Change within organizations: an attributional lens

Abstract

Change scholars have devoted remarkably little attention to employees' understanding about why change was implemented in their organization when considering the factors that influence employees' responses to change. Building on original attribution research and on HR research that has adopted this approach, we introduce the constructs of 'change attributions' and 'change strength'. We identify these constructs as important predictors of employees' responses to change efforts in two ways. First, we identify employees' understanding of the reasons why change is implemented (change attributions) as a factor that influences change attitudes and behaviors. Second, based on the co-variation model of the attribution theory and more recent work, we argue that success of change is influenced by the degree employees perceive the information from management regarding the change to be distinctive, consistent and consensual (change strength). Finally, theoretical and practical implications of the change strength and change attributions are discussed.