NEW INSIGHTS ON WILLINGNES TO CHANGE: Willingness to Change as a Product of Individual and Group Processes

NEW INSIGHTS ON WILLINGNES TO CHANGE:

Willingness to Change as a Product of Individual and Group Processes

University of Groningen, Faculty of Management and Organization

31 July 2008

ARNO DE VRIES Studentnumber: 1678000 Verlengde Oosterweg 21A

9725 BA Groningen tel.: +31 (0)6-19938288 e-mail: A.de.Vries32@rug.nl

Supervisor and Co-assessment University Prof. Dr. D. M. Swagerman

& Dr. E. P. Jansen Supervisor/ field of study

Mariska Roeters &

Hidde van der Wal KPMG, Groningen Word Count: 11 049

NEW INSIGHTS ON WILLINGNES TO CHANGE:

Willingness to Change as a Product of Individual and Group Processes

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

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2

1. INTRODUCTION

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4

1.1Changes in the Higher Education System of the Netherlands

...

4

1.2Company XYZ and Change

...

5

1.3Central Topic

...

6

2. THEORY

...

8

2.1 The Human Side of Change

...

8

2.2 Conceptual Model

...

12

3. METHODS

...

13

3.1 Data Collection

...

13

3.2 Data Analysis

...

14

4. RESULTS

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18

4.1 Description of the Results

...

18

4.2 Recommendations for Company XYZ

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24

5. DISCUSSION

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26

5.1 Interpretation of Results

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26

5.2 Theoretical Implications

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29

5.3 Practical Implications

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30

5.4 Limitations of the Research & Suggestions for Further Research

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30

REFERENCES

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31

APPENDIX A: CURRENT ORGANIZATION CHART

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35

APPENDIX B: TIMELINE 2004-2009 COMPANY XYZ

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36

APPENDIX C: CAUSES OF RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

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38

APPENDIX E: TIMELINE MAY 2007 UNTIL JUNE 2008

...

40

1. INTRODUCTION

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”

(Charles Darwin)

As it is necessary for all species to adapt to their changing environment in order to survive, the same is true for organizations. Therefore, the quote from Darwin is also applicable to organizations and its employees: to survive in the long run, change is necessary. Also organizations need to adapt to the changes in the environment sooner or later in order to survive. In this chapter a brief overview is given of an institution operating in the Dutch higher education system, and the changes occurring in that environment. Thereafter, insight is given into the institution of interest and the specific company which is the focus of this study. For matters of confidentiality the name of the company will not be disclosed. From now on the name of the company will be revered to as Company XYZ. Subsequently, changes within Company XYZ will be described. Hence, the main focus of this thesis will be elaborated.

1.1Changes in the Higher Education System of the Netherlands

In the past decades the Dutch higher education system was characterized by several changes. Nowadays it has a high variance in offer, ranging from art education up to agrarian education. Each of those directions has its own history (Noordhof, 1998). The roots of the Dutch higher education date back to at least the fifteenth century. The first art education in the higher education started in 1682. However, these kinds of educations were based on the initiative of private individuals (Van Bemmel, 2006). It was not until 1963 that the law on secondary education was introduced and the higher education became financed by the Dutch government. Successively, in 1968 the Mammoth law was accepted and from then on the amount of students in the higher education started to grow (Noordhof, 1998; Van Bemmel, 2006).

In the 1980s the metaphor of the ‘market’ was used (Noordhof, 1998). Accordingly, in 1985 a proposal was made for more market and less government in the higher education. The proposal was also made to initiate an increase in scale in the higher education. Not until 1986 the higher education became accessible to everybody when the law on higher education was introduced. In order to stimulate people to study, the Dutch government decided to give students in the higher education a contribution in the form of money. The higher education council (HBO-raad), which was established in 1975, played an important role in the development and implementation of this law (Noordhof, 1998).

the form of visitation, this can be seen as an internal quality check of a commission within the institutions. In 2003 another form of quality care (accreditation) was introduced to replace visitation as a quality check (Van Bemmel, 2006). This was done because of the introduction of the bachelor/master system. The quality check is executed by an external independent institution called the NVAO (abbreviation for Nederlands- Vlaamse Accreditatieorganisatie). Therefore, more than before the higher education is focused on the quality of the provided services. Moreover, because of the autonomy institutions in the higher education have more room to decide certain matters by themselves.

1.2Company XYZ and Change

The institution of interest is active in the higher education system in the Netherlands. The institution has over 23.000 students and approximately 2.600 employees. The institution tries to position itself as a knowledge institution and collaborates with the regional companies and non-profit institutions. Moreover, it offers over 80 different educations, which include bachelor, associate- and master degrees. The institution educates professionals and contributes to the knowledge circulation within the region. As part of this knowledge circulation annually more than 1000 course members from the business world make use of contract education of Company XYZ. Company XYZ can be seen as the organizational service provider of the institution (see Appendix A). It supports professionals and organizations with their development and the obtainment of their results.

