Successful Organizational Change: Integrating the Management Practice and Scholarly Literatures

Abstract

Contemporary organizations often struggle to create meaningful, sustainable changes. At the same time, relevant organizational research lacks an easily accessible consensus on basic change management processes and principles. One consequence is practitioner reliance on popular change models that more often cite expert opinion as their foundation rather than scientific evidence. This article reviews both key tenets of widely used practitioner-oriented change models and findings from scholarly research on organizational change processes to develop an integrative summary of the available evidence of what is known, contested, untested, and underused in change management. It identifies ten evidence-based steps in managing planned organizational change along with implications for research and practice.

Full text

Organizational change
Successful Organizational Change:
Integrating the Management Practice and Scholarly Literatures
Jeroen Stouten
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
KULeuven
Dekenstraat 2, box 3725
3000 Leuven, Belgium
jeroen.stouten@kuleuven.be
+32-16-325830
Denise M. Rousseau
Heinz College and Tepper School of Business
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA USA 15232
denise@cmu.edu
+1-412-268-8470
David De Cremer
Cambridge Judge Business School
University of Cambridge
Trumpington Street
Cambridge CB2 1AG, UK
d.decremer@jbs.cam.ac.uk
The second author thanks an H.J. Heinz II professorship for supporting work on this
paper.
Annals of the Academy of Management, in press.
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Abstract
Contemporary organizations often struggle to create meaningful, sustainable changes.
At the same time, relevant organizational research lacks an easily accessible consensus on
basic change management processes and principles. One consequence is practitioner reliance
on popular change models that more often cite expert opinion as their foundation rather than
scientific evidence. This paper reviews both key tenets of widely used practitioner-oriented
change models and findings from scholarly research on organizational change processes in
order to develop an integrative summary of the available evidence of what is known,
contested, untested, and underutilized in change management. It identifies ten evidence-based
steps in managing planned organizational change along with implications for research and
practice.
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Advanced technology, a changing workforce, competitive pressures, and globalization
are just a few of the forces that prompt organizations and their members to engage in and
attempt to manage planned change (Burnes, 2004b; By, 2005; Kotter, 1996). We define
planned organizational change as deliberate activities that move an organization from its
present state to a desired future state (Harigopal, 2006). Often conceptualized as a
managerial skill, change management has been touted as a critical competency in
contemporary executive surveys (Leadership Competencies, 2008; McCauley, 2006). Making
meaningful, sustainable changes can nonetheless be difficult. Recent reports suggest that
executives believe only one out of three planned organizational change interventions actually
succeed (Jarrel, 2017; Meany & Pung, 2008) while 38% of respondent to a UK survey of
executives reported that change in their organization actually had led to achieving high
performance (Holbeche, 2006: 6). At the same time, organizational change is a source of
considerable stress to contemporary workers. A panel study of over 90,000 workers found
that organizational change led to increased use of stress-related medication (Dahl, 2011).
Whether these attributions are generalizable, they inform this paper’s motivation, that is, to
better identify what is known about organizational change in order to improve the likelihood
of successful change and reduce the adverse consequences of failed change on organization
members and stakeholders. In fulfilling this motivation, we seek to identify ways to improve
both practice and research on planned change.
Identifying ways to make meaningful and sustainable planned change is a challenge.
One reason for this challenge is that the scientific literature lacks consensus regarding basic
change processes (Bamford & Daniel, 2005; Pettigrew, Woodman, & Cameron, 2001), a
long-standing problem even early reviews identified (Friedlander & Brown, 1974). The
fragmented literature on change management can make it difficult to identify and apply
change management principles based on scientific evidence. Instead change management
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practitioners may rely on more readily available expert opinions from popular writers on
change (e.g., Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987; Hiatt, 2006; Kotter, 1996; Senge, Kleiner, &
Roberts, 1996)—few of which cite or make explicit use of the scientific literature on change
(see Beer, 1980, and Kanter et al., 1992, for exceptions).
The second challenge change management practitioners face is the difficulty of
learning from experience. Research on the development of expertise indicates that learning
and resulting improvements in performance occur over time through repeated practice in a
specific domain and direct feedback regarding results (Kahneman & Klein, 2009). Although
individuals may acquire considerable expertise by many hours of practice in a specific
domain (e.g., playing a musical instrument, solving technical problems regarding waste
management or process consistency; Ericsson, 2009) change management differs from such
practice domains in several ways. Playing the violin or solving a specific technical problem is
a discrete and repeatable activity the outcomes of which can be immediately known, making
it clear to the practitioner which particular efforts are effective, and which are not. In contrast,
organizational change results can take years to materialize thereby limiting the opportunities
the change manager has to repeatedly make comparable change-related interventions and
obtain feedback regarding their outcomes. The nature of change itself can also be quite
diverse: Change can be one-shot or multiphase interventions and its forms can be various,
from quality improvement (e.g., Coyle-Shapiro, 1999), work family initiatives (e.g., Kossek,
Lewis, & Hammer, 2010), and facility relocation (e.g., Peach, Jimmieson, & White, 2005), to
restructuring and strategic change (e.g., Wanberg & Banas, 2000), mergers (e.g. Kavanagh &
Ashkansy, 2006) and downsizing (e.g. Day, Armenakis, Feild, & Norris, 2012). The very
heterogeneity of change can make it difficult to interpret its outcomes, feedback on which is
not always easily available.
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The present paper provides a review and synthesis of prescriptive writings and
scientific studies on the management of planned organizational change with the goal of
identifying opportunities for integration that add value to each. We offer a synthesis of
popular prescriptive advice on change management practices with scientific evidence from
both qualitative and quantitative research regarding organizational change. Our goal is to
identify areas of convergence, contested issues should they exist, understudied change
prescriptions and under-utilized research findings. We begin with the practitioner literature
on planned change, describing the most popular practice models and then specify their core
prescriptions and relevant scientific evidence. Next, we identify additional findings in the
scientific literature that may be incompletely addressed or overlooked in popular
prescriptions in order to highlight opportunities to improve the practice of change
management. Then, we offer a synthesis of ten empirically-supported steps in managing
change based on scientific evidence, providing a foundation for an evidence-based approach
to change management. Finally, we address the research and practice implications of our
review and synthesis.
Prescriptive Models of Planned Organizational Change
The change management literature is replete with prescriptive models, largely directed at
senior managers and executives, advising them how to best implement planned organizational
change. Typically, these models specify a sequence of steps considered applicable across a
variety of organizational change interventions. We selected seven “canonical” (i.e., popular
and widely used) prescriptive models, based on the criteria of Google web hits (ranging from
60,300 - 4,800,000), number of citations these models receive in the scholarly literature (Web
of Science, ranging from 401 - 23,300 citations) and our own conversations with practicing
managers and consultants. We note that with one exception (the critique of Kotter, 1996, by
Appelbaum et al., 2012), these models have not been subject to direct empirical study, despite
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their popularity as evident in citations and publicity on practitioner-oriented websites
(Leppitt, 2006; Phelan, 2005). We present them roughly in chronological order of appearance,
sometimes using the author(s)’s later writings to flesh out core ideas.
Lewin’s Three Phase Process
Kurt Lewin (1948), renown for the insight, “there is nothing more practical than a good
theory” (Lewin, 1952: 169), proposed a three-phase change process that is ubiquitous in the
practice literature: 1) unfreezing, 2) transitioning to a new stage and 3) refreezing. Unfreezing
includes establishing a change vision and developing a change plan. Doing so, prepares the
organization for the transition to new systems, structures or procedures. This transition
involves putting the change in place and modifying existing systems in support of the change.
Refreezing entails the consolidation of the change so that it aligns with other organizational
structures and procedures. The change thus becomes embedded in the organization rather
than remaining a separate unity. Critical readers of Lewin suggest that he had not only
organizational changes in mind when specifying his model but a wider array of group and
societal changes too (e.g., Burns, 2004a).
Beer’s Six Step Change Management Model
The career long focus on change management by Michael Beer, a practice faculty
member of the Harvard Business School, reflects a detailed systems approach to change
(Beer, 1980). Its most popular and well-cited version is a popular six step change
management model, developed with colleagues (Beer, Eisenstart, & Spector, 1990). (1) It first
emphasizes the need to join two aspects of change, an accurate diagnosis of the problem
situation, which in turn helps mobilize commitment to the change. (2) A change vision then
should be developed specifying the focus of the change by defining new roles and
responsibilities (i.e. establishing teams working on specific issues such as the strategic
direction or developing the change planning in different departments). This allows to
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organize the change based on specific and actual problems and involving stakeholders to plan
and organize the change. (3) Next a consensus in support of this vision needs to be
established, a step involving communicating the vision to stakeholders. (4) The change
should now be implemented and spread throughout the organization through the involvement
of stakeholders. (5) The change should then be institutionalized, that is, integrated with
formal structures and systems. (6) Finally, the change should be monitored and adjusted as
needed, a unique feature of Beer’s model relative to others.
Appreciative Inquiry (AI)
AI, an approach developed by Cooperrider and Srivastva (1987), distinguishes among the
stages of discovery, dream, design and destiny. Unlike other change models, AI starts from a
positive view of organizational features that employees feel are successful. (1) The discovery
stage comprises thinking about what goes well in the current organization and what factors
contribute to this success. (2) The dream stage encourages employees to think about their
“ideal”, new features that would make the organization even better. (3) The destiny stage next
involves creating change plans in order to enable these “dreams” and execution is begun. AI
is less specific on how dreams should be implemented, focusing more on developing a
common conception of what should be changed as well as involving stakeholders to become
part of and provide support for the change. We note that AI gives considerably more
attention to change recipient participation than other models as well as framing the change as
an opportunity or positive event for improvement.
Judson’s Five Steps
Arnold S. Judson (1991), a strategic management consultant, distinguishes five steps in
the change process: (1) analyzing and planning the change, (2) communicating about the it,
(3) gaining acceptance for the required changes particularly in behavior, (4) making the initial
transition from the status quo to the new situation, and (5) consolidating the new conditions
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and continuing to follow up in order to institutionalize the change. Judson, like Kanter et al.
(1992) below, explicitly argues that “no single approach can possibly account the enormous
variability of all the factors present in each unique situation and organization” (Judson, 1991:
166), thus the need to adjust depending on specifics of the change and organization.
Kanter, Stein and Jick’s Ten Commandments
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Barry Stein and Todd Jick (1992), Harvard colleagues and change
consultants, prescribe ten steps, starting with (1) analysis of the organization and the need for
change, followed by (2) the creation of a shared vision and common direction in which
emphasis is put on (3) the separation from the past and (4) creating a sense of that important
change is needed. (5) A strong leader role should support the change in order to increase its
legitimacy, (6) where political sponsorship is sought to create a solid base for the change then
sets the stage for (7) the development of an implementation plan. (8) Enabling structures
should be put into place to help implement the change such as pilot tests, training and reward
programs. (9) Change communication should be open and honest and involve all stakeholders
in the change process. (10) Finally, the change needs to be reinforced and institutionalized to
incorporate new behaviors in day-to-day operations. Kanter and her colleagues contend that
these ten steps should be challenged in their applicability during change implementation to
allow for nuances and contextual factors since “implementing change is an ongoing process
of discovery” (1992: 388).
Kotter’s eight step model
John Kotter (1996), a leadership professor at Harvard popularized an eight-step model
which starts the change process with (1) establishing a sense of urgency in which employees
are alerted to the fact that change is essential. (2) A guiding coalition is formed which in turn
(3) develops the change vision. (4) This vision is communicated to employees and (5) the
coalition (and employees) is involved in the change process by developing change plans. (6)
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The next step promotes for short term wins to reinforce the change implementation. (7) Then
he defines the consolidation stage which strengthens and continues the change by making
additional changes that were not implemented yet but need to be taken cared for as otherwise
processes in the organization would not be sufficiently aligned with the initial change vision.
(8) The final stage institutionalizes the change by integrating it with the organization’s
structures and systems.
Hiatt’s ADKAR model
Jeff Hiatt (2006), a management consultant, developed the ADKAR change model, the
acronym standing for awareness, desire, knowledge and ability, and reinforcement. (1)
“Awareness” involves promoting employee beliefs that change is needed. It involves creating
a change vision and communicating it. (2) The “desire” stage entails the implementation of
the change vision and focuses on empowering employees to be actively involved in the
change. (3) Employee knowledge and skills are developed to support their participation in the
change. (4) Finally, in the reinforcement stage, the changes are strengthened and consolidated
into the organizations’ processes and structures. ADKAR focuses considerable attention on
the processes that help employees to serve as ambassadors of the change. It does so for
example by taking into account their individual needs and the consequences the change might
have for specific groups of employees.
Integrating Existing Prescriptions with the Scientific Evidence
Taken together these seven prescriptive models show considerable overlap,
particularly in the processes or practices they advocate. As the models share a temporal flow,
our integration of them is organized sequentially from the start of the change to its full
implementation and institutionalization. Note that such an organizing strategy represents what
is referred to in mathematics as a fuzzy set (Zadeh, 1965) where elements representing a
certain step in one model may be missing in some or overlap a different set of steps in others.
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(N.B. Fuzzy sets help delineate hard-to-define categories such as ‘turn slightly right’, ‘fairly
tall’ or ‘quite beautiful’). In categorizing elements, it is not always crystal clear whether an
element should belong to a category. Nonetheless, our synthesis incorporates each model’s
key success factors. Importantly, since the majority of these change models have been
documented in books rather than journal articles the level of precision that might result from
peer-review is often lacking. Thus, to specify each model’s essential features, we relied on the
procedural or contextual information authors provided in their original text along with their
other publications at times in order to provide important details. We identified 10 steps or
success factors prescribed in the seven prescriptive models reviewed above (Table 1 provides
an overview).
