Journal of Chinese Human Resources Management

Intra-department communication and employees' reaction to organizational change:

The moderating effect of emotional intelligence
Chaoying Tang Yunxia Gao
Article information:
To cite this document:
Chaoying Tang Yunxia Gao, (2012),"Intra-department communication and employees' reaction to
organizational change", Journal of Chinese Human Resources Management, Vol. 3 Iss 2 pp. 100 - 117
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/20408001211279210
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

Downloaded on: 24 February 2015, At: 00:04 (PT)

References: this document contains references to 92 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 1902 times since 2012*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
Gabriele Giorgi, (2013),"Organizational emotional intelligence: development of a model", International
Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 21 Iss 1 pp. 4-18 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/19348831311322506
Paula Matos Marques Simoes, Mark Esposito, (2014),"Improving change management: how
communication nature influences resistance to change", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 33 Iss
4 pp. 324-341 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JMD-05-2012-0058
Galit Meisler, Eran Vigoda-Gadot, (2014),"Perceived organizational politics, emotional intelligence and work
outcomes: Empirical exploration of direct and indirect effects", Personnel Review, Vol. 43 Iss 1 pp. 116-135
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/PR-02-2012-0040

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by 540409 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for
Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines
are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company
manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as
providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee
on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive
preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-8005.htm

JCHRM
3,2 Intra-department communication
and employees’ reaction to
organizational change
100
The moderating effect of emotional
intelligence
Chaoying Tang and Yunxia Gao
Management School of Graduate University, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

Beijing, China

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating effect of employee emotional
intelligence on the relationship of intra-department communications and employee’s reaction to
organizational change in China.
Design/methodology/approach – Based on the literatures in organizational change,
organizational communications and emotional intelligence, the authors derived three hypotheses
which were tested with data collected in a large state-owned enterprise (SOE) in the telecommunication
industry. Factor analysis and regression analysis were combined for the hypothesis tests.
Findings – It was found that intra-department communications positively influenced employee’s
reaction to organizational change with employees’ emotional intelligence moderating the relationship.
When employee’s emotional intelligence is higher, intra-department communication has greater
positive effect on employee’s reaction to change.
Research limitations/implications – With the adopted western measurement scales, this study
was unable to reveal the Chinese contextual aspect of organizational communications. As the data
were self-reported, they may have common source deviation.
Practical implications – To foster and maintain employees’ positive reactions to change, managers
and organizations may consider developing strategies to improve employees’ emotional intelligence,
so as to embrace future changes.
Originality/value – This is an initial effort in examining the joint effect of intra-department
communications and employee’s emotional intelligence on employee’s reaction to organizational
change. It may lead to additional research on organizational change management.
Keywords China, Organizational change, Change management, Employees behaviour,
Human resource management, Intra-department communication, Emotional intelligence
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
In today’s business world, change has become a constant. Facing fierce market
competitions, organizational change is the only way to survive and grow. Organizational
change is coupled with uncertainty, challenges and stress (Daft and Steers, 1986;
Journal of Chinese Human Resource Rafferty and Griffin, 2006). The resistance to organizational change from employees
Management has been recognized as an important area in change management (Duck, 1993). As such,
Vol. 3 No. 2, 2012
pp. 100-117
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2040-8005
The study is supported by the China National Science Foundation under the agreement
DOI 10.1108/20408001211279210 No. 71173214.
 successfully managing employees’ reaction to organizational change becomes a critical Intra-department
human resources management (HRM) function and a key requirement for leaders communication
involved in facilitating organizational change (Waddell and Sohal, 1998).
Studies have found that organizational communications are an effective way to
manage employees’ resistance during change (Frahm and Brown, 2007). Particularly,
communications help establish organizational interactive fairness (Morrison and
Robinson, 1997) and improve the employees’ reaction to organizational change 101
(Kotter and Schilesinger, 2008). Yet, during a change process, uncertainty and employee
perceived unfairness tend to put the employee into negative emotion (Huy, 2002; Morrison
and Robinson, 1997), often coupled with fear, anger, and frustration (Fugate et al., 2002;
Bartunek, 1984). Negative emotions in turn affect employees’ reaction toward the change
process. In other words, without appropriate emotion management, organizational
communications may even contribute to increased employee resistance.
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

Employee’s reaction to change is a result of cognitive appraisal affected by emotions.

According to the “affect infusion model” by Forgas and Joseph (1995), individuals’ emotions
play a substantial role in the cognitive appraisal process. Positive emotions help individuals’
evaluation of the risks associated with change positively and accept the outcome of the
change in advance (Johnson and Tversky, 1983; Mittal and Ross, 1998). Negative mood has
an opposite effect. The literature has noted that during an organizational change process,
employees with higher emotional intelligence tend to maintain positive emotions and
manage their negative emotions when unfavorable information is communicated (Joseph
and Newman, 2010; Kafetsiosa and Zampetakis, 2008).
Hence, communications and emotional intelligence appear to jointly shape employee’s
reaction to change. Yet, few studies have empirically analyzed the joint effect of
organizational communications and employee’s emotional intelligence. To understand
this under-investigated topic, we aim to explore the moderating effect of employees’
emotional intelligence on the relationship between intra-department communications and
employee’s reaction to organizational change.

