A multilevel analysis of change recipients attitudes towards change and the impact of change agents responses on it

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A multilevel analysis of change recipients attitudes towards

change and the impact of change agents responses on it

Master Thesis MSc. Business Administration: Change Management

University of Groningen

Faculty of Economics and Business

January 21, 2016

Jurjen Kingma

Email: j.kingma.3@student.rug.nl

Student number: 2800152

Supervisor: H.P. van Peet

Co-assessor: H.C. Bruns

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ABSTRACT

Attitudes towards change have been predominantly addressed on an individual level in current literature. This qualitative study adopts a multilevel analysis to gain a deeper understanding how individual and collective attitudes influence each other. Moreover, the reactions and approaches of change agents on both attitudinal levels is lacking in current literature, by which this study also provides answers to what the effect is on the development of both attitudinal levels and the change success. Additionally, the time aspect is taken into consideration with regard to the emergence and development of attitudes. This study collected data across three organizations in three different change phases using semi-structured interviews and a short questionnaire with both change agents and change recipients. The findings implicate that the influencing between both attitudinal levels happens on a subgroup level when group cohesion is low. Additionally, disassociating behavior emerges when recipients have supporting intent and when the group attitude is negative and seen as undesirable or dangerous. The findings also show that influential positive recipients use rational persuasion to change cognitions and inspirational appeal to affect emotions. Moreover, when looking at the time aspect during the intermediate phases a standstill can occur which halts the development of attitudes, and does not affect performance or capabilities of recipients. Change agents predominantly deal with both attitudinal levels through use of shaping behavior, facilitation and support and education and

communication as a strategy, and consultation tactics. This led to a more positive change attitude, while lacking education and communication led to a more negative attitude and change resistance.

Word count: 16.943 excluding appendices

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1. Introduction

Organizational change is considered as a necessary part of an organization’s life, and it has become paramount to have the ability to be open and receptive towards change to survive (Vakola, 2013; Bouckenooghe, Devos & van den Broek, 2009). However the ability to adapt has posed major challenges for organizations since about 70% of major organizational changes fail (Vakola, 2013; Burnes, 2013). A lot of research has been conducted on the reasons for these failures, and to identify several factors that help organizations to be successful in managing and implementing these changes (Rafferty, Jimmison & Armenakis, 2013). When looking at these failures a lot of them deal with contextual factors, characteristics of the change itself, and the change approach. However, a much discussed determinant for either the success or failure of an organizational change is the responses of individuals on change, and are labeled as change attitudes (Paul, van Peet & Reezigt, 2012; Choi, 2011; Piderit, 2000).

Literature has widely discussed individual attitudes in terms of change readiness and resistance (Reezigt, van Peet & Paul, 2016). However, current literature has made an argument against the focus of literature on the individual level of analysis of change attitudes of change recipients. Bouckenooghe (2010) conducted a literature review of several journals, ranging between 1993 and 2007, in which it became apparent that the vast majority of literature on change attitudes focuses on the individual level of analysis, instead of a collective level, or both levels. This is remarkable since recent literature has stated the importance of conducting research on a multilevel (Vakola, 2013; Bouckenooghe, 2010; Rafferty et al., 2013). Individual change recipients engage in social processes by which cognitions and affects become shared that will manifest themselves at a collective level, shaping a collective attitude towards change (Rafferty et al., 2013). The importance of the change agent in the shaping and influencing of change attitudes is evident as several authors see the agent as an actor in the process of interaction between both individuals and groups (Bouckenooghe, 2010; Ford et al., 2008). Oreg, Vakola and Armenakis (2011) argue that change agents, and the approaches they choose will influence the attitudes of change recipients and will therefore have an effect on change outcome. Higgs and Rowland (2011) complement this thought and also argue that the behavior of change agents need to be tested with more samples, such as that the effect on attitudes of change recipients would prove to be valuable.

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6 particularly focus on the interaction between individual and group attitudes, and how change agents deal with, and influence these attitudes with respect to change readiness and resistance. Additionally, Armenakis, Berneth, Pitts, and Walker (2007) argue that change readiness and resistance can be measured across every phase of the change process. Paul et al. (2012) however ask critical questions on when to measure these attitudes since it may seem more risky and complicated than most people think. Additionally they called for more research in other phases whilst looking at the time dimension (Reezigt et al., 2016). Therefore this research will also focus on the emergence and development of change attitudes in relation to the time aspect.

The research paper aims to contribute to the previously mentioned gaps in literature on change

attitudes on a multilevel. First of all it wishes to expand theory on, and gain a deeper understanding of change attitudes of the change recipient on an individual and group level. Second, it also wants to provide a better understanding on the emergence and development of change attitudes. Finally it also aims to provide answers to what the influence is of change agents and how they act towards both attitudinal levels to increase change readiness and reduce change resistance of recipients. The

managerial relevance is that interventions may be developed and deployed by change agents that target these different kinds of attitudinal levels more effectively, so that changes can be managed and

implemented successfully.

Therefore this leads to the following main question for the research:

How do change agents deal with individual and group attitudes towards change of change recipients, and how does this influence the change recipients change readiness and resistance on an individual and group level, and the change success?

The sub questions of the research are:

 How do individual and group attitudes towards change influence each other?

 What is the influence of the time aspect on the emergence and development of change attitudes?

 What is the impact of change agents responses on individual and group attitudes towards change, and how does it affect change recipients readiness and resistance and the success of the change?

The structure of this research paper is as follows. First, a literature review will treat relevant and high quality key literature and theories regarding related subjects of the research. This will be followed by a methodology that will describe the research approach, and how the data will be collected and

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7 comparing it to the literature in the theoretical framework. Here the theory is constructed and

propositions will be made regarding the research subject.

2. Literature review

To answer the research question properly it is important to highlight and discuss relevant literature with regard to subjects that are related. Therefore this section of the paper will present an overview of current literature regarding organizational change, attitudes towards change, the relationship between the attitudinal levels, the influence of the time-aspect, and change agents responses towards attitudes of change recipients. Finally a theoretical framework will be presented that is derived from all discussed literature.

