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Employee acceptance of
organizational change:the role
of organizational commitment
Roderick D. Iverson
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To cite this article: Roderick D. Iverson (1996) Employee acceptance

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The International Journal of Human Resource Management 7:l February 1996
Employee acceptance of organizational

change: the role of organizational
commitment
Roderick D. Iverson
Abstract This study tests a causal model that predicts the acceptance of organi-
zational change using a sample of 761 employees from a large public hospital in
the state of Victoria, Australia. The LISREL results indicate that employee accep-
tance of organizational change is increased by organizational commitment, a har-
monious industrial relations (IR) climate, education, job motivation, job
satisfaction, job security and positive affectivity, and is decreased by union mem-
bership, role conflict, tenure and environmental opportunity. Organizational com-
mitment was found to act as both a determinant and mediator in the change
process. Implications for the management of organizational change using human
resource (HR) strategies and policies are discussed.
Keywords Organizational change, flexibility, organizational commitment, indus-
trial relations climate, hospital employees.
Introduction
The French proverb, the more things change the more they remain the same
(Goldstein, 1988) reflects the inevitable dilemma experienced by employees when
confronting organizational change (Gardner et al., 1987; Watson, 1971).
Management within organizations are experiencing a myriad of internal and
external pressures for organizational change. These pressures include production
and process technology, government laws and regulations, major political and
social events, the internationalization of business, increases in the size and com-
plexity of organizations and economies of scale (Pfeffer, 1994). In this situation,
the one thing that has remained the same is the requirement of employees to
adapt to organizational change.
The concept, organizational change, implies an attempt or series of attempts
to modify an organization's structure, goals, technology or work tasks (Carnall,
1986). Moreover, concepts such as innovation, which is the development, accep-
tance and implementation of new ideas, processes, products or services (Kanter,
1983; Van de Ven, 1986), and functional flexibility, which is the capacity of
employees to multi-skill (Cordery et al., 1993), are all part of the general rubric
of organizational change. Hence, it is not surprising that employees display dif-
ferences in receptiveness to the various forms of change through such responses
as lack of trust (Gardner et al., 19871, frozen attitudes (Schein, 1979), non-partic-
ipation (Coch and French, 1948) and fear of the unknown (Huse, 1980). As
Dawson (1994: 14) notes, resistance to organizational change can result from one
o r a combination of the following factors: 'substantive change in job (skill
requirements); reduction in economic security or job displacement; psychological
0985-5 192 O Routledge 1996

Employee acceptance of organizational change 123
threats (whether perceived or actual); disruption of social arrangements; and
lowering of status (redefines authority relationships).' Thus, the challenge to
human resource (HR) practitioners is to create a work environment in which
employees accept rather than resist change.
Examining the change literature it becomes apparent that there is a plethora of
both theories of change and strategies for the management of change within orga-
nizations. Although there is much debate surrounding the various theoretical per-
spectives of change, such as the typology of determinism to voluntarism (e.g.,
Astley and Van de Ven, 1983; Crozier and Friedberg, 1980; Hrebiniak and Joyce,
1985), Wilson (1992) notes that these perspectives can be divided into two broad
conceptual schema. First, the systemic conflict framework views organizations as
social systems which,are characterized by conflict, politicking and inherent ten-

sions. The impetus for change stems from attempting to resolve the conflicts and
tensions within organizations (e.g., between employees). Theories which derive
from this framework include contextualism, population ecology, organization life
cycles, power in organizations, political models of change and social action
theories (e.g., Greenwood and Hinings, 1988; Hannan and Freeman, 1977;
Kimberly and Miles, 1980; Pettigrew, 1985, 1990). Contextualism (Pettigrew, 1985,
1990), for example, focuses on the inner context of the organization (culture,
structure and politics) and the outer context from which the organization operates
(business, economic, political and societal). The process by which change unfolds
or emerges is fundamental to contextualism's analytical framework. Contextual-
ism, however, has been argued to be limited in regard to its ability to operational-
ize the various propositions for use by managers (Dawson, 1994).
Second, the strategic choice framework also views organizations as social sys-
tems, but emphasizes the notion of strategic choice (Child, 1972). The impetus
for change stems from managers scanning the environment for possible solutions
to organizational problems. Theories which derive from this framework include
organizational development (OD), planned incrementalism, entrepreneuralism
and intrapreneurialism and best practice (e.g., Japanization) (e.g., Lewin, 1951;
Peters and Waterman, 1982; Quinn, 1980; Stace and Dunphy, 1991). One of the
most prominent theories, the OD paradigm (e.g., Dunphy and Stace, 1988; Stace
and Dunphy, 1991), for example, is founded on the premise of incrementalism,
where the participation of individuals is integral to the change process. Lewin's
(1951) three-phase model of change (unfreezing, changing and refreezing) pro-
vided much of the theoretical foundation for OD today. OD, however, is argued
to be too normative and neglects to examine the processes by which change
arises (Wilson, 1992).
Two other theories that do not fit well within either framework are change
which is initiated through mergers, joint ventures and acquisitions (Harrigan,
1987), and contingency theories which deal with organization-environmental fit
(Bums and Stalker, 1961; Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967). The reason for their
exclusion is that both theories can be classified as systemic conflict and strategic
choice in nature.
Turning to the strategies for the management of change, the main thrust is on
delineating the steps involved in the change process, and attempting to build
generalizable templates that can be successfully applied across work settings (e.g.,
Kanter, 1983, 1989; Morgan, 1988; Pfeffer, 1994). Both Kanter (1989) and
Morgan (1988), for example, argue that what are required in the new global
124 Roderick D. Iverson
business world are leaders with strategic vision who are strong, competent and
lateral thinkers. Nevertheless, a major problem in the literature, again, is the
emphasis on normative approaches to the management of organizational change.
Moreover, the paucity of empirical information on the success of such change
programmes raises issues over both their utility and link with change models
(Wilson, 1992).
None the less, with the increase in market emphasis prompted by the current
economic environment, HR managers are recognizing that to achieve a competi-
tive advantage they need to be able to introduce and manage change successfully
within organizations (Aryee, 1991; Bamber, 1990; Dawson, 1991; Pfeffer, 1994).
This is particularly the case within the Australian economy, which is continuing
to open up to external market forces in formerly protected domestic markets.