In our discussion of each success factor we reflect on the evidence from scientific
research relevant to that factor. To conduct our review of empirical research on change
management. We focus on peer-reviewed journal articles, systematic reviews and books
based on this literature. Scientific research tests specific questions through empirical
observation or experimentation incorporating either quantitative or qualitative methods.
Using Web of Science and ABInform, we searched the peer-reviewed literature from 1990
using keywords including “Organizational Change,” “Planned Change” and “Change
Management” to identify studies at the individual, group and organization levels. Web of
Science revealed 1403 results and ABInform showed 820 search results from which we
identified 38 and 57 papers respectively (13 of these were in both sources). We selected only
empirical studies and reviews, and read specifically for empirical results pertaining to
planned change. We compared empirical studies to those included in a set of recent reviews to
highlight topics that might have been overlooked (Oreg et al., 2011). We also sought out both
narrative and systematic reviews to evaluate previous conclusions regarding change
management (e.g. ten Have et al., 2017; Wensing, Wollersheim, & Grol, 2006). The reviews
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we identified, described below, differ in scope, purpose and focus but all address studies
involving planned organizational change and how employees and other organizational
stakeholders respond. Table 2 gives an overview of the journals in which reviewed articles
were published. In addition to using the literature specific to change management, we also
found it relevant to apply more general research in organizational behavior in evaluating
support for specific steps (e.g., goal setting, leadership, problem solving, etc.). We now
present 10 steps identified across the prescriptive models. For each step, we describe the
disputes or differences among the models, as well as the scientific evidence pertaining to
them.
1. Assess the opportunity or problem motivating the change
Several models advise an initial diagnosis, that is, gathering information to understand
the specific problem(s) or change opportunity (Beer, 1980; Judson, 1991; Kanter et al. 1992).
Two models (Beer, 1980; Kanter et al. 1992) emphasize that diagnosis is essential: Collecting
information from all stakeholders is a necessary first step, emphasizing the importance of
involving employees in the process. Beer (1980) further advocates that the diagnosis should
be shared preferably in a group setting. Kanter et al. (1992) also note while diagnosis is a
good start, copying practices of other companies that have successfully transformed is not.
Disputes. Practice models disagree on how planned change should begin. Several
models are silent on the need for diagnosis or assume that what top management believes is
the problem provides sufficient basis for action (Hiatt, 2006; Judson, 1991; Kotter, 2012).
Instead, their initial focus is on creating awareness of the need for change, the reasons for it
and the risks that come with its implementation and failing to do so appropriately. Judson
(1991) further recommends the use of ‘balance sheets’ in which managers place themselves in
the position of employees and balance losses and gains (as well as the importance for each) in
order to predict implications for employees and possible resistance. Lewin’s (1948)
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unfreezing process emphasizes the need to question existing views regarding the
organization, but does not indicate how this questioning should be undertaken.
Several models place special emphasis on early creation of a sense of urgency. Lewin
(1948) stresses the need to generate a state of anxiety that employees can turn into a
motivation to change. Kotter (2012) advocates creating a feeling of urgency around a
strategic and emotionally exciting opportunity—without specifying how to identify that
opportunity. Along similar lines, Kotter (1996) argues that urgency should imply ‘boldness’
by setting ‘excessive’ goals which even if unreachable can help to counter employee feelings
of complacency, which might hinder change.
Other practitioners disagree that urgency is always appropriate. Hiatt (2006) warns
against overselling change by putting too much stress on the urgency of every change—
reducing credibility. Similarly, Kanter et al. caution that messages of urgency might appear
to “cry wolf” (1992: 383) and fail to induce a felt need for change.
A related dispute is whether the diagnostic process should focus on weaknesses or
strengths. AI begins with describing what already might be done well, rather than focusing on
a problem or opportunity (Cooperrider & Srivastava, 1987). Management proposes a theme
around which changes might be structured (e.g. team work, customer service), choosing it
because of its energizing qualities (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987). Kanter et al. (1992)
concurs that companies should first look into their strengths to make the most of what is
already there. Beer (1980) advises that organizations focus on their strengths, but at the same
time also detect weaknesses. Beer, Eisenstat, and Spector (1990) treat problem recognition as
a catalyst for solution seeking, placing less emphasis on creating a sense of urgent action, and
more on the need to find ways to move the organization forward. Beer (1980) advocates both
managerial and employee involvement to identify ways the organization can improve, and
advices surveying employees to obtain insight.
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Scientific evidence. The importance of a deliberate and well-conducted diagnosis to
planned change is underscored by research on decision making (Nutt, 1999) and problem
solving (Astor et al., 2016) and change management itself (Armenakis & Harris, 2009).
Assessing the opportunity or problem motivating the change is important from the rational
perspective of good decision making (Rousseau, 2018), particularly in understanding the
underlying need for the change rather than opting to implement a solution to a poorly
identified problem. Not surprisingly change recipients who view the change as implemented
in a rational, planful and deliberate fashion are found to have more favorable reactions than
those who see implementation as less planful (Rafferty & Griffin, 2006). Diagnosis has
downstream effects on the appropriateness with which the change is viewed by both
recipients and change agents themselves (Armenakis & Harris, 2009). In particular, it is
critical that what change recipients understand, because meaningful reasons are associated
with a more favorable attitude to the change (Lau & Woodman, 1995; Rousseau &
Tijoriwala, 1999).
The focus on creating an initial sense of urgency, particularly in lieu of careful
diagnosis is not supported by research. Urgency can lead to fear, and accompanying rigidity
and avoidance (Staw, Sandelands, & Dutton, 1981), that can undermine employee responses
to change. At the same time, to the extent that urgency is achieved by setting extreme goals
(Kotter, 1996), we note that extremely difficult or impossible goals tend to be rejected (Locke
& Latham, 1990) or encourage employees to cut corners in order to reach them (Schweitzer,
Ordóñez, & Douma, 2003). Relatedly, employee stress from organizational change interferes
with their capacity to transition to new arrangements and states (Ashford, 1988).
2. Select and support a guiding change coalition
A key feature prescriptive models share is the role a guiding coalition of organization
members can play in overseeing the change process. This coalition is advised to maintain
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supportive relationships and on-going communication with top management (Beer, 1980;
Kanter, 1999; Kotter, 2012). Kanter (1999) further suggests that each coalition member has
an external managerial sponsor in order to enhance top management’s buy-in and guarantee
sufficient resources for the change to succeed. In addition to obtaining critical change support
from top management, the other consistent task of the guiding coalition is to communicate
the vision (step #4 below). In doing so, the guiding coalition can reinforce the importance of
the planned change (Judson, 1991; Kanter et al., 1992; Kotter, 2012).
Disputes. The tasks and composition of the guiding coalition differ across practitioner
models. Beer et al. (1990) advocate that this coalition, which can include the management
team and a variety of other stakeholders, conduct problem diagnosis and alternative solution
identification. To Kotter (1996, 2012), the coalition’s task is to further a sense of urgency, by
helping employees and leaders throughout the organization understand the reasons for
change. The coalition also can help advance a shared understanding for the problem or
opportunity the organization is facing (Hiatt, 2006; Kotter, 2005) by building ties to
supporters of the change throughout the organization and bringing into the coalition change-
related information from the organization’s diverse array of departments and teams. Both
Kotter (1996) and Judson (1991) advise that the coalition should determine strategic actions
to promote the change process. Judson also allows for an alternative where all employees in
small groups, not just the coalition, can work to design the change. Kotter (1996) argues that
in order to function effectively, the coalition needs to develop trust on the part of change
recipients and should use adequate means of communication. The coalition also needs a
commonly shared goal which incorporates a striving for excellence (Kotter, 1996).
Diverse advice is offered regarding the connection between the coalition and top
management. Kotter (1996) notes that the guiding coalition should entail from 5 to 50 people
who top management trusts, some of whom are considered “outstanding leaders” (Kotter,
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2005). In any case the most important line managers should be included (Kotter, 1996, 2005),
although whether this includes the CEO or other top executives is unclear. Hiatt (2006)
advises that top management be included in the dominant coalition in order to signal their
continued support. In contrast, Judson (1992), argues that the originator of the change should
only have an advisory role. If top management or the CEO introduced the change, Judson
suggests that they only give advice and not be involved directly in change-related decisions
beyond developing the change's rationale, objectives, and scope.
Models also differ in their advice regarding how to select coalition members, aside
from top management’s trust in them. Kanter et al. (1992) advocates including stakeholders
who will be impacted by the consequences of the change along with stakeholders
‘powerholders’, that is, those who have the necessary supplies to make the change work such
as information (expertise or data), resources (money or materials), or support (legitimacy,
political influence). Beer (1980) agrees and describes how power could be obtained by status,
expertise, trust, credibility (as in competence), or capacity to represent dissatisfied parties in
the organization (here, he suggests including those members able to meet the needs of the
dissatisfied). Kotter (1996) advocates selections based both on trust by others as well as
relevant knowledge and expertise, and further suggests that individuals be allowed to
volunteer. AI also focuses on the participants’ competence and knowledge related to the
specific change theme while emphasizing the importance of incorporating multiple
perspectives. It also advises including those stakeholders affected by later-stage
recommendations (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987). Last, Kotter (1996) notes that two types
of people should not be part of the coalition: those with a big ego who would take over the
conversation and those who would create mistrust by engaging in pessimism and blaming.
Scientific evidence. The evidence is limited in support of the role of the guiding
coalition in successful change, with only qualitative case studies reporting on it (e.g.
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Applebaum et al., 2012; Loweser, O’Sullivan, & Irby, 2007; McCracken & McIvor, 2013).
As ten Have and colleagues (2017) point out, identifying evidence related to the guiding
coalition and its role in change can be accomplished by breaking the concept of a coalition its
constituent parts, including the basis of coalition member trustworthiness and credibility,
their position power in organization, relevant expertise and leadership skills. Trustworthiness
from a management perspective is the dominant issue in the practice literature on coalitions,
however, their trustworthiness from an employee perspective has received little attention.
However, credibility, an aspect of trustworthiness is related to individuals with both trusted
ties (Pornpitakpan, 2004) to others in the organization and the power to execute their roles
(Nesler et al., 1993).
There is little scientific study of the tasks performed by the guiding coalition and their
role in change success. However, research on social movements (Kellogg, 2012) indicates
that reformers’ (cf. coalition members) frames and identities should match the beliefs of those
in the organization. Further, research on communication during change suggests that one task
of such a coalition is to convey bad news to employees in a fashion change recipients can
accept. Building a coalition of powerful and influential employees or other leaders can help
signal consensus regarding a change message (Bies, 2013; Kellogg, 2012). Coalitions can
also be important in aiding effective diagnosis because of the diversity of inputs members
offer. Dutton and Ashford (1993) observe that membership in the coalition comprises an
important part of the message sent to change recipients (such as the choice of the sender of
the message, message framing, and the breadth of involvement). We note, however, there is
virtually no systematic research on change-related activities by a ”guiding coalition”.
3. Formulate a clear compelling vision of the change
Models focus on the nature and features of a compelling and motivating vision;
separating the composition of the vision from how it is then communicated (step #4). Vision
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is a compelling expression of the change’s end goal or state and should signal a separation
from the past (Kanter et al., 1992). Kotter (2012) argues that vision translates opportunity
into action. Vision would express where the change process is intended to lead (Kanter et al.,
1992) and the goals being pursued (Kotter, 1996), but it shouldn’t be so specific that the
vision’s actions become ends in itself (Kanter et al., 1992). One feature of an effective vision
is its appeal to a broad range of stakeholders (Kotter, 1996). Vision is seen as needing to be
feasible in the eyes of change recipients, easy for leaders and members to communicate,
emotionally appealing, as well as flexible enough to allow for individual initiatives and
alternative actions (Kotter, 1996). Moreover, Beer et al. (1990) advocate a consistently
expressed statement of the vision, such that it is clear to employees what their roles and
responsibilities in the change might be; at the same time advising that the vision avoid
specifying the structures and systems to be changed in order to avoid inducing resistance.
Vision in AI (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987) is developed by participants in the ‘dream’
stage, developing a future image of the organization and its possibilities. Kanter et al. (1992)
would refer to a similar ‘organizational dream’ in which change is defined in terms of
rethinking what is possible for the organization. Beer argues that organizations should define
the “state of the organization they desire in the future” (1980: 84), expressing not only
numerical targets but also relevant behaviors and attitudes.
Disputes. Although models agree on the importance and general nature of vision, they
differ regarding who should participate in vision formulation. The guiding coalition should be
well placed to elaborate and expand on the central idea of the change or even a rudimentary
vision statement (Kotter, 2005). Beer et al. (1990) also advise involving a large group of
employees to expand on the vision in order to enhances change commitment. We note that
Judson (1991) and Cooperrider and Srivastva (1987) already involve diverse stakeholders in
vision expression at earlier stages in defining the problem to be addressed.
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Scientific evidence. Research underscores the importance of formulating attractive
goals in pursuing change, which can take the form of a compelling vision (Baum, Locke, &
Kirkpatrick, 1998; Unsworth, Dmitrieva, & Adriasola, 2013). Like a goal, vision itself is
expected to be effective if individuals accept and are committed to realizing it (Kirkpatrick,
2009). Research on goal setting informs how employees may be motivated to implement
changes by setting clear objectives and regular feedback (Locke & Latham, 2006).