2.1 Organizational change

Before change attitudes can be discussed is necessary to define what organizational change is. Burnes (2013) describes this as an ever present feature of organizational life that plays both on an operational and strategic level. According to several authors there has been a lot of debate about the nature of organizational changes and how organizations should respond (Burnes, 2013; Cawsey, Deszca & Ingols, 2012; Senior & Swailes, 2010). This research will see change as a planned activity that is used to improve an organization’s effectiveness, as described by Cawsey et al. (2012). Here the

organization has a present state where problems are experienced, and it tries to move towards a desired future state. With this change two key participants are mentioned in literature. Ford et al. (2008) describe the change agent as a participant that is responsible for leading a change, as well as identifying the need for change, creating a vision for change and specifying a desired outcome. The other key participant is the change recipient, who is someone who is responsible for implementing, adopting or adapting the desired change(s) (Kanter, Stein & Jick, 1992).

2.2 Change attitudes of change recipients

Change attitudes in general consist of “a person’s cognition about change, affective reactions to change, and behavioral tendency towards change.”(Vakola & Nikolaou, 2005, p.162). Here, three dimensions of change attitudes can be identified, that find their origin in the work of Elizur and Guttman (1976). A person’s cognition about change is related to beliefs a person has regarding the change, and thus its positive or negative evaluations with regard to the change. Second, affective reactions deal with emotions and feelings, which range from strong negative to strong positive. Finally, behavioral tendency is related to whether the person intents to support or oppose the

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8 In her article Piderit (2000) proposes a multidimensional view of responses to proposed organizational changes. These responses are captured using the earlier described dimensions of change attitudes: Cognitive, affective and behavioral. Piderit (2000) describes three responses to change which are support, resistance and ambivalence. With support a response scores positive across all three dimensions. Contrary, with resistance a response scores negative across all three dimensions.

However, with ambivalence there is conflict between at least two of these dimensions, such as positive cognitive response but negative emotional response. Authors seem to agree that change attitudes of change recipients are a pivotal part for successfully implementing an organizational change (Choi, 2011; Paul et al., 2012; Piderit, 2000).

When thinking about change readiness and change resistance as change attitudes recent studies have questioned both concepts. In his literature review Bouckenooghe (2010) argues that both concepts are the most defined concepts of attitudes towards change. However, Choi’s (2011) literature review came up with four attitudinal constructs that occurred frequently. These are readiness for change,

commitment to change, openness to change and cynicism towards change. Readiness for change involves individual impressions about the organizations capacity to make a successful change, the extent to which the change is needed, and benefits the organization and its member can gain from the change (Choi, 2011 p. 482). Next to these aspects Choi (2011) describes how employees evaluate the appropriateness of the change and the organizational support of the change also as important for readiness for change. Commitment to change reflects proactive behavioral intention to support and work toward the success of a change initiative. Thirdly, openness to change is less discussed by researchers according to Choi (2011). The concept consists of two components: Willingness to support the change and positive affect about potential consequences of the change. Finally, cynicism towards change composites of two elements. First, recipients are pessimistic about the future change being successful, and secondly they blame those who are responsible for one’s pessimism. Blame usually falls on the management (Choi, 2011).

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9 The previous paragraphs have shown that the mentioned literature has focused on individual attitudes of change recipients. However, several authors have shown that these attitudinal constructs have different meanings across literature (Paul et al., 2016; Paul et al., 2015, Choi; 2011). This has implications in that these constructs can provide different information on how change recipients evaluate a change. Ford et al. (2008) positions and describes change resistance as a positive resource for change agents to address issues or gaps in the proposed change or strategies. When comparing this to the earlier definition of change readiness by Choi (2011) one could say that both are similar in a way. For example, a recipients shows resistance according to Ford et al. (2008) by giving feedback to a change agent to alter his approach. But this could also be because the individual has impressions according to Choi (2011) that the change can be successful with the when alterations to the proposed change are implemented. Thus, it can be concluded that based on mentioned literature a problem occurs because mentioned attitudes cannot be related to one another due to different meanings. To resolve this issue and to avoid confusion the multidimensional view of Piderit (2000) will be used and maintained throughout this paper. Bouckenooghe (2010, p. 504) concludes that for both concepts “one of the most comprehensive definitions is provided in Piderit (2000)” since she uses three dimensions which aren’t all present in most other literature. Therefore this paper will also use her definitions of change support or readiness and change resistance.

2.3 Antecedents of change attitudes

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10 involvement and participation in decision-making. Contrary, perceived group cohesion, and cynicism of colleagues were positively related to cynicism about organizational change (Choi, 2011).

2.4 Group attitudes of change recipients and its relation towards individual attitudes As previously mentioned, Bouckenooghe (2010) argues that the majority of literature regarding change attitudes focuses on an individual level. Rafferty et al. (2013) show that change readiness also exists on a group level in that change readiness on a group level emerge from cognitions and affects from individual change recipients, which become shared due to social interaction processes. Here a relationship between the individual and group attitudes can be identified. Vakola (2013) and Rafferty et al. (2013) both describe how the shaping of these collective perceptions, and collective change readiness are influenced by several things. First, the change is seen as needed, second, the group or organization has the capability to successfully undertake the change, third, the group will gain benefit from the outcome, and finally the ability to cope with the requirements. A distinction is made between an affective and cognitive dimension. The latter describes how each individual in that group converges on a consensual view of events and key knowledge of the workplace while the former describes how shared emotions of group members can develop in response to change effects (Rafferty et al., 2013, p. 117). Emotional contagion is mentioned which is a process in which a person or group influences the emotions and or behaviors of another person or group through both conscious and unconscious induction of emotional states (Barsade, 2002). Here a behavioral component can be identified, even though Rafferty et al. (2013) host it under the umbrella of affective reactions. Therefore it is important that the multidimensional view of Piderit (2000) will be maintained throughout this research.

2.4.1 Individuals influencing group attitudes

As mentioned before Rafferty et al. (2013) talks about emotional contagion in line with the work of Barsade (2002). Barsade (2002) describes these mechanisms that transfer emotions in terms of subconscious and automatic, and conscious emotional comparisons. The former occurs through automatic, continuous and synchronous nonverbal mimicry and feedback, while the latter is more cognitive and deals with people consciously comparing their moods with others in their environment and then respond to what seems appropriate and desirable for the situation. Rafferty et al. (2013) highlight how a person or group can influence another person or group. A work group or group of individuals can have various compositions of shared emotions. An individual can therefore influence the affective reactions that a group has towards a proposed change (Rafferty et al., 2013). Bartunek et al. (2011) support this, by explaining the process of how collective emotions are shaped. Since change recipients typically share similar experiences that have emotional components, individuals

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11 emotional signals from others (Bartunek et al., 2011). Furthermore informal leaders can also influence the group attitude. They are defined as “one who exerts influence over other group members”

(Pescosolido, 2001, p.78). Additionally it is described that informal leaders is someone who comes from the team or group, and is chosen by the team (Pescosolido, 2001). This research will focus on informal change leaders. The influence of change leaders or agents on change attitudes of change recipients will be discussed in a different paragraph.