1.3 Central Topic

“And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.”

(Niccoló Macchiavelli, 1515: VI)

Niccoló Macchiavelli shows very well that when change is undertaken, there is always a potential for resistance. It is argued that when resistance is not adequately handled it can have a negative effect on the success of the proposed change, causing it to fail. It is argued in the literature that willingness to change needs to be created in order for change to be successful, and several studies have been done related to this (e.g. Banas, & Wanberg, 2000; Beckhard, & Harris, 1987; Dalton, & Gotttlieb, 2003; Kanter, 1992; Kotter, 1996; Lewin, 1964). Treated topics are resistance to change and willingness to change. However, these topics are mostly treated as separate, unrelated concepts (Coetsee, 1999).

Several authors argue that there is a need for more research that deals with context related factors (Pettigrew, 1987; Banas, & Wanberg, 2000). Studies have been done on interventions to overcome resistance to change (e.g. Burnes, 2004; Kanter, 1985; Kotter, & Schlessinger, 1989; Ulrich, 1999). These studies have the organizational level as a main focus. Another recent strand of literature focuses on factors that influence willingness to change on the individual level (Banas, & Wanberg, 2000; Cunningham, 2006. The intention of this study is to show that processes on the group level also have an influence on the willingness to change of an individual.

2. THEORY

In this chapter the theory is explored and elaborated in order to come to well-founded questions for Company XYZ. The ideas on willingness to change, and the factors that might influence willingness, are explored. Hence, a conceptual framework on factors that influence willingness to change is presented.

2.1 The Human Side of Change

During a change process there is a tendency to over-emphasize the technical side of the organization. In this way there is less attention for the human side of change (Kets de Vries, & Miller, 1984; Strebel, 1996). De Geus (1997: 52) argues that managers “overlook the fact that labor means real people”. However, it is argued that this human side is important, and the degree of cooperation from the lower levels within the organization determines the ultimate success of a proposed change (Coetsee, 1999; Wissema, Messer, & Wijers, 1991). Therefore, the topic of behavioral change seems particularly interesting to study.

It is concluded that individuals play a pivotal role within the organization, and in particular the change process. Moreover, it is argued that these individuals need to be willing to change in order for change to be successful. In this thesis the social identity theory (Tajfel, & Turner, 1979) is used as an underlying assumption to gain a deeper insight in the concept willingness to change. In this theory it is assumed that the identity of an individual consist of both a personal identity and a social identity (see figure 1).

The personal identity represents the personality, and a person’s social identity is for a part determined by group membership. Turner (1982, 1987) stated in a very convincing manner that social identity gives the group psychological reality for its members. It is also permits those individual members to be welded together in collective perceptions and behavior. This view about the psychology of humans is supported by Rogers (1965). This view is chosen because it recognizes that a person derives identity for a part from the personality. However, identity is also for a part derived from the groups a person is part of. This might open up interesting insights in willingness to change as it follows that willingness

Social Identity Personal identity Identity FIGURE 1:

to change might be a product of processes within the individual as well as processes on the group level. Subsequently, willingness to change and the relevant factors of influence will be presented.

Willingness to change. There are many terms used in the literature regarding willingness to

change. Other terms on researches regarding this topic are unwillingness, resistance, readiness, and willingness to change (Burnes, 2004; Coetsee, 1999; Eby, Adams, Russell, & Gaby, 2000; Holt, Achilles, Armenakis, Harris, & Field, 2007; Oreg, 2003, 2006). Sometimes these terms are used interchangeable, or the same terms are given different meanings in several researches. To get an insight in the concept, a comprehensive overview is given of the used terms.

The first group of terms that are used can be seen as the ‘negative’ expression of the concept. The most often terms used in researches are unwillingness and resistance to change. Resistance to change is derived from the work on the planned approach of Lewin (1964), and had a systems view on the concept. However, the ideas of Lewin received critique, because many scholars argued that it is a too simplistic view of change. Moreover, it is contended that the planned approach is only applicable for small scale changes (Burnes, 2004). Subsequently, based on the ideas of Lewin, the OD (Organizational Development) movement picked up the ideas of Lewin, developed it further and applied it to organization wide changes. Nevertheless, there is also a strand of literature with a main focus on the factors that influence resistance to change on an individual level (e.g. Oreg, 2006; Tsang, 2003). The view of these researches is that resistance is a bad thing that should be overcome.

