Sustainable development through commitment to organizational change: the implications of organizational culture and individual readiness for change

Abstract

Purpose

Future organizations must focus on their ability to change to be sustainable, and this calls more attention to sustainability as an organizational issue. However, change initiatives often fail because of a lack of employee commitment. The purpose of this study is to examine how organizational culture and individual readiness for change (IRFC) relate to types of commitment to change.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data from a sample of 259 employees in a Norwegian public organization undergoing major strategic changes were used to test the hypothesized relations.

Findings

The results show that flexible and stable organizational cultures did not relate differently to types of change commitment. This may indicate that the strength, rather than the type, of organizational culture is vital for change commitment. Nevertheless, a flexible organizational culture had a clearer relation to positive change commitment; in part through its positive relation with both change self-efficacy and negative personal valence. These are important dimensions of IRFC.

Originality/value

The study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the role of contextual and individual factors in explaining various types of commitment to organizational change, in particular, by examining the distinction between flexible and stable organizational culture, as well as separate dimensions of IRFC. A flexible culture together with both of the included dimensions of IRFC is shown to be of importance in fostering affective commitment to change – the gold standard of change commitment. Recognizing sustainability as an organizational issue underscores the need for creating a culture conducive to change.

Citation

Olafsen, A.H., Nilsen, E.R., Smedsrud, S. and Kamaric, D. (2021), "Sustainable development through commitment to organizational change: the implications of organizational culture and individual readiness for change", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 180-196. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWL-05-2020-0093