2.4.2 Groups influencing individual attitudes

According to Vakola (2013) the change attitude of a group can have a powerful effect on individual member’s behavior, belief and values. This concept was discussed by Cummings (2004) who explains that groups exert pressure on individual members of a group to conform to norms, which govern group behavior. According to Hackman (1976) group norms are informal rules that groups adopt to regulate and regularize group member’s behavior (Vakola, 2013, p.101). Group norms are formed in four ways. First, team members and leaders make explicit statements. Second, critical events occur that the group experiences. Third, group members bring over past situations and experiences. Finally, there are primacy effects that make early patterns of group norms difficult to alter (Feldman, 1984). Individual change recipients base their attitudes based on both their individual reflection as well as interaction with group members that Ford et al. (2008) calls collective sense making.

2.4.3 Multilevel analyses

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12 2.5 The influence of the time aspect

As previously discussed, Reezigt et al. (2016) looked at the meaning of change readiness and

resistance, but called for more research when looking at the time dimension. Several studies deal with the importance of the time aspect when looking at phases recipients go through when experiencing organizational change. Elrod and Tippett (2001) conducted a literature review regarding change models which show recipients responses towards change and transition over time. The study shows that most models follow Lewin’s three-phase model of change, which are unfreezing, moving and refreezing. Moreover, the results indicate a degradation of capabilities in the intermediate stages of a change process, and “through the region of disruption, performance can be expected to diminish (Elrod & Tippett, 2011, p.285), called the “Death valley of change”. A graphical portrayal of

performance or morale compared in relation to the time factor during a change is shown in which after the initial shock anger, grief and denial emerge. When relating this to change attitudes a relation can be made that it becomes more negative when looking at the affective dimension after the first shock is experienced by recipients. Lines (2005) further describes the emergence of attitudes. First, when recipients are exposed towards information regarding the change they form beliefs about it. These beliefs deal with the impact of the change towards themselves and the organization. Additionally Lines (2005) describes that emotions will also be formed, but does not mention a behavioral component.

The development of change attitudes is described by Bartunek, Balogan and Do, (2011) who state that scholars have focused mainly on the sensemaking of change leaders than of change recipients.

However, there have been researchers who have discussed the latter. When recipients are exposed to organizational change, especially when radical, it requires new schemas to understand important aspects of organizational experiences (Bartunek, 1984). This is called cognitive reorientation and it results into dissonance between new and old schemata. When these schemes are in transition a change recipient is likely to be in an unstable state containing multiple options, alternative meanings, or courses of action without enough understanding of any of them (Bartunek et al., 2011, p.15).

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13 2.6 Change agents responses towards attitudes of change recipients

Oreg et al. (2011) describes how responses of change agents on change recipients attitudes are usually ignored. This is due to the focus of change agents on the way they see resistance. Several authors also agree with this statement by arguing how change agents used to see resistance of change recipients as an obstacle (Oreg et al., 2011; Reezigt et al., 2016; Vakola, 2013). Thus, here another literature gap emerges in the form of change agents responses on change attitudes of change recipients. When looking at the responses, this study will use literature regarding change agents’ behavior, and tactics and strategies that are used to influence recipients.

2.6.1 Change agents’ behavior

Higgs and Rowland (2011) did a qualitative empirical study of successful change leaders and their behaviors. As a continuation of their previous study, the research focused on behavior in terms of framing, creating and shaping. Framing behavior is when a change agent establishes starting points for change, designs and manages the journey, and communicates guiding principles. Creating behavior deals with creating individual and organizational capabilities, as well as communication and making connections. These two behaviors combined, framing and creating, are also called ‘framcap’, and is seen as a separate behavioral category. With ‘framcap’ behavior the change agent creates a clear framework to work in where boundaries and clear expectations are set. Lastly, shaping behavior is when a change agent engages in communication and actions that are directly related to the change such as making others accountable, thinking about change, and using an individual focus (Higgs & Rowland, 2011).

The study shows that shaping had a negative impact on successful change implementation, while framing and creating behavior had a positive impact. When a change agent engages mostly in framing and creating behavior, and a low amount of shaping behavior it resulted in the most successful change implementation. However, all types of behaviors were still needed for successful implementation.

2.6.2 Influence strategies

Cawsey et al. (2012, p. 324) describe seven influence strategies for influencing individuals and groups in the organization.” Therefore it fits this research into having strategies that can be identified for both attitudinal levels. This is based on the work of Kotter and Schlesinger (1979). This can be linked to Higgs and Rowland (2011) described behaviors that can be evident when using these strategies.

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14 2. Participation and involvement comprises of getting others involved into the change to bring

new energy and ideas. It works best when the change agent has time and needs voluntary compliance and active support for the change.

3. Facilitation and support can be identified when change agent provide access to guidance and other forms of support to aid in adaptation to change. It is noted that it works best when issues are related to anxiety and fear of change, or concerns regarding insufficient access to needed resources.

4. Negotiation and agreement happens when a change agent make explicit deals with individuals and groups affected by the change. It is useful when resistance is organized and power at play. It can however lead to compliance instead of support.

5. Manipulation and co-optation involves change agents using covert attempts to influence others. Trust levels will drop and resistance will increase when recipients believe they are being manipulated.

6. Systemic or system adjustments as a strategy is when adjustments are mode to formal structures, systems and processes in such a way that they reduce resistance.

2.6.3 Influence tactics

In their study Falbe and Yukl (1992) identified several influence tactics that were used by change agents to influence change recipients. These tactics were proactively used by agents. Furthermore it is also described when these tactics are most appropriate.

1. Inspirational appeals are used by a change agent when he/she appeals to the recipients values, ideas confidence and aspirations to develop commitment or enthusiasm. It is most effective when the agent knows and recognizes the values, hopes and fears of a recipient.