Literature review
Employees’ reaction to organizational change
Successful organizational change management must gain the hearts and minds of the
involved employees (Duck, 1993). Nadler (1981) has described three employee’s reactions
to organizational change: positive support, neutral, and resistance. During the process of
organizational change, employees often feel uncertain, thus are unable to anticipate
the likelihood of the outcomes, especially when there is a lack of information about
a cause-effect relationship (Milliken, 1987). In the meantime, new organizational strategy,
new structure and work procedures during a change process often make employees’
routines disrupted, and induce more challenging work and requirements for new
competences (Oreg et al., 2011; Porras and Silvers, 1991). Therefore, employees often
experience role-conflict, work-related stress and concerns for job security (Hui and Lee,
2000). Particularly, they often reevaluate their organizational status and related
treatments in relation to the changing organizational policies, management actions, and
organizational values (Kiefer, 2005), When the employees believe that they are adversely
treated with unfair, unsupportive or unappreciated management behaviors or attitudes,
they are more likely to resist the change (Kiefer, 2005; Hellgren and Sverke, 2003;
Conlon and Shapiro, 2002).
 JCHRM A majority of qualitative and quantitative studies on the outcomes of organizational
3,2 change have found employees’ emotions induced by change are mainly negative, often
associated with anger, anxiety and frustration (Huy, 2002; Fugate et al., 2002; Bartunek,
1984). As a result, such negative reactions reduce the employee’s commitment and
motivation, hurt organizational trust, and increase employees’ withdrawing behaviors
with a lower level of performance (Rusbult et al., 1988). Therefore, employees’ reaction
102 to change is a critical and significant element in organizational change management
(Ettlie and Reza, 1992).
Psychologically, employees’ reaction to change is based on a cognitive appraisal process.
The literature has revealed two aspects of cognitive appraisal (Lazarus, 2006; Zabid et al.,
2004). One is primary appraisal, including the appraisal of the meaning and consequence of
the change to themselves. An associated aspect is the employee’s assessment on whether
they are able to handle the change and the approaches to coping with the change. The
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

second appraisal determines employees’ attitude towards the organizational change.

A potential reactive response is often determined through the secondary appraisal, where
people evaluate their own capabilities for dealing with a relevant change event (Lazarus and
Folkman, 1984). If they believe they have adequate resources to deal with the change or the
event, they are more likely to respond actively. Otherwise they may adopt a passive
approach and resist the change. During the process of forming the reactions, employees’
emotions are often involved. In essence, emotions are a source of information (Schwarz and
Clore, 1983). Cognition and emotions are closely intertwined in the cognitive appraisals that
produce either positive or negative reactions to change (Clore and Ortony, 2000).

Organizational communications in change management

Organizational communication is a process by which information is exchanged and
understood by two or more parties, usually with the intent to motivate or influence
behaviors (Frahm and Brown, 2007). Organizational communications are a critical and
effective process in change management. It can substantially reduce resistance during an
organizational change (Kotter and Schilesinger, 2008) and increase employees’
commitment (Sharma and Patterson, 1999). First, it is an approach to reducing
perceptions on uncertainty (Brown, 2007), releasing employees stress and frustration
associated with the change (Schneider et al., 1996), and enhancing employees’ sense of
controlling and well-being (Bordia et al., 2004a, b, p. 358; Kramer et al., 2004). Second, when
leaders communicate openly and encourage employees’ participation and autonomy,
organizational trust and perceived procedure fairness in organizational decisions can
be improved during the change (Reichers et al., 1997). With effective communications,
employees are more committed to organizational change (Sharma and Patterson, 1999)
and less likely to resist it (Kotter and Schilesinger, 2008).
To date, the literature on organizational change has paid more attention to cross-level
managerial communications (Covin, 1990; Nelissen and Selm, 2008), dyad communications
(Lewis, 1999), managerial communication skills (Piderit, 2000), and communications
among different groups (Schein, 1993). While existing literature has offered helpful
insights on organizational communications in change management, few have investigated
how intra-department communications affects employees’ reaction to change.
During a change process, the direct supervisor often becomes a preferred source of
implementation-related and job-relevant information (Allena et al., 2007). Compared to top
executives being caught up in many internal and external demands, middle managers are
 likely to have more time to interact with their employees (Huy, 2002). In fact, middle Intra-department
managers form a self-emerging social support group that provides an emotional buffer communication
against stressful events for employees (Stroebe and Stroebe, 1996; Huy, 2002). Hence,
communicating with the supervisor and peers in the same department is helpful for
employees to handle change-induced stress and uncertainty. To this end,
intra-department communications are an integral component of organizational
communications. 103
Generally speaking, intra-department communication includes the following aspects:
first, coordinating work load and task schedules; second, encouraging employees to
participate in decision making and problem solving; third, addressing employees’ concerns
by the manager. Leaders as change agents must provide employees with abundant,
relevant information regarding the impending change, justify the appropriateness and
rationale for the change, and address employees’ questions and concerns for the acceptance
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

of, and participation in the change (Green, 2004). Finally, department members share and
exchange knowledge, information and opinions.
Based on the above analysis, we derive the following hypothesis:
H1. Intra-department communications create positive effect on employee’s
reaction to organizational change.

Emotional intelligence and employee’s reaction to change

Studies have found that employees’ resistance to change and reaction to uncertainty is
related to their personality differences (Wanberg et al., 2000; Barrick and Mount, 1991).
Some are more likely than others to accept change in the workplace. This tendency is
often demonstrated through workplace behaviors such as self-discipline, self-esteem
and being optimistic, self-control (Ashford and Black, 1996; Wanberg et al., 2000),
self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997), or emotional stability (Barrick and Mount, 1991). It is also
represented by individual orientations toward creative activities or differences in
defensive rigidity (Dodgson and Wood, 1998). Those with certain personalities take
changes with abhorrence. Such personalities include cognitive rigidity, lack of
psychological resilience, intolerance to the adjustment period involved in changes, and
preference for maintaining the current situation (Oreg, 2003).
Studies have found that employees with a higher level of emotional intelligence (EI)
perform better and have higher job satisfaction during change (Huy, 1999; George and
Jones, 2001; Vakola et al., 2004). A primary reason is that emotions affect individual’s
cognitive appraisal process (Huy, 1999). According to the “affective events theory”
(Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996), organizational changes often create various “affective
events” for individuals (Basch and Fisher, 2000). Through a process of cognitive appraisal,
these “affective events” produce different emotions in different individuals (Conlon and
Shapiro, 2002; Weiss et al., 1999). Hence, emotions are joint outcomes of affective events
and a cognitive appraisal process (Weiss, 2002; Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996). But
emotions and cognition are separated psychology systems (Smollan, 2006; Lazarus, 1982).
Clearly, the resulting emotions will affect one’s cognitive reaction to organizational change.
The affect infusion model has noted that an individual’s emotions play an important
role in determining one’s risk orientation (Forgas and Joseph, 1995). Risk analysis is a
critical issue on organizational change appraisal (Kiefer, 2005). Positive emotions help
people take risks positively and accept the outcomes in advance (Mittal and Ross, 1998).
In turn, employees with positive emotion can broaden or extend the pathways that are
 JCHRM generated in goal pursuit and attribute the setback to external, one-time circumstances
3,2 and consider alternative pathways to success during hard times (Fredrickson, 2001).
In this process, positive emotions can also help individuals cope with stress (Martin et al.,
2005; Tugade et al., 2004; Avey and Wernsing, 2008). Negative emotion has the contrary
effect (Folkman et al., 1986). Additionally, the relationship between cognition and
emotions are bidirectional – emotions influence cognition, cognition elicits emotions
104 (Lazarus, 1982). Therefore, emotions are organized psychobiological responses linking
physiological, cognitive, and motivational systems (Lazarus, 1991; Mayer et al., 2008).
Furthermore, under similar situations, employees with different abilities may respond
to the same change with different emotions. Emotional intelligence is a social skill and
ability in interpersonal relationships (Mayer et al., 2008). The higher the level of EI an
employee possesses, the better the individual in regulating emotions in responding to
appropriate emotions to the contexts (Mayer and Salovey, 1997), and in being aware of the
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