The second group of terms can be seen as the positive expression of the concept. The terms used in this second group are readiness and willingness to change. In this strand of literature it is argued that the negative view of the concept should be rejected in favour of a positive model (Wadel, & Sohal, 1998). It is argued that a more positive model should be used to conduct research. (Armenakis et al., 2000; Cunningham, Woodward, Shanon, MacIntosh, Lendrum, Rosenbloom, & Brown, 2002; Eby et al., 2000; Metselaar, & Cozijnsen, 1997)

While current research sees the willingness to change of a person as an individual measure, most of the researches fail to recognize that willingness to change is an outcome of individual processes that preceded willingness. However, as shown before, a person is also subject to group pressures. This thesis will show that willingness to change is also an outcome of group processes.

Group identification. Following the social identity theory (Tajfel, & Turner, 1979; Capozza, &

Brown, 2000), it is argued that individuals search for groups in which members share similar features. This is because it confirms and enhances the self-esteem of an individual. People also search for groups that have a high status. Moreover, people search for groups that have unique features, in other words a group which is distinguishable from other groups. When an individual has a strong level of identification with a group, than the individual’s identity equals the social identity. In other words the identity of a person is the same as the social identity. In this case the own group is perceived as better than other groups. Moreover, it is argued that the positive aspects of a strong level of identification with a group are commitment, motivation, effort, and loyalty. However, the negative side of a strong level of identification is that the own group is favored above other groups. The question is if the level of group identification influences a middle managers’ willingness to change. This can result in a lack of communication and collaboration between the groups. Than the question for Company XYZ becomes:

Q1: Was the willingness among middle managers to change, within Company XYZ, influenced by the

level of group identification?

Inter-group faultlines. The research of Lau and Murnighan (1998: 336) shows that “a model

of faultlines can contribute significantly to an understanding of the early formation process of coalitions” (Figure 2). This might prove to be particularly interesting, because the management team within Company XYZ started in May 2007. The writers argue that weak faultlines between groups have less potential of causing negative effects. However, strong faultlines between groups can be negative, because it can lead to conflicts and distrust between groups. In the case of strong faultlines between groups, people will only work with colleagues in their own subgroup. Moreover, there is no information exchange between the groups in case of strong faultlines. It is argued that faultlines are triggered by demographic attributes (e.g. race, gender, age) and by the context. It might be interesting to see if the concept of faultlines is applicable in the context of change. More specifically, this research aims to find out if inter-group faultlines influence a middle managers’ willingness to change. Therefore, the question for Company XYZ is:

Q2: Was the willingness among middle managers to change, within Company XYZ, influenced by the

Change effectiveness. The aim of every manager is to have a successful outcome of an

initiated organizational change. According to Bower in Beer and Nohria (2000) this can be seen as purposive change. In the case of a change process, which has as a purpose to change the behaviour, a successful outcome should result in a behavioural change of the middle managers. It is argued that willingness to change plays a pivotal role in a successful outcome of a change process (Armenakis et al., 2000; Cunningham et al., 2002; Eby et al., 2000; Metselaar, & Cozijnsen, 1997). The logic behind this is that people should first be willing to change before they actually change their behaviour. Therefore, the question is formulated as:

Q3: Was the change effectiveness of middle managers in Company XYZ influenced by their willingness

to change?

Interventions. During a change process it is always possible that a form of resistance occurs

(Kayzel, 1998). There are researches done on the interventions that need to be used when resistance is encountered. Kayzel (1998: 91) argues that “an intervention is a deliberately chosen way to reduce resistance and increase the ability to change during organizational change”. He than argues that there are several interventions that a change agent can use to influence the change process. These interventions are: inform, avoid, facilitate, participate, educate, development of a vision, confront, negotiate, convince, and coerce.

According to the authors the best would be to apply as much participation as possible. Coercion will have negative effects on the long and short term.

The above studies show how to deal with resistance as it is encountered during the change process. However, the focus of this study is on willingness to change. It was argued that resistance and willingness are two sides of the same coin. Nevertheless, the question arises whether interventions are useful in the creation of willingness to change. This results in questions four until six:

Q4: Were the applied interventions within Company XYZ mediated by inter-group faultlines? Q5: Were the applied interventions within Company XYZ mediated by group identification?

Q6: Which applied interventions within Company XYZ had the highest impact on willingness among

middle managers to change?

2.2 Conceptual Model

Figure 3 represents the conceptual model which is derived from the literature. This model was used as a lens to look at the case of company XYZ. To conclude, all the questions are presented to give a comprehensive overview.

Q1: Was the willingness among middle managers to change, within Company XYZ, influenced by the

level of group identification?

Q2: Was the willingness among middle managers to change, within Company XYZ, influenced by the

strength of inter-group faultlines?

