How organizational characteristics influence the change readiness of business line managers, team managers and employees to bring about planned and emergent change at once.

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Master thesis, MscBA, specialization Change Management University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business

November 1, 2012 Joost Bakhuizen Student number: 1821385 Hyacinthstraat 165 9713 XD Groningen Phone: +31 6 21 80 90 66 Email: j.j.bakhuizen@student.rug.nl Supervisor/ university Dr. J. Rupert (Co-‐)Assessor: Dr. C. Reezigt

Supervisor/ field of study R.L. XYZ

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How organizational characteristics influence the change readiness of business line managers, team managers and employees to bring about planned and emergent change at once.

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to clarify differences in the readiness to change of business line managers, team managers and employees. Readiness is created for both a planned and emergent change that complements each other to implement one organizational change. A qualitative case study is performed to measure the influence of different organizational characteristics on change readiness. The characteristics that were used in this research are type of culture, flexibility of policies and procedures, quality and communication of information, trust in top management and pre-‐training conditions. It became clear that different groups of organizational members were differently affected by the organizational characteristics that lead to varying levels of readiness to change to bring about planned and emergent changes.

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Inhoudsopgave

ABSTRACT ... 2

1. INTRODUCTION ... 4

1.1 Case of XYZ ... 4

1.2 Management question and objective ... 7

1.3 Research Question ... 8

1.4 Outline ... 9

2. THEORY ... 10

2.1 Type of change ... 10

2.2 Readiness to change ... 12

2.3 Type of culture ... 14

2.4 Policies and procedures ... 18

2.5 Quality and communication of information ... 19

2.6 Level of trust in top management ... 21

2.7 Use of pre-‐training/education conditions ... 22

3. METHODS ... 25

3.1 Data collection ... 25

3.2 Quality criteria ... 28

3.3 Data analysis ... 30

4. RESULTS ... 31

4.1 Readiness to change ... 31

4.2 Type of culture ... 33

4.3 Policies and procedures ... 36

4.4 Quality and communication of information ... 38

4.5 Trust in top management ... 41

4.6 Pre-‐training conditions ... 43

5. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION ... 45

5.1 Business line managers and team managers ... 46

5.2 Employees ... 47 5.3 Theoretical implications ... 49 5.4 Practical implications ... 51 5.5 Limitations ... 53 6. REFERENCES ... 55 APPENDICES ... 63

A. Case study protocol ... 63

B. Questionnaire ... 65

C. Privacy statement ... 67

D. Quotes of the interviewees ... 68

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1. INTRODUCTION

The Introduction consists of a description of the case of XYZ, the management question and the research question that is formulated. A description of the company and the change was made to have a basis for the rest of the research.

1.1 Case of XYZ

The case of XYZ is dicussed two parts. General information about the company is discussed followed by a description of the change within the case.

1.1.1 General company information

XYZ is a company that mediates and accompanies clients to appropriate and sustainable work. The organization was founded in 1998. XYZ was formed of a merger of two training institutes, the ABC and DEF. Ever since the merger took place the organization grew towards being a national service provider. After the merger took place, XYZ became an independent, not subsidized company that is not affiliated with insurance companies or occupational health services companies. Since 2006 XYZ is owned by GHI. This private equity fund is formed of four private equity investment funds of which the GHI Europe Fund invested in XYZ. The REF invests in organizations with an EBITDA between $3.000.000 and $20.000.000 selected through the use of the REF strategy and principles. The services that are provided by XYZ are integration, language programs, education, re integration, rehabilitation, prevention, outplacement and coaching and mediation. Approximately 300 employees are working for the organization of which 46 percent are full time employees (59% male, 41% female) and 54 percent are part time employees (19% male, 81% female). Since the founding in 1998 more than 80.000 people are successfully served, this makes XYZ one of the biggest organizations in their particular market. Most of the business was done with governmental clients. These governmental clients were about 90 percent of the total business. Meanwhile, the remaining 10 percent of business came from the commercial market.

