Employees’ Change Support in the Public Sector—A Multi‐Time Field Study Examining the Formation of Intentions and Behaviors

• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Author: Ahmad Bayiz Ahmad,Tammo Straatmann,Karsten Mueller,Bangcheng Liu
• Date: 01 March 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13275

Research Article

Employees’ Change Support in the Public Sector— A Multi-Time Field Study Examining the Formation of Intentions and Behaviors 231

Abstract: Recent micro-level research on public sector reform and change highlights the importance of employees’

reactions to change. Based on the assumption that intentions determine behaviors, scholars have focused on the

importance of understanding how change-supportive intentions are formed. However, how change-supportive

intentions translate to change-supportive behaviors over time has received less attention. Drawing on the theory of

planned behavior and public administration literature, this study examines the formation of change-supportive

intentions and behaviors based on data from a two-wave field study of 135 public school teachers undergoing a major

top-down reform in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The results highlight the explanatory value of the psychological

perspective for change-supportive intentions as well as for change-supportive behaviors measured nine months

later. The findings of the present study are theoretically and practically relevant as they offer new insights into the

psychological mechanisms involved in the formation of change support in the context of public organizations.

Evidence for Practice

• Change-supportive intentions show a strong relationship with change-supportive behaviors measured nine

months later and, hence, can serve as early indicators for proactive change management.

• Valuable insights for the design of tailored change management intervention fostering change support can be

derived from knowledge about the psychological reactions of change recipients.

• To optimally promote change support, interventions should target positive change-related attitudes, as well

as subjective norms in the organization and perceived behavioral control of the change recipients.

In the last few decades, there have been significant

processes of change and reforms in public

sector organizations (Fattore, Iacovone, and

Steccolini2018). Since the 1980s, tighter budgets,

fluctuating financial markets, safety standards, as

well as information technology and more turbulent

environments have increasingly prompted public

sector organizations to initiate and execute changes

in the governance, structure, design, and quality of

services delivered to citizens (Ahmad2018; Fernandez

and Rainey2006; Pollitt and Bouckaert2011).

Looking at changes in the public sector context

reveals that while reforms and change programs are

often initiated by elected or politically appointed

officials and executives in a top-down manner, the

implementations of actual changes and reforms

in public organizations are executed by middle-

and first-line managers, as well as by front-line

employees (that is, change recipients) (Ahmad, Liu,

and Butt2019b; Hassan et al.2020). Hence, the

public administration literature on public sector

reform and change implementation emphasizes the

important role of change recipients in shaping how

reforms are translated into practice (Zarychta, Grillos,

and Andersson2019). van der Voet, Kuipers, and

Groeneveld(2016, 121) argue that to have any effect,

reform initiatives must “ultimately result in changes

in the work processes of public organizations and in

the attitudes and behavior of employees who work

in these organizations.” As a result of the reform

and change initiatives, organizational members are

expected to go beyond their regular comfort zones

(Kotter1995) and substitute familiar behaviors with

new behaviors that are aligned with the goals of the

change initiative (Kuipers et al.2014; Schneider,

Gunnarson, and Niles-Jolly1994). Such a notion

is supported by various scholars who argue that “If

people do not change, there is no organizational

change” (Schneider et al.1994, 7), or that “change

persists over the long term only when individuals

alter their on-the-job behaviors in appropriate

ways” (Choi2011, 480). Thus, the response of

change recipients to changes is, inter alia, suggested

to be one of the main determinants of the extent

to which organizational changes succeed in public

sector organizations (Ahmad and Cheng2018;

Kelman2005; van der Voet2016).

Ahmad Bayiz Ahmad

Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Employees’ Change Support in the Public Sector—

A Multi-Time Field Study Examining the Formation of

Intentions and Behaviors

Tammo Straatmann

Bangcheng Liu

Karsten Mueller

University of Raparin, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

University of Osnabruck, Germany

University of Osnabruck, Germany

Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Karsten Mueller is a professor

of organizational psychology at the

Department of Work and Organizational

Psychology at the University of Osnabruck,

Germany. His research interests involve

organizational change management,

organizational culture, and organizational

development.

Email: karsten.mueller@uni-osnabrueck.de

Bangcheng Liu is a professor of

organizational behavior and human

resource management at the School of

International and Public Affairs, Shanghai

Jiao Tong University. His current research

focuses on cross-cultural organizational

behavior and strategic human resource

management, especially for public

organizations. He is also interested in talent

policy and innovational and entrepreneurial

management.

Email: liubangcheng@sjtu.edu.cn

Tammo Straatmann is a postdoctoral

research fellow in the Department of

Work and Organizational Psychology at

the University of Osnabruck, Germany.

His major research interests involve

organizational change management,

organizational culture, survey feedback,

organizational development, and retention

management.

Email: tstraatmn@uni-osnabrueck.de

Ahmad Bayiz Ahmad is a postdoctoral

research fellow at the School of

International and Public Affairs of Shanghai

Jiao Tong University. He is also a lecturer

at the University of Raparin in Kurdistan

Region of Iraq. His current research focuses

on organizational change, public sector

reform, and knowledge sharing/hiding.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1708-

133X, Twitter: @ahmad_bayiz.

Email: ahmad.bayiz@sjtu.edu.cn

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 81, Iss. 2, pp. 231–243. © 2020 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13275.