Chapter One -- Introduction

Chapter One -- Introduction

1.0 Introduction

In today’s business environment, organisations are required to endure changes in order to remain competitive (Smith, 2005). Consequently, organisational change has been a subject of research for ongoing years; moreover, there has been growing concern on how to manage change, as well as the ‘people’ in the process (Armenakis et al, 2007; Oakland & Tanner, 2007). Research highlights the importance of employees in organisational change, as they are considered a crucial factor in achieving change as well as an obstacle to change (Smith, 2005). It is generally accepted that many organisational change processes are unsuccessful due to failing to consider the important human dimension during the process (Bovey and Hede, 2001; Elving, 2005; Levine, 1997). Commonly there is a tendency in organisations to ignore the effects that change may have on individuals, thus resulting in ineffective change implementation due to employees resisting to change (Smith, 2006; Val & Fuentes, 2003). Therefore, taking all arguments into account it appears that a broader analysis of the ‘effects of organisational change on employees’ is required for this study, as well as considering the factors that assist employees during the change process and the role of the manager. Taking these factors into consideration will help to understand employees’ perception and attitudes towards change along with identifying measures for an effective change implementation.

Consequently, the following question is used to provide a direction for this study: “What are the effects of organisational change on employees and the role of the manager?” The research question aims to identify the factors in an effective change implementation. Furthermore, the research attempts to understand what employees require to enable an effective change process. The research will be guided by the research question and proposed hypotheses after reviewing the literature.

The findings of the research is obtained through the use of a mixed method approach, that is, the use of quantitative research to establish employees’ perceptions on organisational change by the use of questionnaires, and qualitative research to understand the role of the manager in this process by the use of focus groups. Subsequently, triangulation of the data is then formulated.

This study is achieved in several sections. Firstly, the study commences with a literature review focusing on the topic followed by the methodological processes employed in this study along with providing a justification for its use as well as acknowledging the limitations. The later chapter details the findings of the research, whilst recognising the significant trends in the results followed by discussions of the overall findings, as well as acknowledging the limitations of the study and scope for future research, before coming to a viable conclusion.