Moreover, for public-sector organizations there is considerable pressure to
'improve efficiency, by reducing costs, improving quality, and increasing client
responsiveness' (Curtain, 1993: 31). When this pressure is combined with rapid
changes in technology and market demands (Piore and Sabel, 1984), organiza-
tions are increasingly accepting that work-force flexibility (e.g., functional,
numerical or temporal flexibility) must be a normal part of their business prac-
tices (Barnber, 1990). Pfeffer (1994) notes that the traditional sources of success
such as product and process technology provide less of a competitive advantage
today than in the past, leaving how the work-force is managed as comparatively
more vital. Thus, for organizations to improve their bottom line they must have
adaptable work-forces which are positively disposed to change (Guest, 1992).
The purpose of this paper is to develop a causal model which is capable of
predicting employee acceptance of organizational change. Deriving from the var-
ious theories and strategies for the management of change, the model includes
HR policy variables, as well as individual and environmental factors that
enhance our understanding of the change process. However, in contrast to many
of these theories and strategies, pivotal to this change model is the mediating
role of organizational commitment, which is argued to act both as a determinant
and an intervening variable in the change process. It is via organizational com-
mitment that appropriate HR policies may be employed to create a work-force
receptive to change (Stace and Dunphy, 1991). The various HR policies enable
employees to reduce uncertainty and gain greater predictability and control in
their work setting (Tushman and Romanelli, 1985). Thus, HR policies may
induce the commitment of employees to the organization, where committed
employees are assumed to be more productive and more adaptable to change
(Guest, 1987). As a public hospital is the site for this study, a brief discussion of
the changes affecting the hospital is provided.
Background to change process

In recent years the formula by which Federal and State governments fund public
hospitals in Australia has undergone several changes. Previously, each public
hospital spent whatever was required to treat public patients and the government
met the costs of the treatment (i.e., the bulk of the operational funds were pro-
vided by the government). If public hospitals treated patients with private health
insurance then the insurance company paid those costs, although those patients
with private insurance have been in the minority. Hence, the major source of
income has been by public funding allocation. Nevertheless, as governments have
found it increasingly more difficult to cover the mounting costs of funding hospi-
tals, they have emphasized the need for hospitals to become more efficient and
more productive. In recent years public hospitals negotiated with the government,
signing the Health Services Agreement, which set specific performance targets to
be met in return for an agreed amount of money. According to this arrangement,
hospitals had specific amounts to spend, whereby the government would not
cover any deficiencies if the hospitals had overspent. On 1 July 1993, the
Victorian state government introduced casemix funding which aimed to promote
a 'flexible hospital system, better positioned to meet the constant demands for
change and improvement' (Victorian Government Department of Health and
Community Services, 1993: iii). A casemix measure known as Diagnosis Related

Groups (DRGs) allows the units of hospital output to be recorded, valued and
charged to the state government by the hospital. The funding formula is based on
the number and type of patients treated by the hospital. A price schedule deter-
mines each type of treatment given. For example, the DRG cost weight schedule
is higher for a liver transplant compared to that for an arthroscopy. Moreover,
hospitals are grouped together in terms of size and cost overheads, and receive
the same amount of funding for providing the same type of service. If a hospital
within a group spends more than others to deliver the same service, then it is
deemed to be losing money and will be financially penalized by the government.
The public hospital in the present study responded to government funding
changes by undertaking an Operational Efficiency Review (OER). The executive
director of the hospital outlined in meetings and newsletters to the staff that 'we
have outdated buildings that need to be replaced, we need to reduce our lists of
patients waiting for treatment, we have to keep up with improved medical tech-
nologies, and we need to meet increased costs of employing staff - covering
Workcare and superannuation as well as salary increases.' The executive director
emphasized that the OER focused on restructuring jobs, increasing the use of
technology and eliminating activities that were redundant. A group of consul-
tants were contracted to undertake the OER, which was carried out in two
phases. Phase 1, the diagnostic stage, sought to identify the opportunities for
improvement in the way the hospital carried out its business, and to estimate the
benefits to the hospital if those improvements were implemented. This phase
identified potential savings of approximately $8.5 million, which was 5 per cent
of the hospital's annual operating budget. Apart from the savings factor, the
consultants identified areas where patient care could be improved through
streamlining systems or changing work practices. Other recommendations
included the investment in new equipment, multi-skilling employees, merging and
restructuring some departments, strategies for reducing the waiting time for out-
patient and X-ray services, increasing the usage of operating theatres, reducing
unnecessary bed days (e.g., pre-operative stays, discharge planning processes and
assessment and arrangements for transfer to other care facilities) and reducing
staff levels in some departments by using automated technology. A change com-
mittee was set up to review the OER data as it was collected so that staff were
kept abreast of the recommendations. The committee was consulted every two
weeks and had the opportunity to question the findings of the OER and to offer
alternative information about aspects of the report.
Phase 2 comprised the establishment of four task forces covering food services,
cleaning, operating theatres and anaesthesia, and radiology to investigate the
savings opportunities identified in phase 1 of the OER. The role of each task
force was to review, trial and monitor the recommendations made in phase 1.
The task forces enabled management and staff to reach consensus over the
means of achieving savings through increased efficiency. Progress reports from
each task force were also made available to the change committee for considera-
tion and comment, and to the steering committee, which comprised members of
the hospital's board, senior management, medical consultants and union repre-
sentatives, before they went to the full board of the hospital. All staff were kept
informed in regard to the task forces' recommendations and findings through the
OER newsletters and regular meetings.
The following section develops the causal model based on the acceptance of
the OER by employees in the hospital.
Theoretical framework
The causal model as shown in Figure 1 integrates personal, job related, environ-
mental and employee orientations which were selected from the economic, psy-
chological and sociological perspectives from the commitment literature (see
Iverson and Roy (1994) for more detail on the perspectives). The variables can
be categorized as:
(a) personal variables, comprising the individual characteristics of age, tenure,
education, occupation, gender and union membership, as well as the predis-
positions of positive and negative affectivity which employees bring to orga-
nizations;
(b) job-related variables (which Morris, Lydka and O'Creevy (1993) equate to
HR policies), including autonomy, job security, promotional opportunity,
distributive justice, role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, supervisory
support, co-worker support, job satisfaction and job motivation;
(c) environmental variables, relating to the non-work setting, consisting of indus-
trial relations (IR) climate, environmental opportunity and kinship responsi-
bility; and
(d) employee orientation, dealing with the affective responses such as organiza-
tional commitment, which is produced by the personal, job-related and envi-
ronmental variables. The inclusion of this variable provides a better
explanation of the change process.
The path diagrammatic representation of the model in Figure 1 contains posi-
tive (+) and negative (-) signs to indicate the hypothesized causal relationships
between the variables. If high levels of a variable are hypothesized to lead to
high levels of a second variable, a positive sign appears. Similarly, if high levels
of a variable are hypothesized to lead to low levels of a second variable, a nega-
tive sign appears. For example, it is hypothesized that employees who experience
a high level of job security will also experience a high level of organizational
commitment. Definitions of the variables in the model are contained in Table 1.
Employee orientation
Although there is some disagreement over the definition of organizational com-
mitment (e.g., Coopey and Hartley, 1991; Farrell and Rusbult, 1981; Guest,
Personal variables
-
Age -
Tenure
Education- -
Occupation
+
Gender
+
Union membership
-
Positive affectivity +
Negative affectivity
-
-
Organizational
commitment
A
Job related variables
Autonomy
+
Job security
+
Promotional opportunity
+
Distributivejustice +
Role ambiguity -
-
Role conflict
- *
Role overload
-
Supervisory support
+
Co-worker support
+
Job satisfaction
+
Job motivation +
+
Organizational
change
4
Environmental variables
+ +
IR climate -- -
Environmental opportunity +
-
Kinship responsibility
Figure 1 Hypothesized model of organizational change.
1992; Iverson and Roy, 1994; Kuruvilla and Iverson, 1993; Meyer and Allen,
1984; Morris et al., 1993; Salancik, 1977), researchers generally agree that the
term 'commitment' can be employed to describe two distinct but related con-
cepts, attitudinal and behavioural commitment. Attitudinal commitment, also
referred to as affective organizational commitment, represents the degree of
Table 1 Definitions of variables
Variable Definition
Personal variablesa
Union membership Degree of affiliation with union.
Positive affectivity Extent to which an individual feels enthusiastic over
time and across situations (Watson, Pennebaker and
Folger, 1987).
Negative affectivity Extent to which an individual experiences aversive
emotional states over time and across situations
(Watson et al., 1987).
Job-related variables
Autonomy Degree to which an individual has influence over
hisfher job.
Job security Extent to which an organization provides stable
employment for employees (Herzberg, 1968).
Promotional opportunity Degree of movement between different status levels in
an organization (Martin, 1979).
Distributive justice Degree to which an organization treats employees
fairly.
Role ambiguity Degree to which role expectations are unclear (based
on Kahn et al., 1964).
Role conflict Degree to which employee role expectations are
incompatible (Kahn et al., 1964).
Role overload Extent to which the job performance required in a
job is excessive.
Supervisory support Degree of consideration expressed by the immediate
supervisor for the subordinates (Michaels and
Spector, 1982).
Co-worker support Degree of consideration expressed by co-workers
(Blau, 1960).
Job satisfaction Overall degree to which an individual likes hislher job
(Price and Mueller, 1981).
Job motivation Degree to which the individual psychologically identi-
fies with the job (Kanungo, 1982).
IR climate Degree of harmony between management and the
unions (Dastmalchian, Blyton and Adamson, 1991).
Environmental opportunity Availability of alternative jobs outside the organiza-
tion.
Kinship responsibility Degree of an individual's obligation to immediate rel-
atives in the community (Iverson, 1992).
Organizational commitment Degree of loyalty to the organization (Porter et al.,
1974).
-
" Age, tenure education, occupation and gender have accepted definitions in the literature
loyalty an individual has for an organization. Specifically, it emphasizes an indi-
vidual's identification and involvement in the organization (Porter et al., 1974).
Conversely, behavioural commitment reflects the process by which individuals
link themselves to an organization and focuses on the actions of the individuals.
Kuruvilla and Iverson (1993) note that, although there are other forms of com-
mitment such as continuance or calculative commitment (i.e., the costs associated
with employees leaving the organization) and normative commitment (i.e., the
right or moral thing to do (Weiner, 1982)), all forms of commitment reflect a
bond between the individual and the organization.
Guest (1987) recommends researchers use the attitudinal component of organi-
zational commitment (Mowday, Porter and Steers, 1982) due to it being more
applicable to HR policy formation than the more specific types of commitment.