potential impact of corresponding behaviors on one’s peers and managers (Jordan et al.,
2002). Thus, the reactions of the individual to the affective event will be more positive
(Kafetsiosa and Zampetakis, 2008).
Organizational communication is necessary for establishing organizational fairness
and promoting employee respect, yet its major focus is on facilitating the flows of
information, knowledge, and perceptions (Kickul et al., 2002). It may help individuals
build positive emotions (Cremer et al., 2005). However, during communications, negative
emotional expression needs to be controlled (Kramer and Hess, 2002). If employees have
high emotional intelligence, they will be more capable of maintaining positive emotions
and take advantage of the intra-department communications in coping with change
(Wong and Law, 2004). As such, we hypothesize:
H2. Employees’ EI positively affects their reactions to organizational change.
H3. Employees’ EI moderates intra-department communications and their reaction
to change such that higher EI improves intra-department communication’s
positive effect on employee’s reaction.
We present the hypothesized relationships for this study in Figure 1.

Method
Samples
We selected a large state-owned enterprise (SOE) in the telecommunication industry in
China to collect the data for this study. At the time of the data collection in June 2010,
this large SOE was experiencing a large-scale organizational change. It was a new

Employee’s Emotional
Intelligence (EI) H2

Intra-department Employee’s
Communication, emotional
Coordination, H3 reaction to
Participation, and organizationa
Expression l change
Figure 1. Communication.
H1
Hypothesized framework
 organization merging two formerly already large SOEs in the telecommunications Intra-department
market. During the change, new departments were created and new managers were
appointed while the employees were kept the same on similar job functions and
communication
responsibilities. We consider this organization an appropriate site for this study. We
invited 312 employees in the newly formed organization to participate in the study
through a random selection process. We received 290 returned responses, which resulted
in 277 effective responses. The response rate was 88.7 percent. 105
Measure
Emotional intelligence. We used the 16-item scale by Wong and Law (2004) to measure
emotional intelligence. This scale has been validated in a study in China (Law et al., 2008).
The items covered four dimensions of EI: “self-emotions appraisal”, “others-emotions
appraisal”, “use of emotions” and “regulation of emotions”. The Cronbach’s as for the four
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

dimensions were 0.775, 0.815, 0.824, and 0.823, respectively. The Cronbach’s a for
the overall measure in this study was 0.816. The complete items used can be found in the
Appendix.
Employee’s reaction to organizational change. For this measure, we adopted the
27-item scale by Piderit (1999, 2000). It included five dimensions: positive emotional
reaction, negative emotional reaction, positive attitude, negative attitude, and cognitive
reaction. The Cronbach’s a for the five dimensions were 0.748, 0.851, 0.887, 0.774,
and 0.783, respectively. The overall Cronbach’s a for the measure was 0.785 in this
study.
Intra-department communication. We combined the communication scale
(Cristina and Freek, 2003) and the department communication scale (Hatfield and
Huseman, 1982) into a 17-item intra-department communication measure. It included
four dimensions: coordination, participation, expression, and communication. During
the change period, leaders are often cautious about encouraging employees to express
their feelings (Frost, 2003). For this reason, this study did not include variables on
employee’s expression of their feelings in the intra-department communication. As listed
in the 17 items (Appendix), perceived higher degree of coordination implies that the
department leaders seek to explain or communicate with subordinates on situations in
the organization and offer feedback on one’s job performance. Higher levels of
participation indicates that department members can challenge the leaders on work
style for being actively involved in the daily operations. Expression suggests that,
during the organizational management process, department leaders are expressive
about the subordinate’s job performance and personal life. Communication means that
department members are able to share and exchange task information and related ideas
during the operation process. The Cronbach’s as for the four dimension were 0.816,
0.794, 0.803 and 0.821, respectively. The overall Cronbach’s a for this measure was 0.798
in this study. Detailed items are listed in Appendix.
Control variables. We included control variables for this study. They include gender,
age, marriage status, education background, job category, job tenure with the
organization, and job function. We report the descriptions of the samples in Table I.
Because all items adopted in this study were originally developed in the English
language, we adopted a forward-back translation approach to ensure the accuracy of the
measures. We first translated all items into Chinese, and then back-translated into
English by an independent bilingual scholar. Through comparison, potential
inconsistencies of the Chinese translation from the original items were reevaluated and
 JCHRM
Variable Attribute n %
3,2
Gender Male 156 56.3
Female 121 43.7
Marriage status Single 58 20.94
Married 213 76.90
106 Divorced 6 2.17
Education background Under-graduate 177 63.90
Graduate 15 5.42
Others 85 30.69
Age 20-25 years old 6 2.17
26-35 years old 126 45.49
36-45 years old 80 28.88
46-55 years old 43 15.16
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

Job category Technical staff 25 9.03

Assistant engineer 137 49.46
Engineer 98 35.38
Senior engineer 17 6.14
Job tenure 2-4 years 137 49.46
5-8 years 98 35.38
8 years or above 17 6.14
Job function Marketing 120 43.3
Maintenance 105 37.9
Table I. Management 52 18.8
Demographic description
of samples Note: n ¼ 277

revised accordingly before the items were compiled into the survey. All items were rated
on the Likert scale from 1 to 7, with 7 as strongly agree, and 1 being strongly disagree. We
analyzed the data using SPSS 13.0 and AMOS 7.0.