2. Consultation tactics involves a change agent seeking participation or asking input for making decisions on how to implement or plan the change. This leads to more commitment and is deemed effective when a recipient develops a more favorable attitude and feels a sense of ownership for it as a result of participating.

3. Ingratiating tactics can be identified when a change agent uses compliments, praises and/or acts friendly to influence the way recipients feel about the change. It is likely to result in compliance, rather than commitment.

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15 6. Pressure tactics involves a change agent using demands, warnings, threats, or intimidation to

convince recipients to comply. It can result in resistance or compliance.

7. Upwards appeals, also called legitimizing, are when a change agent asserts authority to establish legitimacy and frame a request by using rules. It can result in compliance or resistance.

8. Exchange tactics include rewards or benefits that are offered to change recipients by change agents to comply with a request or proposal. As a condition the change agent has a certain amount of power over something the recipient desires. It can lead to commitment, compliance or resistance.

9. Coalition tactics involves change agents seeking help from others to influence recipients and exert pressure on them. It can lead to compliance or resistance with the recipient the agent is trying the influence.

2.7 Change success

To answer the research question the term change success also needs to be defined. Lines (2007) talks about the successful implementation of a change consists of three dimensions: change recipient resistance, the achievement of change objectives, and post change organizational commitment. It is stressed that the importance in these three dimensions give a more complete view. Achievement of change objectives are the most used for evaluating the outcome of a change. However when looking at resistance Lines (2007) argues it deserves its own evaluation when looking at change outcome when several elements of a change process are proposed to reduce resistance, such as the use of

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16 2.7 Theoretical framework

The supplemented theoretical framework, that is presented in figure 1, is derived from the previously discussed literature. This research has several objectives, which are: (1) adopting a multilevel analysis that provides a deeper understanding of how individual and group attitudes towards change influence each other, (2) gain a deeper understanding of the influence of the time aspect on the emergence and development of change attitudes, and (3) what the effect of the responses of change agents are on the individual and group attitudes towards change of change recipients and change success.

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3. Methodology

This section will discuss the research approach, and how the data is collected and analyzed. Furthermore case selection and research sites will be described, as well as how quality criteria are maintained.

3.1 Theory development approach

The literature review has shown that the phenomenon has not been extensively researched and is still exploratory in its nature. For this reason a theory development approach is most suitable regarding the research objectives (Van Aken, Berends & van der Bij, 2012). When looking at the research

objectives, as mentioned in the theoretical framework, a qualitative research approach is deemed necessary.

The theory development approach begins with observation and induction and can be related to the process described by Eisenhardt (1989). First, a business phenomenon needs to be selected that is not addressed to an extensive extent in current literature. Second, the researcher needs to select cases to build theory using multiple data collection methods. Hereafter analysis is done both within-case and cross-case. Finally findings are compared with existing literature, both with those that show similar findings and conflicting findings, which ends with the shaping of propositions (Eisenhardt, 1989; Van Aken et al., 2012).

3.2 Case selection

The multi-level analysis of individual and group attitudes of change recipients, along with the responses and influence of change agents on this needs a form of data collection. First of all several cases need to be selected. Using multiple cases helps to generate a theory that is convincing in complexity and theoretical grounding, since cross case patterns can be observed (Eisenhardt, 1989). However, since the limited time for this research of five months, three cases were selected. The selection of cases needs to fit in with the theoretical constructs of the theoretical framework, since this allows for use of replication logic (Eisenhardt, 1989). Therefore the following criteria were used to select appropriate cases. First, the companies or departments that participated in the research needed to have experienced an organizational change that has had a major impact. Major changes are more likely to generate more resistance (Burnes, 2013), which may help to better observe the influence of

multilevel attitudes. Furthermore the change must have happened in the last two years, or is currently happening. This helps to ensure that the collected data is more accurate because memory of

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18 both individual and collective attitudinal levels of change recipients and used a change approach to go towards the desired situation. Fourth, the participating organizations needed to find themselves in different phases of change. These phases were before implementation, within six months after implementation had started, and more than 1 year after implementation had started. Lastly, the company or departments that participated in the research also had to allow for data collection with both the change recipients and change agents.

3.3 Research sites

Based on the case selection criteria three cases were selected across three companies in the Netherlands. The cases are summarized in table 1.

3.3.1 Hospital

A medium sized hospital, non-profit organization, was going through a major structuration change at the time of the research. In the current situation it has a standard hierarchical matrix organization, while in the desired situation higher echelons are removed to make for a more flat matrix organization. Additionally the hospital restructuration focused on excelling in certain medical disciplines, while others were going to be repelled. For this reason the organization was divided anew into several units that target specific patient groups. This meant that current teams could be split up to be divided across these units. These units came under dual management, in the form of medical and business

management. The team that participated in the research consisted of twenty managers in the higher echelon, along with two directors. This change started in August 2016 by informing top management, whilst the regular employees were only informed in October 2016 prior to the first meeting of the researcher with the hospital.

3.3.2 Green company

Second, a medium sized profit organization participated that sells products for animals and gardens. From here on this company will be called green company. Within this company a strategic business unit (SBU), consisting of ten employees, dealt with a major change in that a new working method was introduced and management was changed in that the old SBU manager was replaced by two interim managers. This SBU is a commercial department which focuses on both marketing and selling products. In the old situation the marketing manager was responsible for all output of the marketing department, whilst in the new situation every employee is responsible for a section, such as trade marketing or online marketing, . Furthermore account managers of the sales department had

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19 what was required on a national level. The change was implemented four months prior to the research, while pre-implementation began in June 2016.

3.3.3 Municipality

Lastly, a medium sized non-profit organization, municipality, offered to participate in the research. The team, consisting of twelve people and one team manager, dealt with law changes with regards to support of everyone in the municipality who can work, but needs a form of support. The goal of this law, called “Participatiewet,” is that citizens that are currently aided by the welfare system get help and support in finding work . The team was responsible for giving substance to new working methods, which required working together with an external team to help aid citizens with regard to welfare support, reintegration, aid with debt and reciprocation. This start of the change was in June 2014, when the pre-change trajectory started, whilst the actual implementation of new working methods started in January 2015.

Table 1. Cases used in this research

3.4 Data collection

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20 types of data collection, also called triangulation, provide stronger substantiation of constructs and propositions.

