based concerns—irreconcilability, ambiguity, and contradiction—with three tailored responses—redirecting, reinforcing, and reassuring—using contextually legitimate logic elements. Over time logic elements of each concern–response pair harmonized to enable individuals to enact their logics seamlessly and organizations to update the existing logic settlement to assimilate the societal change. We demonstrate that the way available logics are accessed and activated between pluralistic change agents and resisters can enable logic settlements to be updated in response to societal change. We draw insights about how logics do or do not constrain agency. Keywords intra-individual plurality, resistance to change, logic settlements, work–family and careers, professions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of role stressors (role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload) on change readiness and in turn their effects on the withdrawal process. In addition, it explores the moderating role of colleague support in the relationship between role stressors and change readiness. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from health care workers (n=457) in a large Canadian hospital undergoing large scale change. Findings The results revealed that role ambiguity and role conflict had a significant negative association with change readiness. Change readiness was related to turnover intentions which was related to higher levels of absenteeism and actual turnover. Change readiness partially mediated the relationship between role ambiguity and turnover intentions but not for role conflict and role overload. Turnover intentions partially mediated the relationship between change readiness and actual turnover but not for absenteeism. Role conflict had a direct rather than an indirect effect via change readiness on turnover intentions. Finally, colleague support moderated the relationship between all three role stressors and change readiness. Originality/value Little is known about the limiting factors of change as well as the factors that protect against them. The authors identify role stressors as a limiting factor for change and highlight their impact on change readiness and the overall withdrawal process. The results, however, also show that some demands are more commonly experienced by health care workers thereby not posing a threat to their change readiness. Colleague support is identified as a coping mechanism for mitigating against the detrimental effects of role stressors.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of change leadership (informing, communicating, involving and supporting) and change management (reasons and competencies for change) for organisational change processes and their outcomes across public and private organisations. The study includes three specific change situations: first, layoffs; second, mergers; and third, closures, relocations and outsourcing, focusing on how change leadership and change management relate to employees’ experience of the change processes and their outcomes across these change situations.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on panel data forming a representative sample of the Danish working population. A total of 2,120 responses were collected, 1,000 from public organisations and 1,120 from private organisations. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe study findings show that both change leadership and change management predict positive change experiences and change consequences – and that they do so similarly across public and private sectors. Despite this similarity, the study reveals important sectorial differences, with public sector employees reporting less positive change experiences and consequences.Originality/valueThe paper provides valuable knowledge for researchers and public and private leaders interested in the impact of change leadership and change management on change outcomes.

Background: The purpose of this article is to examine how different views on power and politics manifest in organizational change, and how they can be integrated into a single model. Methods: Our research was based on an extensive literature review about power and politics and their relationship with organizational change. We used the systems model of organizational change developed by Maes and Van Hootegem to map the different views on power and politics in organizational change. This systems model integrated different change discourses and allowed us to post the various aspects of power and politics in organizational change. Results: Using the systems model as a reference to look at power and politics from different angles led to a better understanding of the role they play in organizational change so that actors can enter the political arena of change better prepared and play the game of change at a tactically higher level. Conclusions: The analysis contributes to the study of power and politics in three respects. First, using the metamodel of organizational change to map the different views on power and politics offers a more detailed and varied understanding of the use of power and politics in organizational change. Second, looking at power and politics from different discourses can accommodate greater complexity and nuance. Third, it shows that change projects rarely run smoothly but are constantly traversed by all kinds of obstacles and barriers that require specific political astuteness. Members of an organization, who have been introduced to political skills, will be better able to navigate the pitfalls of organizational change and its rhetoric and thus be better agents of change or better able to resist unreasonable change.