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1.1.2 The change

The governmental clients, mostly local authorities, required a geographical structure of XYZ since the governmental organizations only want to do business with service providers that are geographically close to them. The geographical structure, that was required by the governmental clients, is a divisional structure in which divisions are organized according to the requirements of the different locations in which an organization operates (Jones, 2007). XYZ adjusts its structure to align its core competencies with the needs of customers in different geographic regions (Jones, 2007). Therefore, the Netherlands, the market of XYZ, was divided in four geographic regions (north, south, west and middle). In every region all the functions of the organization were situated, because this was required by the clients.

In 2011 the portfolio of clients started to change because the board of directors decided to shift the focus of the organization from the public market to the private market. According to the board of directors, this shift of focus was necessary to ensure the future of the company because there were major cutbacks in the governmental budgets of social care, integration1 and subsidized employment2. These particular cutbacks that the government made had a major effect on the amount and value of contracts that XYZ has with the public sector. As stated above, before the focus of the company was changed towards the private market, almost all clients of XYZ were governmental clients. For example, the organization had lots of contracts with local authorities to help foreigners integrate or help people to re integrate in a new employment. As also already mentioned, when the focus was changed, there was a shift from mostly governmental clients towards more and more private owned commercial clients. As opposed to the governmental clients, the commercial oriented clients do not require the geographical closeness that the governmental clients perceived as necessary. They only require highly specialized services of XYZ. To be able to offer the required highly specialized services and be more able to serve the commercial market well, the board of directors decided to change the structure of the organization into a functional structure. The functional structure, needed to offer highly specialized products to commercial clients, groups people together on

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the basis of their common expertise and experience because they use the same resources (Jones, 2007). The people become highly specialized and provide customers with high-‐quality products (Jones, 2007). Within this functional structure, six different business lines were created by the management. Every business line offers a complete service and acts independent of the other business lines. The structure of the company, from a geographic structure towards a functional structure, was officially changed on January 1st 2012.

Although the change of structure is already officially made, the employees are not working according to the new structure. There are multiple reasons why the employees are not working according to the new structure. First of all, the employees have a shortage of commercial skills that enable them to serve the needs of the new commercial clients of XYZ. Too much of the employees have a mindset and skills set that is merely suited for the governmental clients. To be able to work following the new structure a change is therefore needed in the skills set of the employees. Until the new skills are cultured by the employees they will be unwilling to work according to the new structure because they cannot deliver the highly specialized services that are required by the commercial clients. On the other side, the employees are able to perform for the governmental clients that are left by their current and institutionalized working structure. In this research it will be examined if the unwillingness to change of the employees is because of a shortage of skills that are required to perform the highly specialized services to the commercial clients.

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examined whether the employees are not changing their way of working because the culture of the organization does not allow them to change.

The third reason for the employees not to change can be a lack of trust they have in top management. Employees can probably doubt the skills of the top management and final outcomes of the change. For the employees it is important to know that the top management of XYZ has the appropriate skills and the right interest at heart when they decided to change the company. Trust in top management is examined since trust in top management is necessary for the employees to change.

Finally communicational problems induce resistance to change among the employees. There is a lack of communication towards the employees and the quality of communication is also poor. Because of these problems the employees do not get well informed about the ongoing changes and therefore do not know what is really going on during the change. The problems with the quality and communication of information result in unwillingness to change by the employees. This research examines the unwillingness to change of the employees of XYZ because of the quality and communication of information.

1.2 Management question and objective

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business lines and the working processes that come with these business lines. The objective that is pursued by the management of XYZ is creating the readiness to change that is necessary to transform into the new, functional, structure and working processes that ultimately should be institutionalized by the employees so that the organization can fully transform from a governmental oriented organization towards a commercial oriented company.