Accordingly this component (from this point on known as organizational com-
mitment) is employed in this study. Guest (1987, 1992, 1995) and Coopey and
Hartley (1991) further argue that HR policies have been designed to produce
HRM outcomes, such as eliciting high employee commitment. This commitment
then leads to organizational outcomes, such as successful organizational change.
Guest's model asserts that commitment is best considered as an intervening vari-
able between antecedents and behavioural consequences, where commitment will
result in a 'willingness to accept change' (1987: 514). Therefore, it is expected
that organizational commitment will mediate the effects of the job-related and
environmental variables on organizational change.
A discussion of the personal, job-related and environmental variables and their
relationship with organizational commitment and acceptance of organizational
change follows.
Personal variables
There is evidence linking both age and tenure to organizational change. Age, for
example, has been found to have a negative impact on change (Cordery et al.,
1991; Cordery et al., 1993; Ellis and Child, 1973). That is, younger employees are
more likely to accept change than older employees. Younger employees tend not
to be as 'set in their ways' as older employees (Cordery et al., 1991), and as such
are less resistant to change. Similarly, Broadwell (1985) argues that the less time
employees have spent within an organization, the more likely they are to accept
change. This primarily stems from employees having relatively few 'preconceived
notions' about how the organization should do things and is also due to these
employees having less established routines than employees with. longer tenure.
Therefore, it is hypothesized that age and tenure will have direct. negative
impacts on the acceptance of change.
Education is expected to have a positive impact on the acceptance of organiza-
tional change, as employees with higher education have increased opportunities'
for skill utilization (Cordery et al., 1993). This increased skill utilization enables
employees to better meet the new challenges of their job. In relation to occupa-
tion, there is support in the literature for white-collar employees being more
accepting of change than blue-collar employees. Sproul (1981) reported that atti-
tudes towards change were related to hierarchical position in the organization.
Specifically, employees at higher levels in the hierarchy expressed greater belief in
the change process when alerted to the problems facing the organization.
Research on gender and its relationship with organizational change has had
inconsistent findings (Cordery et al., 1991, 1993). Although Cordery et al. (1993)
found no relationship, an earlier study by Cordery et al. (1991) reported that
men were resistant to change when they perceived they were gaining skills that
were traditionally female (e.g., typing). It is therefore hypothesized that women
would be more accepting of change than men.
Union membership is hypothesized to have a negative impact on both organiza-
tional commitment and the acceptance of organizational change. This derives in
part from the research surrounding the 'exit-voice' (Freeman and Medoff, 1984;
Hirschrnan, 1970) model, where unionization is associated with 'lower autonomy,
task complexity, task significance, and feedback' (Barling, Fullagar and
Kelloway, 1992: 185), which is expected to reduce organizational commitment.