In the change management literature, most studies on recipients' resistance to change include only the views of agents or of recipients, thereby ignoring that these parties may have different perceptions. In this quantitative study, we include the perceptions of both parties in studying the recipients' resistance and the impact of the agent's leadership behavior. In a sample of 117 agent-recipients groupings, covering 110 different change projects in 90 organizations, we found that agents perceive higher levels of recipients' resistance than do the recipients themselves. Additionally, we found that agents who create space to enable recipients to think and act differently (by employing creating behavior) report higher levels of recipients' resistance, whereas recipients perceive their resistance to be lowered when agents facilitate an emotional connection to the change (framing behavior). The depth of the change appeared to moderate the relationship between agent's leadership behavior and recipients' resistance, indicating that agents and recipients differ in which change leadership behaviors they perceive as increasing or decreasing resistance at different levels of change depth. These findings imply to reconsider the relationship between agent and recipients and we propose some promising avenues for future studies in resistance research.

Purpose Although management accounting tools and techniques are developed to solve practical problems in organizations, there is a lot of criticism of management accounting research for not having an impact on practice. In interventionist research, the “shaping” of an intervention to solve a practical problem is an important step. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the findings of management accounting research can be reviewed to make them practically applicable in shaping an intervention. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on the author’s experiences with an interventionist research project. Findings Systematic literature reviews, which are common in engineering and medicine, bring together the academic knowledge that can contribute to solutions for a specific practical problem, including a definition of the ways in which this knowledge can be applied. Inspired by the methodology for conducting such reviews, this paper proposes how interventionist management accounting researchers can use existing theoretical knowledge in shaping interventions that aim to solve a practical problem. After an intervention, the analysis of the intervention’s unforeseen effects can provide a basis for the refinement of the theory identified in the literature review. Research limitations/implications Such a literature review can be organized according to four approaches to taking theoretical knowledge into practice. Unforeseen effects of the intervention can guide the selection of additional theory that helps to interpret these effects and refine normative and academic theory. Originality/value In management accounting it is uncommon to review the literature with the aim of shaping a solution for a practical problem. This paper explores how literature reviews that focus on a specific practical problem can contribute to bridging the gap between theory and practice.

This paper is based upon doctoral research of the first author conducted while at the Center for Innovation Research, Tilburg University. The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. In this paper, we study to what extent inconsistent feedback signals about performance affect firm adaptive behavior in terms of changes made to research-and-development (R&D) investments. We argue that inconsistency in performance feedback—based on discrepancies between two distinct performance signals—affects the degree to which such investments will be changed. Our aim is to show that accounting for inconsistent performance feedback is necessary as predictions for the direction of change in R&D investments based on the individual performance feedback signals are contradictory. Furthermore, we contribute by proposing a holistic consideration mechanism as an alternative to the selective attention mechanism previously applied to inconsistent performance feedback. Our findings show that the impact of inconsistency depends on the exact configuration of the underlying performance feedback signal discrepancies. While consistently negative performance feedback signals would amplify their impact in stimulating increased R&D investments, inconsistent performance feedback signals created more nuanced effects. Having lower performance compared to an industry-based peer group—despite doing well compared to the previous year—made firms decrease their R&D investments. For the opposite case of inconsistent performance feedback, we did not find an effect on change in R&D investments. These findings support to a degree our contention that explaining the effects of inconsistent performance feedback requires a holistic consideration theoretical mechanism instead of one involving selective attention. In sum, these findings suggest future research should take into account the differences between distinct instances of inconsistent performance feedback.

Research Summary Constructing narratives of transformative change is an important but challenging practice through which strategy makers attempt to influence acceptance of an ongoing transformation. To understand whether and how strategy makers can construct a steady influx of captivating narratives of transformative change, we analyzed how one noted strategy maker assisted the successful transformation of his organization over three decades by orchestrating the production of change narratives. Our analysis reveals that the strategy maker constructed and reconstructed meanings of change over time using three sets of distinct but interconnected narrative practices. We develop a dynamic model linking the simultaneous mobilization of these practices to strategy makers’ ability to harness the persistent tension between novelty and familiarity in a transformative change, and thereby win endorsement from key audiences. Managerial Summary How can storytelling be used to influence acceptance of an ongoing organizational transformation? In this paper, we try to answer this question by examining how, over three decades, Italian company Alessi documented its transformation from a manufacturer of kitchen steel utensils to a producer of a variety of household objects purchased also for their symbolic value. The leader behind Alessi's transformation, Alberto Alessi, orchestrated such narrative production, targeting employees, customers, retailers, and visitors to Alessi exhibitions. Our findings uncover how narratives can be used to win audiences’ endorsement of change, through narrative practices aimed at: (1) constructing a collective memory of change; (2) depicting change as a novel but coherent departure from the past; and (3) portraying change as a transcendent endeavor.