1.3 Research Question

To be able to answer the management question, a research question is formulated to conduct this research: ‘How do organizational characteristics influence the readiness for change towards the desired organizational structure and working processes?’

Next to the research question, five sub questions are formulated. Each sub question is related to an independent variable that is studied. The independent variables studied in this research are type of organizational culture, quality and communication of information, level of trust in top management, use of pre-‐training conditions and level of flexibility in policies and procedures. The dependent variable of the study is readiness to change. The independent variables that were selected are both relevant from a theoretical perspective and relevant in the case study. From a theoretical perspective, the independent variables are selected because together they enable the creation of readiness to change for both planned and emergent change.

The sub questions of the research are:

• How does the change of the type of culture influence the readiness to change of the employees?

• How does the level of flexibility in policies and procedures influence the readiness to change of the employees?

• How does the quality of information and communication influence the readiness to change of the employees?

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• How does the use of pre-‐training conditions influence the readiness to change of the employees?

Figure 1. Conceptual model.

1.4 Outline

This thesis continues with the theory section in which the types of change and the variables are discussed. The literature review is the basis for the interviews conducted to be able to answer the research question. The methodology will describe the outline of the case study. The results section comes from the collected and analyzed data. After the data is analyzed some conclusions are drawn in which theory and the results from the study are compared. Finally the discussion section of the paper holds limitations and future research possibilities.

Readiness to change Flexibility of policies and procedures Pre-‐training conditions

Trust in top management

Type of culture

Quality and communication

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2. THEORY

In this section theory about the variables is discussed. Every variable will be discussed separately. First the dependent variable is discussed, followed by the independent variables. 2.1 Type of change

It is probably safe to say that change, moving towards the new, is a sure thing for organizations. Nowadays every organization has to deal with change. As Elving (2005 p. 129) states: “The only thing constant within the organization is the continual change of these organizations.” Changes can be approached in variety of ways but people leading the change should keep one thing in mind: it is necessary for organizations to have their structure and culture aligned to be effective as an organization (Handy, 1993). The structure should be embedded and reinforced by the culture of the company. Even though the structure and culture should be aligned, the structure can be changed rapidly while the culture cannot be changed in a fast manner (Kanter, Stein & Jick, 1992).

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unnoticed since small changes are grouped together as noise without any importance (Weick, 2000). Emergent change, like planned change, is comparable to theories of Kanter et al. (1992) and Beer and Nohria (2000). Emergent change is comparable to the long marches of Kanter et al. (1992) and Theory O of Beer and Nohria (2000). Long marches (Kanter et al., 1992) focus on small, incremental, changes that ultimately result in a transformation of the organization after a long span of time. Theory O of Beer and Nohria (2000) is about the incremental development of culture and people’s abilities to improve the overall organizational performance.

There is a continuum from planned change to emergent change on how to deal with change (Burnes, 2009). Although planned change and emergent change are opposites on the continuum of how to approach change, the two approaches can perfectly fit together. Kanter et al. (1992) note that bold strokes have to be followed by long marches to embed the change initiated by the bold stroke. The bold strokes deal with structural change of an organization, quadrant 2 of the framework for change (Burnes, 2009), while the long marches deal with a changing culture to embed the new structure, quadrant 1 of the framework for change (Burnes, 2009; Kanter et al., 1992). A bold stroke is a planned change on the organizational level (quadrant 2) while planned change of quadrant 4 is aimed at individual level changes. The two approaches, planned and emergent, can complement each other, as is also suggested by the XYZ case of Burnes (2004). The XYZ case of Burnes (2004) is about avoiding the use of only one approach to change, planned or emergent change, and instead start using both approaches of change as complementary approaches. According to Beer and Nohria (2000), the different approaches can indeed be used together to complement each other. So when companies need to change, the structure should be changed first since this change is the fastest and simplest change (Burnes, 2004). After the structural change is completed, the culture should be changed to support and align with the new structure. When we look at the framework of change of Burnes (2009) it can be stated that when a quadrant 2 change occurs this will be followed by a quadrant 1 change. In the case of XYZ it is also tried to make a quadrant 2 change happen that is followed by a quadrant 1 change.

