Working in an Adaptive Organizational Culture, is Change Easier to Take?

Abstract

In seeking to increase our understanding of the effect of organizational change on employee job outcomes, we considered employees’ perceptions of, and attitudes toward, change within the context of organizational adaptability. Employees at three different North American organizations experiencing organizational change completed surveys on their perceptions, attitudes, organizational culture, and job outcomes of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions (N = 807). Consistent with affective events theory, results revealed that attitudes toward organizational change are positively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and negatively related to turnover intentions. Perceptions of organizational change, which encompass frequency of change and psychological uncertainty, are negatively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and positively related to turnover intentions. Furthermore, an adaptive organizational culture is positively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment and negatively related to turnover intentions. Interestingly, an adaptive organizational culture moderates the negative relationship between perceptions of organizational change and organizational commitment, such that the relationship is stronger (more negative) for employees with an adaptive (flexible) organizational culture. Implications of these findings for research, theory, and practice on organizational change and job outcomes are discussed.