Employees frequently have ideas and opinions on the execution of tasks or on the organization itself. Yet, sometimes employees remain silent and withhold this valuable input from their organizations because they fear experiencing conflict or controversy, causing both performance and employee morale to suffer. This article tests to what extent such fear of speaking up, referred to as ‘defensive silence,’ is affected by the extent of successive structural reforms an organization endures. Analyses of Norwegian Staff Surveys and of a structural reform database show that repetitive structural reforms affect employee engagement in defensive silence. publishedVersion

The 'How to horizontal ellipsis ' series focuses on how to do qualitative research. But how can qualitative research enhance patient care? This paper aims to support health care practitioners, educators and researchers who are interested in bridging the gap between research and practice (both clinical and educational), to guide improvements that can ultimately benefit patients. We present action research and The Change Laboratory method as two approaches that typically involve qualitative research and have potential to change practice, blending scientific inquiry with social action. These approaches establish close research-practice partnerships and help answer tricky 'why' and 'how' questions that may unlock deep insights to enhance learning and patient care. horizontal ellipsis how can qualitative research enhance patient care?

Prior research indicates that workplace changes can have both positive and negative consequences for employees. To explore the mechanisms that trigger these different outcomes, we propose and test a mediation model, which builds on the premises of the challenge&ndash, hindrance model of work stress. Specifically, we suggest that whereas workplace changes can engender positive outcomes (e.g., learning outcomes) through an increase in learning demands, they can also enhance negative outcomes (e.g., emotional exhaustion) through increased perceptions of qualitative job insecurity. While we made these specific assumptions, we also analyzed the reversed causation relationships. Two-wave data obtained from 1366 Dutch employees were used to test the study hypotheses. The results showed that the reciprocal causation model had the best fit for the data. However, whereas emotional exhaustion was only mediated by qualitative job insecurity, no mediation was found by learning demands. In addition to the hypothesized effects, several reversed causation effects emerged from the analyses, indicating that the relationships between workplace changes and employee learning and strain are not unidirectional. This underscores the need for a broader view on the causes and effects of workplace changes, as the traditional causation relationships (i.e., perceptions of workplace changes impacting employee learning and strain experiences) are insufficient to explain the complex dynamics between the studied phenomena.

Organizations are altering their office settings to non-territorial workspaces, where employees do not have assigned desks but are supposed to choose freely where they sit. In this context, the metaphor of the nomad appears to be an understandable way to position the employees of organizations within non-territorial workspaces. Drawing on the empirical data of a study of organizational change in a Nordic media company, this study applied the discursive resources from the field of institutional interaction in the analysis. This article presents how the participants employed the same metaphor of the nomad as a rhetorical strategy to support and resist change, and suggests that the use of a particular discourse does not necessarily contribute to the desired outcomes. Furthermore, the study shows how constructing senses of legitimacy involves the use of the same metaphor to construct arguments and counter-arguments toward the change.

The creation of spin-off firms from universities is seen as an important mechanism for the commercialization of research, and hence the overall contribution from universities to technological development and economic growth. Governments and universities are seeking to develop framework conditions that are conductive to spin-off creation. The most prevalent of such initiatives are legislative changes at national level and the establishment of Technology Transfer Offices (TTO) at university level. The effectiveness of such initiatives is debated, but empirical evidence is limited. In this paper we analyze the full population of universities in Italy, Norway, and the UK; three countries adopting differing approaches to framework conditions, to test whether national and university level initiatives have an influence on the number of spin-offs created and the quality of these spin-offs. Building on institutional theory and using multi-level analysis, we find that changes in the institutional framework conditions at both national and university level are conductive to the creation of more spin-offs, but that the increase in quantity is at the expense of the quality of these firms. Hence, the effect of such top-down changes in framework conditions on the economic impact from universities seems to be more symbolic than substantive.