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Figure 2. A framework for change. Source: Burnes, B. 2009. Managing change, a strategic approach to organizational dynamics. Prentice Hall 5th_edition.

2.2 Readiness to change

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is that while the focus of “the case of XYZ construction” was on implementing the changes the focus of this thesis is on how to get the employees of the organization (Case: XYZ) ready to bring about the planned change (structural change) followed by the emergent change (cultural change). Another difference is that while the XYZ case first brings about emergent change followed by planned change this research does it the other way around. So this research is about getting people ready to change according to quadrant 2 of the framework for change (planned, bold stroke, theory E) while at the same time getting the employees ready to a quadrant 1 change (emergent, long march, Theory O). Only when employees are ready to change both the structure and culture the changes that are proposed can be successful and embedded.

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change includes the individual’s feelings about the change (Piderit, 2000). The cognitive dimension of the attitude towards readiness to change includes the beliefs about the change (Piderit, 2000). The intentional dimension of the attitude towards readiness to change includes the behavioral actions towards the change (Piderit, 2000).

Readiness for change acts to preempt the likelihood of resistance to change, increasing the potential for change efforts to be more effective (Armenakis et al., 1993). Readiness for change is the cognitive precursor to resistance for change (Armenakis et al., 1993). Change readiness is similar to unfreezing of Lewin (1951) and openness to change. Unfreezing is the process by which organization members’ beliefs and attitudes about a pending change are altered so that members perceive the change as both necessary and likely to be successful. Openness is conceptualized as support for change, and it is considered a necessary, initial condition for successful change (Covin & Kilmann, 1990; Lewin, 1952). It can be concluded that readiness to change is required to decrease the chances of resistance to change and increase the chances of successful implementation change.

Now the independent variables that influence the readiness to change are discussed. The five independent variables are type of culture, quality and communication of information, trust in top management, use of pre-‐training conditions and policies and procedures. Each variable is discussed separately and in relationship with readiness to change.

2.3 Type of culture

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Kanter et al., 1992). So besides directly influencing the readiness to change, the culture can also indirectly influence the readiness to change via the structure of the organization. A culture that embraces readiness to change can help to embed a structure that increases the readiness to change. It is therefore important to have a culture that increases readiness to change.

Culture is defined by Schein (1992 p.12) as “the pattern of basic assumptions that the group has learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to these problems”. This means that culture is the appropriate behavior and underlying assumptions to work and pass on to new members of the group since this is the tried and tested way of working and behaving. The measurement of culture has mainly focused on values since values are central to understanding an organization’s culture (Ott, 1989) and they are also seen as a reliable representation of organizational culture (Howard, 1998). Perceptions of readiness for change are influenced by cultural memberships that polarize the beliefs, attitudes and intentions of members (Armenakis et al., 1993). Cultural memberships are groups that share certain views (Alderfer & Smith, 1982), values, norms and priorities (Cox, 1993)

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Figure 3. The Competing Values Framework -‐ Source: Quinn, R.E. and Rohrbaugh, J. 1983. A spatial model of effectiveness criteria: toward a competing values approach to organizational analysis. Management Science, 29: 363-‐377.