Identifying appropriate content and emphasis for a compelling vision may be informed by a
meta-analysis on group and individual-level goals (Kleingeld et al., 2011) where group goals
that focus on shared interests have more positive effects on collective outcomes than
individual-focused ego-centric goals. To the extent that a key assumption of change models is
that the vision will address stakeholder needs, scholars note it is less clear what this might
mean if those needs are closely tied to the status quo (e.g. Proudfoot & Kay, 2014). A major
issue in formulating a compelling vision can be the extent to which it entails losses
(departures from the status quo that employees react to negatively; Rousseau, 1995, 1996).
Legitimacy of reasons for change is particularly important when losses occur (Rousseau,
1996).
We note that the characteristics of a vision that members are likely to accept have
received little explicit scholarly attention. Existing research suggests that individuals will
differ in their endorsement of a vision, depending on its compatibility with existing beliefs
and their view of the favorability of the change it signals (Oreg et al., 2011). For example,
Griffin, Parker, and Mason (2010) observe that a leader’s vision promoting employee
initiative is more likely to be effective among those employees who are open to change and
see themselves as able to move the vision forward. Thus, although research seems to concur
as to the importance of vision to change management success, empirical study suggests
unresolved challenges in creating visions that yield shared understandings among change
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Organizational change
recipients. The vision may interact with the ways in which it is communicated in shaping
how change recipients respond, the matter to which we next turn.
4. Communicate the vision
How the vision is communicated is essential for generating awareness (Hiatt, 2006)
and support for the change (Kotter, 2005). The effect of vision may thus depend on the other
messages embedded in its communication, particularly the extent to which these other
messages relate to change recipients’ interests and concerns. The support generated by a
vision is aided not only by its accessibility and memorability but also by the extent to which
interests of change recipients are addressed in its communication, including fairness and
future opportunities. Hiatt (2006) argues that awareness is more easily obtained when the
reason for change is external and readily observable (e.g. new government regulations).
Kotter (1996) warns against message inconsistencies in the process of communicating vision
(e.g. if employees are let go while management takes luxury trips in private jets). He
emphasizes that management should be open and transparent in their communication while
rooting out inconsistencies that encourage resistance. Further, Judson argues that the initial
change plans should be communicated as proposals and not as fixed plans for “those involved
to believe that their comments and suggestions will be considered seriously” (1991: 175).
Only after this preparatory step, Judson argues, should the specific changes be
communicated, resembling the vision stage in other prescriptive models.
Change models agree that vision should be broadcasted using multiple channels
including newsletters, articles, video, social media, or workshops. An important form of
vision communication is executives who serve as role models (Hiatt, 2006; Kotter, 2005). By
doing so, executives signal not only their endorsement of the change but also put words into
deeds and express the importance of changes ahead (Kotter, 2005). Along these same lines,
Beer et al. (1990) but also Kanter et al. (1992) emphasize the role of the general manager to
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Organizational change
embody the change and offer support to those who help implement it. Role modelling by
formal leaders and visible opinion leaders helps communicate vision, in a transparent fashion
so its meaning is clear, disseminating the form the change might take and actions to come
(Hiatt, 2006).
Open and honest communication is an important aspect of vision communication.
Judson (1991) and Hiatt (2006) argue that managers should encourage employees to ask
questions and be open and honest in their answers. Judson, however, mentions that
employees need not know the full details of the change but need an overall understanding of
the change. Without it employees would experience fear and uncertainty. But, he does
emphasize that communication should be organized before any action is carried out and has
the purpose to create a complete understanding about the reasons, objectives, benefits and
implications as well as the timing of the change. Kanter et al. (1992) also emphasize
complete openness even though they also state that not every change situation may need full
disclosure. Hiatt and Kotter (1996) also stress the need for ‘repeating’ change supporting
messages. Using the vision as a reference point in manager conversations with employees
ensures that the message is spread and reinforced (Kotter, 1996). Judson (1991) also
emphasized the skill to ‘listen’ to evaluate the effectiveness of managers’ communication. As
above, the vision should be communicated through the guiding coalition (Judson, 1991;
Kanter et al., 1992; Kotter, 2012). When the guiding coalition exists of members from
different departments in the organization the vision communication is expected to better
reach all the corners of the organization.
Disputes. Hiatt (2006) acknowledges that communicating the vision may require
adapting approaches to different audiences affecting messaging, timing and the
communication channels used. Here it is less clear what the order of communication should
be as both top management and the coalition are involved in communicating the change. It is
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Organizational change
also not clear who should communicate what to whom as this might effectively be different
for top management and the coalition. Judson (1991) and Kanter et al. (1992) agree that
complete openness may not always be necessary whereas Hiatt (2006) does suggest full
transparency. Judson also seems the only one focusing on the preparation of managers in
delivering the message and how to be open to questions employees may have. Interestingly,
AI (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987) - as multiple groups would engage in the dream stage -
remains silent in how the vision should be communicated to these different groups or how
one overarching vision would have to be created.
Scientific evidence. The prescription to implement a multichannel strategy in
communicating a compelling vision is underscored by findings regarding the importance of
factors that motivate change recipients to perceive the change as favorable (Oreg et al., 2011).
For example, if employees believe they understand the reason for a change and consider that
reason to be meaningful, they tend to have a more favorable attitude to the change (Lau &
Woodman, 1995; Rousseau & Tijoriwala, 1999). The scientific literature supports the
importance of trust in management in terms of accepting the reasons offered for change and
the formation of a favorable attitude toward change (Rousseau & Tijoriwala, 1999). At the
same time, perceptions of meaning appear to have a greater impact on change recipients
when there is a shared sense of meaning and understanding supported by the work groups and
social networks change recipients are part of (e.g., Hülsheger, Anderson, & Sargado, 2009;
Rousseau & Tijoriwala, 1998).
A major issue is the lack of clarity regarding how harms change recipients may
experience should be expressed in communicating the vision. Explanations as in social
accounts offered to explain bad news and consequential changes (Bies & Moag, 1986) have
been shown to discourage negative perceptions and reactions in terms of fairness perceptions,
cooperation, retaliation and withdrawal. Explanations enhance positive recipient reactions in
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Organizational change
layoffs (Wanberg, Gavin, & Bunce, 1999), pay cuts (Greenberg, 1990), company relocations
(Daly & Geyer, 1994), and organizational changes (Cobb, Folger, & Wooten, 1995). For
example, employees were 43% less likely to retaliate and resist change if an explanation was
given (Shaw, Wild, & Colquitt, 2003). Yet, explanations need to be adequate in order to be
accepted. For example, explanations that are clear and reasonable are defined as adequate
whereas inadequate explanations would result in feelings of unfairness more so than when no
explanation at all would be given (Shapiro, Buttner, & Barry, 1994). Excuses signaling that
there was no other option possible to engage in the change or that there were no other options
feasible even have been shown to be more effective than mere justifications. Justifications are
particularly powerful in low outcome favorability situations such as situations which have
high instrumentality (e.g. hiring, promotions, etc.). They are also more effective if employees
value being included in the organization and being part of the whole as well as when the topic
is strongly morally-laden (e.g. change in diversity policies). Such explanations are consistent
with research on influence tactics which showed that managers’ use of rational persuasion,
inspirational appeals, and consultation are the tactics most widely used and tend to be the
most successful in gaining employees’ acceptance of a message (Bennebroek Gravenhorst, &
Boonstra, 1998).
5. Mobilize energy for change
Mobilizing energy for change means planning the actual change implementation
across multiple levels of the organization. Several models also advise information gathering
at this phase with the goal of helping to plan the change interventions, sequence specific
change activities and roll out important change supports (Hiatt, 2006; Kanter et al., 1992).
Hiatt (2006) also advises a change and readiness assessment at this point, targeting the
number and particular groups of employees who will be impacted by the change.
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Organizational change
Models take different approaches to the timing of assessment and planning. Assessing
change readiness, according to the ADKAR model, involves identifying the impact and
success of past changes, the frequency of change (e.g. all-at-once, sequential), available
resources, and the organizational structure needed to support it (Hiatt, 2006). This process
appears to come relatively late (in the ADKAR’s Desire step right after creating Awareness)
compared to Kanter et al. (1992) and Judson (1991). In keeping with the notion of integrating
assessment into a comprehensive change vision and guide to change planning both engage in
change planning after the change vision is developed. Kanter et al. (1992) refer to this as the
‘roadmap’ in which all the specifics are detailed of the change.
Beer (1980) also suggests a readiness assessment early on in which the importance of
the problem, capability, the values of the key managers, the probability that a 'critical mass' is
able to be achieved, the degree of political support and the competence of the change agent
(manager or consultant) are taken into account.
AI takes a somewhat different but related approach. In the design stage, AI
(Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987) determines how the future images and organization’s
potential translates into specific processes and change of systems. Here, employees in
multifunctional and multistakeholder groups would also determine what will be changed and
how. This could involve changes in different systems and processes such as staffing,
leadership, or evaluation procedures. AI proposes that this would go together with setting
ambitious goals so to hold on to the ideal future image employees developed in the dream
stage.
Disputes. Perhaps the biggest difference across models is the speed with which
mobilization is advised. Judson (1991) argues that time is an important factor as initially in
the preparation the change should be slow in order to be less threatening and allow
employees to get used to and process the change. He argues that employees will tend to
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Organizational change
rationalize the thought that change is needed. Hence, sufficient time should be taken so that
only once acceptance exists should the change be implemented. Subsequently, Judson argues
that the change needs to be implemented faster as otherwise the process would be too
prolonged; in deciding on timing, other considerations should be taken into account that
could increase employee commitment such as the choice for other change events that could
either facilitate or obstruct the focal change. Beer (1980) takes a related but somewhat
different perspective and argues that the pace of the change is dependent on the readiness of
management (possibly what Judson refers to as the preparation) and the resources that are
available. If resources are lacking going to fast is a risk for failure according to Beer as
insufficient investments can be made to properly develop change events (see also Hiatt,
2006). In contrast, Kotter (1996) advocates urgency advising the creation of crises and high
targets that cannot be reached by business as usual.
Scientific evidence. The research literature is relatively silent on the role of time in
the change process (see Kim, Hornung, & Rousseau for an exception, 2011). However, it has
a lot more to say about the nature of change interventions and the kinds of activities that are
likely to lead to effective change outcomes. Consistent with Beer, the empirical literature
recognizes that management itself may not be ready for change and suggests that investments
may need to be made in advance of more complicated changes in order to better support
change. Management effectiveness in managing change is positively related to
implementation success (Lok, Hung, Walsh, Wang, & Crawford, 2005), and negatively
related to change recipient stress (Amiot et al., 2006) and skepticism regarding the change
(Stanley, Meyer, & Topolnytsky, 2005). Thus, an important part of actual change planning
may be readying managers for the change, their skills in implementing change and the extent
to which they are trusted by change recipients. An example in which time and the role of
management is examined is Babalola et al. (2016). The authors reasoned that if change is
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Organizational change
frequent there is no clear beginning or end, which creates uncertainty for employees. Their
study indicates that managers still may need to offer reassurance to employees undergoing
frequent change. Carter and colleagues (2013) also showed that the link between a high-
quality relation with one’s leader and organizational citizenship behavior is stronger if change
is frequent. This is consistent with Hiatt’s (2006) observation that change frequency should
be taken into account in change implementation. Change history matters to how current
change is perceived (Bordia et al., 2011; Rafferty & Restubog, 2017). Past change successes
are related to a positive attitude toward change (van der Smissen, Schalk, & Freese, 2013),
and increased capacity for change (Heckman, Steger, & Dowling, 2016).
Studies also inform the kinds of activities likely to support effective change.
Research on the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991) identifies three categories of
intervention essential to successful planned changes in human behavior (Ajzen, 1991): 1)
Ability, the capability of individuals, groups and organizations to engage in new behavior and
responses; 2) Motivation, the underlying drive or willingness to behave and respond in new
ways; and 3) Opportunity to Practice, the support available to actually demonstrate new
behavior and responses. This framework (alternatively referred to as the AMO mode, has
been widely found to help explain changes in behavior, for example in systematic reviews as
diverse as the effects of human resource practices (Bos-Nehles, Renkema, & Janssen, 2017;
Marin-Garcia & Tomas, 2016) and healthcare interventions (Bednall et al., 2013; Rich et al.,
2015). It suggests that change interventions target skill building related to the change,
incentives and rewards that motivate new behavior and supports for engaging in new
behaviors. We note that there is no systematic attention in the prescriptive models to the sets
of change interventions likely to promote desired outcomes.
6. Empower others to act
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Organizational change
Employees should be empowered to act in ways consistent with the vision and in
doing so develop new ideas and ways of working that come out of their own understanding of
the change (Judson, 1991; Kanter et al., 1992; Kotter, 2005). Empowerment can take the form
of coaching and supporting employees to solve problems (Hiatt, 2006) and removing
obstacles to the change (Beer et al., 1990; Kotter, 2005) or allowing them to participate
(Judson, 1991). AI (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987) proposes that in the design stage,
employees formulate specific change plans so that they take ownership and can to implement
changes in processes and systems. They take up responsibilities and develop specific actions
for each of the project. In this approach, AI argues that more people will be drawn into the
process and take responsibility in project teams. This is similar to Judson (1991) who also
argues that employees can be involved in the development of the change. Beer et al. (1990)
suggests that employees in their respective teams should be responsible for implementing the
change, coming up with their own solutions as problems arise. Kotter (2012), relatedly,
describes how employees can create self-managing change teams in which they
autonomously and with the support from management aim to implement change. Employees
organize their efforts and bring in expertise from other departments if needed. Empowering
and encouraging employees to proactively implement change and solve problems based on
their day-to-day experience fosters responsibility (Beer et al., 1990).