That is, lower loyalty to the organization is attributable to the union making
members more aware of their working conditions and also providing an outlet
for members to voice their attitudes. In addition, union members are argued to
be resistant to change due to management potentially reacting to the 'increased
costs associated with unionisation by replacing labor with capital' (Barling et al.,
1992: 175), and by the emphasis on increased efficiency in work practices leading
to the perceived deterioration of wages and conditions of employees. However, it
is also hypothesized that the impact of union membership on both organiza-
tional commitment and change would differ by the degree of harmony in the IR
climate. That is, union membership would have a positive effect on commitment
and change when the IR climate is harmonious (Deery, Iverson and Erwin,
1994).
The individual traits of positive and negative affectivity respectively describe
the dispositions of individuals to perceive events to be generally positive and to
be enthusiastic (George, 1989; Judge, 1993) or negative (Watson and Clarke,
1984) over time. Such dispositional differences will affect the perception of orga-
nizational change. Research indicates that individuals with positive affectivity are
more able to control their environment (George, 1989; Judge, 1993), and as such
would embrace change more readily. In contrast, individuals with negative affec-
tivity are more likely to judge change as a stressful and demanding event because
of their lack of coping strategies in dealing with change (Parkes, 1990).
Therefore, it is proposed that positive and negative affectivity will have direct
impacts on the acceptance of organizational change.
Autonomy refers to the control employees have over their job. It has long been
argued that, with increased autonomy, employees are able to buffer job stress
and burnout (Miller et al., 1990; Ray and Miller, 1991). As change is generally
associated with uncertainty and stress, it is expected that autonomy will predict
employees' acceptance of change. Mathieu and Zajac (1990), in a meta-analysis,
also found autonomy to be positively associated with organizational commit-
ment. That is, the greater the autonomy, the greater the loyalty to the organiza-
tion. Hence, it is posited that autonomy will have a positive impact on the
attitudes to change via organizational commitment.
The importance of job security in the organizational change literature is some-
what understated, with a small but consistent body of research finding a positive
relationship (Cordery et al., 1991, 1993). The impact of job security on organiza-
tional commitment is thought to be influenced by labour market conditions
(Morris et al., 1993). That is, job security would have a strong positive relation-
ship with an employee's loyalty to the organization when labour market condi-
tions are contracted. This has been empirically supported by Armknecht and
Early (1972) who found that an employee's level of job security is contingent on
the behaviour of the labour market. As the present study was undertaken during
the recessionary economic conditions of the early 1990s, it was posited that job
security would have a positive impact on organizational commitment, which in
turn, would impact on the acceptance of organizational change.
Promotional opportunity has been found to be an important determinant of
organizational commitment (Iverson and Roy, 1994; Mathieu and Zajac, 1990;
Moms et al., 1993; Price and Mueller, 1986). That is, the greater the opportuni-
ties for career advancement the greater the loyalty to the organization. As
employees move up the organizational hierarchy they are able to realize goals
such as increased responsibility, status and money rewards (Morris et al., 1993).
Realizing goals such as these serves to commit the employee to the organization.
Moreover, employees with greater career prospects tend to display greater skill
utilization and as such are more receptive to change (Sproul, 1981).
Distributive justice focuses on the fairness to which employees are treated in
terms of their effort, responsibility and education and training. It is expected
that employees with high distributive justice will display high commitment to the
organization (Iverson and Roy, 1994; Price and Mueller, 1986). Cordery et al.
(1993) reported that employees who exhibited positive attitudes to change were
higher on distributive justice than those employees who exhibited negative atti-
tudes to change.
Current research considers job stress to be composed of at least three basic
factors: role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload (Iverson, Deery and
Erwin, 1994, 1995). Working conditions are perceived as stressful when the
demands of the job exceed the abilities of the individual. Job stress has been
found to be an aetiological cause of physiological, psychological and behavioural
problems. Many studies document the fact that hospital employees work in a
stressful environment (Iverson, Deery and Erwin, 1994, 1995; Price and Mueller,
1986). Role ambiguity relates to task-related information and is usually found
under labels such as 'feedback' or 'instrumental information'. An example of role
ambiguity would be the superordinate member of a hospital, such as a charge
nurse, not conveying to a sister what is to be done, how the patient is supposed
to be treated and any other information that is task related. The second compo-
nent of job stress, role conflict, refers to the dimensions of congruency-incongm-
ency or the compatibility-incompatibility in the requirements of the job role. In
contrast to role ambiguity, role conflict is not concerned with the clarity of an
employee's role, but with the inconsistent demands of it. Role overload relates to
undue performance required on a job. The greater the amount of job perfor-
mance required, the greater the workload. There is consistent support (Iverson,
Deery and Erwin, 1994, 1995; Mathieu and Zajac, 1990; Price and Mueller,
1986) for the negative impact of role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload
on organizational commitment.
Social support is the degree of consideration individuals receive from members
of their social network. Social support is important as it is thought to buffer job
stress (House, 1981). There are two types of social support: supervisory and co-
worker support. Supervisory support is characterized by the human relations abil-
ity of superiors, and is displayed in terms of trust, respect, friendship and a deep
concern for subordinates' needs (Iverson, 1992). In relation to co-worker support,
it generally refers to quasi-primary relationships (Price, 1977), such as having
close friends at work. Implicit in co-worker support is the notion of work group
cohesion, whereby co-workers listen to job-related problems, are helpful in get-
ting the job done and can be relied upon when things get difficult on the job.
There is an abundance of literature linking supervisory and co-worker support to
organizational commitment (Iverson, Deery and Erwin, 1994, 1995; Mathieu and
Zajac, 1990; Price and Mueller, 1986).
There is a growing body of literature supporting the positive relationship of

job satisfaction and job motivation to employees' attitudes to change (Coopey and
Hartley, 1991; Cordery et al., 1993; Gardner et a!., 1987; Guest, 1987). In rela-
tion to job satisfaction, Cordery et al. (1993) reported that low levels of extrinsic
satisfaction were associated with unfavourable attitudes to change, while
Gardner et al. (1987) observed significant interactions between satisfaction and
motivation and job change. Moreover, job satisfaction and job motivation have
been found to be strongly related to organizational commitment (Iverson and
Roy, 1994; Mathieu and Zajac, 1990). Therefore, it is hypothesized that job sat-
isfaction and job motivation will have indirect effects on change via organiza-
tional commitment.
IR climate refers to the degree of harmony in the union-management relation-
ship. This is reflected in the fairness of the interaction between management and
unions and the degree of co-operation of both parties in solving common prob-
lems (Dastmalchian et al., 1991). Other writers such as Lorenz (1992) emphasize
the role of trust between unions and management, while Zeffane (1994) argues
that IR climate may be best represented as a particular feature of management
style. Much attention has focused on the relationship between a positive and co-
operative IR climate and unilateral (organizational or union) and dual (organiza-
tional and union) commitment (e.g., Angle and Perry, 1986; Beauvais, Scholl and
Cooper, 1991; Deery et al., 1994; Gaertner and Nollen, 1989). In the case of uni-
lateral organizational commitment, Deery et al. (1994) found that a harmonious
IR climate was positively and significantly related to organizational commitment.
That is, the more positive the IR climate, the more likely employees were to be
loyal to the organization. This is consistent with Zeffane (1994) who reported in
a study of public-sector employees that participative and flexible management
style was the most significant predictor of organizational commitment. It is also
hypothesized that IR climate will have a direct and positive impact on the accep-
tance of organizational change. As a harmonious IR climate conveys co-opera-
tion, trust and participation in the solving of problems, it is reasonable to expect
that the challenges facing the organization in the present study (e.g., achieving
savings through increased efficiency) would be shared between management and
unions. Hence, a congruence in the acceptance of change for the benefit of the
organization would be predicted.
Environmental opportunity refers to the availability of jobs that are external to
- Employee acceptance of organizational change 133
the organization. Environmental opportunity has been found to have a negative
impact on organizational commitment (Mueller et al., 1994; Price and Mueller,
1986). That is, when jobs are plentiful in the labour market, employees' loyalty
to their organization is decreased. This may reflect a re-evaluation of current job
attitudes of employees when there are alternative job opportunities (Steers and
Mowday, 1981). Moreover, it is hypothesized that environmental opportunity
will also have a negative effect on organizational change. Mowday et al. (1982)
assert that in times of high unemployment, the restricted availability of alterna-
tive jobs will influence employee behaviour for fear of losing one's job. Hence,
when environmental opportunity is low, it would be anticipated that employees
would be more accepting of organizational change.
Marital status, sex, number of children or dependants, age of children, number

