Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for the employee-led development of a planned organizational change. Design/methodology/approach -The authors, as action researchers, aid a large public sector organization through the diagnosis and planning of an organizational change. The data were collected via mixed method web-based surveys, while the change development and implementation planning leveraged change-cynical opinion leaders from within the organization to develop the focal change.Findings -Communication and participation transformed the cynics into change agents. Furthermore, the described technique can help organizations develop a sense of self-reliance with regards to problem-solving capabilities. Originality/value -While the importance of communication is well-known, this effort used change communication as an a priori tool in the development of a planned change. This method enabled team members to focus on helping their peers accept the change in addition to meeting operational requirements. Furthermore, using change cynics as the principal participants in the change development enabled the organization to garner support from its toughest critics.
Researchers have typically overlooked the possibility that responses to job attitude items might be produced “on the spot” using information that is temporally accessible to participants. In the current study, the authors test this possibility by examining context effects that occur when questionnaire content influences responses to subsequent survey items. Using data collected from employed students, the authors conducted three experiments that provide evidence that responses to job attitude measures are sensitive to context effects. Specifically, asking participants to think about either positive aspects or negative aspects of their jobs/organizations influenced subsequent responses to job attitudes items. Further analyses suggested that some effects of context manipulations on job attitudes were mediated by participant mood. The authors conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
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