From the perspective of change recipients, empowerment entails creating
opportunities for them to act in ways they find positive in order to meet their needs in the
context of change. Hiatt (2006) argues for managers to have frequent conversations with their
employees to hear out about their concerns and objections. Rather than neglecting or being
defensive regarding any objections raised, Hiatt (2006) stresses the importance of employees’
voice for removing barriers, so that employees see opportunities to act in new and valued
ways. Managers should use various influence tactics such as personal appeal (‘I need your
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Organizational change
help in this’) or the act of negotiation to gain support for the change. Hiatt (2006) focuses on
individual needs that when fulfilled by the change also would enable desire for change. These
needs would act as motivators for employees to help them keep focused on their work for the
organization. To Judson (1991), influence tactics should be adapted based on the motive for
resistance. If resistance is triggered by economic motives, for example, influence should
target giving rewards.
Group and team-level activities also can be targeted at this stage, with local managers
taking initiative to provide opportunity for change recipients to get involved in the change,
including use of temporary groups or task forces. Kanter et al. (1992), recognizing that
different individuals and groups may become involved in the change, add that an important
element in building commitment is to specify who is responsible for specific actions to avoid
confusion. If groups or task forces are involved it should be clear what their role is and how
they link to the rest of the organization, how their performance will be measured and when
they will disband.
Management needs to encourage employees to propose initiatives and reward them
for their efforts, while avoiding reacting defensively to their concerns and ideas (Beer et al.,
1990; Judson, 1991; Kanter et al., 1992; Kotter, 2005). Hiatt (2006) and Judson (1991) also
argue for the importance of managers helping employees through the change process, being
in frequent touch (e.g. by having regular face-to-face meetings) as well as collecting feedback
from them. Here, Kotter (1996) argues that an important element is to get rid of structural
barriers such as rules or job descriptions that might obstruct employees from acting in
change-consistent ways. Another important structural barrier is management’s conventional
notions of its own role, which can be a barrier to empowerment if managers discourage
employees from taking initiative or react defensively to employee proposals for new
practices.
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Organizational change
Disputes. Despite the heterogeneous nature of approaches advocated to mobilize
energy for the change, we identified no fundamental disputes across the models.
Scientific evidence. Mobilizing energy for change reflects the essential role of
motivation at all three levels individual, group and organization addressed in the empirical
literature. Research literature largely supports the role of active behavior as a means of
expressing employee agency, providing input, and in stimulating new learnings and
experiences in the work environment. Employees’ participation individually or in a group
(e.g. Eby et al., 2000) has been argued to increase employees’ readiness to accept change. The
early work by Coch and French (1948) demonstrated that involving employees in the change
process reduced resistance to change. Wagner (1994) underscored the centrality of
information acquisition and sharing in the context of participation, allowing people to gain
new information and feedback from the environment as they actively engage in autonomy-
expressing behavior. Nurick (1982: 418) defined participation as the “perceived influence a
given individual may exert within a particular decision domain”. Participation also may
enhance employee change related abilities as it can increase the employee’s sense of self-
efficacy (Latham, Winters, & Locke, 1994). We note however, that at the individual level,
participation in change has inconsistent effects on commitment to change, but appears more
likely to promote positive attitudes when it occurs in the context of procedural justice (Oreg
et al., 2011). Voice (as an element of procedural justice) especially is mentioned by Hiatt
(2006) who emphasized the possibility for employees to voice their opinion during the
change process. Voice indeed has been shown to be a valuable element in encouraging
employee cooperation (Tyler & Blader, 2003). Dutton, Ashford, O’Neil, and Lawrence (2001)
showed that managers use influence tactics to bring up issues by providing employees with
data in a logical structure, as well as repeating the issue many times. The authors also report
that managers present changes as incremental rather than as a full-package in order to unpack
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Organizational change
large change operations in smaller segments, which the authors argue is more likely to create
acceptance. However, the effectiveness of these strategies is less clear. The literature seems to
dispute Judson (who stated that if resistance is based on economic motives, then rewards
should be given) on the fact that attaching issues to already agreed upon and valuable goals is
more likely to be successful for issue selling.
Empowering others to act gets at the importance of expanding change-related action
beyond the leadership of the organization and may reflect the importance of bottom/up
processes and proactivity underscored by the empirical literature. Research highlights the
value of managerial efforts to support bottom/up initiatives where an environment is created
that encourages individuals to take initiative and proactively initiate local changes (e.g.,
taking charge, Morrison & Phelps, 1999, or job crafting, Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). In a
quasi-experimental field study Demerouti and colleagues (2017) showed that training
employees to self-set job crafting goals predicted openness to change. In fact, in his work
with change processes at Harwood, it was Kurt Lewin’s conviction that the context needed to
facilitate the change rather than the mere communication of change (Burnes, 2015),
particularly in terms of creating opportunities for new behavior. Employee control permits
more adaptive responses to the uncertainty organizational change generates (Bordia et al,
2004). Energy may be mobilized by inviting individuals to address local problems they
identify, and to encourage such initiative in the context of groups and teams. In a systematic
review and meta-analysis of 20 work engagement interventions, Knight, Patterson and
Dawson (2017) find that interventions focused at the group-level rather than the individual
were more effective, although effects were small.
7. Develop and promote change-related knowledge and ability
Effective change typically involves learning new skills and knowledge. Developing
knowledge and ability related to the change emphases the learning aspects of organizational
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Organizational change
change and can be related to both understanding the vision and how to practice new
behaviors the change motivates. Of our seven prescriptive approaches, however, only Hiatt
(2006) specifies a change step for learning and knowledge (Kotter, 1996, touches upon
learning indirectly in his step to empower others to act). Both Hiatt (2006) and Kotter (1996)
argue that even employees who are motivated to change can lack sufficient knowledge or
ability to do so. Learning is enabled by receiving sufficient support (Beer et al., 1990) and
resources (Hiatt, 2006) to be able to implement change. In that context, Beer argues that a key
managerial role may be to provide support so that employees can act autonomously and
proactively.
In Hiatt’s framework, using new skills and knowledge is facilitated by removing barriers
to their application. Hiatt (2006) calls attention to potential ‘psychological blocks’ employees
may face when the new knowledge is not compatible with their roles. He cites the example of
a fire fighter who had to obtain a medical technician certification, but when being called for
his first severe road accident froze and was unable to act. Organizations hence should make
sure employees are psychologically ready to develop and apply required new skills. At the
same time, possessing new knowledge or skill is not the same as being proficient in
performance of new behaviors. Knowledge can be further developed through training,
workshops (e.g. with exercises), coaching or user groups. Yet, managers need to have the
specific expertise to be a good coach. An important element though is that the environment
should be psychologically safe to make mistakes and learn from them. Hence, managers
should be helpful to employees and ask for feedback to assess how they are progressing in the
development of their abilities. Moreover, employees should have sufficient time to develop
new skills and knowledge, which would give HR an important role in this development
(Hiatt, 2006).
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Organizational change
Disputes. How that knowledge should be obtained is not clear across models. The
prescriptive models pay little attention to how and when learning should occur.
Scientific evidence. Developing knowledge and ability related to the change
emphases the importance of learning to successful change and is related to both
understanding the vision and being motivated to change. A critical factor in the Theory of
Planned Behavior (TPB, Ajzen, 1991) is having the requisite ability to engage in new
behavior. In individual level change, ability is a relatively early focus in planned change
efforts, whereas in organizational change it often comes later in the process. Research on
learning related to organizational change suggests that the uncertainties associated with
change can hamper both learning and the motivation to accept change. Perceived uncertainty
makes it more difficult to store, retrieve and put to use new information (Schechter and
Qadach, 2012), while learning leads to self- efficacy, which itself is related to change
motivation (Kao, 2017). Effectively involving change recipients in learning can include
receiving their suggestions for learning, supporting individual learning opportunities and
surfacing problems arising in the course of learning (Valleala et al., 2015). Finally, a set of
studies by Edmondson and colleagues (Edmondson, 1999; 2002; Edmondson, Bohmer, &
Pisano, 2001) highlight the importance of support for team learning as a key mechanism in
promoting the uptake of change, including implementation of new technology and new
practices. Support includes gaining member commitment by enrolling them in training, leader
modelling of new behavior, practice sessions and early trials to build psychological safety
regarding new behaviors.
8. Identify short term wins and use as reinforcement of change progress
The change models reviewed here support the importance of conveying a sense of
progress, for example by explicating successes the change has brought. For the success of the
change to be apparent, clear goals and objectives need to be specified. Evidence of progress
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Organizational change
should be clearly communicated and visible to many, conveyed in a way that reinforces the
change vision (Hiatt, 2006; Kotter, 1996, 2012). Kotter uses the term short-term wins, to refer
to the setting of short-term goals whose accomplishment can create a sense of
accomplishment and progress toward longer term change objectives. These short-term goals
need to be meaningful to employees else they might be disregarded. Such ‘short term wins’
should be achieved within one or two years after the start of the change (Kotter, 2005). These
wins could be increased in productivity or customer satisfaction, as well as new production
facilities or offices which are celebrated. Kotter (1996) states that short term wins not only
positively reinforce the change coalition’s efforts, but demonstrate that the vision can be
practically implemented. At the same time, short term wins help convince those members
cynical about the change that it is viable.
Disputes. Only Kotter focuses on short-term outcomes, Hiatt speaks of progress
indicators and others say little in this regard. The key issue we see is whether short-term
outcomes are change-enhancing activities in themselves, as in the case of progress made in
customer satisfaction as an indicator of improved service quality. In contrast, an emphasis on
short-term financial outcomes may cause other less easily monetized activities like learning
or improved communication to be given short-shrift.
Scientific evidence. Research findings underscore the importance of the kinds of
indicators used as signs of progress. For example, short-term results that come at the
sacrifice of long-term investments for future success can give a false reading of change
progress and even undermine change-related activities. Two key issues from the scientific
literature have to do with the kinds of indicators that change recipients will see as important
and valuable and the kinds of metrics that are indicative of future progress. Metrics that
indicate change over time in important outcomes employees value, from health and safety to
patient or client satisfaction may be more salient than metrics attractive to management, such
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Organizational change
as financial indicators. It can be important in change to focus on learning new skills and
putting the change in place before actually measuring change outcomes, thus relevant metrics
may pertain to learning (Sejits & Latham, 2005) and implementation (Goodman, 2000). Thus,
for example, metrics that reflect progress on important change mechanisms such as learning
(mastery of change related knowledge, skills and abilities), information sharing (%
employees serving on committees with others outside their department), and extent of
employee contributions to organizational improvement (# ideas/employee vs #ideas/year)
may serve as lead indicators for outcomes that take a longer time to manifest (e.g.,
innovation, coordination effectiveness, Malina & Selto, 2001; Reiman & Pietikäinen, 2012).
9. Monitor and strengthen the change process over time
Models widely agree on the need to sustain attention to managing the change. This entails
continuing to invest resources (leader time and effort, staffing and money) in the change
process to remind people of the urgent character of the change and keep the pace moving
(Kotter, 2012). Similarly, Hiatt (2006) argues for a continuous reinforcement of the change so
that people are encouraged to sustain change-related behavior. Kotter (1996) advises top
management to continue focusing on the change vision and its urgency while middle-
management and employees keep working on specific projects that the change requires.
A second aspect of sustained attention is the monitoring and strengthening of the
change process by making adjustments in change plans as needed (Beer et al., 1990). This
can include the modification of initial change plans in order to increase the odds of realizing
objectives (Judson, 1991). It also pertains to consolidating gains in order to further the change
effort (Kotter, 1996). This might entail adopting additional changes not identified in the initial
change effort which are subsequently understood to be misaligned with the change vision.
Here, new project teams could be implemented to restructure current structures, systems and
procedures in order to better reinforce the change.
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Organizational change
The activities involved in monitoring and adjusting change progress should be shared
among both the guiding coalition and other important stakeholders. The monitoring can be
informed by regular employee surveys to identify how employees are reacting to the changes.
Planning teams can be formed based on the challenges that the monitoring results bring to
light in order to tackle these effectively. This can entail revising the change focus over time to
address apparent structural or systemic features not well-aligned with the change (Kotter,
2005). These subsequent implementation activities can also entail revising change plans as
new barriers are recognized or opportunities to reinforce positive factors emerge (Judson,
1991; Kanter et al., 1992). The coalition can also examine how change has been carried out
across different sites in order to capture change lessons.
Disputes. Only Beer (1980; Beer et al., 1990) calls attention to the need for on-going
auditing or explicit monitoring of the change process over time, providing feedback as to
progress and opportunity to identify needed corrections and course changes.