of relatives in a community and/or commitments such as buying a home have
been cited as indices of kinship responsibility by researchers (Blegen, Mueller and
Price, 1988; Gupta and Beehr, 1979; Mobley, 1982; Price and Mueller, 1981). In
addition to these measures, both Muchinsky and Morrow (1980) and Muchinsky
and Tuttle (1979) suggest that an important consideration in kinship responsibil-
ity is whether an employee is the primary or secondary wage earner. This study
focuses on the number of dependants, marital status (i.e., single or married) and
income earner status (i.e., primary or secondary) as measuring kinship responsi-
bility. Hence, an employee who is married with dependants, and who is also the
primary income earner, would be an example of high kinship responsibility. The
relationship of kinship responsibility with organizational change is explained by
the dependency of individuals on organizations. That is, a married person with
dependants, who is also the primary income earner, for example, relies on the
organization as a means of fulfilling important kinship obligations (Iverson,
1992). Therefore, it is hypothesized that kinship responsibility will have a direct
negative impact on organizational change due to the uncertainty that is created
(Fox and Krausz, 1987).
Methods
Research setting and sample
The site for this research was a large public hospital in the state of Victoria,
Australia. The hospital employs approximately 2000 staff. The sample consisted
of 761 (74 per cent female and 26 per cent male) staff of whom 10 per cent were
from blue-collar occupations and 90 per cent were from white-collar occupa-
tions, where 65 per cent were union members. The average age, tenure and edu-
cation of employees were 33.71 years (s.d. = 9.89), 6.14 years (s.d. = 5.17) and
13.56 years (s.d. = 2.30), respectively.
Data collection
A multiple-item survey was administered to a random sample of 1100 employ-
ees at the hospital. The response rate was 74 per cent. Following the listwise
deletion of missing data, a total of 761 questionnaires were retained. Chi-
square analysis was undertaken to evaluate the representativeness of the sam-
ple. Through data obtained from the personnel records and questionnaire data,
no significant differences were found in the demographic characteristics for age
(X2(3)= 5.56, p > 0.05), tenure (x2(3) = 1.63, p > 0.05) and occupation (x2(1) =
0.21, p > 0.05).
Measurement
A 5-point Likert-type scale format was used to measure employees' perception to
each item, ranging from strongly disagree ( I ) to strongly agree (5). Established
scales were used where possible. The reliability of the multiple measures was
computed by estimating Cronbach's Alpha (1951). The reliability, descriptive sta-
tistics and correlations (LISREL) among measures are contained in Table 2.
Endogenous variables
Employee orientations Organizational commitment was operationalized by the
9-item short form of Porter et al. (1974). The dependent variable of organizu-
tional change was developed by the researcher. The scale measured respondents'
attitudes towards change based on the OER at the hospital and comprised three
questions relating to the impact of budget cuts on the tendering and closure of
some services and whether employees perceived the hospital as a better place to
work since the OER.
Exogenous variables
Personal variables Occupation was coded as 1 if the respondent was white-
collar and 0 if they were blue-collar. Gender was coded as I if the respondent
was female and 0 if they were male. Union membership was coded as 1 if the
respondent was a union member and 0 if they were not. Positive and negative
affectivity were operationalized by an adaptation of the Multidimensional
Personality Index obtained from David Watson (see Agho, Price and Mueller,
1992, 1993).
Job-related variables Autonomy was measured using Tetrick and LaRocco's

(1987) scale. The variable of job security was assessed by a modification of the
scale by Oldham et al. (1986). Promotional opportunity and distributive justice
were measured using by Price and Mueller's (1981, 1986) scale. The scale of
stress measured the psychological symptoms of stress by focusing on the compo-
nents of role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload from the scales of Kahn
et al. (1964), Rizzo, House and Litzman (1970), and Caplan et al. (1975),
respectively. Social support evaluated the consideration expressed by the supervi-
sors and co-workers using a modification of House's (1981) measure. Job satis-
faction was measured using a shortened version of the established scale of
Brayfield and Rothe (1951). Job motivation was operationalized using
Kanungo's (1982) scale.
Environmental variables IR climate was assessed using the 10-item harmony

component from Dastmalchian, Blyton and Adamson (1989). Environmental
opportunity was operationalized using Price and Mueller's (1981, 1986) scale.
Kinship responsibility was measured using a three-item composite index based
on Blegen, Mueller and Price (1988). The first item, relating to the number of
dependants (e.g., spouse, children, relatives) living with the respondent, was
Table 2 Means, standard deviations, correlations (LISREL) and reliabilitiesab
Number
of
Determinants items Means s.d. I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 I2 13 14 I5 I6 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Personal variables
1 Age 1 33.71 9.89 -
2 Tenure 1 6.14 5.17 .53 -
3 Education 1 13.56 2.30 -.29 -.I4 -
4 Occupation 1 0.90 0.30 -.24 -.I6 .56 -
5 Gender 1 0.74 0.44 -.I4 -.09 .13 .22 -
6 Union membership 1 0.65 0.48 .08 .19 .04 -.02 .05 -
7 Positive affectivity 3 3.81 0.65 -.I4 -.I8 .08 .OS . l l -.05 .68
8 Negative affectivity
3 2.96 0.83 -.I0 -.MI -.03 .01 .07 .02 -.27 .71
P
.a
'
9 Autonomy 3 3.36 0.82 .I0 .16 .22 .17 .01 .00 .21 -.I5 .64 6
L
10 Job sa:urity
11 Promotional opportunity
3
3
3.01
2.59
0.84
0.83
.03 -.02 -.04 .00 .13 -.I2 .16 -.09 .14 .74
-.I7 -.06 .38 .19 .10 .02 .20 -.04 .44 .18 .65
8
Q
12 Distributive justice 3 2.88 1.02 .17 .09 .06 .05 .07 -.04 .07 -.20 .47 .26 .43 .85 (3
13 Role ambiguity 3 2.09 0.60 -.05 -.09 .07 .08 -.06 -.03 -.23 .19 -.21 -.25 -.07-.10 .64
14 Role conflict
15 Role overload
3
3
2.89
3.38
0.84
0.83
-.I2 -.07 -.07 -.07 -.I6 .03 -.06 .20 -.34 -.17 -.21-.38 .26 .69
-.14 .02 .24 .17 -.05 .13 .08 .16 .10 -.02 .16-.16 .00 .25 .73
1
3
(3
16 Supervisory support 3 3.68 1.02 .00 -.04 .02 .03 .04 -.03 .14 -.I1 .31 .15 .29 .46-.18 -.31 -.I2 .91 m
17 Co-worker support 3 3.80 0.88 -.I4 -.I2 .23 .18 .I0 .05 .19 -.24 .19 .07 .40 .31-.14 -.23 -.04 .38 .91
18 Job satisfaction 6 3.46 0.76 .17 .13 .07 -.01 .02 .O1 .25 -.20 .SO .20 .54 .54-.20 -.30 .IS .36 .26 .86 0
19 Job motivation 7 2.26 0.75 .27 .25 -.08 -.25 -.09 .07 .25 -.03 .13 .12 .24 .31-.07 -.I2 .I1 .13 .09 .51 .86
G
20 IR climate 10 2.64 0.68 .16 .02 -.04 -.07 .09 -.01 -.02 -.I4 . l l .20 .20 .35-.07 -.29 -.12 .24 .16 .28 .25 .92
s
E;.
21 Environmental opportunity 3 2.58 0.90 -.06 -.09 -.04 .04 -.06 .04 -.04 .03 -.I4 .06 -.13-.24 .03 .27 .03 -.25 -.20 -.26 -.I5 -.21 .90 e
22 Kinship responsibility 3 2.15 1.13 .35 .23 -.15 -.13 -.23 .01 -.09 -.I1 .15 -.05 -.11 .05-.00 .03 .03 -.03 -.I1 .07 .13 .04 -.06 - F'
3
Employee orientations 2
23 Organizational commitment 9 3.10 0.71 .16 .09 -.05 -.I2 .02 -.lo .16 -.I4 .21 .27 .27 .42-.15 -.24 -.00 .27 .15 .55 .53 .SO -.29 .07 .88 %
24 Organizational change 3 2.92 0.73 -.02 -.15 .12 .07 .09 -.41 .07 -.07 .14 .19 .21 .27-.06 -.28 -.07 .20 .13 .27 .18 .40-.I8 .06 .49 .68
s
%
Reliabilities are reported along the diagonal.
Correlations above .06 are significant at p < .O5, one-tailed test. -
W
VI
coded as 1 if the respondent had one dependant living with them, 2 if more than
one dependant lived with them, and 0 if no dependants lived with them. The sec-
ond item, relating to whether respondent was a single parent, was coded as 1 if
they were a single parent and 0 if they were not. The third item, relating to
whether the respondent was the main income earner, was coded as 1 if the
respondent was the main income earner and 0 if they were not. The possible
range of the index was between 0 and 4.
Analysis
The statistical techniques of multiple regression, Chow test and Linear Structural
Relations (LISREL) were utilized in the analysis. Multiple regression was