Existing organizational structures may prevent proper anchoring of change in the organization. This paper addresses the nature of the deep organizational structures that impact the sustainability of change. Deep structures are endurable organizational orders that may limit or enforce change and they are often implicit. Based on a case study of a change initiative in the hospital sector, we identify twelve deep structures, which we group into four meta- structures: networking structures, narrative structures, psychodynamic structures and leadership structures. Uncovering the deep structures socially constructed by organizational members over time and exploring how these structures enable or hinder change presents an alternative perspective on sustainability of change. We discuss the implications of this perspective for theory on the sustainability of change as well as for change management practice.

South Africa has implemented a community-based HIV programme (CBHP) in its primary healthcare (PHC) re-engineering strategy that aims to improve public healthcare delivery. This CBHP is delivered by ward-based outreach teams (WBOTs); provision of community HIV services comprises an important component of this programme. We conducted an exploratory study to determine the facilitators and barriers to successful implementation of this CBHP in rural Mopani District, South Africa. Focus group discussions were conducted with the community health workers (CHWs) and PHC nurses; participant interviews were conducted with community members who access these health services, community leaders, and social workers. We conducted a thematic content analysis and based on the key themes reported, we identified the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, consisting of five domains, as the most appropriate model to interpret our findings. First, in terms of intervention characteristics, community members generally valued the HIV services provided, but the variable needs impacted on programme implementation. Outer setting challenges include inability to meet the need of patients as a result of stigma, non-disclosure of HIV status and social factors. In terms of the inner setting, CHWs were grateful for the equipment and training received but expressed the need for better support of management and the provision of additional resources. With regard to characteristics of the implementers, the CHWs expressed the desire for further training despite reporting having sufficient knowledge to conduct their HIV work. Finally, in terms of the implementation process, the importance of relationship building between CHWs and community members was emphasised. In conclusion, these data underline the positive receipt and potential of the CBHP in this rural district and identify areas to further strengthen the programme. The success and sustainability of the CBHP requires ongoing commitment of resources, training, supervision, and organisational support in order to operate effectively and efficiently.

By modifying the work environments, work routines, and work tasks of employees with health restrictions, organizations can effectively help them continue to perform their jobs successfully. As such, job accommodations are an effective tool to secure the continued employment of aging workers who develop disabilities across their life span. However, while accommodations tackle health-related performance problems, they might create new challenges on the part of the affected employee. Building on the organizational change and accommodations literatures, we propose a theoretical framework of negative experiences during accommodation processes and apply it to qualitative data from group interviews with 73 manufacturing workers at a German industrial company who were part of the company's job accommodation program. Although problems associated with health-related impairments were mostly solved by accommodation, affected employees with disabilities reported about interpersonal problems and conflicts similar to those that typically occur during organizational change. Lack of social support as well as poor communication and information were raised as criticisms. Furthermore, our findings indicate that discrimination, bullying, and maltreatment appear to be common during accommodation processes. To make accommodation processes more successful, we derive recommendations from the organizational change literature and apply it to the accommodation context. We also emphasize unique characteristics of the accommodation setting and translate these into practical implications.

Organizations represent deliberately designed social contexts that are characterized by multi-level hierarchies. Interests and opportunity structures at each level usually do not overlap. We suggest that one of the reasons why intentional change efforts often fail to reach their objectives is because they are likely to trigger competing social mechanisms at different levels of the hierarchy. In order to illustrate this argument, we analyze the consequences of timely communication of planned organizational changes on perceived success of reorganizations. Two competing mechanisms are derived and tested with data from a telephone survey (carried out in 2003), among a sample of n = 412 Dutch business organizations that performed a reorganization. The commitment perspective predicts that early announcement of reorganization plans to middle management increases the likelihood of reorganization success, since it increases commitment and empowers middle management. The influence mechanism predicts that early information of non-managerial employees decreases the likelihood of reorganization success, because it enables employees to use the information to their own advantage, anticipate on the strategies of management, and organize opposition against the plans. We found that timely communication with middle management indeed increases chances for success, whereas timely communication with employees correlates with reorganization failure. However, not communicating with employees has an even stronger negative effect on reorganization success. No evidence could be found for our argument that the severity of the reorganization's expected negative effects on the workforce moderates both mechanisms.