Q3: Was the change effectiveness of middle managers in Company XYZ influenced by their willingness

to change?

Q4: Were the applied interventions within Company XYZ mediated by inter-group faultlines? Q5: Were the applied interventions within Company XYZ mediated by group identification?

Q6: Which applied interventions within Company XYZ had the highest impact on willingness among

3. METHODS 3.1 Data Collection

This study attempts to build a conceptual model and generate several hypothesis to understand the social phenomenon; willingness to change. In chapter 2 a lens was developed by which the social phenomenon was studied. The research was conducted in an organization that has recently done reorganization (retrospective). A deep research was done on one case. More specifically, an “idiographic casestudy” was used to understand the social phenomenon willingness to change (Braster, 2000; Gerring, 2007; Marshall, & Rossman, 1999; Yin, 2003). The period under study was from May 2007 until June 2008.

For this case three different kind of data collection methods have been used. First, existing data have been used to gain insight in the situation of Company XYZ. Second, a questionnaire was composed to measure the concepts. Thereafter, in-depth interviews with all the management team members, the CEO and the team leader of the finance department have been done. Consecutively, the three types of data-collection methods are elaborated further.

Analysis of existing data. Documents were requested from Company XYZ about the relevant

concepts. These documents have been analyzed and relevant parts have been picked out. It has been used to gain a first insight in the situation of Company XYZ. Moreover, a casestudy database has been made to archive the collected existing data.

Questionnaire. The questionnaire was built up out of five parts, which are group

identification, inter-group faultlines, willingness to change, change effectiveness and interventions. The four members of the management team and the CEO have been given a questionnaire and these persons filled in the questionnaire. Confidentiality has been guaranteed towards the participants in order to obtain reliable results.

In-depth interview. The in-depth interviews have been done with all the management team

3.2 Data Analysis

One data collection method might cause doubt about the validity and reliability of the measured concepts. However, to make sure that the construct validity is guaranteed, data- and method triangulation was used to collect data (Appendix F). In this way the concepts that needed to be measured, were measured accurately. This was done by using three types of data collection methods. First, existing data were used as a qualitative data collection method. Second, a questionnaire was used as a quantitative data collection method. Third, in-depth interviews were applied as a qualitative data collection method. In order to make the research reliable and verifiable a casestudy protocol (interview schemes, questionnaires etc.) and a casestudy database (interview reports etc.) have been made.

Analysis of existing data. These documents have been analyzed and relevant parts have been

picked out. The analysis of the existing data served as a solid basis for the further research. To make the data verifiable, existing data was archived in the case study database.

Questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire have been put in an Excel database. An

analysis has been done on the available data by making graphs in Excel. A complete check on the data was done to exclude errors on the input and formulas. To ensure the reliability of the measurement, the Cronbach’s Alpha (from now on Alpha) has been calculated for the measured concepts (Allen, & Yen, 2002). This measure was chosen because it is frequently and widely used as a reliability measure in several scientific areas. As a rule a minimum Alpha of 0.70 has been applied to consider the measured concepts as reliable. This minimum is generally used for a measurement to be considered reliable. Group identification

TABLE 1:

Group Identification: Population and Calculated Alpha

Inter-group faultlines

The concept is measured by four items, which are conflict, trust, co-operation and information exchange. The four items, formulated as statements, have been measured with a ten point scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The calculated Alpha of the measured concept, inter-group faultlines, and the population size are shown in table 2. The items have been derived from the theory of faultlines (Lau, & Murnighan, 1998). The inter-group faultlines of May 2007 showed mixed results and the score can therefore not been seen as reliable. The same concept measured as of June 2008 is reliable and has an Alpha of 0.83.

TABLE 2:

Inter-group Faultlines: Population and Calculated Alpha

Willingness to change

The concept willingness to change has been measured in two parts. The first part consists of three items, which could be graded on a ten point scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The calculated Alpha is displayed in table 3. The second part represents the causes of resistance to change and the calculated Alpha is shown in table 4. It has been measured through 13 items and was graded on a scale from one to ten. The concept willingness to change relates to May 2007. Both Alphas that calculate willingness to change can be regarded reliable.

TABLE 3:

Willingness to change: Population and Calculated Alpha

TABLE 4:

Willingness to change: Population and Calculated Alpha

Change effectiveness

The concept change effectiveness has been measured with two items. In the first item it was asked to indicate to what degree their colleagues were willing to change. This ranged from aggressively unwilling to commitment. The second item was related to whether the middle management was actually changed, which could be graded from one to ten. The calculated Alpha can be regarded reliable (table 5).