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advanced manufacturing technologies than more mechanistic organizations characterized by inflexibility and control. According to Jones, Jimmieson and Griffiths (2005) workplaces that are dominated by either open systems values or human relations values are more likely to stand positive towards organizational change. So organizations that are in the upper two quadrants of the competing values framework are more likely to hold positive views towards organizational change. These two types of culture are human relations and open systems. The human relations type of culture is characterized by training and development, open communication and participative decision-‐making (Quinn & Rohrbaugh, 1983). The open systems culture is characterized by adaptability and readiness, visionary communication and adaptable decision-‐ making (Quinn & Rohrbaugh, 1983). Human relations and open systems contain characteristics that are already empirically demonstrated to be positively associated with change readiness (Zammuto & Krakower, 1991). To create readiness to change, it can be stated that an open systems and human relations culture are sufficient to accomplish that. These two cultures enable the organizational members to embrace readiness to change. Although both human relations and open systems cultures are positively related to readiness to change (Zammuto & Krakower, 1991) an open systems culture is the most appropriate for XYZ to change towards because the new focus of the company is on development and innovation of highly specialized services and new products for the commercial clients. An external view is necessary to be innovative and develop the company. Also XYZ should become more flexible to be innovative and develop itself. So for the employees of XYZ readiness to change can be increased by changing the culture from an internal process culture to a open systems culture because an open systems culture focuses on innovation and development, which is important for XYZ, and enhances the readiness to change (Zammuto & Krakower, 1991; Jammieson & Griffiths, 2005). Sub-‐question: How does the change in the type of culture influence the readiness for change of the employees?

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2.4 Policies and procedures

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Sub-‐question: How does the level of flexibility in policies and procedures influence the readiness for change of the employees?

2.5 Quality and communication of information

Quality and communication of information is selected as independent variable because it is the primary mechanism to create readiness to change according to Armenakis et al. (1993). This variable is the primary mechanism to create readiness to change because it gives the need to change and the ability to change. With a quality message the importance to change can be stressed (Armenakis et al., 1993; Katz & Kahn, 1978; Pettigrew, 1987; Nadler &Tushman, 1989; Spector, 1989; Bandura, 1982) and therewith creating readiness to change. Communicating the ability to change can help to lower the resistance to change (Nadler & Tushman, 1989; Bandura, 1982; Armenakis et al., 1993. Without seeing the need and ability to change it is very hard to create readiness to change (Armenakis et al., 1993). So good quality of communication is definitely necessary to create change readiness.

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usefulness of the content of the information, the information quality is determined by the adequacy of the information. Adequacy is about the completeness of the provided information (Yang et al., 2005). High levels of completeness of provided information therefore determine a high level of adequacy of information.

Studies that examined the influence of providing information, detailed information about change has been shown to reduce resistance to change (Wanberg & Banas, 2000). When employees receive timely, informative and useful information about an organizational change presented a more positive evaluation of the change and increased willingness to cooperate with it (Wanberg & Banas, 2000), the readiness to change increases. Reichers, Wanous and Austin (1997); Armenakis and Harris (2002) and Bernerth (2004) all state that communication of change is one of the main mechanisms to create readiness for change in an organization. Communication is one of the main mechanisms because it provides the organizing framework for the creation of change readiness and motivates employees to adopt and institutionalize the change (Armenakis & Harris, 2002). The quality of communications determines therefore how employees deal with change. Further, Miller et al., (1994) state that employees who received high-‐quality information about the upcoming changes would report higher levels of readiness to change. This statement was empirically supported by the research of Miller et al., (1994). The quality of communication helps to classify the justification for the reasons why the change is a necessity, reduces the change related uncertainty and ultimately helps to create readiness for change (Soumyaja, Kamalanabhan & Bhattacharyya, 2011). Communication that is not managed properly often leads to widespread rumors about the change what ultimately can result in resistance to change (Soumyaja et al., 2011). It can now be stated that the quality of information and communication is important to get the employees ready to change.

Sub-‐question: How does quality of information and communication influence the readiness to change of employees?