Scientific evidence. Research findings tend to support Beer’s advice. Failure to
provide sufficient and appropriate resources undermines change implementation (Buchanan,
2011; Wiedner, Barrett, & Oborn, 2017) and on-going monitoring and strengthening of the
change is critical to support the change process (Cummings & Worley, 2009). At times, the
stress of change may require suspending internal demands in order to promote more effective
reorientation after change interventions (Sastry, 1997), a change support that can only come
when change leaders are aware of the capacities and challenges of the organization in the face
of change. At the same time, well-timed adjustment to the changes implemented can improve
their effectiveness by reducing stress and increasing change recipient sense of control (Dirks,
Cummings, & Pierce, 1996). Absence of feedback makes improvements (via informed
adjustments) difficult (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996; Neubert, 1998). At the same time, Nadler
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Organizational change
(1976) notes that feedback effects depend on the strategies used to respond to it (e.g. how
managers use and react to feedback).
10. Institutionalize change in company culture, practices and management succession
The final step is incorporating the change in day-to-day activities (Beer et al., 1990;
Kanter et al., 1992; Kotter, 2007, 2012). Two aspects are key according to Kotter (2005).
First, making it explicit to employees that performance has improved because of the change.
Explaining the results of the change using multiple communication channels helps employees
to see the added benefit and support the credibility and legitimacy of the changes now in
place. Beer (1980), Judson (1991), and Kanter et al. (1992) also focus on the quantification
(Kanter et al. refer to ‘routine data collection’) of change results in order to make its
outcomes visible and to see whether the its intended objectives were met. These authors
suggest that managers might interview employees or organize focus groups in order to gather
this information. Second, top management (Kotter, 2005) but also middle-management (Beer,
1980) succession should be consistent with the change vision and the behavior that derives
from it. If future (top) management does not embrace the behaviors or focus that have been
implemented change efforts are in vein. This also stresses the importance of involving the
board of directors in the change process to ensure the change vision for management
succession is taking into account.
Disputes. Models largely agree as to the importance of institutionalizing the change
by better aligning existing structures and routines with the change’s new practices and
processes.
Scientific evidence. There is widespread academic discussion of the value of
institutionalization in thought pieces and summaries of case observations (e.g., Armenakis,
Harris, & Felid, 2000; Goodman, Rousseau, & Church, 2004). Actual systematic empirical
evidence of institutionalization processes is more limited, and often focused less on change
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Organizational change
per se and more on effects of alignment of disparate systems on firm performance (e.g. Chan,
2002; Zheng, Yang, & McLean, 2010). Research does highlight the role of creating routines
embedded in the larger organization (Edmondson et al., 2002; Rerup & Feldman, 2011) in
order to both introduce and sustain change. The processes whereby loose ends of
incompatible structures and rewards are aligned with the change have received less attention.
Implications
The ten steps change management experts prescribe reveal a degree of agreement
regarding activities to enable organizational change interventions. At the same time, each
specific framework includes other distinctive and often unique dimensions (see Table 1).
Importantly, they tend, with the exception of AI and Beer, to assume a top/down planning
process. This top/down focus appears consistent with the typical audience for the writings of
these experts, senior executives in organizations. To some extent, these experts do recognize
the importance of bottom/up motivation and activity on the part of lower-level employees in
support of change—but are less specific on how to enable or active it. All models are neutral
with regard to the nature of the change (a relocation or a merger) and for the most part ignore
the larger history of the organization and its management with respect to change (see Beer,
1980; Hiatt, 2006, for exceptions).
Our examination of the scientific evidence relative to practitioner models suggests a
fair amount of convergence, some more nuanced findings relative to prescriptive claims, and
a few largely unstudied topics. Several prescriptions are well supported, including the
importance of an initial diagnosis (and avoiding inducing a crisis or extreme sense of
urgency). Moreover, the importance of change planning underscored by practitioner models
is consistent with evidence that planning inspires confidence in change leaders, and that
planning (i.e. rational decision making) improves outcomes. However, the nature of change
planning processes (Which activities? How sequenced?) has received only limited attention
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Organizational change
in the models reviewed here. The prescription to empower others is well supported by
scientific research, which highlights both top/down and bottom up approaches to doing so.
The prescription to develop change-related knowledge, skills and ability is supported by
research highlighting the importance of learning in change. Advice to engage in on-going
monitoring and strengthening of the change process is also supported by research on the
value of feedback and knowledge of results for improving performance. At the same time, the
prescription to institutionalize the change by aligning structures and systems with the newly
introduced practices and processes is understudied though findings tend to be supportive.
More mixed is the research support for a focus on short-term results, since the
indicators that might create a sense of progress among change recipients appears to be more
nuanced from the perspective of the scientific literature on metrics and outcomes measures.
Although the importance of a compelling vision is the consensus view among practitioner
models, there is little research on its attributes, such as the degree of challenge, domain of
focus, and relative emphasis on employee vs organizational needs. On the other hand,
scientific evidence supports the criticality of vision communication, a multi-faceted process
all models advise, particularly in terms of the other messages in which the vision is embedded
and the degree of trust and fairness perceptions these messages generate.
One prescription receiving scant scholarly attention is the central role practitioner
models assign to a guiding coalition. This is particularly the case with regard to the
appropriate composition of a coalition overseeing change or the kinds of tasks to assign it.
Absence of research on guiding coalitions is not evidence of their irrelevance but at the same
time we cannot rule out the value of broader participation among employees and managers.
Having examined the link between change management prescriptions and the research
literature, we now turn to the change management practices and processes identified in the
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Organizational change
scientific literature with the goal of gaining insights to enhance our understanding of planned
organizational change.
INSIGHTS FROM THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE
ON CHANGE MANAGEMENT
The typical outcomes focused upon in the empirical literature on organizational
change largely focus on 1) employee commitment to change (Oreg et al., 2011) and 2) uptake
and use of new organizational practices, and relatedly the attainment of desired
organizational effects (e.g. Wensing et al., 2006). We sought to make sense of the factors
related to change acceptance, uptake and organizational outcomes. Based on findings from
the empirical literature we reviewed: 1) micro studies of individuals, particularly change
recipients, 2) meso studies of interpersonal, group and inter-group phenomena, and 3) macro-
studies of organizational level phenomena.
1. Micro: Individual-level findings regarding change recipients
Although wide variation and inconsistency in measures used to assess individual level
outcomes is noted, the review of quantitative studies conducted by Oreg, Vakola and
Armenakis (2011) highlights the centrality of the outcome employee commitment to change.
As was the case in early research on commitment in organizations (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990),
empirical studies focus considerable attention on the individual differences that serve as
antecedents to commitment to and acceptance of change (Oreg et al., 2011), a factor largely
ignored in the prescriptive literature we reviewed. Individual differences as contributors to
change commitment highlight two important dynamics, an individual’s self-perceived ability
or potential to engage successfully in change and his or her personal preference for change
experiences. Even though organizations may select members for certain traits, dispositional
factors may be somewhat hard to change. However, micro studies report numerous instances
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Organizational change
where individual’s self-perceived ability and personal preference to change are affected by
organizational practices, the matter to which we next turn.
Predispositions toward change. Several individual traits have been found to
predispose employees to respond to change with positive emotions and affective commitment
to the change itself. Examples include dispositional employability (Fugate & Kinicki, 2008),
the inclination toward being flexible and adaptive (Hornung & Rousseau, 2007), tolerance for
uncertainty (Ashford, 1988) and a general predisposition referred to as positive change
orientation or change self-efficacy (Fugate, Prussia, & Kinicki, 2012; Wanberg & Banas,
2000). Further, employee optimism (e.g. Armstrong-Stassen, 1994; Scheck & Kinicki, 2000),
and the extent individuals feel they can control the change (Nelson, Cooper, & Jackson,
1995), are shown to elevate employees’ readiness to adopt change. Employees more open to
change tend to show more adaptive performance and those who felt more efficacious showed
a stronger proactive performance during the change (Griffin, Parker, & Mason; 2010). Lastly,
the effects of a predisposition toward self-efficacy can be more important to employee
commitment to change when the organization is underlying numerous simultaneous and
overlapping changes (Herold, Fedor, & Caldwell, 2007).
Importantly, the predispositions change recipients manifest may to some extent be a
function of settings in which they work—for example, due to the degree of workplace
autonomy and the control individuals can assert in their jobs (Frese, Garst, & Fay, 2007;
Hornung & Rousseau, 2007; Parker, Williams, & Turner, 2006). Indeed, general individual
predispositions, especially those based on experiences on the job, can be indicative of the
organization’s overall readiness for change.
Dispositional resistance, a tendency to reject change, has been found to be negatively
related to attitudes toward change (Soenen, Melkonian, & Ambrose, 2017). Fugate and
colleagues (2012) suggest that these change-related dispositions reflect the degree of self-
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Organizational change
threat associated with change. Self-efficacy is related to enhanced problem-focused coping
during a merger allowing individuals to reduce their experience of threat (Amiot, Terry,
Jimmieson, & Callan, 2006). Prescriptive models of change give little attention to ways of
reducing the threat experienced by employees. Indeed, both Lewin (1948) and Kotter (1996)
advocate creating a strong sense of urgency, but remain largely silent on how one might
cultivate employee adaptability in face of change.
Affecting recipient motivation. Several factors are found to be fundamental to
recipients’ motivation to change. The first is the perceived favorableness of the change.
Favorableness is related to change acceptance, reflecting an individual’s beliefs in anticipated
benefits from the change. Importantly, anticipated or current changes are often associated
with perceived losses on the part of change recipients (e.g. Ashford, 1988; Michela & Vena,
2012), making the balance of gains and losses, and the emotions it generates, a potentially
important factor in motivating change recipient acceptance (Bartunek et al, 2006). There are
indications that change interventions that work to provide benefits (e.g. supports and rewards)
and mitigate losses (e.g. offsetting losses with additional resources such as involvement to
reduce uncertainty and increase control) can increase change acceptance (e.g. Soenen et al.,
2017). Research as cited in our discussion of vision above highlights that if employees
believe they understand the reason for a change and consider that reason meaningful, they
tend to have a more favorable attitude to the change (Lau & Woodman, 1995; Rousseau &
Tijoriwala, 1999).
Importantly, the overall level of employee commitment to the organization itself
appears to facilitate change acceptance (Iverson, 1996). Employee commitment to change is
related to the support their managers provide them for change implementation (Meyer et al.,
2007). Commitment may overlap the dimension of change recipient trust in leaders, which
prescriptive models also underscore as important (e.g., Hiatt, 2006; Kotter, 2005). Employee
40

Organizational change
commitment to change is related to the support their managers provide for change
implementation (Meyer, Srinivas, Lal, & Topolnytsky, 2007). In shaping change
commitment, the extent to which change recipients believe that a change is a benefit (or a
harm) interacts with the change’s magnitude (size of effect on the organization or unit) and
the nature of the effect on individuals’ job (Herold, Fedor, & Caldwell, 2007). Similarly,
changes in the extent to which the individual’s self-perceptions fit with the work environment
are related to experiences in the change process (such as Meyer et al., 2010), the extent of
change and certain change-related individual differences (such as mastery orientation;
Caldwell, Herold, & Fedor, 2004).
Stress is widespread in the experience of change recipients (Ashford, 1988; Dahl,
2011; Schweiger & DeNisi, 1991). Thus, empirical research calls attention to the importance
of stress triggers, including the negative appraisal of a change’s implications, reducing the
recipients’ sense of control (Fugate et al., 2008). Change is often considered a source of harm
or of frustration to individual goal-attainment. Additional support that organizational change
is accompanied by harm and the lack of goal-attainment is illustrated by the fact that change
often elicits negative emotions such as fear (Ashford, 1988; Mirvis, 1985; Rafferty & Griffin,
2006; Robinson & Griffiths, 2005), indicative of perceived anticipation of negative outcomes
and limited control (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Recipients are more likely to let go of the
status quo and react less negatively if they see change as inevitable (Laurin, Kay, &
Fitzsimons, 2012), however, they may be more likely to hold on to the status quo if they feel
the threat is external to protect current established systems (Proudfoot & Kay, 2014).
Perceptions of fairness. Fairness beliefs are important in implementing large scale
change both in terms of acceptance and perceived efficacy (Daly & Geyer, 1994) as well as
change commitment (Bernerth, Armenakis, Field, & Walker, 2007). We note that some
prescriptive models refer to the importance of fairness in the change process (Hiatt, 2006;
41

Organizational change
Kanter et al., 1992; Kotter, 1996) but are vague regarding the forms fairness should change.
Rodell and Colquitt (2009), for example, showed that interpersonal justice (e.g. employees’
perceptions of respectful treatment by supervisors) was especially important to change
reactions. Still, they suggest that the type of fairness reactions might well depend on the
available information. If information is available on how respectfully they were treated (i.e.
interpersonal justice) or whether they were allowed to voice concerns (i.e. procedural justice)
such forms might be more salient.
Employees also appear to rely on anticipatory justice beliefs to shape their current
justice perceptions. Fairness anticipation is especially relevant if employees feel there is high
uncertainty about the change they experience and low outcome favorability (Rodell &
Colquitt, 2009). Moreover, employees can observe the fairness beliefs of their supervisors
and incorporate them into their own judgments. In fact, employees are inclined to reconsider
their initial anticipation on how fair the change will be when leaders are exemplars for the
change (Soenen et al., 2017). This is consistent with research showing that perceptions of
managers as exemplary role models is tied to employee cooperation with the change
(Melkonian, Monin, & Noorderhaven, 2011). The focus on leader role modelling also was
emphasized in several of the change models (e.g. Beer et al., 1990; Hiatt, 2006; Kotter, 1996)
and has received some support based on research on ethical leadership (Babalola, Stouten, &
Euwema, 2014; Sharif & Scandura, 2014). Given the relevance of fairness (see also Koivisto,
Lipponen, & Platow, 2013) and fairness anticipation, research seems to inform on the
relevance of pre-change surveys to assess concerns and frustrations employees might
experience (which underpin fairness perceptions) so to direct the change process to take this
into consideration (this seems to be consistent with Hiatt’s 2006, change and readiness
assessment).