TABLE 5:

Change Effectiveness: Population and Calculated Alpha

Alpha N

June 2008 0.76 5

Interventions

The concept interventions has been measured based on 11 items, graded by the participants on a scale from one to ten. There was also a possibility to indicate that an intervention did not have any impact or that it was not applied. The Alpha of the calculated concept is displayed in table 6. The calculated alpha of the interventions can be regarded reliable.

TABLE 6:

Interventions: Population and Calculated Alpha

In-depth interview. All the relevant information has been picked out of the transcribed

interviews. The information considered as useful was translated into English. Some parts were used as quotes, other parts have been summarized. The transcriptions of the interviews have been archived in the case study database. This was done in order to make the research verifiable.

Internal validity. A casestudy has also concerns related to the relationships between the

measured concepts. A way to meet with objections concerning the internal validity, this study makes use of explanation building. This means that a set of hypothesis are formulated to explain the social phenomenon under study (Braster, 2000; Yin, 2003).

7 7

7,8 8

7,6 7,6

Commitment Motivation Effort

May-07 June-08

4. RESULTS

In this chapter the results of the three data collection methods are presented. The results are presented in order of the measured concepts in the questionnaire. In appendix F a comprehensive overview is given of the results presented in this chapter. Hence, recommendations, based on the results, are given to Company XYZ.

4.1 Description of the Results

Group identification. Figure 4 shows the level of group identification in May 2007 and June

2008, the average score of the population is displayed. This is based on the items commitment, motivation and effort. The item loyalty is removed because it showed mixed results.

FIGURE 4:

Group Identification (N = 5)

The scores of commitment, motivation and effort to work with each other in May 2007 and June 2008 are relatively high. This can for a part be explained by the fact that 3 of the 5 management team members already worked together before they became management team members. One management team member was also management team member before. The other two current members worked as team leaders under that management team member.

The item loyalty to the management team has been removed from figure 4, because it did not give a good representation of group identification. This also came forward in the interviews, and it seems that the management team members feel more loyal to their teams than to the management team. One employee said:

This view was confirmed by another employee who said:

“Everybody is more committed to their own teams. I can see it. It is a point that constantly comes forward. Let us think from a higher level, and see what it means for company XYZ.”

Hence, another employee argued:

“I know my own team already for 15 years. I know these people personally and they know me personally. For a part this is also true for the management team. I know the group already for a while, and I form a group with them, and together we lead company XYZ. We went to Roden to work on the team, but it stays a point of attention. It should not be a one time thing that has to be under the attention continually. I think they all know I think about it like that.”

The view that loyalty was indeed higher towards the organization than towards the management

team is also supported by the existing data:

“The new management team and organizational model is a fact, but for a part a fact on paper”

To conclude, the management team members were willing to work with each other at

the moment, in May 2007, they started to work together. The members of the management team

were committed to work with each other, they were motivated to work with each other, and they

were willing to put effort into the management team. However, their loyalty is more with their

own teams then with the management team. Moreover, the members of the management team

displayed a large loyalty towards Company XYZ. Nevertheless, it was indicated by all the

members that there is a need for more loyalty towards the management team.

Inter-group faultlines. The concept inter-group faultlines is presented in figure 5. A

7,2 8,6 7,4 8,4 8,4 8,0 8,8 7,8

Harmony Trust Co-operation Information

exchange

May-07 June-08

FIGURE 5:

Inter-group Faultlines (N = 5)

From the interviews it becomes clear that in May 2007 there were conflicts between the management team members and the CEO. However, it is argued that these conflicts never resulted in big arguments. The conflicts were always solved in a constructive way and always led to something good. One employee said about this:

“She [the CEO] is a decisive person. Sometimes a little bit too decisive and we have discussions about that from time to time. That does not matter, it is better to be too decisive in stead of being not decisive. On average she has a lot of support from the management team. The people of the management get along with each other well, the doors are open for each other. We are also open to feedback. It just feels right.”

Another employee said:

“I can get along with her well. I think she does very well in that position. There are differences of opinion on certain matters,………, but in general these differences are accepted and it is constructive.”

It also follows from the existing data that the members of the management team and the CEO were able to cooperate. First, the electronic information which is sent through the company confirms this idea. Second, the reports of the management team meetings, which include the management team members and the CEO, show a productive decision taking process.

Hence, in May 2007 the members of the management team had conflicts with the new CEO. Nevertheless, these conflicts were always solved and were working in a productive and constructive way. During the period until June 2008 the relationship between the management team and the CEO became stronger. However, there always remained a degree of conflict which was always solved in a constructive manner.