3.4.1 First meeting and documentation

Before developing an interview protocol and questionnaire a first meeting was set up to discuss the change and to see if the case fitted the criteria. At the hospital this was with a member of the top management, while with an interim manager at the green company. At the municipality a meeting was set up with the project supervisor. This was used to gain a deeper understanding of the change so that interview- and questionnaire questions could be adapted if needed. After the first meeting and mutual agreement on performing the research, the change agents in all cases asked the recipients if they wanted to participate in the study. Furthermore the researcher also asked if it was possible to gain secondary data in the form of access to documentation about the change, to which only the

municipality complied. This also helped to gain a deeper understanding of the change and reduced the time in interviews to understand related concepts and changes that were talked about.

3.4.2 Interviews

The main source of primary data is obtained through in-depth semi-structured interviews with change agents and change recipients. These interviews contain pre-formulated open questions, that are based on literature and give control to the interviewer over the content that is discussed. However, it also leaves room for interviewees to go into related directions. Two interview protocols were established for both the change agent and change recipient, which can be found in appendix A and B. The interviews were held face to face, one participant at the time. Fourteen interviews were conducted in Dutch, and had a duration of 45 to 60 minutes per participant. At the hospital the Chairman of the board as a change agent, the director as a middle manager, and three managers as recipients were interviewed. At the Green company an interim manager as a change agent, along with three recipients were interviewed. Finally, at the municipality, the team manager as a change agent, along with four recipients participated in the research. The change agents was also directly supervising the change recipients in all cases, with exception in the hospital where it was the director . Using their assigned codes, the list of participants can be found in table 2.

Case Change agent / codes Change recipient / codes

1. Hospital CA1, also MM1 1CR1, 1CR2, 1CR3

2. Green company CA2 2CR1, 2CR2, 2CR3

3. Municipality CA3 3CR1, 3CR2, 3CR3, 3CR4

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21 3.4.3 Questionnaire

Next to interviews a short questionnaire was also developed. This helps to uncover false impressions of qualitative data that is obtained in the interview (Eisenhardt, 1989). The questionnaire was filled in at the end of the interview so that both the data of the interview and the questionnaire could be compared. One questionnaire was developed for the change agents and consisted of 11 questions in Dutch, while the other questionnaire was developed for the change recipients, and consisted of 16 questions in Dutch. These can be found in appendix C and D. The questionnaire provides descriptive statistics that allow for better overview of the concepts and see possible differences or similarities between the data found in both the interviews and questionnaires.

3.5 Controllability, validity and reliability

The research also needs improved inter-subjectivity by ensuring controllability, validity and reliability (Van Aken et al., 2012; Yin, 2003). To ensure controllability the research method is described in full detail. The respondent’s selection, interview questions, and questionnaire questions are provided, as well as a detailed description about the data collection and analysis so that other researchers will be able to verify and replicate the findings (Van Aken et al., 2013).

The research must also be reliable, by controlling potential biases. All interviews were recorded using an audio device and transcribed which will enable the researcher to re-hear the interviews when having doubt about certain quotes or transcripts. Hereby research biases are controlled. Since the researcher conducted all interviews for this research, the interpretation of answers and asking questions will likely be indifferent. Before conducting the interviews a codebook with deductive codes was

produced. After transcribing the interviews inductive codes regarding recurrent themes were added. In cooperation with another student researcher the codes were checked to see if there are any differences to ensure reliability. Instrument biases were reduced by use of triangulation (Yin, 2003). Van Aken et al. (2013) describe how this remedies shortcomings of individual instruments since they complement and correct each other. Respondent biases were reduced by including relevant types of respondents in the research that represent everyone in the change situation such as change agents and different types of change recipients, such as regular employees and managers as recipients. Situation biases were prevented by interviewing respondents on different days and times.

Lastly the research results also need to be justified by the way it is generated (Van Aken et al., 2012). In short, validity needs to be ensured. Construct validity is assessed by other student researchers who also perform research within the same theme, such as interview questions. These were also send to the thesis supervisor to ensure that the questions provide the necessary data to answer the research

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22 related to the research topic. Internal validity will be increased by including several perspectives of both change agents and recipients. External validity can be guaranteed by researching a minimum of three cases.

3.6 Data analysis

For data analysis the method of Eisenhardt (1989) will be utilized. This starts by doing within-case analyses for each individual case. This will be followed by performing a cross-case analysis. Both types of analysis also contribute to internal validity (Van Aken et al., 2012) Finally, the obtained data and conclusions from both analyses will be compared to existing literature to see where it is both similar and conflicting. Especially with the latter it is extremely important to clarify the mechanisms behind the conflicting nature (Eisenhardt, 1989). This will result in creating propositions that either change or extend current literature on multilevel analyses.

4. Results

This section will discuss and analyze the data that was gathered from the interviews and questionnaires. First the change projects will be described in an extensive manner, providing additional information in relation to the methodology section. Hereafter within case analyses will be conducted consisting of several parts: (1) The emergence and development of attitudes, or time aspect, on both an individual and collective level, (2) the mutual influence between both attitudinal levels, (3) the reaction and approach of the change agent on the attitudes of both individuals and the group, and (4) change success. Within each of these parts both the data from the interview and questionnaire are compared. Finally, cross-case analyses will be presented that will compare the three cases to search for similarities and differences.

The coding scheme can be found in appendix G, whilst the survey results can be found in appendix H.

4.1 The change projects

This research covers three cases across three companies. This section will further detail the changes.

4.1.1 Hospital

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23 the current structure and focus was not sustainable since referrals and level of care started to diminish compared to other hospitals.

To tackle the issues the hospital decided to restructure the organization towards a flatter organization, by removing higher echelons, that works in units that target specific patient groups. These patient groups became the starting point for the whole new structure. To facilitate these patient groups the structure is going to be divided into six “verantwoordelijke eenheden” or responsible units. These units will be directed a business administration manager and a medical manager. The former are going to be responsible for setting up and building these responsible units. So at the time of the research it is not clear how these responsible units are going to look like, but only which patient groups they are going to target. However no clear change goals were evident other than that the hospital wanted to specialize and excel in certain disciplines and provide higher level of care to be sustainable in the future. Additionally it was deemed highly important to keep basic surgical and regular care for the population of over 100.000 citizens. The current and desired situation are illustrated in appendix E.