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2.6 Level of trust in top management

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used to define trust: “trust is the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party”. Trust in top management is found to be critical in implementing strategic decisions and an essential determinant of employee’s openness towards change (Korsgaard, Schweiger & Sapienza, 1995). When important role models harm trust, the readiness for change will be strongly undermined (Kotter, 1995). In the empirical research of Rafferty and Simons (2006) it is found that trust in top management has a significant relationship with the readiness to change. When trust is high the employees will follow top management because they believe that the organization can successfully achieve the change (Rafferty & Simons, 2006). So it can be concluded that trust in top management is critical to achieve the necessary level of readiness to change. Without a certain level of trust it is very difficult to create readiness to change among the employees. For the employees of XYZ it is important that top management has the skills, capacities and competencies needed to lead the change (Mayer et al., 1995). Top management of XYZ should also show interest in the employees and show that they care about the employees and will do everything within their span of control to do the right thing for them. The management of XYZ should also show that they have interest in, and respect the employees’ principles. When top management of XYZ shows interest in these three features of trust the employees will gain trust in top management and increase their readiness to change. Sub-‐question: How does the level of trust in top-‐management influence the readiness for change of the employees?

2.7 Use of pre-‐training/education conditions

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the training (Narayan et al., 2007). At XYZ the training is mandatory unless an employee can evince that he/she has already all the commercial skills that are trained. Mandating the training program can lower the readiness to change of the employees of XYZ (Narayan et al., 2007). On the other side, at XYZ there is social support by the trainer, HR-‐personnel and management which is likely to increase the readiness of the employees (Narayan et al., 2007).

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3. METHODS

This section contains a description of how the research was performed. First the data collection method is discussed. When the collection method is set, the quality criteria and data analysis are discussed.

3.1 Data collection

To investigate the independent variables and the dependent variable data was collected. This chapter describes how the researcher collected the data.

In the theory section of this research, the variables were expected to have the most influence on the readiness were already discussed. The variables discussed were: the type of culture, the quality and communication of information, trust in top management, pre-‐training conditions and the flexibility of policies and procedures. To investigate the relationship between these variables and readiness to change, an explorative case study was conducted since the intervention to create change readiness has no clear and single set of outcomes (Yin, 2009). The particular case study that was conducted is a single embedded research, only one case was discussed but multiple units of interest were differentiated (Yin, 2009).

Semi structured in depth interviews were used to collect the data. The semi structured interviews were started with a series of specific questions and then follows the individual’s tangents of thought with interviewer probes (Cooper & Schindler, 2008). The questions that were asked in the semi structured interviews were open-‐ended. The open-‐ended questions allowed probing deeper in the responses of the interviewees to get more detailed information out of the question (Cooper & Schindler, 2008). The interviews provided links and explanations about the targeted case study (Yin, 2009). The semi-‐structured interviews were chosen in this research as primary data collection tool because they allowed the questioning to be guided and clarification of points to be easy (Frey & Oishi, 1995). Further, semi structured interviews helped to extract more and a greater variety of data and to elaborate on the answers given by the participants (Cooper & Schindler, 2008). The semi structured interviews also allowed the researcher to focus directly on the problem studied in the case (Yin, 2009).

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change. In the case of XYZ this includes 300 organizational members. Only interns and trainees are excluded from the research. From this 300 organizational members a sample was drawn that was representative. The sufficient size of the sample is reached when people give the interviewees respond alike (Boyce & Neale, 2006). Judgment sampling was used to select the sample members that conform to some criterion (Cooper & Schindler, 2008). Judgment sampling is appropriate in exploratory studies (Cooper & Schindler, 2008). The sample members were selected on their function. The sample had to represent the business line managers, team managers and the employees. As was mentioned earlier, the interns and trainees were excluded and could therefore not be part of the sample. Ultimately five business line managers were selected, four team managers were selected and eight employees were selected. Background information on the selected interviewees is presented in table 1. By using different functions in the sample differences between the business line managers, team managers and employees were researched.

Sample XYZ Gender Male 13 112 Female 4 188 Education HBO 14 University 3 Age Minimum 26 Maximum 59 Average 42.5

Years of service Minimum 11 months

Maximum 13 years 8 months

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The selected organizational members were called if they wanted to participate in the study. A brief explanation of the study was provided during these calls. Every selected member of the organization was willing to participate in the research.