Willingness to change. In May 2007 there was willingness among the middle management to

7,75

3,5 7,0

Personal Willingness to change

Perceived threat of change Willingness of middle management to change May-07

perceived as a threat to the members of the management team. This is also supported by the relatively low scores in figure 10, which represent the causes of resistance.

FIGURE 6:

Willingness to Change (N = 4)

The interviews might provide insight in the creation of willingness to change. First, there seemed to be dissatisfaction with the current situation. Employees contend that they were not happy with the situation at that moment, and had a positive attitude towards the proposed change. This follows from the quote from an employee:

“In my role and my position some things have changed. I did not experience it like that. Therefore, the change felt more natural and went gradual. I also agreed with the initiated direction and I thought, finally! During the revitalization that direction was already initiated and I already had the idea that it was going in the right direction. Moreover, I hoped for a good CEO, than I wanted to stay. If a new CEO had been hired that did not agree with the initiated direction, than I probably would not have stayed. I was fed up with that!”

It can also be derived from the interviews that the CEO of company XYZ has played an important role in the change process. One employee indicates there was a choice between two candidate CEO’s. The employee also indicated that it is always important to look for those things the organization is lacking. The current CEO was picked because she possessed some qualities and skills that were lacking within Company XYZ.

This is confirmed by another employee, who argues:

“It was important that the CEO got appointed. She communicates in a clear way, and she does not do things behind other people’s back. Moreover, she has an open, honest and fresh look on the matter. She does not make things nicer than they are, and that gave good feeling.”

same way, than everybody would feel responsible for the performance of the organization. Moreover, the employee of Company XYZ heard that this was not the case in the previous management team. There had been a power struggle which undermined the commitment. This was confirmed by two other employees:

“I think we had a shared responsibility to make something out of company XYZ.”

“As managers we saw a chance to do the right things for company XYZ. We thought that from that position we can have more influence. I call it influence, because I do not like the word; power. There was the idea that with good ideas and influence we can make something out of it.”

It is confirmed by the existing data that the loyalty towards the organization seemed to be an important factor. In a document of 9 July 2007 it was stated that: “The involvement of the employees with Company XYZ is big, but they can not always wield influence which leads to dissatisfaction and frustration”.

To conclude, the management team was dissatisfied with the situation they were in. Subsequently a new CEO came who played an important role in the creation of willingness to change. It was also important that in May 2007 the whole management team felt responsible for Company XYZ.

Change effectiveness. In the Electronic information messages that are sent through the

6,4 Degree of change June-08 2 8 6 Aggresive resistance Active resistance Passive resistance Neutral Passive willingness Active willingness Commitment June-08 FIGURE 7:

Behavioural Change of Middle Management (N = 5)

FIGURE 8:

Attitude of Middle Management towards Change (N = 5)

This also seems to be supported in the interviews. It is argued that the management team is willing to change. However, the members do not always seem to have the ability to actually change their behaviour. As one employee argues:

“The management was willing to change from the beginning. However, it is the question whether the management was able to change.”

Hence, the management team has not yet changed completely. This is not because the management team is not willing to change, but it is because the management team is not always able to change.

Interventions. The graph that indicates the impact of the applied interventions can be found in

appendix D. The graph shows that the development of a vision and participation are the two interventions that had the highest impact on the middle managers willingness within Company XYZ to change. With the existing data and interviews the other interventions could not be supported. First, t

he

following quotes from employees indicate that a vision of a new and better future is important:

“I saw new opportunities and new possibilities; I wanted to go for that!”

“My preference is profit and I think the whole management team thinks the same. I think that if the CvB [Board of Directors] would decide to focus on the circulation of knowledge, they have to look for a new management team, and probably also new people in the organization. At this moment, as management team we are focused on profit. That was also the message after the revitalization, which is why the management team is here. In the meantime we also selected our people on that basis.”

Second, it is also important that employees get a chance to participate in the decision

taking process during the change. One employee said:

“I like to be close to the institution that defines the route for the organization”

From the existing data can be derived that the members of the management team participate in the decision taking process. The reason for this is that they take part in management team meetings where decisions are taken. Moreover, the existing data show that already early in the change process effort has been put into the creation of a vision.

To conclude, the development of a vision and the participation are important. It is indicated that these two interventions had the highest impact on willingness to change. Hence, a comprehensive overview of the results presented in this chapter is displayed in Appendix F.

4.2 Recommendations for Company XYZ

First, the middle managers contend that there is a need for a stronger loyalty among the members of the management team. A higher level of loyalty of the members towards the management team is desirable, and the development should be facilitated. Nevertheless, conflicting situations might occur between group identification and inter-group faultlines. As the social identity theory argues, a high level of group identification might be negative. This can cause negative effects on the level of conflict, trust, co-operation and information exchange between the management team and the CEO. Moreover, the same effect might than occur between the middle managers and their teams.

on profit. If a complete switch has to be made to the circulation of knowledge, it might cause resistance among the members of the management team. It was also indicated that participation played an important role in the creation of willingness to change. Therefore, the members of the management team should be kept involved in the decision taking process.

