Individual and Organisational Facets of Change in the Public and Private Sectors: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This study compares aspects of change in Belgian public and private sector organisations, with references to individual aspects (readiness to change and the locus of control) and organisational aspects (participation in decision making and risk-taking reward orientation). The empirical research is based on perceptions of 930 managers and 629 employees collected through a questionnaire survey from a variety of public (n = 35) and private sector organisations (n = 21). In total 1,559 responses were collected from the private sector (n = 827) and the public sector (n = 732). The hypotheses tested were that in the public sector, people report a lower level of readiness to change (ie, emotional involvement and commitment to change); a lower level of internal locus of control; a lower risk-taking reward orientation; and a higher level of participation in decision making in comparison to the private sector. Two-way analyses of variance, private versus public and managerial versus non-managerial positions of respondents, were performed. Results yielded significant main effects for each sector on locus of control, risk-taking reward orientation and readiness to change, and contribute to the debate on similarities and differences between public and private sector management. Some main effects cannot be interpreted in a straightforward manner, since significant interaction effects were observed between sectors and hierarchical position for the locus of control, risk-taking reward orientation, commitment to change, and emotional involvement. In brief, the hierarchical position of respondents is an important moderator variable that helps to explain differences between both sectors. The findings of this inquiry have noteworthy theoretical and managerial implications that are discussed throughout the article.