Results
Data validation
As the data was collected from the same source, we first conducted a confirmatory factor
analysis (CFA) to determine if common method variance (CMV) presented a problem for
the analysis (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986). We compared a single latent factor to all
manifest variables with the measurement model (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986). The
one-factor model yielded a x 2 of 579.92 (df ¼ 105) compared to x 2 of 425.81 (df ¼ 98) for
the measurement model. The fit for the one-factor model is substantially worse than the
measurement model, suggesting that CMV bias did not constitute a serious threat.
Additionally, to examine potential problem of multicollinearity, we calculated variance
inflation factors (VIF). The maximum VIF within the models was less than 2.0, which
was well below the rule-of-thumb cut-off of 10 (Neter et al., 1990).
To test the construct validity, we used CFA. The results of CFA showed that the
three variables have acceptable construct validity as reported in Table II.

Hypothesis test
We report descriptive statistics including means, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and
standard deviations of variables in Table III. As can be seen, all three variables were
 positively correlated with each other. The highest correlation was between employee’s Intra-department
emotional intelligence and intra-department communication (r ¼ 0.419, p , 0.01). communication
In the subsequent regression analysis reported in Table IV, we found that
intra-department communication significantly and positively affected employee reaction
to organizational change (b ¼ 0.313, p , 0.01). Intra-department communication
significantly and positively affected the “positive emotional reaction”, “positive
intention” and “cognitive reaction” (b ¼ 0.161, p , 0.01; b ¼ 0.257, p , 0.01; b ¼ 0.384, 107
p , 0.01). This suggests that intra-department communication helps increase positive
reaction to organizational change. Meanwhile, intra-department communication
significantly and negatively associated with the “negative emotional reaction” and
“negative intention” (b ¼ 20.096, p , 0.05; b ¼ 20.121, p , 0.05). This indicated that
intra-department communication helps reduce negative reaction to organizational change.
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

Furthermore, its effects on positive reactions are stronger than the effects on negative
reactions. Hence, H1 is supported.
The moderating effect. After centering the independent and dependent variables based
on the recommendation by Kreft and de Leeuw (1998), we used linear regression to explore
the moderating role of emotional intelligence on employee’s reaction to organizational
change. In the analysis, we first included control variables only in the model. We then

Variable x2 df x 2/df RMSEA NFI CFI IFI TLI

Intra-department communication (IDC) 542.41 105 3.20 0.08 0.86 0.84 0.80 0.78
Employee’s emotional intelligence (EI) 425.81 98 2.20 0.08 0.89 0.88 0.89 0.79
Reaction to organizational change (ROC) 768.45 187 2.20 0.08 0.90 0.88 0.89 0.88 Table II.
Confirmatory factor
Note: n ¼ 277 analyses

Variable Mean SD EI IDC ROC

EI 5.083 0.917 0.816

IDC 2.601 0.861 0.419 * * 0.798
ROC 2.892 0.806 0.233 * 0.316 * * 0.785 Table III.
Means, standard
Notes: Significant at: *p , 0.05 and * *p , 0.01; n ¼ 277; EI – employee’s emotional intelligence, deviations and zero-order
IDC – intra-department communication, ROC – employee’s reaction to organizational change correlations matrix

Intra-department communication
Dependent variables b R2 DR 2 F

Employee’s reaction to organizational change 0.313 * * 0.115 0.090 27.36 * * *

Positive emotional reaction 2 0.161 * * 0.025 0.022 5.16 * *
Negative emotional reaction 2 0.096 * 0.019 0.016 12.56 * *
Positive intention 0.257 * * 0.066 0.063 19.44 * *
Negative intention 2 0.121 * 0.014 0.011 8.00 * *
Cognitive reaction 0.384 * * 0.147 0.144 47.13 * * Table IV.
Hierarchical regressions:
Note: Significant at: *p , 0.05 and * *p , 0.01 the effect of IDC on ROC
 JCHRM added centerized independent variables and moderating variables, EI and IDC to the
3,2 model. This treatment improved model fit significantly, yet the coefficient for EI was not
significant. In the last step, we added an interaction term between emotional intelligence
and intra-department communication (EI*IDC). The resulting estimates showed much
better results than the earlier analysis. Particularly, the interaction between EI and IDC
significantly influenced employee’s reaction to organizational change (b ¼ 2.96, p , 0.01),
108 and the direct effect of EI on employee’s reaction to change also became significant
(b ¼ 2.12, p , 0.05). Thus, the regression results supported both H2 and H3 and
confirmed the moderating effect of employee’s emotional intelligence on the relationship
of intra-department communication and employee’s reaction on organizational change.
We reported the regression results in Table V.
To further analyze the identified moderating effect of employees’ emotional
intelligence in Table V, we conducted the following analysis. By comparing the ratings
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

of emotional intelligence and intra-department communication with the averages rating,

we derived two categories of responses, high and low. The high category was the ratings
above the average, and the low category was below the average rating. We then used
SPSS and produced a visual diagram of the interactive effect shown in Figure 2. It
showed that when employee perceived emotional intelligence was higher,
intra-department communication could better facilitate employee’s positive reaction
to organizational change. In contrast, when the emotional intelligence is lower,
intra-department communication has a limited effect on influencing employee’s positive
reaction to organizational change.

Discussion and conclusion

In this study, we investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence,
intra-department communication, and employee’s reaction to organizational change,
particularly the moderating effect of emotional intelligence. We tested three hypotheses
derived from the existing literature. The results showed that intra-department
communication improved employees’ positive reaction to organizational change, and
this relationship was moderated by employees’ emotional intelligence.