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Organizational change
Identification. When employees identify with the organization, it appears to shift their
focus away from the outcomes of change, often viewed as negative, toward processes of
change implementation (Van Knippenberg, Martin & Tyler, 2006). In a field study and an
experimental study, Van Knippenberg et al.’s results showed that those high in organizational
identification were more interested in whether the change was implemented fairly and
provided them opportunity to participate. In contrast, employees low in organizational
identification were more interested in change outcomes. Identity transformation may itself be
part of the change process. Clark, Goia, Ketchen and Thomas (2010) argued that creating a
transitional identity – which retains elements of the current identity but also captures
elements of the changed state –help employees evolve a new change-supporting
organizational identity. Social movement research shows that the identity frame used (for
example by reformers) needs to match employees’ beliefs (Kellogg, 2012).
2. Meso-Level Findings
Meso level phenomena involve cross-level effects, such as between individuals and
groups, or groups and the larger organization, where effects can be either higher-to lower
level (top/down) or the reverse (bottom/up).
Social ties and relationship quality. In the context of change, meso effects often
involve the embedded effects of social influence and relational ties. Having the ability to
implement a change has a large social component, whereby individual readiness and
willingness to accept change can be shaped by the quality of relationships individuals have in
the organization and the effects of their peer’s relationships on them. For example, the
readiness of employees to change is related to the trust they have in their peers (e.g. Soenen
et al., 2017) and the support received from the larger organization (Rafferty & Simons, 2006).
Importantly, in a controlled experiment, Lam and Schaubroeck (2000) demonstrated that
change could be more effectively promoted by identifying key opinion leaders among a group
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Organizational change
of peers and training them to be change agents, an approach that worked better than training
randomly selected change agents.
Meso effects in change can entail the simultaneous influence of multiple relationships.
For example, middle managers are often central nodes in the cascading implementation of
change (Baloun, 2003). They often need to negotiate competing demands in order to handle
employee concerns regarding change while delivering positive results to higher management
(Bryant & Stensaker, 2011; Valentino, 2004). Juggling these different roles, managers need to
balance their abilities to address the different interests of employees, customers, their
superiors and themselves while at the same time pushing the change further.
Social ties influence the appropriateness of choosing particular individuals as change
agents. Battilana and Casciaro (2012) show that the connections employees have with other
organization members contribute to their personal adoption of change. Results demonstrate
that employees who have a strong connection to peers are well equipped to help endorse the
change, particularly when the change does not diverge from current systems and structures. If
the change does require a substantial deviation from the status quo, employees with a few
quality connections with peers but lacking others (‘structural holes’) are more likely to adopt
change when they can go beyond their own network in seeking relevant information. Last,
employees appear to be more responsiveness to changes introduced by leaders of their own
group than they are to change activities initiated by leaders of other groups (Griffin, Rafferty,
& Mason 2004).
Emergent processes of change. Emergent processes refer to small scale changes that
can lead to higher-level effects. Research demonstrates that organizational routines can be a
source of emergent change, serving as a source of both flexibility (as a target of change) and
change implementation (by routinizing new practices) (Feldman & Pentland, 2003). Reay,
Golden-Biddle and Germann (2006) describe implementation of a nurse practitioner system
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Organizational change
in Canada through local creation of change opportunities. Employees embedded in a team or
department can be well-equipped to identify where a change is hampered and take small
initiatives to resolve change-related problems. In doing so they may initiate ways to
incorporate new roles and practices into the existing organization and demonstrate their value
(Reay et al. 2006). Moreover, having peers who make small local improvements can lead
less committed change recipients to increase their acceptance of change, in line with the
effect that direct experience with new routines can have on the change acceptance of later
adopters (Kim et al., 2011).
Small local changes are an important aspect of implementing more complex higher
level changes. For example, Hornung et al. (2008) found that when supervisors are charged
with the responsibility of approving customized work practices, idiosyncratic deals
(Rousseau, 2005) negotiated between employee and supervisor become a vehicle for policy
implementation. These negotiations also play a role in how managers can obtain support for
change from their employees, by offering individuals particularly valuable work
arrangements in order to motivate them to behave in ways that support the change.
Shared goals and beliefs. The strength of agreement among individuals in a larger
social unit is also a meso-level process relevant to change, particularly in the context of the
effect of shared beliefs and goals. In comparison with other team-level variables such as
communication and support for innovation, shared vision has the highest impact (cf. ten Have
et al., 2017), an effect consistent with findings from meta-analyses on the positive impact
group goals have on group performance (Hülsheger, Anderson, & Sargado, 2009; O’Leary-
Kelly, Martocchio, & Frink, 1994). Along these lines, Rousseau and Tijoriwala (1999) find
that shared (unit-level) understandings regarding the reasons for change also positively affect
implementation of change. The development of group-level shared beliefs is an important
building block of change implementation, capitalizing on the immediacy of group influence
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Organizational change
and power of local factors in shaping the day-to-day work experience. Shared beliefs are
commonly related to joint interactions work group members have with their managers and the
development of local norms. Indeed, there may be parallels in change management with
findings from implementation of human resource practices. That is, the intended practices
that top management believes it has introduced need to be realized through the actual
practices that lower-level managers execute, resulting in the perceived practices rank and file
employees experience (Wright & Nishii, 2013). Local management’s execution of new
practices is thus key to implementation.
The value of shared group-level beliefs in support of change is underscored by a study
of implementation teams (Higgins, Weiner, & Young 2012). In a school district-wide change
project, teams in which members were selected by the superintendent based on each team’s
focus, provided a mechanism for implementing instructional improvements. Coaching in
support of team efforts along with team continuity despite the coming and going of members
together facilitated learning and change implementation. We note that this strategy of having
an array of teams throughout the organizations with somewhat related and somewhat separate
functions, a sort of “let many flowers bloom” approach, can facilitate both local initiatives
and change diffusion across the organization (cf. Bruch & Sattelberger, 2001).
3. Macro: Organization-level Findings
Organizational characteristics themselves play a role in change processes. For
example, a random sample of public firms found that smaller organizations tend to increase
their rate of change when their performance is increasing, while larger firms do so when their
financial performance is reduced (Bloodgood, 2006). Other organization-level factors have
been found to play a consistently powerful role in change acceptance and results.
Leadership competency. A critical set of organization-level factors involve employee
perceptions of their leaders. One important factor is leadership’s competency in implementing
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Organizational change
change (Babalola et al., 2016; Battilana, Gilmartin, Sengul, Pache, & Alexander, 2010; Oreg
et al., 2011). Management effectiveness in managing change is positively related to
implementation success (Lok et al., 2005), and negatively related to change recipient stress
(Amiot et al., 2006) and skepticism regarding the change (Stanley et al., 2005).
Research suggests there is value in having several change leaders working together
with diverse but complimentary competencies (Battilana et al., 2010). Note that change
leaders appear to do different things in managing a change depending on their competencies.
Those with task competencies appear to spend more time on mobilizing and evaluating
activities while those with interpersonal skills are more likely to focus on communication
activities. Similarly, the social skills of change agents can contribute to new meanings and
means for action in planned change, for example, where change agents are able to create new
collective identities and managing meanings ascribed to them (Creed & Scully, 2000;
Fligstein, 1997). We note however that the literature on change agency appears inconsistent
and inconclusive regarding the skills or attributes of effective change agents (McCormack et
al., 2013).
Leadership competency is linked to how well managers themselves cope with change.
Managerial coping has itself been found to be related to dispositional traits that fall into two
factors, positive self-concept and risk tolerance (Judge, Thoresen, Pucik, & Welbourne,
1999). In this context a strong self-concept and risk tolerance can help managers themselves
cope with their own role in change.
Trust in leaders is another central concept that accounts for employee responses to
change. Employees who can rely on and trust their leader have been shown to be more open
and ready for change (Rafferty & Simons, 2006) and more likely to perceive what leaders say
about the change as credible (Rousseau & Tijoriwala, 1999). Since a core meaning of trust is
willingness to be vulnerable to the intentions of another (Mayer, Schoorman, & Davis, 1995;
47

Organizational change
Rousseau, Sitkin, Burt, & Camerer, 1998) the presence of trust may contribute to several
change facilitating processes. Trust can help focus employee attention on what leaders have
to say about the change, and also reduce the sense of threat that change might bring.
The nature of the change itself. Many different forms of planned organizational
change exist and stakeholders may not share the same understandings when using the term
(Marshak, 2002). The change can be technical, social or managerial (Greenhalgh, et al.,
2004), a cross-cutting aspect that can have different outcomes for the organization and its
members (as has been found in systematic reviews of organizational interventions to
implement patient care improvements; Wensing et al., 2006). For example, work-life
initiatives have the potential for genuine benefit to firm and employees (Kossek et al., 2010)
that some organizational restructurings may lack (Simpson, 1998).
In complex change it can help to implement multiple mutually reinforcing changes,
which we term “bundles,” in order to include critical success factors. A systematic review of
quality improvement (QI) strategies to improve diabetes care combined 66 QI trials and
found that employing more than one QI strategy at a time led to improved implementation
and clinician adherence and better patient outcomes (Shojania et al., 2004). Along these same
lines, a meta-analysis by Neuman, Edwards and Raju (1989) found that multi-faceted
organizational development interventions, which combined technostructural interventions
like job redesign or flexitime with changes related to human functioning like goal setting or
training, were more successful in altering employee change-related attitudes than more
narrowly focused changes. Moreover, Lok et al. (2005) find that even bundled interventions
need to be aligned with the firm’s strategic objectives to be effective. That is, interventions
that are well-aligned with firm strategy make it easier for employees to make sense of the
change by helping them discern consistent patterns in the organization’s decision making.
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Organizational change
Several systematic reviews (on organization-wide changes in healthcare settings)
provide evidence from highly controlled studies regarding the effectiveness of specific
interventions. Wensing, Wollersheim and Grol (2006) report that organizational interventions
involving revision of professional roles generally improve the performance of professionals
(e.g. physicians). In contrast, interventions involving computer systems improve knowledge
management. Patient outcomes were generally improved by multidisciplinary teams,
integrated care services, and computer systems. Cost savings were attained from integrated
care services. The benefits of quality management remained uncertain. These authors note
that none the specific strategies reviewed produced consistent effects across all studies,
raising issues of differences in implementation quality and compliance, factors noted in other
systematic reviews and meta-analyses of specific interventions (e.g., Pritchard, Harrell,
DiazGranados, & Guzman, 2008). Nonetheless, the evidence suggests that certain
interventions can work better than others and affect different outcomes.
Readiness of the organization for change. It is important to recognize that prior to a
change, organizations differ in their overall readiness for change. For one, the general level of
employee commitment to the organization itself appears to facilitate change acceptance,
suggesting that a positive employee relations climate is valuable for organizations coping
with change (Iverson, 1996). Organizational history is particularly implicated in the quality of
the employee relations climate and its implications for change (Bordia et al., 2011). Similarly,
the organizational factors mentioned above including trust in management and their change-
related competencies appear important (Cinite, Duxbury & Higgins, 2009). Cunningham et
al. (2002) observe that having an active job that promotes decision making and personal
initiative increases employee readiness for change. This observation is in line with the notion
that organizations that promote the change-supporting individual-level motivations reviewed
above to a critical mass are likely to support a broader readiness for change. At the same
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Organizational change
time, a systematic review of the readiness literature (Weiner, Amick & Lee, 2008) points to
considerable inconsistency in frameworks for assessing readiness. Nonetheless, an important
precursor of effective change management is likely to be how well the organization and its
workforce was managed before the change.
INTEGRATING PRESCRIPTIVE AND EMPIRICAL LITERATURES ON
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Synthesizing the empirical literature on change leads us to some general conclusions,
which we will present in ten key evidence-based change management principles. These
principles are sometimes consistent with the prescriptive literature we have reviewed (e.g.,
the importance of change leadership and communicating vision), and sometimes largely
ignored (e.g., improving readiness for change, the value of pilot-testing and experimentation).
As we describe each, keep in mind that though some principles might apply earlier or later
than others (e.g. diagnosis comes before implementation, which comes before assessing the
change and its effects), most can be applied concurrently and repeatedly over time (e.g.
change leadership, vision communication, experimentation).
1. Get facts regarding the nature of the problem(s) –Diagnosis Step #1
A key first step is gathering facts to assist in a diagnosis of whether change is needed.
This key step, advocated by Beer and Kanter but ignored by others, involves obtaining
information regarding the organization, its functioning, outputs and outcomes from several
sources and multiple stakeholders. Our review of the empirical literature suggests two types
of facts are important in this first key phase: 1) information to provide insight into the need
for change (Armenakis & Harris, 2009) and 2) information regarding pre-existing conditions
or constraints that might affect implementation (e.g., Rafferty & Restubog, 2017).