Researchers have emphasized theory's pivotal importance in the information systems (IS) discipline since its inception. As in many science disciplines, IS scholars' ability to understand and contribute to theory is an important qualification in research practice. As a discipline, we require solid foundations for why we engage with theory, what theory is for us, and how we work with theory. We synthesize and reflect on the debates on theories and theorizing in the IS discipline. In doing so, we inform (particularly new) authors about the current state of the IS discipline's debate on theory and theorizing and help them identify opportunities in theorizing to put theory to work. We do not intend to advocate or cement that status quo we portray but rather, through informing the community about it, to support early efforts to further develop and move beyond the current state of the debate on theory and theorizing in IS research.

Social accounts are a powerful tool in influencing the behavior of organizational members during major change. Examination of their effectiveness has largely focused on the design of accounts to influence behavioral and affective responses. However, when used in real life practice, more individualized, interpretive and agentic responses to social accounts have been found to influence effectiveness. Using an example of large-scale organizational change, moving from one hospital facility to another, we explore the dynamic and contextual interpretation of social accounts over time. Our findings expand social account theory by examining how potentially successful change communications are derailed by the relevance of the account in relation to an individual's past, by the individuals' ability to express agency and by temporality; how over time, lived experience can alter the perceived truthfulness of an account and alter its potency.

The diversity of contract laws is said by the Commission to discourage cross-border trade and hinder the development by SMEs of a pan-European commercial policy. An optional instrument containing both facilitative general contract rules and mandatory consumer protection rules, one of the solutions proposed by the Commission, is gaining rapid support from key stakeholders. Drawing from firms' own views on the problems of legal diversity, and insights from organisational science, this article sets out the circumstances in which firms will likely consider a European optional code. Results are mixed: some firms may consider it, while others may ignore it. Much depends the firm's aspirations (i.e. SMEs cannot be assumed as-yet to have pan-European aspirations), how the firm perceives the problems of legal diversity, and how it searches for and decides upon solutions. It would appear that a European optional instrument may not be as useful or widely considered as its proponents would like to believe.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how resistance to change might be a consequence of differences in professional discourse of professional groups working together in a change program.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses discourse analysis and rubrics to study the implementation of a new ICT system for an airline. Data for this case study were collected in semi‐structured interviews, desk research, participant observations and a diagnostic workshop.FindingsThe data suggest that the non‐aligned interaction between different professional discourses can be a source of resistance to change, in addition to other well‐known sources of resistance to change in the change management literature. Future research regarding change management should incorporate linguistics and discourse analysis. Investigating resistance to change could be done comprehensively, paying attention to differences in professional cultures in cross‐functional (project) teams. A managerial implication of the study is that making differences in professional discourses explicit is a constant point of attention in (project) teams.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors' choices with regard to the sample size and methods limit the generalisability of the results. However, these choices were instrumental in reaching a rich set of data, which enabled the authors to get an understanding of the conversational dynamics in the case.Originality/valueThe paper argues that change programs contain subjective, informal and linguistic dimensions which might give reasons for understanding resistance to change in new ways. The theoretical contribution of the paper is that it integrates change management literature with linguistic literature about professional discourse.

