Journal of Organisational Change Management, 28(2), 301-314. AbstractPurpose -Since prior empirical research has seldom compared causes of stress before, during and after organizational change this study sought to identify stressors as change unfolded over time and to identify what led to variations in stress levels.Design/methodology/approach -Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2012 with 31 staff in a range of clinical and non-clinical positions in a New Zealand public health organization that had experienced considerable change.Findings -For most respondents the transition phase was the most stressful as it created job insecurity and was handled with insufficient information, consultation and support and for the balance stress increased after the change, which created additional demands that usually needed to be met with fewer resources. The stress of others emerged as a new category of stressor during the transition stage. Practical implications -Leaders of public sector organizations need to be mindful of the deleterious effects of stress from organizational change and create cultures, strategies and practices that mitigate the stress. Research limitations/implicationsOriginality/value -This is apparently the first qualitative study that traces the causes of stress as organizational change moves through various phases.

Change triggers emotions as employees experience the processes and outcomes of organizational transformation. An organization's affective culture, which shapes the way emotions are experienced and expressed, plays a particularly important part during changes to the culture and other aspects of organizational life. This article contributes to the literature by illustrating the relationships between culture, change and emotions and presents the results of a qualitative study. The study found that when participants' values were congruent with those of the organization, they tended to react to change more positively. Cultural change provoked emotional reactions, often of an intense nature. When emotions were acknowledged and treated with respect, people became more engaged with the change. Attitudes to existing culture also produced emotional responses to aspects of change.

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This article reports on a qualitative study which investigates the role of time in the emotions experienced during organizational change. Whereas much empirical research on emotions and time has been conducted in highly controlled experimental settings, this study discusses subjects’ emotional experiences during real-life change events related to three temporal dimensions: speed, frequency and timing. Three themes emerge from our findings: the relationship between time, major change and negative emotion; the relationship between time and perception of control; and other factors such as fairness, disposition and emotional intelligence. This study’s contribution is to focus specifically on time, emotion and change in real-world contexts, and to derive implications for managing change and for future research based on social theories recognizing time’s subjective nature.

Resistance to organizational change has too often been portrayed in a limited way, usually as a negative behavioural response of first-level employees. While the academic literature has identified a number of dimensions of resistance, it has not assembled them in one study. Therefore, the aims of this article are firstly to explore resistance to change as a more complex multi-dimensional concept, secondly to examine how actors at various hierarchical levels react to organizational change and thirdly how they construct the meaning of the term resistance. The findings of a qualitative study shed considerable light on the range of ways in which change participants at different levels reacted to a change and how they interpreted their own responses and those of others.

Findings -Positive and negative emotions were related to trust in the ability, benevolence and integrity of immediate supervisors and more senior change managers. The emotions were more intense for distrust than for trust. Some participants referred to challenges to their own integrity. Perceptions of organizational justice during change were important contributors to the creation and erosion of trust in management.Research limitations/implications -The relevance of propensity to trust and pre-existing levels of trust were not investigated and researching these factors, particularly in longitudinal studies, will provide a clearer picture of emotional responses to the perceived trustworthiness of change managers. Exploring cross-cultural issues in the trustworthiness of change leaders would add depth to the field.Practical implications -Developing trust in management though transparency, other fair practices and a positive organizational culture will help to gain commitment to organizational change.Originality/value -This study adds to the scant literature on qualitative investigations of trust, emotions and organizational change by presenting insights from an analysis of employees' trust in the ability, benevolence and integrity of their own supervisors and those of more senior management in a range of organizations and types of change.

When people are faced with changes to some aspect of their working lives they respond on a number of levels: cognitive, affective and behavioural. The behavioural responses are outcomes of the cognitive and emotional reactions, and are mediated and moderated by a number of variables, some of which lie in the context of the employee, some in the context of the change managers, and some in the context of the organisation. In this article a model will be presented that identifies a range of reactions to change and a series of propositions that can be tested empirically.

Purpose – The aim of the study is to identify the emotions that arise over issues of control over organizational change, to explore why they occur and what their consequences are for the organizational member. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 24 people from different industries, organizations, hierarchical levels and functional departments were interviewed on their experiences of change and the emotional reactions they produced. Findings – Negative emotions were evoked when members sensed a lack of control, a loss of control or the possibilities of mismanaging control in an organizational change. Positive emotions were reported for those able to exert control over processes and outcomes. The metaphor of the rollercoaster effect of positive and negative emotions was specifically used by a number of participants, while several others referred to an associated metaphor, the grief cycle. Research limitations/implications – Participants were not asked what control over change they preferred, and dispositional and cultural issues were not specifically explored. The limitations of the rollercoaster metaphor are addressed. Research implications include examining the role of traits like locus of control and self-efficacy from a qualitative perspective and identifying the part ethnic or national culture plays in perceptions of control over change. Practical implications – Management needs to allow participation in decision making wherever possible to fortify perceptions of control over change and to develop in members feelings of self-efficacy and well-being. Originality/value – The study demonstrates how control over organizational change produces emotional responses that influence commitment and resistance to change.