The “micro-level” empirical literature we reviewed above points to a key fact: Change
recipients and other stakeholders need to believe that the reasons for change are legitimate
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Organizational change
and its direction rational. Careful gathering of facts from multiple sources (metrics,
qualitative information) and stakeholders (managers, employees, customers) ensure that the
underlying motive for change is based on a good understanding of the organization and its
context—and not biased by a narrow point of view (top management, HR, etc.). Obtaining
information from multiple sources also helps identify where important discrepancies exist
between current assumptions and facts. A diagnosis can lead to new thinking about the
organization and its need for change (Rousseau, 1996). Careful diagnosis avoids basing
change initiatives on a poorly understood problem.
2. Assess and address the organization’s readiness for change—Diagnosis Step #2
A related aspect of the fact-gathering phase involves assessing the organization’s
readiness for change, a factor identified as critical in the “macro-level” scientific literature.
Readiness refers to the capacity of the organization and its members to take on the demands
effective change requires—a key principle prescriptive models tend to overlook.
A first matter of readiness is the organization’s history and previous change successes
or failures, which shape change recipient perceptions and anticipations of change (Bordia et
al., 2011). History can be generally positive where there is collective memory of successful
changes in structures, services and capabilities, and where employees recall being fairly
treated in the process. Change managers can build on a positive history to maintain change
strength, potentially incorporating historical themes into the change vision or its
communication. If change has been generally unsuccessful or implementation was
experienced as unfair, efforts need to be taken to separate the present change from the past
and take credible actions to reduce fear and mistrust (Rafferty & Restubog, 2017).
A second matter of readiness identified in the “micro-level” scientific literature is the
degree of stress that change recipients currently face (Oleg et al., 2001; Vakola & Nikolaou,
2005). Consistent with research on the effects of stress on cognitive bandwidth (Linden,
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Organizational change
Keijsers, Eling, & Schaijk, 2005; Mirs & Leana, 2016), change recipients strained by existing
demands are less able to respond adaptively to new demands and to engage in the cognitive
and emotional work engaging in change requires. The presence of high stress can be a
negative indicator for reliance on a sense of urgency as a basis for change initiation (cf.
Kotter, 1996).
A third matter of readiness is the capability of senior leadership to guide and
implement change. Although change typically involves the need for training and
development at all levels, particularly in support of specific features of the change (below),
the ability to manage planned organizational change is likely to vary with managerial
education and experience. Careful attention to the change skills of senior leaders is an
important aspect in assessing readiness.
Identifying weakness in any of the three facets of readiness should be followed up by
early efforts to improve the capacity of the organization and/or its members to support and
implement change. These efforts may need to precede actual change implementation or may
be rolled out concurrently (cf. Bruch & Sattelberger, 2001). The prescriptive literature as we
have observed is largely top/down. It starts from the premise that the change identified by
senior leaders is needed and appropriate. Thus, it is largely silent on whether the planned
change makes sense given the concerns of other stakeholders. Our review of the empirical
literature suggests wide variation in the readiness of both organizations and individuals to
engage in change. By remedying weaknesses in the organization’s readiness for change, an
evidence-based approach to change management can help increase the odds of success.
3. Implement evidence-based change interventions
Solution identification is the next step. A well-conducted diagnosis identifies the
kind(s) of change needed and ways to improve readiness. As shown in our review of the
“macro-level” literature on the nature of the change, the specific changes put in place affect
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Organizational change
the results attained (Neuman et al., 2006; Shojania et al., 2004). Prescriptive models are
largely silent on how to identify appropriate interventions to address the problems found in
diagnosis. However, based on the empirical literature and research on evidence-based
practice (e.g., Barends & Rousseau, 2018; Sackett et al., 2002), we advise that three sources
of evidence be sought in order to identify appropriate solutions. First, a diverse array of
people inside and outside the organization who are experienced with the problem can help
identify plausible solutions. Second, stakeholders, including affected employees and
managers, are important sources of information about possible solutions and may be able to
test alternatives to see what might work. Third, scientific evidence may exist on the likely
benefits (and risks) of specific kinds of change and how to effectively implement it. Scientific
evidence can be obtained via google scholar and other on-line research databases giving
access to peer-reviewed journals. We suggest special attention be given to systematic reviews
and meta-analysis of particular interventions. Keep in mind that many changes require a
combination of interventions in order to be effective rather than a single change (Dutton et
al., 2001; Neumann, et al., 2006; Shojania et al., 2004). Practitioners should keep in mind that
some change interventions work better than others, and many work best in combination with
supporting interventions (e.g. intervention teams appear to work better with coaching support,
Higgins et al., 2012).
Empirical research highlights the importance of interventions that develop change-
related skills, offer rewards and incentives to motivate change, and provide opportunities to
practice change activities in supportive environments (e.g. Bos-Nehles et al., 2017; Marin-
Garcia & Tomas, 2016). Relatedly, research suggests the value of using a set of mutually
reinforcing interventions (e.g., Neuman et al., 2006), aligned with strategic objectives to help
employees make sense of the change (Lok et al., 2005).
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Organizational change
Intervention compliance also can matter, when success depends on fully
implementing key aspects of a targeted change (cf. Pritchard et al., 2008). There is a real
danger in change efforts where what is actually adopted is the “label” but not the essential
practices that underpin a particular intervention. For example, incentive systems that purport
to build teamwork but actually incentivize only individual performance reflect the classic
“Folly of Rewarding A while Hoping for B” (Kerr, 1975, 1995). A better approach is to
adhere to an evidence-based process. For example, many interventions that attempt to alter
behavior require adherence to specific practices, including effective communication and
persuasion, setting clear and motivating change goals, increasing skills, modelling
appropriate behavior, providing appropriate planning and social support (Hardeman,
Johnston, Johnston, Bonetti, Wareham, & Kinmonth, 2002; Pritchard et al., 2008).
4. Develop effective change leadership throughout the organization
Leaders play a central role in change. The “micro- and macro-level” scientific
literature we reviewed above calls attention to the roles played by leadership at multiple
levels of the organization, including senior leaders, mid-level managers and influential
employees at lower levels, all of whom can serve as change agents and role models.
Individual leaders who are trustworthy, supportive, honest and transparent about the nature of
the change and future plans are likely to effectively create a psychologically safe environment
where there is room for voice, mistakes and learning.
Effective change requires training and developing existing leaders in change-related
skills (see Bruch & Sattelburger, 2001) with a focus both on how to deal with change
themselves and how to effectively manage change from the perspective of their employees.
Despite the general optimism of prescriptive models regarding the readiness and competence
of leaders to implement change, the empirical research indicates that leaders often struggle to
reconcile the different demands change brings (e.g. Bryant & Stensaker, 2011). Top and
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Organizational change
middle managers can play different roles in change and need to be prepared for the varied
activities involved in initiation and execution (Heyden et al., 2017). Relatedly, internal
change agent competency needs to be built and not assumed (cf. Lam & Schaubroeck, 2000).
Change leaders working together with complementary competencies and roles have been
shown to be valuable (Battilana et al., 2010).
5. Develop and communicate a compelling change vision
The prescriptive and academic literatures strongly agree on the importance of
articulating a compelling change vision (see the managerial prescriptions #3 and #4 above
and the research evidence we cite). What is still unclear, however, is what content or features
make a change vision compelling. Advice often seems contradictory, from making the vision
broad and appealing to being specific about the roles employees play. What is clear from the
empirical literature is that stakeholder perspectives matter to the content of an effective
vision. In formulating a compelling vision, information from stakeholder groups (e.g.,
employees, managers, clients) can be gathered to help identify motivating features. Vision
must reflect a goal that can be broadly shared. A vision of improved shareholder value, for
example, might only appeal to those who hold stock in the company, while a vision of quality
service might have broader appeal. The “meso level” scientific literature above offers that
shared goals (Kleingeld, van Mierlo, & Arends, 2011) and positive beliefs about the reasons
for change that are in line with the vision (Rousseau & Tijoriwala, 1999) improve the
likelihood of successful change implementation.
More agreement exists on the process of communicating vision. Prescriptive models
emphasize consistently communicating the change vision through multiple channels (media,
meetings, one-on-one, etc.). Research also supports the value of a vision communication
process based on 1) repetition and 2) quality evidence in order to convey a logical structure
(e.g. by presenting specific numbers derived from change data; Dutton et al., 2001).
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However, where stakeholders incur losses from the change (e.g., job loss), it less clear how to
create a shared vision. Explanations that help change recipients to understand the reasons for
the change can enhance their positive reactions (e.g. Bies & Moag, 1986).
Last, we note that though prescriptive models differ in the extent that they advise
creating a sense of urgency to motivate change, research does not support urgency as a tactic
(e.g. Staw et al., 1981). Consistent with Hiatt (2006), urgency if overused can also undermine
change credibility.
6. Work with social networks and tap their influence
Social networks play a critical role in influencing change, as demonstrated in the
“meso-level” scientific literature above, but prescriptive models largely overlook them. First,
change agent efficacy derives not only from personal skills but also from the network ties the
individual has (Battilana & Casciaro, 2012; Lam & Schaubroeck, 2000). The attachment of
individuals to their team or professional group (e.g., physicians, nurses, academics) leaves
them open to influence by that group (Ferlie et al., 2005). From a change management
perspective, individuals in highly cohesive teams are likely to be more swayed by appeals
directed to the team and by change efforts that engage the team as a whole, than to efforts
disconnected from their team. Finally, relational ties to potentially influential organization
members who support the change can be important ways to coopt fence sitters who remain
resistant (Battilana & Casciaro, 2013).
7. Use enabling practices to support implementation
A set of enabling processes are useful in supporting a variety of change interventions.
They can support the initial roll out of complex change and over time can be used to help the
change progress.
Goal setting. Specifying individual, unit, and organizational change-related goals is
critical for realizing change, addressing fundamental motivation issues reviewed under
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Organizational change
“micro-level” research above. Goals setting is important to help address persistent conflicting
goals and missions between units, lack of managerial accountability for the change, or the
possibility that some units or individuals might attempt to opt out of the change (cf. Szamosi
& Duzbery, 2002). The process of setting change-related goals at the unit and organizational
level also helps to identify the scope and scale of the change that is required. If the change is
more complex, it is reasonable to set goals related to the development of competencies and
then build transition teams to oversee the steps of change. Over time, goal setting also can be
used as a basis to monitor the progress made in the change process (step #9).
Learning plays a central role in virtually all change processes—despite the
inconsistent attention given it by prescriptive models. Group and team-level learning requires
psychologically safe environments supportive of practice, experimentation and behavioral
change (e.g. Edmondson, 1999; Kao, 2017). In implementation design, providing room for
learning and skill development help prompt greater change motivation (Kao, 2017). The
“macro-level” scientific literature also points to the relevance of learning for leaders.
Employee participation is emphasized in both prescriptive models and “micro-level”
change research. Research highlights the role participation plays in information sharing and
obtaining feedback (Wagner, 2009). It is enhanced by structures in which employees are
invited and supported to express concerns and make decisions. Managers need to be ready to
deal with active employees in order to respond effectively to bottom/up initiatives.
Employees should be encouraged to address local issues themselves in groups or within
departments (e.g. Knight et al., 2017). As change inevitably unravels many loose ends,
employees need to be supported to tackle the issues they encounter day-to-day.
Fairness and justice. Interpersonal and procedural justice are central to enacting
change successfully (Bernerth et al., 2007; Rodell & Colquitt, 2009), a key finding in the
“micro-level” research reviewed above. Managers need to use fair procedures in making
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Organizational change
decisions and treat people respectfully (Melkonian et al., 2011) because they set the tone for
what employees anticipate will be the fairness of change (Soenen et al., 2017).
Employees with strong organizational identification have been found to focus largely
on the fairness of change processes and opportunities for participation--while downplaying
the outcomes change generates (Van Knippenberg et al., 2006). Importantly, procedural
fairness appears to encourage formation of an organizational identity (Tyler & Blader, 2003).
And in turn, identity is relevant in the change process (Clark et al., 2010; Van Knippenberg et
al., 2006) as identification with the organization during change may alleviate adverse
responses employees otherwise have to the burdens change brings.
Transitional structures. A gradual process of change implementation can include
myriad pilot tests, experiments and local initiatives, which together make complex change
easier to implement (Golden Biddle, 2013). This process can involve use of transitional
structures that capitalize on the flexibility offered by “meso-level” emergent processes
reviewed above. These are temporary arrangements like task forces that help oversee the
change and special projects, rules or trials that can be used to modify and expand the change
as needed. It is not unusual for an organization to have multiple transition structures at the
same time, seeking to reach the entire organization and build knowledge and change
capability at all levels (e.g. Westerlund, et al., 2015). Moreover, experimenting with new
routines and practices can allow for greater flexibility and opportunity to practice new skills
and roles (Feldman & Pentland, 2003).
8. Promote micro-processes and experimentation
Small-scale or micro-processes are central to effective change, as indicated in the
review of “meso-level” research on emerging processes above, allowing change recipients to
provide feedback and make local adjustments to broader change plans based on their own
experience (Reay et al, 2006). These processes entail use of multiple small interventions to
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Organizational change
support learning by doing and to create test beds for identifying effective interventions,
experimenting to see which change elements bring the best results. Small-scale interventions
also allow adjustment to local elements in the organization or industry.
In contrast to the prescriptive models’ focus on short-term wins, the empirical
literature highlights the notion of “small wins,” where change recipients, often at lower levels
in the organization, make improvements that inform them about the changes’ potential and
provide proof of concept with respect to possible benefits. In this context, the prescriptive
focus on managerial interests may be at odds with the change recipients’ need for first hand
experiences and opportunities to demonstrate locally meaningful results (Golden Biddle,
2013). At the same time, change proposals often can emerge bottom/up from employees
themselves (see also Kellogg, 2012). A key aspect of effective change implementation may
well be leader responsiveness to egalitarian change processes (Piderit, 2000). In
experimentation, failure is possible and even needed in order to adapt and come up with
better solutions.