To develop a strategy for the responsible units, the Chairman of the Board deployed a strategy group to which people could apply. Their responsibility was to develop a strategy towards the responsible units, as well as gathering information from all across the hospital. This was to identify possible problems with the implementation process. Furthermore it also served as a participation opportunity for all layers of the organization to be a part of the strategy formulation. Two interviewees were also a member of this strategy group.

4.1.2 Green company

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24 At the green company two people took the position of the previous business unit manager and became the interim managers. The commercial director, who had managed the business unit a few years ago, became one of the interim managers of the business unit focusing on the substantive part, along with a second manager focusing on HR. According to the interviewees most people in the business unit have had the commercial director as a manager before. A new business unit manager was recruited and started working in the same week the interviews and questionnaires were conducted. The interim managers were preparing the new manager at that time.

4.1.3 Municipality

On Januari 1, 2015 the Dutch national government instigated several new law changes. The “participatiewet” or participation law was adopted, along with the “Wet Maatschappelijke

Ondersteuning”, from here on WMO, and “Jeugdwet”. Everyone who can work, but needs some form of support falls under the participation law. The goal of the law is help people with or without a labor limitation to find work, that are currently aided by the welfare system. The law has replaced three laws, namely the “Wet werk en bijstand”, the “Wet sociale werkvoorziening”, and a large part of the “Wet werk en arbeidsondersteuning jonggehandicapten.” The team at the municipality that

participated in the research was responsible for regulating welfare support, reintegration, aid with debt, and reciprocation of citizens in the municipality. In the previous situation this team was responsible for the execution of the “Wet werk en bijstand” which provided welfare support for the citizens in the municipality. However a change with this law is that everyone who has welfare support gets the same labor duties, and welfare support is lowered if citizens of a municipality do not meet these duties.

The team, consisting of 12 employees, began working towards the participation law in June 2014 before the law became operative. Team members took training courses and followed a short curriculum to make sure they were competent and knowledgeable to carry out their activities

according to the legal boundaries. But the new laws also required an external team that regulated and carried out the WMO and “Jeugdwet.” This external team consists of several agencies and

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25 laws. The municipality has a goal that in the future both teams operate independently from the

municipality itself and will be housed in a separate building together.

4.2. Case 1 - Hospital

Case 1 is a hospital in which the a new structure was proposed, but not yet implemented. The interviewees were the Chairman of the Board who was the change agent (CA1), a director (MM1) who

managed a team of managers below him, and three managers (1CR1, CR2, 1CR3) who were managed by the director, which are seen as recipients.

Time aspect: Initial and developed individual attitude towards change

When looking at the initial response of the three managers towards the new structure it ranged from positive to ambivalent. One recipient (1CR1) had an ambivalent attitude in that he/she thought “things need to change”(1CR1) but also felt not sure about keeping their job. Another recipient was positive on all dimensions in that “I find movement positive, so I’m always in favor of change.”(1CR3), seeing only advantages and also feeling enthusiasm, showing that behavior towards others. A third recipient (1CR2) was indifferent and ambivalent with a wait-and-see attitude due to being positive regarding the change, but felt negative emotions due to the plans leaking externally which led to anger across the whole organization. Negative emotions were also enhanced due to the behavior of the change agent who stated things without supported arguments, which led to a feeling of unsafety. Both ambivalent recipients had behavioral intent to support.

Secondly, when looking at how the attitude of the recipients developed towards a more negative affect and supporting behavior. A recipient describes how he/she came to a temporary phase in which he/she thinks: “Damn it, why does this need to change? Everything went well here, and I have a nice

job.”(1CR1). Another recipient notes that he/she wanted the change to happen faster, but the difficulty comes from being between the old and new system: “And then you run into a wall (...) the new people aren’t here yet. So nothing happens yet.”(1CR3). Furthermore this led to temporary frustration because the recipient experiences downtime. All recipients showed supporting behavior by making plans for their departments to help the transition towards responsible units. Performance among managers predominantly remained the same, with one exception of a recipient (1CR1) performing better. He/she argued the situation allowed making choices easier on what things to focus. The survey shows that the individual attitudes are congruent with the recipients’ story’s.

Case 1 - Hospital Type of change: Structure change

Phase Pre-implementation

Team size 20 managers, 2 directors.

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26 Time aspect: Initial and developed collective attitude towards change

The initial collective attitude consisted of a negative affect and predominantly negative cognition. The director argues that there was “a positive reaction in that people from all layers in the hospital could be involved in the formulating of the strategy... but also a negative response... You’re being used by the Chairman of the Board for getting the ideas accepted that are his/her own.”(MM1, also 1CR1, 1CR2). There was a certain level of anger among the other managers, but that was not made public. Cognitive reactions were mostly negative due to a lack of transparency, and experienced indistinctness provided by the Chairman of the Board (CA3). Behavior of the group was mostly seen as passive and waiting, and went back to their “business as usual.” The group cohesion was low in that “.. It is never openly discussed... The openness and searching support with each other, we are quite modest with that.”(1CR3). Two recipients (1CR1, 1CR2) noted that there are certain colleagues that do seek support with each other, but only as small subgroups. It led to behavior in subgroups that recipients would visit each other a lot more often to discuss uncertainties and share frustrations.

The attitude developed towards a more negative affect. It is told how due to the uncertainty, the change taking too long, and how their position is not discussed in the new situation but only team leaders are mentioned, that his resulted in “everyone having a difficult time to stay positive.”(1CR2, also 1CR3). It also had to do with people leaving the organization, to which there was a certain amount of loyalty such as the directors. Furthermore the positive recipient (1CR3) describes how the euphoric feeling was mitigated for this reason. Performance remained the same according to both the director and change agent, but became worse according to the recipients. The survey results are mostly congruent with the recipients’ story’s. A minor noticeable difference is that some recipients thought that the group saw certain advantages with the change, but they didn’t specifically mention this in the interview when they were asked about it.

The mutual influence between both attitudinal levels

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27 The influence of the individual on the group attitude is more difficult to describe. One recipient

commented: “I think I take people along in my enthusiasm and my action.”(1CR3). Furthermore he/she told that there are informal leaders: “there are people who run in front, but also people who ask critical questions. And you have more considerate people who bring along more peace in the whole change. Everybody has their own role.”(1CR3). Another recipient (1CR2) told on how he/she with her subgroup tried to bring up in a management meeting on how to keep things positive, and to search for things that they could and could not influence. Furthermore, recipients influenced their subgroup by looking for ways to be constructive towards the new business administration manager as described earlier. The surveys shows similar results that are congruent with the data from the interviews.