employed to assess and support the assumptions of linearity, additivity, model
specification, multicollinearity and homoscedasticity (Berry and Feldman, 1985).
The statistical technique known as the Chow test (Gujarati, 1978) was
employed to test whether sample populations from the blue- and white-collar
occupations could be combined to form an aggregate sample. The Chow test
involved testing for differences between the regression coefficients of the two
subgroups (occupations). No consistent pattern of differences was found, con-
firming that aggregation of the two subgroups was appropriate.
The statistical technique of LISREL was used to estimate the causal model.
LISREL VIII produces a structural equation model and a measurement model
(Joreskog and Sorbom, 1993). The structural equation model specifies the
hypothesized causal relationships among the concepts (latent constructs),
whereas the measurement model specifies a confirmatory factor analysis of
hypothesized relationships between the latent (unobserved) constructs and the
manifest (observed) variables. LISREL adds precision to the estimation of the
causal model by correcting for attenuation in random measurement error of
manifest variables and, as maximum likelihood method is employed, LISREL
produces both a statistical measure of goodness-of-fit and explained variance (R-
square) of the model. Moreover, as the coefficients can be interpreted as stan-
dardized regression coefficients, a path analysis (decomposed into-direct, indirect
and total effects) can also be undertaken (Alwin and Hauser, 1975).
Applying the procedures as recommended by Bagozzi and Yi (1988), the mea-
surement model was tested for convergent validity (i.e., the degree of associa-
tion between measures of a construct) and discriminant validity (i.e., the degree
to which measures of constructs are distinct). In relation to the convergent
validity, the null model, followed by the one-factor and hypothesized model
were estimated. The convergent validity of the model was affirmed, where the
hypothesized model was found to fit the data significantly better than both the
null (AX2(341) = 21304.85, p < .001) and one-factor AX^ (269) = 13727.51, p <
.001) models. The discriminant validity of the model (tested by calculating the
difference between one model which allowed the correlations between the con-
structs to be constrained to unity, i.e., perfectly correlated, and another model
which allowed the correlations between the constructs to be free) was also s u p
ported. The measurement model was found to have a normed comparative fit
index (CFI) (Bentler, 1990) of .90. As the CFI (which avoids the underestima-
tion of fit) indicated an accepted fit of the measurement model, it was appropri-
ate to estimate the structural model. The findings of the structural model are
contained in the results section. However, before proceeding to the results, it is
pertinent to discuss the problem of common method variance.
When using self-report material, such as regressing attitudes on attitudes, a
problem of common method variance (Campbell and Fiske, 1959; Fiske, 1982)
may occur. As common variance tends to inflate the relationship between the
constructs (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986), an attempt to minimize the impact was
undertaken by having positively and negatively worded items in the measures
(Gordon and Ladd, 1990). Another way to overcome this problem is to regress
objective data, such as change data collected from the organization's records on
respondents' attitudes. However, when objective data are not available (as was
the case in the present study), it is necessary to conduct further analysis, such as
Harman's (1967) one-factor test. In this test, all variables, including exogenous
and endogenous are entered into the factor analysis. The results of the unrotated
factor solution are then examined to determine whether '(a) a single factor will
emerge from the factor analysis, or (b) one "general" factor will account for the
majority of the covariance' (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986: 536).
The unrotated factor solutions using scree tests (Cattell, 1966; Cattell and
Vogelmann, 1977) examined whether a single factor emerged. Seven meaningful
factors were found, explaining 38.7 per cent of the variance. Following a similar
procedure to Miceli et a1. (1991), the factor solution was rotated. Of the nineteen
item loadings for the first factor, four were greater than or equal to .40 (display-
ing convergent validity [Kim and Mueller, 1978]), while fifteen were less than .40.
These results indicate that a general factor did not originate, limiting the proba-
bility of common method variance problems.
Results
The following section presents two sets of results: first, the original hypothesized
model and, second, the revised causal model.
Hypothesized causal model

Table 3 presents the LISREL VIII results used to estimate the hypothesized
model, which is shown in Figure 1. Six variables as predicted by the model were
found to have statistically significant net impacts on organizational commitment
(see column 1 of Table 3). The personal variable of union membership, the job-
related variables of job security, job satisfaction and job motivation, and the
environmental variables of IR climate and environmental opportunity.
Organizational commitment is increased when employees are not union mem-
bers, have stable employment, like their jobs, psychologically identify with their
job, where there is a harmonious IR climate and where there are few alternative
jobs in the labour market. In testing for the moderating effect of IR climate, no
interaction was found for union membership on organizational commitment. It
can be seen from the results that 54 per cent of the variance in organizational
commitment was explained by the variables in the model.
Organizational change, the dependent variable, had 43 per cent of variance
explained by the personal variables of tenure, education and union membership,
the environmental variable of IR climate, and the employee orientation of orga-
nizational commitment (see column 3 of Table 3). As predicted by the model, the
acceptance of organizational change is increased when employees have shorter
138 Roderick D. Zverson
Table 3 LISREL (standardized coefficients) for organizational change: hypothesized
and revised causal modelsa
Organizational Organizat ional

commitment change
Determinants (1) (2) (3) (4)
Personal variables
Age
Tenure
Education
Occupation
Gender
Union membershipt
Positive affectivity
Negative affectivity
Autonomy
Job security
Promotional opportunity
Distributive justice
Role ambiguity
Role conflict
Role overload
Supervisory support
Co-worker support
Job satisfaction
Job motivation
IR climate?
Environmental opportunity
Kinship responsibility
Organizational commitment
R~
" N = 761; the results of the hypothesized and revised models are contained in the odd and
even numbered columns, respectively.
t Interaction tests examining the relationship between union membership and IR climate with
organizational commitment and organizational change were not significant.
* p < .05, one tailed test.
tenure, have higher education, are not union members, where there is a harmo-
nious IR climate and when employees are loyal to the hospital. Similar to orga-
nizational commitment, no interaction effect was found for IR climate and union
membership on organizational change.
Revised causal model