9. Assess change progress and outcomes over time
Periodic assessment is needed to determine whether the planned change is producing
anticipated activities, experiences, and outcomes, consistent the support we found for Beer’s
(1980) change prescription (managerial prescription #9 above; e.g., Cummings & Worley,
2009; Kluger & DeNisi, 1996). It provides feedback to gain understanding of the change’s
effects and make improvements (e.g. Wiedner et al., 2017). It involves collecting reliable
metrics from multiple stakeholders. Yet, the metrics to assess progress may need to differ
depending on the stakeholders involved, for example, measuring the information sharing or
learning employees demonstrate and change supporting activities executed by managers. For
tracking change success, attention can be paid to changes in change commitment,
competency and efficacy over time as well as whether implementation of new practices has
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Organizational change
increased. These assessments provide feedback important to support learning and change
implementation.
10. Institutionalize the change to sustain its effectiveness
Sustaining change means integrating it into the larger systems of the organization,
including its culture and management systems (e.g., HR practices, power structure, and
governance), consistent with the literature cited above for management prescription #10.
(N.B. This departs from the emphasis most prescriptive models place on culture because we
note that many changes do not require fundamental shifts in values or beliefs). A committed
board can help make change sustainable by providing critical resources as needed and by
following a process of replacing chief executives that ensures the continuity of the change
(Alange & Steiber, 2009). Incorporating the change into the firm’s standard practices
promotes uptake by later adopters: Employees committed to the organization are very likely
to follow through on practices once they have become routine, even if they weren’t
supportive initially (Kim et al., 2009). Institutionalization also can involve continuing to
deploy the enabling structures (step # 7). Enabling structures help to maintain new practices
as well improving their efficiency and effectiveness. For example, continuing to socialize and
train newcomers regarding the change makes it robust in the face of turnover and staff
mobility. And as new practices are applied, they can be used to enhance learning as their
focus may shift from solving reactive problems to addressing more proactive, forward
looking opportunities (Goodman, Rousseau, & Church, 2004).
Research Implications
Our review also identifies several important issues for future research. First and
foremost is the opportunity to apply the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991) to
researching the multi-level factors contributing to change acceptance and implementation
(Jimmieson, Peach & White, 2008). As Hardeman and colleagues (2002) have pointed out,
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Organizational change
the theory of planned behavior has produced replicable findings with regard to individual
behavioral change; and it has been useful in understanding organizational changes such as the
adoption and implementation of evidence-based practice (Rousseau & Gunia, 2016). Key
issues to test include the factors contributing to the multi-level capability to implement the
change including requisite skills and supports, the underlying motivational mechanisms
operating on individuals, work groups and the larger organization during change, and the
opportunities to implement new behaviors and practices in organizations more effectively
while removing barriers to their use. At the same time, given the managerial nature of much
of the prescriptive literature, greater attention to employees and other stakeholders is
important to provide balance in understanding change’s richness and complexity. For
example, to date little systematic attention has been given to how change recipients
understand and interpret the process of identifying the problems motivating organizational
change, let alone how organizations go about identifying their potential solutions.
As we indicated above, little research exists to inform understanding of the potential
role of a governing coalition whom practitioners devise to oversee and support the change.
We know little regarding how large that coalition might need to be, the bases on which that
selection should be done, whether top management should be involved, or how the coalitions
should be trained. Importantly the issue of change acceptance at the level of top and middle
management also merits attention, since much of the focus to date has been on lower level
employees. Moreover, some evidence suggests that employees may respond more favorably
to change initiated by their immediate managers than they do to top or more distant managers
(Heyden et al., 2017), thus the role of middle managers as change leaders may be particularly
important. The different stakeholders of a planned change raise issues regarding appropriate
representation on the guiding coalition and in the change management process. What
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Organizational change
information from various stakeholders is retained and what is lost in the process of change
planning and representation?
Further questions include what should be communicated by whom (top management,
the coalition?) and how to integrate different stakeholder groups and interests in the
formulation of a change vision and implementation plan. As we noted above, little research
has directly examined the factors the contribute to an effective change vision, a topic scholars
and practitioners agree to be of paramount importance. In addition, research has tended to
focus on change preparation while giving far less empirical attention to how to keep people
motivated and working to solve on-going change problems over time (for a practical
treatment, see Goodman et al., 2004).
We also strongly advise the development of systematic reviews and meta-analyses to
inform evidence-based change management. By and large, the empirical literature tends to
test fairly small segments of broader change phenomena, one reason for the need to integrate
change-related knowledge and assess its state. On the upside, however, despite the conclusion
of a recent systematic review of organizational development, namely that few well-controlled
studies exist to evaluate effective organizational change (Barends et al., 2013), we found
several relevant systematic reviews in the context of planned change in healthcare
organizations (Greenhalgh et al, 2004; Wensing et al., 2006). The latter offer considerable
insight into change management practice. These informative reviews suggest considerable
future benefit can be obtained additional systematic reviews (see Rousseau, Manning &
Denyer, 2008) on specific questions related to change management. So, a key
recommendation is for additional systematic reviews on change management related topics,
including specific change interventions (e.g. coaching) or change management tactics (e.g.,
use of social networks in change, developing change agent competency). We next identify
some pertinent topics for review.
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Organizational change
The sheer variety of the changes implemented implies an array of potentially relevant
change features (its type(s), timeframe, scope, levels, etc.). Yet, the literature often focuses on
general behavioral constructs (e.g. change fairness, leadership) while ignoring potentially
consequential change features. Such features might form the basis of a synthesis of multiple
studies to identify how change type, time frame, scope etc., relate to change processes and
outcomes. Moreover, several change processes can take place concurrently and potentially
interact suggesting that synthesis can be more useful than any single study might be to
identify effects associated with change features.
The presence of systematic reviews on specific kinds of change suggests to us that
there is value in paying attention to the nature of the planned change. First there is the
temporal nature of the change, whether it is on-going as in the case of on-going adaptations
or prolonged transformations versus a one-time standalone adjustment. Second, there is the
issue of scope, where the change affects many aspects of the organization or unit (decision
making, reporting structures, reward systems, etc.) or only one. Changes of broad scope are
more likely to be disruptive of the status quo and require more careful management of the
change process while narrow change may be applied in a more accommodative fashion that
limits disturbances to the status quo (Rousseau, 1995). Third, changes vary in scale from
organization-wide interventions to more localized ones in a single department or work unit.
The prescriptive literature largely ignores the kinds of change involved, but we suspect that
there are opportunities for systematically reviewing studies according to their temporal, scope
or scale dimensions in order to identify patterns that can inform change practice and theory.
Last, we note that less recognized alternative change models also may merit attention
in subsequent reviews, including Tichy and Devanna's (1986) Three-Act-Drama, Tushman
and Romanelli's (1985) punctuated equilibrium, Lippitt, Watson, and Westley's (1958)
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Organizational change
planned change. More recently a promising alternative to change management practice is the
iterative change process described by Reay, Golden-Biddle, and Germann (2006).
Implications for Practice
The present article affirms what others have recognized (e.g. Appelbaum et al., 2012),
the need for further translation of scientific and practitioner-based models of change
implementation to help change managers more effectively implement planned change.
Regardless of the strength of the evidence behind the principles we identify, change
practitioners still need to adapt the advice to the situations they face. What constitutes a
compelling vision for one organization or group of people may be irrelevant to others.
Having top management be key change agents may be appropriate in small local
organizations in a stable environment and difficult in a large multi-national in a turbulent
environment. As such, we urge practitioners to take time for deliberation, reflection and
experimentation as they approach planned change, recognizing that all evidence-based
principles are likely to require some local adaptation and adjustment. Pilot testing and
experimentation can be essential to identifying how best to apply evidence-based change
principles, taking into account the capabilities of the organization’s leaders and employees
and needs of its clients and other stakeholders.
We call attention to the centrality of goals in explaining human behavior and in
understanding change implementation. Ultimately, change practitioners should seek to align
individual, work group, and organizational goals in the context of change. As we noted
above, the mostly widely used prescriptive change advice often gives short shrift to the web
of behavioral processes involved at the micro, meso and macro levels. Research findings
underscore that effective change serves the goals of multiple stakeholders and is particularly
likely to arise when it helps them meet important needs they hold in common (e.g.,
opportunity, security, growth, financial well-being). Organizational change is likely to be
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Organizational change
more readily implemented when it targets multiple stakeholder needs in its goals and
interventions. It is widely noted that organizational changes are often at odds with
psychological contracts, that is, employee beliefs regarding what they owe and are owed in
return by the organization, giving rise to the common employee experience of violation in the
implementation of change (Bellou, 2007; Kickul, Lester, & Finkl, 2002). In this regard,
attention to the goals of employees as well as the employer offers a fresh perspective on
ways to engender acceptance and support for change—and may make it possible for the
psychological contract to remain intact (Rousseau. Hansen & Tomprou, in press).
Last, but not least, there is little evidence regarding the appropriate speed with which
change should be implemented--and even prescriptive models do not agree. Practitioners
should not make assumptions about “the right speed.” Instead we advise that you pay
attention to how well the necessary processes of change are being implemented.
Conclusion
At present, practicing managers appear to make little use of available scientific
evidence in making decisions or changing their organizational practices (Barends et al.,
2017), despite concurrent evidence of their interest in doing so—if findings and their
implications are clear. Our goal in writing this paper has been to promote the ability of
practitioners, educators and scholars to better appreciate and access the available knowledge
base regarding organizational change—and to recognize what remains unknown or untested.
In doing so, we have highlighted well-supported change practices that can help enhance both
organizational and employee well-being in a world where change is commonplace.
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Table 1.
Summary of Prescriptive Change Models
Summary of
Change Steps
Lewin
(1948)
Beer (1980,
2009)
Cooperrider
& Srivastva,
(1987)
Appreciative
Inquiry (AI)
Judson (1991) Kanter et al.
(1992)
Kotter (1996,
2012)
Hiatt (2006)
ADKAR
Opportunity or
problem
situation
Unfreeze Mobilize
commitment to
change through
joint diagnosis of
business problem
Discovery Analyzing the
organization and
planning the
change
Analyze the
organization and
its need for
change
Create a sense
of urgency
Establish a
sense of
urgency
Awareness
A guiding
change
coalition
Line up political
sponsorship
Form a
powerful
guiding
coalition
Vision Transition Develop a shared
vision of how to
organize and
manage for
competitiveness
Dream Create a shared
vision and a
common
direction
Separate from
the past
Create a vision
Communicate
the vision
Foster consensus
for the new
vision,
competence to
enact it, and
cohesion to
move it along
Communicating
about the change
Support a strong
leader role
Communicate
the vision
Mobilize energy
for change
Spread
revitalization to
all departments
without pushing
Design Gaining
acceptance of the
required changes
in behavior
Craft an
implementation
plan
Desire

Organizational change
Summary of
Change Steps
Lewin
(1948)
Beer (1980,
2009)
Cooperrider
& Srivastva,
(1987)
Appreciative
Inquiry (AI)
Judson (1991) Kanter et al.
(1992)
Kotter (1996,
2012)
Hiatt (2006)
ADKAR
it from the top
Empower
others to act
Making the initial
transition from the
status quo to the
new situation
Communicate,
involve people,
and be honest
Empower
others to act on
the vision
Destiny
Develop and
promote
knowledge and
ability
Knowledge
Ability
Short term
wins and
positive
reinforcement
Plan for and
create short
term wins
Reinforcement
Monitor and
strengthen the
change process
Refreeze Monitor and
adjust strategies
in response to
problems in the
revitalization
process
Develop
enabling
structures
Consolidate
improvements
and produce
more change
Institutionalize
change
Institutionalize
revitalization
through formal
policies,
systems, and
structures
Consolidating new
conditions and
continuing to
promote change in
order to
institutionalize it.
Reinforce and
institutionalize
change
Institutionalize
new approaches

Organizational change
Table 2:
Overview of journals in which the literature review articles were published
Journal # Articles
Academic Medicine 1
Academy of Management Journal 11
Academy of Management Review 1
Administrative Science Quarterly 5
British Journal of Management 4
Employee Relations 1
European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 2
Group & Organization Management 1
Group & Organization Studies 1
Human Relations 5
Human Resource Management 3
Implementation Science 2
International Journal of Human Resource Management 1
International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences 2
Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 9
Journal of Applied Psychology 12
Journal of Business and Psychology 4
Journal of Business Ethics 2
Journal of Business Research 2
Journal of Change Management 10
Journal of Healthcare Management 1
Journal of Management 4
Journal of Management Development 1
Journal of Management Inquiry 1
Journal of Management Studies 3
Journal of Occupational and Organizational psychology 4
Journal of Organizational Behavior 9
Journal of Organizational Change Management 2
Leadership Quarterly 2
Management Science 2
Medical Care Research and Review 1
Organization Development Journal 1

Organizational change
Personnel Psychology 2
Personnel Review 1
Psychology and Health 1
Public Administration Quarterly 1
Research in Organizational Behavior 1
Research in Organizational Change and Development 1
Social Science and Medicine 1
Strategic Change 1
The Milbank Quarterly 1
Vocations and Learning 1