Employee’s reaction to organizational change (RTC)

Variables Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

(Constant) 12.218 * * * 12.881 * * * 13.251 * * *

Gender 0.356 0.231 0.214
Marriage 21.824 21.139 2 1.435
Education 0.173 0.489 0.356
Job category 20.662 20.597 2 0.933
Job tenure 1.045 20.119 0.022
Job function 20.461 20.668 2 0.599
EI 1.692 2.122 *
IDC 4.056 * * * 4.004 * * *
EI*IDC 2.963 * *
R2 0.025 0.125 0.152
DR 2 0.025 0.099 0.028
Table V. DF 1.164 * * 15.204 * * * 8.780 * *
Moderating effect
analyses Notes: Significant at: *p , 0.05, * *p , 0.01, and * * *p , 0.001
 3.50 Intra-department
communication
3.40
Employee's reaction to
organizational change

3.30 employee's
emotional 109
intelligence
3.20 low
high
3.10
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

3.00 Figure 2.
The interactive effect
Low High
of emotional labor
Intra-department communication

This study contributes to our understanding of intra-department interactions among three

important variables during organizational change processes. First, we found a positive
effect of intra-organization communication on employee’s positive reactions to
organizational change. This effect is much higher than its negative effects on undesirable
reactions. More importantly, during the change process, employee’s emotional intelligence
played an important moderating role. These results highlighted that intra-department
communication intervened with employees’ cognitive appraisal process through
information sharing, thus increasing employee’s positive anticipation to change outcomes
as well as increasing procedure fairness and autonomy of the change. The findings also
suggest that organizations need to identify ways for employees’ EI management in order to
realize the benefit of intra-department communication, particularly during a change process.
This is because individuals’ negative mood toward organizational change may affect the
process of cognitive appraisal of the change and reduce positive reactions.
Our findings are complementary to existing research on communications role in the
organizational change literature. For example, Jimmieson et al. (2004) have found that the
role of communications was less obvious in later stages of organizational change
( Jimmieson et al., 2004). The results of this study showed the criticality of
intra-departmental communications at an earlier stage of change. The different roles of
communications in a change process may be that an earlier stage of change requires
creating the momentum needed, thus often involving in changes in organizational
missions, visions, or values other than physical changes in organizational policies or work
processes. In other words, organizational change in an earlier stage is often coupled with
more severe “shocks” as being perceived by employees (Weick and Quinn, 1999). Hence,
the role of communications is critical in facilitating the change. In contrast, at a later stage
when the change starts being implemented, the dust has settled, and the direction of the
change becomes clear. What is needed for employees is to follow the change momentum
and the determined direction of the change. Therefore, the role of communication as a
coping strategy may appear to be less critical (Callan, 1993; Klein, 1996).
Our study is also similar to previous studies in that success in the current business
environment can often be predicated by an organization’s ability to convince their
 JCHRM employees of the benefits associated with a proposed change initiative (Kiefer, 2005).
3,2 Intra-department communication helps interactive justice, which in turn helps
employees accept the organizational change (Kickul et al., 2002).
This study offers important implications for change management in organizations.
First, effective intra-department communications during a change process improve
employees’ positive reaction to the change. Such communications include adopting
110 effective communication channels to coordinate the department members’ work,
encouraging members to participate in problem-solving activities, and providing
updates on the organizational change process and status. Effective communications also
need to maintain a high level of idea exchange among department members and pay
attention to employee’s personal life during the change. These channels of
communications are likely to foster employees’ positive reaction to organizational
change and help reduce their feelings of uncertainty and stress caused by the change.
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

Second, an important management task in the process of organizational change is to

manage the employees’ emotions (Staw et al., 1994; Huy, 1999; Bartel and Saavedra,
2000). The moderating effect explored in this study implied that intra-department
communications regarding change play a limited role in handling employees’ negative
emotion. To foster and maintain employees’ positive reactions to change, a potentially
effective way is to improve employee’s emotional intelligence. Studies have shown that
EI may be increased and developed through training programs (Dulewicz and Higgs,
2004). Organizations may consider developing EI training programs as part of
employee development in anticipation of future constant changes.

Limitations and future research

A number of limitations in this study may lead to future research on the organizational
change dynamics. First, this study adopted instruments from the existing Western
literature regarding organizational communications, emotional intelligence, and
employee’s reaction to organizational change to investigate their interplays with data
collected in a large Chinese SOE organization. While the results showed consistence with
the existing Western literature, we may have missed some important contextual nuance
rooted in the Chinese context. It has been well known that the workplace communications
for Chinese employees are more indirect than their Western counterparts (Gao et al., 1996),
particularly in Chinese SOEs (Sun, 2000). With the adopted scales for this study, we were
unable to capture the contextual essence of communications during an organizational
change. Therefore, future research needs to develop indigenous instrument and measure
the Chinese related constructs to better understand change dynamics in the Chinese
context.
Second, the data collected for this study is self-reported, thus may have common
source deviation. Future research needs to incorporate organizational internal recorded
communications data for similar studies. Last, but not least, we collected data when the
SOE was at the initial stage of organizational change. Based on our earlier analysis, the
role of communications during organizational change process may display different
patterns in different stages ( Jimmieson et al., 2004). Future research may explore further
the nature and the pattern of communication along a change process. Such studies help
better understanding of the role of communications in facilitating organizational change
throughout the entire change process and have important practical implications for
organizations.
 References Intra-department
Allena, J., Jimmiesona, N.L., Bordiab, P. and Irmerc, B.E. (2007), “Uncertainty during communication
organizational change: managing perceptions through communication”, Journal of Change
Management, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 187-210.
Ashford, S.J. and Black, J.S. (1996), “Proactivity during organizational entry: the role of desire for
control”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 81 No. 2, pp. 199-214.
Avey, J.B. and Wernsing, T.S. (2008), “Can positive employees help positive organizational 111
change? Impact of psychological capital and emotions on relevant attitudes and
behaviors”, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 44 No. 1, pp. 48-70.
Bandura, A. (1997), Self-efficacy: The Exercise of Control, Freeman, New York, NY.
Barrick, M.R. and Mount, M.K. (1991), “The big five personality dimensions and job performance:
a meta-analysis”, Personal Psychology, Vol. 44 No. 1, pp. 1-26.
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