Summary This paper discusses the contribution of human resource management to major transformations in ten European steel companies during the 1990s, and is based on an exchange program organized by the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (Eurofer). The study focuses on three aspects of HRM’s contribution to strategic change: (1) the context in which change was embedded, (2) the implementation process of the change, and (3) the communication strategies used by management to create trustworthiness regarding the change process. Some firms proved to be supporters of “long marches” (incremental change over an extended period of time), while others were rather involved in “short strokes” (rapid overall change) (cf. [Kanter, R. M., Stein, B. A. and Jick, T. D. (1992). The challenge of organizational change. Free Press, New York]). We conclude that HRM has played a role as strategic partner in most steel companies, particularly those who made short strokes, while also a trend towards closer integration of HRM with line management became evident, primarily in those firms taking long marches.

Purpose Organizational changes are emotionally charged processes, and scholarly research has increasingly emphasized the impact of employee emotions on successful change management. This impact has rarely been considered in light of approaches focussing on employee sensemaking. To address this critical gap, the purpose of this paper is to combine the model of enacted sensemaking with insights from the Affect Infusion Model. Design/methodology/approach To test the model, the authors surveyed 261 employees with a vignette study and performed structural equation modeling on the results. Findings The findings reveal that emotions significantly affect employees’ level of psychological resources, particularly change commitment, efficacy, and expectations. Furthermore, change commitment and efficacy are significant predictors of resistance intention, which confirms (to an extent) the validity of enacted sensemaking, and these factors mediate the relationship between employees’ emotions and their resistance intentions. Research limitations/implications This study focussed on the early stages of a change initiative. Therefore, the authors only considered employee assessment at one point in time. Practical implications This model has managerial utility for explaining how employees’ resistance intention regarding change is influenced by employees’ emotions and their psychological resources. Originality/value The results broaden the horizons because they suggest a model of “emotionally primed” enacted sensemaking for employees during organizational change by offering a new theoretical framework (enacted sensemaking and substantive processing) and a new methodological approach (quantitative vignette study).

In this paper, we focus on task restructuring as one of the most frequently occurring types of change in our contemporary knowledge society. In spite of its evident prevalence, research on task restructuring and employee well-being has been scarce until now. Based on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, we argue that task restructuring is negatively related with employee well-being (in terms of emotional exhaustion and vigour). Furthermore, we advance that opportunities for learning through reflection and experimentation, as well as recently acquired KSAOs can serve as buffers in the relationship between task restructuring and well-being. Hierarchical regression analyses and simple slope analyses were conducted in order to test the research hypotheses on a large sample of the Dutch working population (N = 1711). Task restructuring had a positive association with emotional exhaustion and a negative one with vigour. Furthermore, recently acquired KSAOs, as well as opportunities for reflection and experimentation, buffered the relationship between task restructuring and emotional exhaustion. Opportunities for reflection and experimentation moderated the relationship between task restructuring and vigour as well. This study suggests that workplace learning can mitigate the negative relationship between task restructuring and well-being. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2014.929601 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02678373.2014.929601

The present study examined employee-involvement climate (i.e., information-sharing and decision-making climate) as a moderator of the relationship between pay-level satisfaction and employee outcomes (i.e., job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intention). Survey data were collected from 22,662 Belgian employees, representing 134 organizations. The hypotheses derived from distributive justice theory and from research on the meaning of pay received partial support. Multilevel analyses revealed that a decision-making climate buffered the negative effects of low pay-level satisfaction, and that an information-sharing climate exacerbated the negative effects of low pay-level satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications of this differential moderating effect are discussed.