It was guaranteed to the interviewees that their names would remain private. All interviewees received a privacy statement in which the privacy policy was explained more thoroughly (appendix C). The privacy statement was send in a blind copy to the interviewees to remain anonymous among the interviewees. The interviews were held at the office of the interviewees during their workday. So the interviews were held on familiar territory. The interviews were conducted in private/closed offices. To conduct the interviews successfully, the interviewees had to possess the information, understand their role in the interview and be motivated to cooperate (Cooper & Schindler, 2008). This was done by giving background information about the research and themes and stating the boundaries of time to conduct the interview. The researcher had to secure cooperation of the participant, record the answers accurate and complete and establish the appropriate interview environment (Cooper & Schindler, 2008). This was done through the use of the privacy statement, a voice recorder and private interview rooms.

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and Liu and Arnett (2000) were transformed in open questions about the indicators of quality of information. Questions were asked about the usefulness of information and the adequacy of information. Trust in management was based on the scale of Mayer and Davis (2000). The questions of Mayer and Davis (2000) on each item were taken together and than formed into an open question about every indicator that was used in this research. Trust is broken down in ability, benevolence, integrity and trust. To measure pre-‐training conditions, the scale of Bulut and Culha (2010) was used and questions of this scale were combined to create the open questions used during this research. This instrument is about choice for training, social support for training and motivation for training. For policies and procedures, the researcher designed a set of questions since no appropriate scale was available on flexibility and support. The final questionnaire is shown in appendix B. The questions were asked in a hierarchical sequence (Cooper & Schindler, 2008) starting with broad questions and ending with more specific questions about a topic.

3.2 Quality criteria

Quality criteria were used to control the quality of this research (Van Aken et al., 2007). By managing the quality criteria the quality of the research was increased. The three most important quality criteria that were used are controllability, reliability and validity (Swanborm, 1996; Yin, 1994). These three will be discussed for the research.

Controllability was increased for this research through revealing how the study was performed in the methodology section (Van Aken et al., 2007) and being presented as precise as possible to increase the controllability (Swanborn, 1996).

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Reliability of the research is higher when the research results are independent of the researcher (Van Aken et al., 2007). The research is reliable when it does not matter who conducts the research. Conducting this research with multiple researchers could increase reliability (Van Aken et al., 2007). Standardization of the procedures for data collection, analysis and interpretation increases the researcher reliability (Swanborn, 1996). Finally, developing a case study protocol also helps to increase the researcher reliability (Yin, 1994). The case study protocol that was used for this research is in appendix A.

Instrument reliability was increased by the use of multiple questions to study one variable increases the instrument reliability (Swanborn, 1996). In this research, every variable was studied by multiple questions. The use of multiple research instruments, triangulation (Yin, 1994), could increase the instrument reliability (Van Aken et al., 2007).

To increase respondent reliability in this research, people with differing views on the topic were interviewed. The research becomes more reliable when results obtained by the researcher do not differ throughout the rest of the people that could have been studied (Van Aken et al., 2007). Further the use of people in different functions and groups increases reliability and the study of multiple people also increases the reliability (Van Aken et al., 2007).

Validity is the third quality criterion to evaluate the research results. The research is valid when the instruments that are used really measure what the designer actually wants to measure (Cooper & Schindler, 2008). It is important for the research to be valid because than the instruments really measured what was supposed to be measured.

When a concept is covered completely and the components that are measured do fit the concept the construct validity is high. In this research the use of semi-‐structured interviews helped to cover all concepts that should be covered. The semi-‐structured interview gave space to cover some concepts that are not measured by the original interview. Also triangulation could increase the construct validity (Yin, 1994).

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Aken et al., 2007). When generalizability of results is possible the external validity is high. In this study one one case is studied, which decrease the possibility to generalize the results. To increase the external validity, this study should be done in multiple settings.