The reaction and approach of the change agent and director on both attitudinal levels Since the change agent only deals directly with the directors, the managers / recipients that were interviewed did not always directly deal with the change agent. However, certain things about his approach were still mentioned. It was mostly the director that managed the recipients during the change process.

The change agent’s (CA1) approach was described by the recipients in different ways. One recipient (1CR1) describes how the agent does not mince words and how this is also required in this change. However it is described how “He drops bombs. So saying things like: “Those men are worthless. Those managers are nothing”(1CR1), resulting in a more negative affective attitude. According to the director the change agent purposively creates uncertainty and keeps things unclear, to which he/she disagreed. The change agent argues that he does not want to take away uncertainty and resistance. This helps people to think about their position in the hospital, and whether or not they want to change or not, so the choice for uncertainty is a conscious one. Framing behavior and consultation tactics were used by using a strategy group that was formed prior to the change, that had to develop starting points and a plan to work towards the change. However manipulation and co-optation was also present by excluding the directors from the strategy group, and the strategy group was seen as a means towards the change agents own plans. This led to a more negative change attitude. On a group level he had several sessions with employees, by which education and communication as a strategy was used, resulting in a more positive attitude according to the agent. Furthermore inspirational appeals were also used on an individual level, by emphasizing the recipients as sharer of the change and appeal to their responsibility.

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28 blaming the director. Contrary, after asking what type of leadership they did use the recipient noted “I was always able to keep sparring with them, exchange ideas with them. Sometimes sharing

frustrations. That gave me space to continue doing things that I deemed right at that time.”(CR1, also 1CR2). The recipient however did not see the directors responding to resistance or changing their approach due to the position they were pushed into. Using consultation tactics and facilitation and support through personal guidance they made the change open for discussion, along with providing their vision on what they would do if they were the managers. This led to a more positive attitude. The recipient defined their role as coaches in this situation.

Change success

Due to a lack of clear change goals and since no implementation had started recipients found it hard or not possible to comment on their satisfaction with the current change outcome. The change agent noted that “the process is slow... but what you see is that it is still moving and it happens carefully. I think that’s fine”(CA1). Satisfaction with change process was seen as low, as it was seen as too slow, and communication was experienced as insufficient. In terms of participation it was ambivalent when looking at the strategy group, but support of the director was seen as very positive.

4.3 Case 2 - Green company

Case 2 was at a business unit of the Green company in which a new working method was introduced along with a management change. The interviewees were the change agent who was the commercial manager of the business unit (CA2), a regular marketer (2CR1), the former marketing manager (2CR2), and an account manager (2CR3).

When looking at the individual attitude towards change the recipients ascribe different meanings towards the change in that the change is predominantly seen as the new management instead of the new working method. The former marketing manager noted: “My work activities haven’t changed. I don’t experience that influence at all” (2CR2).

The initial attitude of the recipients ranged from neutral cognitions towards negative emotions. The marketing manager understood from a cognitive perspective with a previous company that the management change was required. However he/she noted: “I found it such a pity (the previous

Case 2 - Green company

Type of change: New working method and management Phase Within six months after

implementation

Team size 2 interim managers, 5 marketers, 5 account managers

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29 manager) left” (2CR2, also 2CR1 and 2CR3), showing negative emotions. Similarly the other two recipients also showed a negative affect. The marketer noted:” It felt like we went a few years back.... We had (CA2) as a manager before, and that didn’t please everyone.”(2CR1). Furthermore it was described how he/she (2CR1) felt anger and disappointment due to that they didn’t do their job properly because the vision of the previous manager was also theirs. The account manager told how he/she didn’t understand the management change due to a lack of explanation on why the old manager had to leave. He/she describes how stability and rest fell away. The behavioral component was neither supporting or resisting but “asking questions.”

The attitudes developed towards a supporting behavioral intent along with a split between a positive cognitions and negative emotions. All recipients developed supporting intent but returned to work as usual. This made it more difficult to describe advantages and disadvantages since recipients

predominantly kept working in the same way, not seeing the change in working method. The change agent (CA2) recognized the behavior of the account manager (2CR3), as someone who was supporting the change, however the account manager still had negative emotions and cognitions such as “that you cannot build anything”(2CR3) with customers. Plans and approaches were changed which was also experienced by customers. The marketer developed positive cognitions about his/her new work activities since it allowed “to gain your fame. Defend your own spot.”(2CR1), but found the two managers as a disadvantage since it was difficult to decide to which manager they should report. Performance remained the same among all interviewees. The survey shows that the individual attitudes are congruent with the recipients story’s.

Time aspect: Initial and developed collective attitude towards change

Two collective attitudes were present in that group cohesion was low in the business unit. The account manager describes how “it feels for some as two separate worlds”(2CR3) since the marketing team works internally at the office location and other account managers are spread across the country to visit customers in their regions.

The initial collective attitude was seen as negative across the business unit when looking at emotions. “I think everyone was angry. Everybody thought it dropped from the sky.”(2CR1). There was a shared feeling that people didn’t do their work properly due to working towards the vision of the previous manager. All recipients talked about the management change and how the new manager had a history with the team: “Because we know (CA2) from a situation in which he/she could be really

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30 The cognitive component was that marketers saw advantages that it could be a fresh start, but it was ambivalent in that people also thought they had to start all over again in (2CR1). The latter was also shared among the account managers (2CR3). This was all recognized by the change agent (CA2), which argued that all people were feeling insecure, angry and fearful.

When looking at the development of the collective attitude it was different across the marketers and account managers. The account managers attitude was described as “people lingered (...) they

remained negative”(2CR3), seeing no change in their attitude and passive behavior. The agent instead saw a change in that some account managers “pulled more work towards themselves.. and wanting to exert influence (CA2). The change agent argued that more people spoke out about certain things, by which behavior changed across the business unit. Among the marketers the change wasn’t much discussed due to the pressure of delivering new plans and being too busy to worry (2CR1, 2CR2), by which “they returned to old patterns”(CA2) by executing tasks by the former marketing manager. Collective performance remained the same according to all interviewees, but the account manager argued it diminished. The survey shows that the individual attitudes are congruent with the recipients story’s

Mutual influence between both attitudinal levels

The influence of the group on the individual attitude is barely present at the Green Company. Only among the account managers there was emotional contagion since negative emotions were reinforced: “Everything is turned into something negative (...)the negative reinforces each other (...) that really fretted me.”(2CR3, also argued by CA2). However it led to a behavior in that the recipient (2CR3) sometimes tried not having contact with other recipients that were negative, and instead tried to find ways to look into what was needed to capitalize new chances and move forward.