This study analyzes how and why a firm's change program to create a market-oriented innovation process depends on its environmental, innovational and organizational context. Based on an organizational-learning capabilities framework, the results from a multiple case study indicate how a firm's change objectives, activities and approach are affected by this context. Whereas in low-tech firms a market-back approach with changes in organization structure and project management structure was effective, high-tech firms were more effective implementing a combined programmatic and market-back approach with changes also in philosophy and process management structure. The study contributes to theory by demonstrating that a firm's change program depends on its context and a one-best-way-fits-all change program is not feasible. It also shows that the change program could start with a coherent set of changes in structures, systems instead of starting with people's values and attitudes in order to change their behavior. The findings suggest that firms use a much more fragmented emergent approach to organizational change than the literature suggests. in addition, managers creating a market orientation in a key process - product innovation - need to use an approach different from a cultural change program as often advocated to change a whole organization. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The paper focuses on the organisational problems of the state Department of Water Resources at the district level in the Khorezm Province, Uzbekistan. The study opens the organisational ‘black box’ and looks inside the organisational structure of the Department of Water Resources. The analysis goes beyond the current studies and reports focusing on the duties of the organisation, by analysing the logistical capabilities and the constraining factors due to the organisational structure after the merger in 1997 between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Melioration and Water Management. The paper utilises organisational theory approaches to power for analysing the state Department of Water Resources. Even though the merger between the two Ministries was supposed to create two equally important departments within one Ministry, the analysis shows that the Department of Water Resources got submerged into the organisation. The water department lost its old organisational objective of distributing water ‘equitably’ to agricultural water users. The dominant objective of the whole organisation became the old objective of the agricultural department, namely fulfilling the target of the state order. In addition, the ability of the water resource department to manage and to control water resources was reduced during the merger. The merger reduced not only the resource power of the water department, but also its process power. The collected data shows that the decisions on water distribution were strongly influenced by the agricultural department and the governors of the districts.

We propose that executive team power strengthens a cycle of "homosocial reproduction" that is interrupted only when teams face such compelling needs for diversity as poor organizational performance, high corporate diversification, and tough market competition. Hypothesis tests in data from major Dutch newspaper publishers over 25 years did not support many of our benchmark expectations. Apparently, top management teams tend to close ranks when environmental complexity and pressure increase. Explanations and new research avenues are discussed.

Managing social-ecological systems and human well being in a sustainable way requires knowledge of these systems in their full complexity. Multi-loop social learning is recognized as a crucial element to sustainable decision-making for land and water resources management involving a process of managing change where the central methodological concern is with effectively engaging the necessary participation of system members in contributing to the collective knowledge of the system. Ensuring the inclusion of the community of concern may help to ensure robust knowledge, the necessary plurality of views, responsibility sharing and trust enhancement. This will also provide more dynamic lines of input to problem solving: local and changing forms of knowledge, emerging concerns and constraints all feed into an ongoing decision-making process. This conceptual paper is focused specifically on identifying the key drivers and conditions that facilitate multi-loop social learning and the untapped potential of virtual learning platforms in this context. The hyper-connectivity that characterizes digitally mediated networks opens up significant possibilities for information exchange, knowledge creation, feedback, debate, learning and innovation, social networking, and so on. This paper provides a thorough literature review of the conditions and affordances that are conducive to multi-loop social learning in the context of sustainable land and water governance. The insights from this review confirm the potential of a ‘learning ecology’ or virtual learning platform for knowledge co-production, trust building, sense making, critical self-reflection, vertical and horizontal collaboration, and conflict resolution, while serving as a facilitating platform between different levels of governance, and across resource and knowledge systems. To conclude this paper, a developmental research agenda is proposed to refine and improve understanding of multi-loop social learning processes and their effective facilitation through virtual learning platforms.

To develop innovations in large, mature organizations, individuals often have to resort to underground, “bootleg” research and development (R&D) activities that have no formal organizational support. In doing so, these individuals attempt to achieve greater autonomy over the direction of their R&D efforts and to escape the constraints of organizational accountability. Drawing on theories of proactive creativity and innovation, we argue that these underground R&D efforts help individuals to develop innovations based on the exploration of uncharted territory and delayed assessment of embryonic ideas. After carefully assessing the direction of causality, we find that individuals’ bootleg efforts are associated with achievement of high levels of innovative performance. Furthermore, we show that the costs and benefits of bootlegging for innovation are contingent on the emphasis on the enforcement of organizational norms in the individual’s work environment; we argue and demonstrate empirically that the benefits of an individual’s bootlegging efforts are enhanced in work units with high levels of innovative performance and which include members who are also engaged in bootlegging. However, during periods of organizational change involving formalization of the R&D process, individuals who increase their bootlegging activities are less likely to innovate. We explore the implications of these findings for our understanding of proactive and deviant creativity.