3.3 Data analysis

After the data was collected, the data analysis followed. To analyze the data that was collected in the case study Kwalitan was used as analysis tool. Kwalitan is useful to analyze qualitative research data. The relevant information that was collected during the interviews was labeled under readiness to change, the type of culture, the quality and communication of information, trust in top management, the flexibility of policies and procedures or the pre-‐training conditions. After the data was labeled, the data was coded to connect it to indicators of the variables. All data that was connected to the variables was included in the results. Categories were made to group the codes and to keep oversight. The codes were sentences that gave an opinion about indicators of the variables. The sub-‐questions were the basis of the categories the codes were put into. All the codes in a category provided the data on how the variable influenced the readiness to change and how different categories of interviewees differ from each other. Ultimately the analyses of the data lead to the answering of the sub-‐questions and the research question.

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4. RESULTS

In this chapter the answers of the interviewees are presented. The results help to investigate the influence of the independent variables on the readiness to change. Quotes are used to provide the answers of the interviewees. Not all quotes are included; appendix D presents some more quotes related to the questions that are answered by the interviewees. The questions that are asked are stated in appendix B.

4.1 Readiness to change

There is consensus among the interviewees about what the change includes. According to the interviewees the change includes a transition from the governmental market towards the private, commercial, market. “The change of XYZ includes a shift in the focus. There is a shift from governmental clients towards commercial clients.” This transition requires more specialism to increase the quality of the services that are provided for the customers. One of the interviewees states the following: The change is launched to satisfy the demands of our customers; they require us to be more specialists instead of generalists. The interviewees state that the effects of the change are a fit between commercial customers and XYZ, specialist knowledge, a higher added value for the customer, a decrease of regional knowledge and more travelling.

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name the change a crazy idea of management. One of them states: “One emotion I feel often is doubt. In general I doubt this crazy idea of change.”

The cognitive dimension of the attitude towards readiness to change includes the beliefs about the change (Piderit, 2000). The interviewees that are cognitively ready to change include the five business line managers and the four team managers and four of the eight employees. These thirteen, cognitively ready, employees state that their work is eased by the change since they are specialists and work in a standardized way. However, there is a risk of simplifying the work so much that it gets tiring. It is also proposed that the customers do really benefit of the change because they receive a more specialized service. One interviewee noted the following: “Although geographically bigger, the business line is easier to lead because of specialization. I can now focus on the development of the business line. This helps to stay ahead of our market.” Since XYZ has more specialized knowledge, the service is of a higher quality. Further it is noted that the company is more incisive now because the business lines can act as separate businesses. Although the business lines can act independent businesses, it was mentioned by two business line managers and two employees that they should watch out for overlooking the opportunities of cross selling. Four of the eight employees are not cognitively ready to change. According to them their work is getting harder to do since regional knowledge that is necessary for them to work is harder to obtain and maintain. Further, it was mentioned that the quality of the services is decreasing because of the change. The effect on the customer is a lower quality of services instead of an increased service quality. The success rate of the clients also decreases.

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the interviewees are not intentionally ready to change. The employees that are not intentionally ready are one business line manager, one team manager and six employees. These people are not actively contributing to the change. One of the interviewees stated that: “he (himself) was really not contributing in any way to the change”. It was also mentioned that the ship has sailed when it comes to the change and therefore active participation is not possible. It was also stated that ideas were not mentioned anymore because top management never uses these ideas. Finally it was mentioned that energy to change is lacking.

Now the results of the independent variables are discussed. 4.2 Type of culture

The cultural types are based on typologies of the competing values framework of Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983). The results are based on the internal process culture and the open systems culture. The open systems culture aims at stability and control through the means of information management, precise communication and data-‐based decision-‐making. The open systems culture aims at innovation and development through adaptability and readiness, visionary communication and adaptable decision-‐making.