Change Recipients’ Reactions to Organizational Change

2011/02/07 by Shaul Oreg, Maria Vakola, Achilles A. Armenakis +1 · 984 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Health Professions · Psychology · #Context (archaeology) #Empirical research #Epistemology #Harm #Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior #Management Theory and Practice #Occupational Health and Safety Research #Organizational change #Organizational commitment #Planned change #Political science #Psychology #Public relations #Social psychology

paper · doi:10.1177/0021886310396550

published in The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 47(4), 461-524 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex publication_date 2011/02/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

This study reviews quantitative empirical studies of change recipients’ reactions to organizational change. The authors reviewed studies published between 1948 and 2007, out of which 79 met the criteria of being quantitative studies of change recipients’ reactions to an organizational change. Through an inductive review, the authors unravel a model of (a) explicit reactions to change, in which these reactions are conceptualized as tridimensional attitudes; (b) reaction antecedents that comprise prechange antecedents (viz., change recipient characteristics and internal context) and change antecedents (viz., change process, perceived benefit/harm, and change content); and (c) change consequences, including work-related and personal consequences. On the basis of their review the authors conclude by proposing directions for future research and practical managerial implications.

Citations

• Accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research designs.
• The measurement of organizational commitment
• Commitment to organizational change: Extension of a three-component model.
• Creating Readiness for Organizational Change
• Overcoming Resistance to Change
• Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies.

Cited by

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• Predicting Job Crafting From the Socially Embedded Perspective: The Interactive Effect of Job Autonomy, Social Skill, and Employee Status
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• Theorizing Leadership Credibility: The Concept and Causes of the Perceived Credibility of Leadership Initiatives
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• Coping with transition pain: An emotions perspective on phase-outs in sustainability transitions
• The Origins of Lewin’s Three-Step Model of Change
• Merger-specific trust cues in the development of trust in new supervisors during an organizational merger: A naturally occurring quasi-experiment
• Technology-Induced Stress and Employee Resistance in the Context of Digital Transformation and Identification of Countermeasures
• A mediation model of change communication and collective readiness for change

Related

• Management Reactions to Technological Change
• Transformational Leadership and Employees’ Reactions to Organizational Change: Evidence From a Meta-Analysis
• On the Receiving End
• Readiness for Organizational Change
• Creating Readiness for Organizational Change