Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Employee Receptiveness: A Process Perspective on a Planned Change Project

Steffens, Marie Laura LU and Joswig, Isabelle Evelyn LU (2019) BUSN49 20191
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
In recent decades, digitalisation has been a catalyst for economic growth, along which a vital need emerged for contemporary organisations to rapidly anticipate and react to changes. Organisational change is thus a recognised and widely researched topic within the literature. As we study a software implementation, executed as planned change project, we take on a process perspective on change, particularly since planned changes are within the literature criticised to neglect contextual influences. By this, we investigate the influential factors of (1) language, (2) organisational change and (3) identity work as we aspire to assess employee receptiveness. In conducting a qualitative in-depth case study at R&H Consulting we consequently... (More)
In recent decades, digitalisation has been a catalyst for economic growth, along which a vital need emerged for contemporary organisations to rapidly anticipate and react to changes. Organisational change is thus a recognised and widely researched topic within the literature. As we study a software implementation, executed as planned change project, we take on a process perspective on change, particularly since planned changes are within the literature criticised to neglect contextual influences. By this, we investigate the influential factors of (1) language, (2) organisational change and (3) identity work as we aspire to assess employee receptiveness. In conducting a qualitative in-depth case study at R&H Consulting we consequently follow an interpretive approach to grasp employees’ interpretations and understandings. While the organisation of interest is structured into three departments with distinct sub-cultures, we investigate their reactions to the change at a departmental level. Through this, our findings provide support for all three influential factors to significantly effect employees’ understandings. Complemented with an assessment of the departments’ readiness for change, we thereafter introduce a change reception matrix that represents the departments’ receptions towards the planned change. As our findings and resulting theoretical implications can be generalised to organisations at large, we contribute to the existing knowledge about organisational change and provide practical implications for contemporary organisations. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Steffens, Marie Laura LU and Joswig, Isabelle Evelyn LU
supervisor
organization
course
BUSN49 20191
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Planned Change, Process Perspective, Employee Receptiveness, Language, Organisational Culture, Identity Work, Sub-Cultures, In-Depth Case Study, Qualitative Research, Abductive Study, Software Implementation, Management Consultancy
language
English
id
8980761
date added to LUP
2019-07-04 16:38:27
date last changed
2019-07-04 16:38:27
@misc{8980761,
  abstract     = {{In recent decades, digitalisation has been a catalyst for economic growth, along which a vital need emerged for contemporary organisations to rapidly anticipate and react to changes. Organisational change is thus a recognised and widely researched topic within the literature. As we study a software implementation, executed as planned change project, we take on a process perspective on change, particularly since planned changes are within the literature criticised to neglect contextual influences. By this, we investigate the influential factors of (1) language, (2) organisational change and (3) identity work as we aspire to assess employee receptiveness. In conducting a qualitative in-depth case study at R&H Consulting we consequently follow an interpretive approach to grasp employees’ interpretations and understandings. While the organisation of interest is structured into three departments with distinct sub-cultures, we investigate their reactions to the change at a departmental level. Through this, our findings provide support for all three influential factors to significantly effect employees’ understandings. Complemented with an assessment of the departments’ readiness for change, we thereafter introduce a change reception matrix that represents the departments’ receptions towards the planned change. As our findings and resulting theoretical implications can be generalised to organisations at large, we contribute to the existing knowledge about organisational change and provide practical implications for contemporary organisations.}},
  author       = {{Steffens, Marie Laura and Joswig, Isabelle Evelyn}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Employee Receptiveness: A Process Perspective on a Planned Change Project}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}