5. DISCUSSION

This study aims at generating hypotheses to explain the social phenomenon of willingness to change within Company XYZ. In this chapter an interpretation of the results presented in chapter 4 will be given. Subsequently, the theoretical implications and suggestions for further research will be presented. After that the practical implications of the study will be elaborated. Hence, the limitations of the research are discussed.

5.1 Interpretation of Results

Group identification. In chapter 2 it was argued that an individual’s identity was made up by

personal identity and a social identity. Since identification with a group can make up a large part of an individual’s identity, the question was asked:

Q1: Was the willingness among middle managers to change, within Company XYZ, influenced by the

level of group identification?

It seems that in May 2007 and June 2008 there was a relatively low level of group identification among the middle management. Although, there was a relatively high motivation, commitment and effort among the management team, the loyalty between the team members was relatively low. The middle managers worked together since May 2007. Therefore, it seems a logical result, because they did not work together before in the same composition. The explanation for the relatively high commitment, effort and motivation seems to come from a relatively high loyalty towards the organization and the teams. The members of the management team were relatively less loyal to the management team. They indicated in the interviews that the feeling of responsibility towards the company and the teams within the organization caused a relatively high commitment, motivation and effort within the management team. The results of this study seem to point out that organizational commitment is an important factor in the creation of willingness to change among middle management. Based on the presented interpretation the hypothesis becomes:

H1: A relatively high level of organizational identification and a relatively low level of group

identification influence the willingness among middle management to change positively.

Inter-group faultlines. In chapter 2 it was argued that faultlines have a potential to explain the

coalition forming in the formation process of a new group. Relations between groups could be important in the creation of willingness to change. Therefore the following question was formulated:

Q2: Was the willingness among middle managers to change, within Company XYZ, influenced by the

Intergroup-faultlines seem to be important in the creation of willingness among middle management to change. In May 2007 there were conflicts between the members of the management team and the CEO. However, these conflicts were always solved in a constructive way. When we look at the literature it can be argued that there was an optimal conflict level (De Caluwé, & Vermaak, 2006). Conflicts occurred, as it was indicated, because of lack of clarity in direction. This was quickly and adequately solved, as a result a good relationship between the members of the management and CEO was built up. This seems to be in line with the measured level of group identification within the management team. From the social identity (Tajfel, & Turner, 1979) it can be derived that a strong level of group identification can cause that people in one group do not want to work with people from other groups. The hypothesis that is formulated based on the presented interpretations becomes:

H2: Weak inter-group faultlines will influence willingness among middle management to change

positively.

Change effectiveness. As contended in chapter 2, every change needs to have a purpose.

Subsequently, a high change effectiveness is realized when the purpose of the change is met. Moreover, it was argued that willingness to change plays an important role in the realization of a high change effectiveness. Therefore, the following question was formulated:

Q3: Was the change effectiveness of middle managers in Company XYZ influenced by their willingness

to change?

As the results indicate, the attitude of the middle managers towards the change was high. However, the actual realized change is moderate. It seems that the change effectiveness of a middle manager is for a part influenced by the willingness to change. Nevertheless, willingness does not seem to be completely responsible for the ultimate effectiveness of behavioural change. Burnes (2004) argues that behavioural change is in general a relatively slow process. This seems to lay for a part in a manager’s ability to change.

understanding in their situation and themselves. However, the results of the research show that the use of the two options did not always prove to be enough. Results indicate that the hypothesis becomes:

H3: A high willingness and ability to change result in a high change effectiveness of middle managers.

Interventions. It was argued in chapter 2 that willingness and resistance can be seen as two

sides of the same coin. However, much of the research on interventions was done on the use of interventions to deal with resistance. Consequently, the questions four until six were formulated:

Q4: Were the applied interventions within Company XYZ mediated by inter-group faultlines? Q5: Were the applied interventions within Company XYZ mediated by group identification?

Q6: Which applied interventions within Company XYZ had the highest impact on willingness among

middle managers to change?