Table 3 also presents the LISREL VIII results used to estimate the revised causal
model. The modification procedure used to fit the LISREL model is consistent
with the technique employed by previous research (Iverson and Roy, 1994;
Mueller et al., 1994). The procedure consisted of two steps. First, all originally
hypothesized paths (see Figure 1) were retained, even if they were non-significant
after analysis. Second, the hypothesized model was expanded by estimating addi-
tional causal paths that were indicated by the LISREL VIII modification indices
and considered to be theoretically plausible. The goodness-of-fit index for the
revised model (x2 (2232) = 4426.07, p < .001) compared to the hypothesized
model (x2 (2234) = 4436.14, p c.001) indicates a significant improvement in the
fit of the model (hX2(2) = 10.07, p < .05), and suggests that the revised model
was better able to represent the relations in the sample data.
Modifications made to the hypothesized model involved estimating two addi-
tional paths. In relation to organizational commitment, the personal variable of

positive affectivity was found to have a significant impact (see column 2 of Table
3). In addition, the job-related variable of role conflict was found to have a neg-
ative effect on organizational change (see column 4 of Table 3). The revised
model accounted for 55 and 47 per cent of the variance in organizational com-
mitment and organizational change, respectively.
Path analysis
A simplified causal model is presented in Figure 2 (x2 (805) = 1985.62, p < .001;
CFI = .91). This model retains only those variables significantly related to orga-
nizational change (see Brooke and Price, 1989; Iverson, Deery and Erwin, 1994,
Personal variables
-.I1
Tenure
.13
Education
-.I1 -.3q
Union membership
Positive affectivity -
Organizational
commitment
Job related variables A
.ll
Job security
Role conflict
.23
Job satisfaction
Job motivation .31
*-.I 3 $34 c ' 3
Organizational
change
.32 201
IR climate
-.I3
Figure 2 SimpliJied model of organizational change.

1995, for a review of this strategy). All paths were statistically significant and in
the hypothesized direction. The decomposition of direct, indirect and total effects
of the determinants of organizational change are contained in Table 4. In rela-
tion to the significant total causal effects of the determinants on organizational
change, the rank order of the variables is as follows: union membership (-.40),
organizational commitment (.34), IR climate (.31), education (.13), role conflict
(-.13), tenure (-.I l), job motivation (.l I), job satisfaction (.08), job security (.04),
environmental opportunity (-.04), and positive affectivity (.03).
Table 4 Decomposed direct, indirect and total effects of determinants on organizational

change
Direct effects Indirect effects Total effects

Determinants on change via commitment on change
Personal variables
Tenure
Education
Union membership
Positive affectivity
Job security
Role conflict
Job satisfaction
Job motivation
IR climate
Organizational commitment
Discussion
The research findings provided general support for the present model of organi-
zational change. Of the eleven determinants identified to have significant total
causal effects, four were personal variables (i.e., tenure, education, union mem-
bership and positive affectivity); four were job-related variables (i.e., job security,
role conflict, job satisfaction and job motivation); two were environmental vari-
ables (i.e., IR climate and environmental opportunity), and one was the
employee orientation of organizational commitment. A discussion of the determi-
nants in relation to the magnitude of their total effects and their implications for
the management of organizational change follows.
The most important determinant of the acceptance of organizational change
was that of union membership. Consistent with expectations, union members
were found to be less accepting of change than non-union members. This was
evidenced by 90 per cent of union membership's total causal impact being direct
on organizational change, where only 10 per cent was indirect via organizational
commitment. Although unions in the hospital were involved in the change
process, they were initially resistant to the OER. For example, it was not until
ten days after the formal launch of the OER programme that union bans were
fully lifted on hospital services. Union officials were fearful of the potential
reduction of wages, working conditions and the potential for management to use
the OER to downsize the work-force. Borjas (1979) argued that an important
by-product of unionization is the politicization of the organization's work-force
by making members aware of existing organizational problems. In the present
study, it could be argued that the politicization of union members to the OER
programme initially made them reluctant to participate in the change process.
This demonstrates the inherent conflict, politicking and tensions of implementing

such change programmes (Pettigrew, 1985, 1990). Union members were also less
loyal to the hospital than non-union members. The findings support the implica-
tions of the 'exit-voice' (Freeman and Medoff, 1984; Hirschman, 1970) model,
whereby union members are less attitudinally attached to the organization and
less disposed to accept change that will negatively affect their working conditions
(Barling et al., 1992). Furthermore, interaction checks revealed that the relation-
ship of union membership with organizational commitment and organizational
change did not differ over the degree of harmony in the IR climate. Interest-
ingly, Dunphy and Stace (1990) suggest that in these types of situations the tech-
nique of 'envisaging' can assist in managing the acceptance of change. Upper
management may provide the strategic vision of the required change (e.g., pro-
vide better quality of patient care) which is difficult to contradict, while the only
area for negotiation between management and the unions is the means by which
this change may be achieved. Thus, greater integration and consultation of
unions in the change process must be an imperative if the fears of unions (e.g.,
about job security) are to be alleviated (Peters, 1988).
Organizational commitment was found to be the next most important determi-
nant of organizational change. Recent research (e.g., Iverson and Roy, 1994;
Stumpf and Hartman, 1984) reports organizational commitment to be a better pre-
dictor of behavioural intentions than job satisfaction. Organizational commitment
also tends to be more enduring over time compared to job satisfaction which
reflects immediate reactions associated with specific aspects of the work environ-
ment (Porter et al., 1974). Employees with high organizational commitment are
more congruent with the goals and values of the hospital, willing to expend con-
siderably more effort on the behalf of the hospital, and thus more likely to accept
organizational change. Consistent with Guest (1987, 1992, 1995), organizational
commitment was instrumental in achieving organizational change by acting as an
intervening variable for determinants in the model. Organizational commitment
mediated the total causal effects of positive affectivity, job security, job satisfac-
tion, job motivation and environmental opportunity on organizational change. In
addition, union membership and IR climate had 10 per cent and 35 per cent of
their total impact mediated by organizational commitment, respectively. Hence,
organizational commitment acts as both a determinant and mediator in the man-
agement of change, and as such must be integral to any change strategy.
Although underestimated in the literature, IR climate had both a direct and
indirect impact on the acceptance of organizational change. Around 65 per cent
of IR climate's total causal effect was direct, while 35 per cent was indirect via
142 Roderick D. herson
organizational commitment. The indirect impact supports Deery et al. (1994)
who found that the more harmonious the IR climate, the greater the commit-
ment of employees to the organization. As a harmonious IR climate reflects a
high degree of co-operation, and trust between management and unions in solv-
ing common problems (Dastmalchian et a)., 1991; Lorenz, 1992), the results indi-
cate that a harmonious IR climate is a necessary prerequisite for successful
organizational change. This has direct implications for the management style
within organizations, where an adversarial IR climate will lead employees to face
role conflicts due to the organization and the union making incompatible
demands on them (Deery et al., 1994). These incompatible demands result in the
commitment to the organization or the union as an eitherlor choice for employ-
ees (Angle and Perry, 1986; Iverson and Kuruvilla, 1995). As the state govern-
ment in the present study continues to tighten casemix funding, placing greater
strain on the resources of the hospital, the likely long-term outcome is that of
increased role conflict between management and the unions, leading to resistance
rather than acceptance of the OER.
The personal variable of education was found to be the fourth most important
determinant. Consistent with the model, education had a direct positive impact
on organizational change. Employees with higher education have increased
opportunities for skill utilization (Cordery et al., 1993) and are therefore able to
meet the new challenges of the job. That is, the higher the education of employ-
ees, the more flexible and adaptable the work-force. To achieve successful
change, organizations must invest in their employees through such schemes as
SET (security, employee involvement and training), where employees who are
productive and adaptable to new conditions have greater job security and display
greater involvement in making organizations competitive (Brown, Reich and
Stem, 1993). Although not originally hypothesized, role conflict was also found
to have a direct effect on the acceptance of organizational change. Moreover, the
greater the role conflict of employees, the less the acceptance of organizational
change. This result is consistent with Lindblom's (1959) notion of 'muddling
through', where individuals use past success in decision making as a template for
future decisions. As role conflict is concerned with the inconsistent role demands
of a job, it is likely that if employees are already experiencing role conflict in
their jobs they would be resistant to any changes that may increase this.
Management can buffer role conflict by both providing greater social support
(House, 1981) and creating a more formalized and structured work environment
to reduce uncertainty (Zeffane, 1994).
The sixth most important determinant of organizational change was that of
the personal variable of tenure. As predicted by the model, tenure was found to
have a direct negative impact. This finding supports Broadwell (1985), who sug-
gests that lower tenured employees have fewer preconceived notions about orga-
nizational procedures and are also less set in their ways. In addition, both the
job-related variables of job motivation and job satisfaction had indirect effects
on organizational change via organizational commitment (Iverson and Roy,
1994; Mathieu and Zajac, 1990). That is, the more employees psychologically
identify with and like their jobs, the higher their loyalty to the organization and
the greater their willingness to accept change (Coopey and Hartley, 1991;
Cordery et al., 1993; Guest, 1987). Therefore, quality of work life issues should
be salient concerns when implementing HR policies for organizational change.
The final three determinants of job security, environmental opportunity and
positive affectivity had total causal effects on organizational change via organi-
zational commitment. Job security, as previously suggested, has been underesti-
mated in the change literature. Consistent with the model, increases in job
security produce greater organizational commitment (Morris et al., 1993) which
is associated with favourable attitudes to organizational change. Mobley (1982)
also reported that organizations that experience fluctuations in employment lev-
els may find it difficult to retain employees due to fear of retrenchments. Brown
et al. (1993) assert that employees are more willing to contribute to improve-
ments in work processes when they are not fearful of losing their jobs. Hence,
the type of management style adopted is integral to allaying fears such as these.
Unfortunately, as the hospital recently announced that it would be closing sev-