Bartel, C.A. and Saavedra, R. (2000), “The collective construction of work group moods”,
Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 45 No. 2, pp. 197-231.
Bartunek, J.M. (1984), “Changing interpretive schemes and organizational restructuring: the
example of a religious order”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 355-72.
Basch, J. and Fisher, C.D. (2000), “Affective events-emotions matrix: classification of work events
and associated emotions”, in Ashkanasy, N.M. (Ed.), Emotions in the Workplace: Research,
Theory and Practice, Quorum Books, Westport, CT, pp. 36-48.
Bordia, P., Hobman, E., Jones, E., Gallois, C. and Callan, V.J. (2004a), “Uncertainty during
organizational change: types, consequences, and management strategies”, Journal of
Business and Psychology, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 507-32.
Bordia, P., Hunt, E., Paulsen, N., Tourish, D. and DiFonzo, N. (2004b), “Uncertainty during
organizational change: is it all about control?”, European Journal of Work and
Organizational Psychology, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 345-65.
Brown, J.F. (2007), “First steps: linking change communication to change receptivity”, Journal of
Organizational Change Management, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 370-87.
Callan, V.J. (1993), “Individual and organizational strategies for coping with organizational
change”, Work & Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations, Vol. 7
No. 1, pp. 63-75.
Clore, G.L. and Ortony, A. (2000), “Cognition in emotion: always, sometimes, or never?”, in Lane, R.D.
and Nadel, L. (Eds), Cognitive Neuroscience of Emotion. Series in Affective Science, Oxford
University Press, New York, NY, pp. 24-61.
Conlon, D.E. and Shapiro, D.L. (2002), “Employee postings and company responses to
downsizing inquiries: implications for managing and reacting to organizational change”,
Advances in Qualitative Organization Research, Vol. 4, pp. 39-67.
Covin, T. (1990), “Participant perceptions of positive and negative influences on large scale
change”, Group and Organizational Studies, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 233-48.
Cremer, D., Stinglhamber, F. and Eisenberger, R. (2005), “Effects of own versus other’s fair
treatment on positive emotions: a field study”, The Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 145
No. 6, pp. 741-4.
Cristina, G. and Freek, V. (2003), “A healthy divide: subgroups as a stimulus for team learning
behavior”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 48 No. 2, pp. 202-39.
Daft, R.L. and Steers, R.M. (1986), Organizations: A Micro/Macro Approach, Seott Foreman
& Company, Glenview, IL.
 JCHRM Dodgson, P. and Wood, J.V. (1998), “Self-esteem and the cognitive accessibility of strengths and
weaknesses after failure”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 75 No. 1,
3,2 pp. 178-97.
Duck, J.D. (1993), “Managing change: the art of balancing”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 71
No. 6, pp. 109-18.
Dulewicz, V. and Higgs, M. (2004), “Can emotional intelligence be developed?”, International
112 Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 95-111.
Ettlie, J.E. and Reza, E.M. (1992), “Organizational integration and process innovation”, Academy
Management Journal, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 795-827.
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R.S., Dunkel-Schetter, C., DeLongis, A. and Gruen, R.J. (1986), “Dynamics
of a stressful encounter: cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes”, Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 50, pp. 992-1003.
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

Forgas, J.P. and Joseph, P. (1995), “Mood and judgment: the affect infusion model (AIM)”,
Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 117 No. 1, pp. 39-66.
Frahm, J. and Brown, K. (2007), “First steps: linking change communication to change
receptivity”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 370-87.
Fredrickson, B.L. (2001), “The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: the
broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions”, American Psychologist, Vol. 56, pp. 218-26.
Frost, P.J. (2003), Toxic Emotion at Work, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
Fugate, M., Kinicki, A.J. and Scheck, C.L. (2002), “Coping with an organizational merger over four
stages”, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 55, pp. 905-28.
Gao, G., Stella, T.T. and William, B.G. (1996), “Chinese communication processes”, in
Bond, M.H. (Ed.), The Handbook of Chinese Psychology, Oxford University Press,
New York, NY.
George, J.M. and Jones, G.R. (2001), “Towards a process model of individual change in
organizations”, Human Relations, Vol. 54 No. 4, pp. 419-44.
Green, S.E. (2004), “A rhetorical theory of diffusion”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 29,
pp. 653-69.
Hatfield, J.D. and Huseman, R.C. (1982), “Perceptual congruence about communication as related
to satisfaction: moderating effects of individual characteristics”, The Academy of
Management Journal, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 349-58.
Hellgren, J. and Sverke, M. (2003), “Does job insecurity lead to impaired well-being or vice versa?
Estimation of cross-lagged effects using latent variable modeling”, Journal of
Organizational Behavior, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 215-36.
Hui, C. and Lee, C. (2000), “Moderating effects of organization-based self-esteem on
organizational uncertainty: employee response relationships”, Journal of Management,
Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 215-32.
Huy, Q.N. (1999), “Emotional capability, emotional intelligence, and radical change”, Academy of
Management Review, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 325-45.
Huy, Q.N. (2002), “Emotional balancing of organizational continuity and radical change: the
contribution of middle managers”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 47 No. 1, pp. 31-69.
Jimmieson, N., Terry, D. and Callan, V. (2004), “A longitudinal study of employee adaptation to
organizational change: the role of change-related information and change-related
self-efficacy”, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 11-27.
Johnson, E.J. and Tversky, A. (1983), “Affect, generalization, and the perception of risk”, Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 20-31.
 Jordan, P.J., Ashkanasy, N.M. and Hartel, C.E.J. (2002), “Emotional intelligence as moderator of Intra-department
emotional and behavioural reactions to job insecurity”, Academy of Management Review,
Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 361-72. communication
Joseph, D.L. and Newman, D.A. (2010), “Emotional intelligence: an integrative meta-analysis
and cascading model”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 95 No. 1, pp. 54-78.
Kafetsiosa, K. and Zampetakis, L.A. (2008), “Emotional intelligence and job satisfaction: testing
the mediatory role of positive and negative affect at work”, Personality and Individual 113
Differences, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 712-22.
Kickul, J., Lester, S.W. and Finkl, J. (2002), “Promise breaking during radical organizational
change: do justice interventions make a difference?”, Journal of Organizational Behavior,
Vol. 23, pp. 469-88.
Kiefer, T. (2005), “Feeling bad: antecedents and consequences of negative emotions in ongoing
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

change”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 26 No. 8, pp. 875-97.