As argued by Kotter and Schlesinger (1989), participation in the change process had a high impact on the willingness of middle management within Company XYZ to change. Moreover, the creation of a clear vision had a high impact on the willingness to change. Within Company XYZ there was a low level of group identification, a high level of organizational identification and a low level of inter-group faultlines. It is expected that these three factors did indeed have influence on how the interventions were received by the middle management. When the relationship between the middle management and the CEO is good it will be more likely the middle managers will be more open to interventions, than with a bad relationship. The same principle is expected for organizational identification. Therefore, hypotheses four until seven are formulated as:

H4: A low level of group identification makes middle managers receptive to interventions

H5: A high level of organizational identification makes middle managers receptive to interventions H6: A low level of inter-group faultlines makes middle managers receptive to interventions

H7: Creating of a clear vision and participation in the change process have a high impact on the

willingness to change

accounts for high change effectiveness, the other part is determined by the ability of the middle manager to change. As it follows from figure 9, willingness has to be created before a middle manager’s ability to change can be developed.

H1: A relatively high level of organizational identification and a relatively low level of group

identification influence the willingness among middle management to change positively.

H2: Weak inter-group faultlines will influence willingness among middle management to change

positively.

H3: A high willingness and ability to change result in a high change effectiveness of middle managers. H4: A low level of group identification makes middle managers receptive to interventions

H5: A high level of organizational identification makes middle managers receptive to interventions H6: A low level of inter-group faultlines makes middle managers receptive to interventions

H7: Creating of a clear vision and participation in the change process have a high impact on the

willingness to change

5.2 Theoretical Implications

In this thesis it was argued that group processes as well as individual processes play a role in the creation of willingness to change. First, an individual’s identification with the organization seems more important in the creation of willingness to change, than the identification with the management team. Second, the relationship between the management team and the CEO seems to be important in the creation of willingness to change.

change should be created. After that the middle manager’s ability to change can be developed. Nevertheless, the importance of a manager’s ability to change is less recognized in the literature. 5.3 Practical Implications

The results of the research indicated that the creation of a clear vision and participation in the change process had a high impact on the willingness among middle managers to change. This insight might be useful for organizations undergoing behavioural change. It shows the interventions that can be used to create willingness among middle managers to change.

The study also shows that the creation of willingness to change is not enough. In order to obtain a high effectiveness of the desired change, the ability among middle managers to change should also be developed. As argued before, the development of the ability to change an individuals’ behaviour might not be as straightforward as it looks at first sight. An explanation might come from Rogers (1965: 487) who proposes that “the organism has one basic tendency and striving – to actualize, maintain, and enhance the experiencing organism”. This can mean that when a person is asked to display different behaviour, it goes against “the goal-directed attempt of the organism to satisfy its needs as experienced, in the field as perceived” (Rogers, 1965: 491).

5.4 Limitations of the Research & Suggestions for Further Research

This study was composed around one case; Company XYZ. The aim of the research was to construct a conceptual model and generate several hypotheses to explain the social phenomenon; willingness to change. However, the use of one case poses questions about the ability to generalize the results (Gerring, 2007). One way to take away this difficulty is to test the conceptual model in several cases related to behavioural change.

Another limitation of the research was that the measurement of inter-group faultlines in May 2007 presented a low Alpha. Nevertheless, the low Alpha was just a small part of the measured concept inter-group faultlines. Moreover, this objection was taken away by data triangulation. The other two data collection methods contained enough information to come to a valid and reliable conclusion on this concept.

Hence, the data collection was a one point measurement. A danger of one measurement is that the memory of events of over a year ago can be vague and less detailed. Objections related to the one point measurement were met by using data triangulation.

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APPENDIX C: CAUSES OF RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

APPENDIX D: IMPACT OF APPLIED INTERVENTIONS

APPENDIX F: SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS

Questionnaires Interviews Existing Data

May 2007 June 2008 May 2007 - June 2008

Group Identification Commitment 7 7,6 Relatively higher loyalty Management team

Motivation 7 7,6 with organiztion and fact on paper

Effort 7,8 8 own teams

Loyalty Not included Not included

Cronbach’s Alpha 0,84 0,78

Inter-group Faultlines Harmony 7,2 7,8 Managers & CEO Electronic information

Trust 8,6 8,8 confirm conflict in May & reports of

Co-operation 7,4 8 2007, but constructive. management team

Information Exchange 8,4 8,4 Relationship grew stronger meetings

Cronbach’s Alpha 0,33 0,83 until June 2008

Willingness to change Personal willingnes 7 Managers & CEO Confirmed by document

Perceived threat 3,5 confirm this on the 9 July 2007

Middle management 7,8

Cronbach’s Alpha 0,78

Change effectiveness Degree of change 6,4 Employees and CEO Electronic Information

Attitude towards change Commitment 6 confirm this of December 2007

Active willingness 8 confirmes it

Passive willingness 2

Cronbach’s Alpha 0,76

Interventions Creation of vision 8,8 Creation of vision, Confirms the early creation

Participation 8,8 participation, and education of a vision, and the

Education 5,5 cofirmed by employees participation in decision