Collective friend group reactions to organizational change: A field theory approach

Abstract

SummaryThis paper integrates field theory with a social network perspective to show that perceptions of the quality of the organization's change communication become collectively shared in friend groups, and that these collective perceptions positively influence collective job performance in those friend groups. Findings from two studies show that these collective perceptions influence collective performance both directly and by interacting with change history in friend groups. The results extend theory by highlighting the importance of friendships as a mechanism for change recipient reactions becoming collectively shared. The findings further suggest that collective histories and communication perceptions play a vital role in collective job performance during change. Practical implications and directions for future research are also discussed.

The multiple faces of collective responses to organizational change: Taking stock and moving forward

“…Although the strength of ties in a changing context was not tested directly by any of the papers in this special issue, this is an area that holds promise and could be further explored. Indirectly, Vardaman et al (2023) in this special issue found empirical support for the role of friendships (a potential proxy for strong ties) in shaping up collective responses to change.…”

“…Given the pervasiveness of the psychological perspective in change response research, the number of papers with a sociological lens is less strongly represented in our special issue. Only two papers adopted a sociological lens (i.e., Pallotti et al, 2023;Vardaman et al, 2023). Both papers are inspired by mechanisms that Schwarz and Bouckenooghe (2018) use for explaining the relationships between individual and collective responses to change, specifically, network contagion, and its structural building blocks network type, and strength of ties/connections.…”

“…In this way, habitus encompasses the set of dispositions, or internalized ways of thinking, feeling, and acting, that actors acquire through their experiences within a particular social environment (e.g., workplace, organization, birthday party, etc.). In our special issue, an example of habitus could be an organization's history with change, and how dealings and experiences in the past with change shape the ways of responding to new challenges (see Vardaman et al, 2023). Also, the dispositional aspect in Sverdlik and Oreg's (2023) conceptualization of collective resistance to change reflects the fundamentals of habitus.…”

“…For instance, supporting change merely for financial reasons and ingratiate management, could be perceived as selling out your colleagues, and thus negatively affect future work relations in the company, while for management this type of behavior would be considered exemplar citizenship. Further, history of change as described by Vardaman et al (2023)…”

“…depends on social cognitive theory as a primary framework to explicate the emergence of collective emotions related to change. In terms of a sociological perspective, two special issue papers utilize social network theory as a comprehensive framework to illuminate the intricate macro and micro dynamics molding individual and collective responses to change (i.e.,Pallotti et al, 2023;Vardaman et al, 2023). While distinct, these agentic (primarily psychological) and structural (primarily sociological)perspectives are crucial to understanding collective responses to change, emphasizing both static, homogeneity-based reactions and spontaneous, dynamic social processes.…”