Klein, S.M. (1996), “A management communication strategy for change”, Journal of
Organizational Change Management, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 32-46.
Kotter, J.P. and Schilesinger, L.A. (2008), “Choosing strategies for change”, Harvard Business
Review, Vol. 57 No. 21, pp. 106-44.
Kramer, M.W. and Hess, J.A. (2002), “Communication rules for the display of emotions in
organizational settings”, Management Communication Quarterly, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 66-80.
Kramer, M.W., Dougharty, D. and Pierce, T. (2004), “Managing uncertainty during a corporate
acquisition: a longitudinal study of communication during an airline acquisition”, Human
Communication Research, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 71-101.
Kreft, I. and de Leeuw, J. (1998), Introducing Multilevel Modeling, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Law, K.S., Wong, C.S., Huang, G.H. and Li, X.X. (2008), “The effects of emotional intelligence
on job performance and life satisfaction for the research and development scientists in
China”, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 51-69.
Lazarus, R.S. (1982), “Thoughts on the relations between emotion and cognition”, American
Psychologist, Vol. 37 No. 9, pp. 1019-24.
Lazarus, R.S. (1991), “Cognition and motivation in emotion”, American Psychologist, Vol. 46 No. 4,
pp. 352-67.
Lazarus, R.S. (2006), “Emotions and interpersonal relationships: toward a person-centered
conceptualization of emotions and coping”, Journal of Personality, Vol. 74, pp. 9-46.
Lazarus, R.S. and Folkman, S. (1984), Stress, Appraisal, and Coping, Springer, New York, NY.
Lewis, L. (1999), “Disseminating information and soliciting input during planned organizational
change”, Management Communication Quarterly, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 43-75.
Martin, A.J., Jones, E.S. and Callan, V.J. (2005), “The role of psychological climate in facilitating
adjustment during organizational change”, European Journal of Work and Organizational
Psychology, Vol. 14, pp. 263-89.
Mayer, J.D. and Salovey, P. (1997), “What is emotional intelligence”, in Salovey, P. and
Sluyter, D.J. (Eds), Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Educational
Implications, Basic Books, New York, NY, pp. 3-31.
Mayer, J.D., Salovey, P. and Caruso, D.R. (2008), “Emotional intelligence: new ability or eclectic
traits?”, American Psychologist, Vol. 63 No. 6, pp. 503-17.
Milliken, F.J. (1987), “Three types of perceived uncertainty about the environment: state, effect,
and response uncertainty”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 12 No. 1, p. 133.
 JCHRM Mittal, V. and Ross, W.T. Jr (1998), “The impact of positive and negative affect and issue framing
on issue interpretation and risk taking”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
3,2 Processes, Vol. 76 No. 3, pp. 298-324.
Morrison, E.W. and Robinson, S.L. (1997), “When employees feel betrayed: a model of how
psychological contract violation develops”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22 No. 1,
pp. 226-56.
114 Nadler, D.A. (1981), “Managing organizational change: a integrative perspective”, The Journal of
Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 191-211.
Nelissen, P. and Selm, M. (2008), “Surviving organizational change: how management
communication helps balance mixed feelings”, Corporate Communications: An
International Journal, Vol. 133, pp. 306-18.
Neter, J.W., Wasserman, M. and Kutner, H. (1990), Applied Linear Statistical Models, Irwin,
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

Homewood, IL.
Oreg, M.V., Vokola, M. and Armenakis, A. (2011), “Change recipients’ reactions to organizational
change”, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 47 No. 4, pp. 461-524.
Oreg, S. (2003), “Resistance to change: developing an individual differences measure”, Journal of
Applied Psychology, Vol. 88 No. 4, pp. 680-93.
Piderit, S.K. (1999), “Navigating relationships with coworkers: understanding employees’
attitudes toward an organizational change”, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Piderit, S.K. (2000), “Rethinking resistance and recognizing ambivalence: a multidimensional
view of attitudes toward an organizational change”, The Academy of Management Review,
Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 783-94.
Podsakoff, P.M. and Organ, D.W. (1986), “Self-reports in organizational research: problems and
prospects”, Journal of Management, Vol. 12, pp. 531-44.
Porras, J.I. and Silvers, R.C. (1991), “Organizational development and transformation”, Annual
Review of Psychology, Vol. 42, pp. 51-78.
Rafferty, A.E. and Griffin, M.A. (2006), “Perceptions of organizational change: a stress and
coping perspective”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 91 No. 5, pp. 1154-62.
Reichers, A.E., Wanous, J.P. and Austin, J.T. (1997), “Understanding and managing cynicism
about organizational change”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 11, pp. 48-59.
Rusbult, C.E., Farrell, D. and Mainous, A.G. (1988), “Impact of exchange variables on exit, voice,
loyalty, and neglect: an integrative model of responses to declining job satisfaction”,
Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 599-627.
Schein, E.H. (1993), “On dialogue, culture and organizational learning”, Organizational Dynamics,
Vol. 22, pp. 27-38.
Schneider, B., Brief, A.P. and Guzzo, R.A. (1996), “Creating a climate and culture for sustainable
change”, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 7-19.
Schwarz, N. and Clore, G.L. (1983), “Mood, misattribution, and judgments of well-being:
informative and directive functions of affective states”, Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, Vol. 45 No. 3, pp. 513-23.
Sharma, N. and Patterson, P.G. (1999), “The impact of communication effectiveness and service
quality on relationship commitment in consumer, professional services”, The Journal of
Services Marketing, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 151-70.
Smollan, R.K. (2006), “Minds, hearts and deeds: cognitive, affective and behavioral responses to
change”, Journal of Change Management, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 143-58.
 Staw, B.M., Sutton, R.I. and Pelled, L.H. (1994), “Employee positive emotion and favorable Intra-department
outcomes at the workplace”, Organization Science, Vol. 5, pp. 51-71.
Stroebe, W. and Stroebe, M. (1996), “The social psychology of social support”, in Hig-Gins, E.T.
communication
and Kruglanski, A.W. (Eds), Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles,
Guilford Press, London, pp. 597-621.
Sun, J.M. (2000), “Organization development and change in Chinese state-owned enterprises:
a human resource perspective”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 21 115
No. 8, pp. 379-89.
Tugade, M.M., Fredrickson, B.L. and Barrett, L. (2004), “Psychological resilience and positive
emotional granularity”, Journal of Personality, Vol. 72, pp. 1161-90.
Vakola, M., Tsaousis, I. and Nikolaou, I. (2004), “The role of emotional intelligence and
personality variables on attitudes toward organizational change”, Journal of Managerial
Psychology, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 88-110.
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