Contrary, the influence of individuals on the group was more visible in that certain behaviors emerged. According to the change agent (CA2, also 2CR2) the former marketing manager kept his/her role as an informal leader in that he/she sent signals towards the group in that other marketers still had to execute tasks commissioned by someone else instead of asking questions and deciding things out of their own responsibility. This led to behavior among several recipients that was according to group norms similar to the situation before the change. It was furthermore found difficult sometimes to not ask the former marketing manager since he/she is regarded as someone with a lot of knowledge and expertise. Another recipient (2CR3) was also seen as an informal leader among the account managers, by

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31 not change behavioral intent towards support or resistance. When looking at the survey results a noticeable difference is that the two informal leaders did not find that they influenced the group.

The reaction and approach of the change agent on both attitudinal levels

The approach and management style of the change agent and other interim manager was described as very direct by most interviewees in that both clearly pronounce their opinion and vision. All recipients found it useful in that “you know where you stand”(2CR3). The agent (CA2) concluded his/her approach as open and informative, but a recipient experienced the opposite by arguing how “(CA2) is hard to read sometimes in his opinion on certain things”(2CR1). Shaping behavior and consultation tactics were used by asking recipients in individual conversations on their vision on their job, and the current state of work activities. The marketers found this positive whilst the account manager argued that “it was only 15 minutes (...) I’ve missed those one on one conversations.”(2CR3) Furthermore additional individual conversations were held with recipients to take away uncertainties and

experienced difficulties. Three influence strategies were also evident in the case. The change agent and interim manager provided facilitation and support by maintaining an open door policy for being open to sparring with recipients about developed plans. Recipients (2CR1, 2CR3) still experienced a threshold due to their history with him/her. Furthermore education and communication was used as a strategy on a group level by using presentations to help understand the vision and need for change. However several recipients commented that the communication was sometimes unclear, lacking proper explanation. The use of participation and evolvement as a strategy was also evident in that a meeting was created, split among marketers and account managers, to discuss ideas, brainstorming, and getting help and input from other colleagues and the managers. Most recipients (2CA1, 2CA2) were positive about it in that uncertainties and anger disappeared. The change agent saw new behavior in that recipients started speaking out due to this, and due to his/her change (CA2) in management style from a directive style towards a more open and receptive style.

The survey shows a noticeable difference in that all recipients were neutral and didn’t think the agent influenced their reaction and attitude, nor that from the group.

Change success

The recipients differed in their satisfaction with the change outcome at the moment of the interview. Although the marketers were satisfied due to plans being finished during the change and the

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32 goals were set for the change, making satisfaction of the change outcome hard to define for the

recipients.

Although the agent (CA2) was very satisfied with the process most recipients (2CR1, 2CR3) were unsatisfied about the change process in that the communication was lacking at the start of the change when the previous manager left. Furthermore the account manager missed the individual conversations and personal attention, in that support could be improved in that regard.

4.4 Case 3 - Municipality

Case 3 was at a municipality in which a team had to deal with a law change by which a new working method was

introduced and also working together with an external team of professionals to help citizens who can work but need a form of support. The interviewees were the manager (CA3) and four employees (3CR1, 3CR2, 3CR3, 3CR4

).

The individual attitude towards change was twofold in that two recipients were indifferent and two recipients had a positive attitude. The indifferent people argued: “I notice nothing is happening (...) nothing has changed yet.”(3CR1). These recipients told that for them the new law change was a minor change in that they slightly had to adjust their work activities, but the large change of actually working independently from the municipality with the external team hadn’t begun. However one of these recipients noted that this had to do with his/her history with other changes in which he/she found that “kicking against a lot of things (...) I know that something like that doesn’t matter.(3CR1). For both recipients (3CR1, 3CR4) the cognitive part was ambivalent in that they both saw advantages and disadvantages but in behavior found themselves passive. The two other recipients had a strong positive cognitive reaction in that they saw improvements for the citizens of the municipality with minor possible disadvantages. Both recipients had neither a positive or negative emotion since they were relatively new to the team or had worked as an independent contractor. There was supporting intent but they behaviorally “returned to the order of the day”(3CR2).

When looking at the development of the attitudes across the change process all recipients noted that their attitude had not changed due to the fact that they hadn’t started with working independently from

Case 3 - Municipality Type of change: New working method and working with external team

Phase More than one year after implementation

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33 the municipality with the external team. The performance in work remained the same according to all recipients. The survey results are congruent with the recipients story’s.

Time aspect: Initial and developed Collective attitude towards change

Group cohesion was strong in that “there is room for everyone’s opinion, even if it is completely different, we completely respect each other.”(3CR2). With relation to the external team cohesion was seen as very low by all interviewees due lack of contact in person.

When looking at the initial collective attitude it was negative according to the recipients and twofold between positive and negative reactions according to the agent (CA3). The recipients argued that people in the team experienced a lot of indistinctness and uncertainty which led to the behavior of asking critical questions. Emotions were that people were angry, skeptical and wanted to be heard, because it felt “like it was put over the fence, which isn’t positive”(3CR4), but this quickly turned to indifference. The agent argued that this led to people to express their worries. In cognitive terms due to the haziness the team experienced no advantages, but the haziness was seen as a disadvantage. But after more information became available several team members experienced a cognitive change in seen advantages to which the change agent felt it was the first reaction. Some team members changed in their behavior by showing resistance by critiquing everything.

The collective attitude developed in behavior in that people became passive and waited for the change. According to one recipient (3CR3) the motivation of the team declined with regard to the change. However some advantages were experienced in that lines became shorter with the external team and recipients saw value in cooperating with them, but the major disadvantage was a privacy related issue with regard to the citizens that both the municipality and external team served. According to both the agent and recipients a standstill in the development of attitude was experienced since the passive behavior and the opinions could only change when both teams started working integral and independent from the municipality. The collective performance of the team remained the same according to all interviewees. The survey results are congruent with the recipients story’s.

Mutual influence between both attitudinal levels

A multilevel analysis of change recipients attitudes towards change and the impact of change agents responses on it