eral wards and offering voluntary redundancy packages to employees, this will
continue to be a major problem in the hospital's change programme. Moreover,
the negative effect of environmental opportunity indicates that, when there are
few alternative jobs outside the hospital, employees are more receptive to change.
Conversely, when jobs are plentiful in the labour market, employees are less tol-
erant of change, as they are able to leave their current hospital and move to
another more easily. This supports Steers and Mowday (1981), who argue that
employees re-evaluate such things as their loyalty to the organization when faced
with alternative job opportunities.
Although not originally hypothesized, the findings indicate that employees dis-
playing the personality trait of positive affectivity are more loyal to the hospital,
which in turn, leads them to be more accepting of organizational change
(George, 1989; Judge, 1993). Employees with positive affectivity are better able
to control their environment and display coping strategies in dealing with
change. This finding raises important legal and social implications over the use
of personality tests in the recruitment and selection strategies of organizations
(Davis-Blake and Pfeffer, 1989). In relation to the legal implications, there is a
growing body of literature highlighting the inherent problems of such strategies
(e.g., Staw and Ross, 1985; Wright and Staw, 1994). Moreover, as there is con-
troversy surrounding the exact effects of positive affectivity on outcomes such as
performance, absenteeism and accidents (e.g., Davis-Blake and Pfeffer, 1989;
Iverson and Erwin, 1995; Iverson, Olekalns and Erwin, 1994; Staw and Barsade,
1993), more research is required before positive affectivity can be considered as
legally validating. The social policy implications of dispositionally based selection
procedures also must not be overlooked. It appears plausible that employees
who are predisposed to being committed to an organization may be more accept-
ing of changes that result in a deterioration of working conditions (Davis-Blake
and Pfeffer, 1989). However, it must be emphasized that the results of the pre-
sent study indicate that the acceptance of change was not determined solely by
positive affectivity, but by a combination of employee orientations, personal,
job-related and environmental variables.
In summary, the present study identified that the management of successful
organizational change requires a multi-faceted approach. The results support
Guest's (1987, 1992, 1995) model, which posits that organizational commitment
should be considered as a determinant, as well as a mediator of factors in the
change process. Moreover, HRM researchers and practitioners must be aware of
other factors that affect the acceptance of change in organizations. In this
research, they comprised various personal, job-related and environmental variables
which in combination predicted a significant proportion of explained variance in
employees' acceptance of change. Although the generalizability of the results may
be limited due to the study being carried out in a single hospital setting, the results
serve to display the complexities (e.g., politicization) of implementing change in
organizations. Future research using longitudinal designs should focus on the
increasing importance of appropriate HR policies to elicit organizational commit-
ment in both public- and private-sector organizations, in manufacturing and ser-
vice industries, including blue- and white-collar employees, if we are to enhance
our understanding of employee acceptance of organizational change.
Department of Management and Industrial Relations
University of Melbourne
Parkville
Victoria
Australia 3052
Acknowlegements
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1995 Annual Academy of
Management Meetings in Vancouver. The research reported in this paper was sup-
ported by an Australian Research Council Grant 867923485 awarded to Stephen
J. Deery and the author. I would like to thank Stephen Deery, Rowena Barrett,
Donna Buttigieg, Peter Erwin, Timothy Rutherford and the anonymous reviewers
for this journal for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this article.
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The International Journal of

To cite this article: Roderick D. Iverson (1996) Employee acceptance

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Employee acceptance of organizational

0985-5 192 O Routledge 1996

social systems which,are characterized by conflict, politicking and inherent ten-

to open up to external market forces in formerly protected domestic markets.

Background to change process

Community Services, 1993: iii). A casemix measure known as Diagnosis Related

Figure 1 Hypothesized model of organizational change.

applicable to HR policy formation than the more specific types of commitment.

Kelloway, 1992: 185), which is expected to reduce organizational commitment.

There is a growing body of literature supporting the positive relationship of

Marital status, sex, number of children or dependants, age of children, number

Job-related variables Autonomy was measured using Tetrick and LaRocco's

Environmental variables IR climate was assessed using the 10-item harmony

Relations (LISREL) were utilized in the analysis. Multiple regression was

Hypothesized causal model

Organizational Organizat ional

Revised causal model

tional paths. In relation to organizational commitment, the personal variable of

Figure 2 SimpliJied model of organizational change.

Table 4 Decomposed direct, indirect and total effects of determinants on organizational

Direct effects Indirect effects Total effects

This demonstrates the inherent conflict, politicking and tensions of implementing

Unfortunately, as the hospital recently announced that it would be closing sev-

Broadwell, M.M. (1985) Supervisory Handbook. New York: Wiley.

Dawson, P. (1991) 'Lost Managers or Industrial Dinosaurs? A Reappraisal of Front Line

Farrell, D. and Rusbult, C.E. (1981) 'Exchange Variables as Predictors of Job

& Practice in Human Resource Management, 3(1): 15-38.

Human Resource Management Journal, 3(3): 21-42.

Sadder-But-Wiser vs. Happier-and-Smarter Hypotheses', Administrative Science

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