Waddell, D. and Sohal, A.S. (1998), “Resistance: a constructive tool for change management”,
Management Decision, Vol. 36 No. 8, pp. 543-8.
Wanberg, C.R., Banas, J.T. and Joseph, T. (2000), “Predictors and outcomes of openness to changes
in a reorganizing workplace”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 85 No. 1, pp. 132-42.
Weick, K.E. and Quinn, R.E. (1999), “Organizational change and development”, Annual Review of
Psychology, Vol. 50, pp. 361-86.
Weiss, H.M. (2002), “Deconstructing job satisfaction. Separating evaluations, beliefs and
affective experiences”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 173-94.
Weiss, H.M. and Cropanzano, R.S. (1996), “Affective events theory: a theoretical discussion of the
structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work”, in Staw, B.M. and
Cummings, L.L. (Eds), Research in Organizational Behavior: An Annual Series of Analytical
Essays and Critical Reviews, Vol. 18, Elsevier Science/JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 1-74.
Weiss, H.M., Suckow, K. and Cropanzano, R. (1999), “Effects of justice conditions on discrete
emotions”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 84 No. 5, pp. 786-94.
Wong, C.S. and Law, K.S. (2004), “The construct and criterion validity of emotional intelligence
and its potential utility for management studies”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 89
No. 3, pp. 483-96.
Zabid, A.R., Murali, S. and Azmawani, A.R. (2004), “The influence of organizational culture on
attitudes toward organizational change”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal,
Vol. 25 No. 12, pp. 161-3.

Further reading
Hair, J.F., Black, B., Babin, B., Anderson, R.E. and Tatham, R.L. (2006), Multivariate Data
Analysis, 6th ed., Pearson Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Smith, C.A. and Ellsworth, P.C. (1985), “Patterns of cognitive appraisal in emotion”, Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 48 No. 4, pp. 813-38.

Appendix. Emotional intelligence

Self-emotions appraisal (SEA)
(1) I have a good sense of why I have certain feelings most of the time.
(2) I have good understanding of my own emotions.
(3) I really understand what I feel.
(4) I always know whether or not I am happy.
 JCHRM Others-emotions appraisal (OEA)
3,2 (5) I always know my friends’ emotions from their behaviors.
(6) I am a good observer of others’ emotions.
(7) I am sensitive to the feelings and emotions of others.
(8) I have good understanding of the emotions of people around me.
116 Use of emotion (UOE)
(9) I always set goals for myself and then try my best to achieve them.
(10) I always tell myself I am a competent person.
(11) I am a self-motivating person.
(12) I would always encourage myself to try my best.
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

Regulation of emotion (ROE)

(13) I am able to control my temper so that I can handle difficulties rationally.
(14) I am quite capable of controlling my own emotions.
(15) I can always calm down quickly when I am very angry.
(16) I have good control of my own emotions.

Intra-department communication
Coordination
(1) My supervisor asks me for suggestions about how work should be done.
(2) My supervisor informs me about company rules and regulations.
(3) My supervisor informs me about company plans for the future.
(4) My supervisor lets me know when I have done a good job.
(5) My supervisor lets me know when I have not done a good job.
(6) My supervisor explains company problems to me.
(7) My supervisor tells me why changes are made in work assignments.
(8) My supervisor explains his/her way of doing work.
Participation
(1) I question my supervisor’s instructions when I don’t understand them.
(2) I question my supervisor’s instructions when I think they are wrong.
(3) I tell my supervisor when I think things are being done wrong.
Expression
(1) My supervisor criticizes my work in front of others.
(2) My supervisor ridicules or makes fun of me.
(3) My supervisor expresses sympathy to me when something unfortunate happens in my
personal life.
Communication
(1) There is open communication in this department.
(2) Everyone has a chance to express their opinions.
(3) Department members maintain a high degree of idea exchange.
 Employee’s reaction to organizational change Intra-department
Positive emotional reaction
communication
(1)-(4) The organizational change makes me feel: happy, excited, relieved and hopeful.
Negative emotional reaction
(1)-(4) The organizational change makes me feel: sad, angry, frustrated frightened and
disgusted. 117
Positive intention
(1) I encourage others to help make this change effective.
(2) I suggest ways in which to carry out this change.
(3) I speak up about the advantages of this change.
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 00:04 24 February 2015 (PT)

(4) I support the implementation of this change.

(5) I am willing to make this change effective.
Negative intention
(1) I encourage others to resist to implementing this change.
(2) I oppose to implementing the change.
(3) I suggest others not to participate in this change.
(4) I try to disagree with something in this change.
Cognitive reaction
(1) This change has little influence on me (2).
(2) I care about the change’s influence on my daily work.
(3) I care about the change’s influence on my department.
(4) The new performance appraisal system is not meaningful for me (2 ).
(5) The change will increase my job satisfaction.
(6) The change will improve the department’s work style.
(7) The new performance appraisal system is important for me.
(8) The change will keep me working here.
(9) I can predict the benefit of the change.

About the authors

Chaoying Tang is an Associate Professor in the Management School of Graduate University,
Chinese Academy of Sciences. Beijing, China. Her research focuses on creativity, R&D team
management and emotion management. Chaoying Tang is the corresponding author and can be
contacted at: tcy@gucas.ac.cn
Yunxia Gao is an MBA student in the Management School of Graduate University, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. She also serves in China Unicom Mobile Company, Beijing,
China. Her research focuses on change management.

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints