The Most Effective Methodology for Implementing Organizational Change and Employee

Motivation

The University of Tampa

EME 603: Inquiry and Measurement

Richard Brandt

Brittany Crawley
Table of Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 2
Research Problem/Background/Purpose of Study ............................................................. 2
Research Question/ Hypothesis............................................................................................... 4
Literature Review ....................................................................................................................... 4
Data Collection............................................................................................................................. 7
Data analysis ................................................................................................................................ 8
Results of Data Collection/Findings ........................................................................................ 9
Implication/ Wrap-up .............................................................................................................. 17
Limitations ................................................................................................................................. 18
Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................................. 19
Further Research ...................................................................................................................... 20
Literature Review/References ............................................................................................... 20
Appendices ................................................................................................................................. 21
Abstract
Change, as we all know is an inevitable process that will always be a part of our

environments and way of life. Change in the workplace is no different from that process and can

sometimes be a difficult process. Over the years, research has tried to evaluate the ways in which

businesses implement effective change. In that sense, the effectiveness of it in work

environments depends on the investment of the stakeholders, how they apply the change, timing,

and even the level of employee motivation. The purpose of this research study is to evaluate

effective change in non-government work environments. It's expected that there is one

methodology that is most effective in the implementation of change in the workplace and that an

employee with higher motivation will be more receptive to change. The research study used a

qualitative and quantitative approach to analyze and interpret the data.

The data collected indicates over 80 percent of employees have some sort of problem or

conflict with change in the workplace. However, the data represents that the majority of

participants actually enjoy where they work but the type of change, timing, and or the change

implementation process can affect the success or failure of new change. Therefore, the success or

failure of change implementation in organizations is a result of many factors that play a role in

the change process.

Research Problem/Background/Purpose of Study

In an ever-growing society, there are many factors surrounding our circumstances which

play a vital role in the success or failure of how change can and will affect us at some point in

time in our lives. Whether it’s a college student, working individual, or even a young adult,

change is an inevitable factor that everyone will face at a certain stage in their life. Like most

aspiring individuals, gaining employment will be one of the many endeavors we accomplish as
we attempt to gain our independence as adults. For many, since the work environment is no

stranger to change it will be the first experience with having to process both fast paced and large

scale change. Aside from major life events that result in personal development, a job can be the

most influential factor in one’s life and the determination of it being positive or negative hinges

upon how effective the change was implemented

Over the past two decades, it has been said that successfully implementing organizational

change in the workplace is “almost elusive” (Senge et. al, 1999) and that the rate of failure to

deliver sustainable change can reach an incredible 80-90% rate (Cope, 2003). As previously

mentioned, the workplace is no stranger to change which is due to the criticality for businesses to

remain relevant and competitive in the marketplace. Consequently, it can be argued that almost

every working individual has been a part of some sort of change in their work environment.

However, if every working person were asked if the change they experienced at their place of

employment was effective, based on Cope’s figure, the response would overwhelmingly be “no.”

This aligns with the fact that most businesses find that successfully implementing organizational

change is quite hard to achieve and according to research one to two thirds of major change

initiatives are deemed failures (Beer & Nohrio, 2000; Bibler, 1989) or have made the situation

worse (Beer, Eisenstat, & Spector, 1990).

Unsuccessful implementation of change efforts stem from an organization’s inabilit y to

remain flexible and adaptive to a dynamic business environment (Bossidy & Charan, 2002).

Given the availability of these statistics, why has this issue haunted so many businesses for

decades? This study will attempt to determine what methodology is most effective to

successfully implement workplace change as well as the extent an employee’s motivation

impacts the effectiveness of change implementation. To accomplish this, various approaches of

implementation will be evaluated in the varying work environments in addition to the correlation

between employee motivation and the process of change implementation in the work

environment.

Research Question/ Hypothesis

For this assignment, we have decided to propose the question(s)

1. “What methodology is most effective to successfully implement organizational

change,” and,

2. “to what extent does employee motivation impact the effectiveness of change

implementation?”

Research indicates that most companies have a negative perception of organizational

change due to the high number of reported failures. Do certain methodologies prove for better

results? Is success dependent upon the level of employee motivation? Or do they share

responsibility in the outcome and perception of implemented organizational change?

Literature Review
In the few decades, much research has been analyzed on the topic of change in the

workplace. Most of the findings yield to the standpoint of companies and organizations not

effectively knowing the proper methodology to implement successful change in the workplace.

According to research conducted by & Nikolaou (2013), occupational stress and organizational

change are now widely accepted as major issues in organizational environments and in life in
general. Based on research provided, there is a bridge between employees’ attitudes towards

organizational change and perhaps, their motivation. Similarly, organizations continue to invest

in organizational change no matter the business line-up or environment, change at some point

will take place.

It is said that stress, amongst other reasons, can be an influential factor in the low morale

or low motivation in employees when dealing with change. In addition, an increase in turnover,

decrease in performance, low job satisfaction, low quality products and services, poor internal

communication, and conflicts can be a definite result of ineffective change in any work

environment (Schabracq & Cooper, 2000; Murphy, 1995; McHugh, 1993) . According to

McHugh (1997), stress should be included in the change management agenda when focusing on

implementation. Many research studies prove that organizational change efforts can be one of the

most daunting experiences for individuals. However, research also clearly depicts that there is

substantial evidence in the Change Management literature which identifies the role of

organizational commitment and the vital role it plays in employees’ acceptance of change

(Darwish, 2000;Cordery et al. 1993).

With noting these important factors, it could be safe to say that beliefs and attitudes of

employees toward their specific change have a vital role in successful implementation of change

in work environments. My personal experience reflects that change relies on the conceptual idea

that people have to be invested in their community and perceive that whatever change is being

implemented supports organizational mechanisms to change. In order for this to be effective

though, all levels of participants have to be convinced or change will be a stressful experience

(McHugh 1993). According to advanced research, people go through a reaction process when

they are confronted with organizational change (Jacobs, 1995; Kyle 1993). Scotland Jaffe (1988)
notes that the change process consists of (4) different phases: initial denial, resistance, gradual

exploration, and then eventual commitment. Because so many involved individuals of change

unknowingly use defense mechanisms when being approached with change, these same defenses

can most often hinder an individual from adapting to change (Halton, 1994). In fact, the failure

of many programs that implement change can be traced to employee resistance (Maurer, 1997).

Additionally, when implementing change in the workplace another major issue that arises

is the lack of consideration for the human factor. For instance, research suggest that most

companies invest in change from a technical standpoint. The result of this approach neglects the

communication, training, and follow up of the change process (Schneider & Goldwasser, 1998).

A research study conducted by Bovey, W.H & Hede, A.L (2001), consisted of a hypothesis

testing methodology which examined the strength of the relationship between adaptive and

maladaptive defense mechanisms and behavioral intention to resist change in a work setting. The

results proved that those who engage in maladaptive defenses are more likely to resist change. In

contrast, those who unconsciously adopt adaptive defenses were less likely to resist

organizational change. This depicts an idea that an employee’s motivations, willingness to adapt

to change, attitudes, and other various aspects involving the human factor have an influential role

in how effective change in the workplace can be.

Thus, the ultimate aim of educating individuals (in any setting), change in this research

study, could simply be shaping human behavior (Hungerford & Volk, 2010). A research

[theorized] Behavioral Change System depicts a valid understanding of how change could be

effectively implemented in various environments. That system which consist of the transferring

of knowledge, understanding awareness or attitudes, and then implementing action in the change

process can prove to be effective if incorporated correctly while interchangeably making changes
in the environment. Because we live in a world of change, the ability to lead it though, can be

even more of a challenging task to accomplish. According to the Guide of effective

Implementation of Change Management, mastering change management is a key skill for the

twenty-first century as living with change is a key common survival kill.

When implementing transformational change, management also needs to be conscious of

how defense mechanisms can affect an individual’s behavioral intentions, whether good or bad.

Only if human dimension are understood and accepted, management can progressively develop,

promote and implement appropriate intervention strategies. Two approaches are noted to help

assist with employee resistance. Those which are information-based interventions and

counselling interventions. Information-based interventions provide the individual with

information to create awareness and understanding of unconscious processes and how these

influence an individual’s motivations and behaviors in a changing environment. Counseling

interventions focus on activities designed to assist individuals, both singularly and collectively as

a group, to analyze, interpret and understand how their own defense mechanisms influence their

perceptions and motivations towards change.

Data Collection
This research study used a mixed method methods approach to gather a brief

representation of how change can influence the work place on various levels. It also depicts the

who are most affected by change in work environments. The qualitative data used in the research

helped guide the reasoning being behind why change can be effective or opposite of that based

on the interviews collected. The quantitative helped us gather a more numerical stance of
demographics, and stats based on the number of participants answered alike and those who

answered on the opposition end of the majority.

The quantitative data collected were a result from surveys, where we used Google Forms

to gather the data. This type of data was useful to the research as it posed a stance on visual

representations of the overall data collected from the participants in their particular work

environments. The surveys were sent out to 15 individuals in which only 13 took the survey but

we had to discard 6 of the surveys because it didn't give a solid representation of the data needed

for the research. Interviews were collected to depict the qualitative data which helped display the

relevance of the opinions of the stakeholders (also represented in the short answer questions in

the surveys) There were 4 interviews scheduled as we were able to collect data from two

interviews. The Interviews gave our research team valued opinions from a higher level (position

in company) view how change can affect the work environment, their involvement and some

valued reason as to why change can become ineffective.

Data analysis
The data analysis conducted was a simple approach where our research team used the

data from the surveys in Google Forms to help create graphs that enable the data to be

collectively broken down into numerical data. The pie charts and bar graphs were used to show a

visual representation of the percentage values assigned by each question. Line graphs were also

added to display the variances in data such as demographics and numerical data responses as

well. From the data collected in the interviews, We carefully reviewed the responses drafted in

our interviews and compared the data to see if we could find similar thoughts or even differences
in the way in which they responded to each question. We then, combined the data and created a

report to showcase the findings.

Results of Data Collection/Findings

Figure 1- Participant level of employment in work environment

Based on the findings about the position which participants held while in the change process, the

data reflects that during change in a work environment affects mostly lower level associates.

This also depicts the value of the attention provided associates to during and after the change

process since the change will affect them the most based on their majority in population over all

levels of employment in the data collection.

Figure 2- Participant position in the change in work change process
Noted from the data collected (Figure 2), over 70% of the population of participants were

directly affected by the change process. Only 30% of the data collected reflected that participants

were not directly affected by the change process. This collection of data displays that through a

work change process, the people that are most affected by the change are the associates or those

who may be positioned in a lower degree of employment. This then could also indicate that the

associates (which represents the majority of participants), have an influential role in the

effectiveness of the change since they are most affected by it. Those who were indirectly affected

by the change stated they didn't have to work on the front end of the change, meaning they didn’t

have to work around the change in the work environment or were immune to the change in

general.
Figure 3- Type of change participants were involved in during change in their work environment
Based on the information collected (Figure 3), we can see that all the participants were involved

in some type of work change as each participant wrote a response to this question. The chart

reveals that all participants had varying types of change they were involved in. Only 20% said

they had a change involving products or new products changes. Another 20% said they had a

change involving management changes, whether new management or an issue with management.

The other 60% of data collected reflected that participants who took the surveys were involved in

changed based on pedagogical changes or new company structures changes.

Figure 4- Depiction of acceptance of change in the workplace
The data collected (Figure 4), shows the number of individuals who participated in the surveys

that either agreed with the change they were involved in or disagreed. 40% of individuals

accepted the change or agreed with it and over half the population of the survey participants did

not favor the change. This can easily be interpreted as most people have a problem with change

that happens in their work environment. Although this data collected represents only a small

population of individuals, it gives a visual of the acceptance of change in the workplace.

Figure 5- Gender of Participants
Figure 5 shows the number of participants that were male versus female in the survey

participation pool. As noted, over 66.7% of participants were women 33.3% were male.

However, this collected information could indicate that either woman share a majority of the

associate space in work environments (non-management) or more women took the survey than

men did. Since the data only reflects a small number of participants, this particular set of data

was not used in making inferences to our initial research question. This data was collected and

used as a method to observe demographics in the work environment on a small scale.

Figure 6- Employee Satisfaction with his/her Employer
The data collected here was surveyed using a scale from 1 (lowest level of satisfaction) to 5

(highly satisfied), to see how many participants were currently satisfied with their employers or

not happy with their work environment or company. Interestingly, some respondents indicated

that they were satisfied with their company but not the change itself. Only 2% of participants

were not satisfied with current employer or employer at the time of the change. This data reflects

that on average, over 50% of the participants, are satisfied with their employer or they are happy

where they work. More so, 20% of the participants were highly satisfied with their employment.

This information represents that although people may not be accepting of change, it doesn’t

necessarily mean they don’t enjoy their workplace. Simply, it could identify that even if people

are happy at work, change can still be a daunting experience to accept.

Figure 7- Initial satisfaction of Change in work environment
Based on the data collected (Figure 7), on a scale of 1-5 (1 being the lowest level of satisfaction

and 5 being the highly satisfied) displays the frequency in which people are initially happy with

the change process in their work environment. The data collected shows that initial acceptance of

change in the workplace can be a diverse. The figure shows the scale going up and down as

participants filled out the survey which means the results are reflected across the complete scale

as every individual landed in one of the positions.

Figure 8- Age of participants in their work environment
From the data collected, half the number of participants (6), were between the age of 18 and 29.

The other 3 participants were between the ages of 30 and 49. This information shows that of the

participants in the pool of surveys, more than half (66.6%) of individuals where young adults and

could reflect the difference in maturity levels in the workplace. The other 33.3% of individuals

who took the survey were at a fairly mature age which can represent the more leveled minded

individuals that are involved in the work change process.

Figure 9- Variances of Education of participants in the workplace
The data collected (shown in Figure 9), reflects the notion that the targeted individuals who

participated in the survey were diverse in their level of education. Although a larger number of

individuals posed a higher level of education, most of the associates (78% of pool), were

educated or had some type of higher educational background. Only 11% (1 person) answered

this question as “prefer not to say” which could indicate they are uneducated or may not want to

disclose this information because of various personal reasons. 33% of participants received a

Master’s level degree of education which represents less than half the space in a work

environment as surveyed.

Implication/ Wrap-up
The results of the research provided in this project suggest that there are diverse changes

in the work environment that affect almost everyone at some point. Whether the individual is at a
lower-level of employment or higher level of management, change can impact the workplace and

yield results of attitude changes, resistance, reduction in productivity and even acceptance of the

change. However, it depends on the circumstances of the change. From a corporate standpoint,

businesses must understand that while change can be necessary, there are many factors that

contribute to the success of the change and implementation process. Those such aspects are

planning, communication, training, and support for those who create, implement the change as

well as those who are impacted.

Pursuing structural organization changes requires examining how the change will affect

all quadrants of the business and culture, which can lead to effective results if the change is

accepted at most levels in the change process. In addition, we concluded there was no direct

correlation to employee motivation and the effectiveness of change implementation. However,

much research suggest “the failure of many programs that implement change can be traced to

employee resistance” (Maurer, 1997).

Limitations
Due to the limits of data collection and the constraints of timing, a more detailed

approach of sampling was not feasible. In best cases, multiple work environments and

organizations would have been evaluated and those involved would have been surveyed and

interview in a greater quantity in order to provide additional data. Due to this limitation, data

collected and results varied based on a lesser amount of data that could have been collected. A

potentially more effective outcome could have been concluded with a more effective data

collection method in place.

 In addition to sampling size, participant bias and experience accuracy were also

limitations. Provided the minimal guidelines provided for choosing a change experience,

participants might have selected an example in which their acceptance of the change might have

been influenced by additional factors. Beyond potential bias, the accuracy to which a participant

recalls change experience might create inaccurate data. Studies have shown that human

memories can be altered based on future experiences and attitudes. For this research, that means

if the participant later accepted the change or experienced a variation in a relationship pertaining

to the change, they might have a modified perception of when the change was initially

implemented.

Another limitation was the lack of success definition. Each individual is likely to have a

different idea of what constitutes success thus creating inconsistencies and deviations in data

collection. This limitation and population size were controllable whereas experience bias and

accuracy are uncontrollable variables.

Ethical Considerations
For confidentiality purposes, all participants were advised beforehand of the terms and

conditions with being a part of the research sample. Participants were notified that the surveys

and the interviews would remain anonymous and all services provided would be completely at

will. No parties have been revealed in this research study and are intended to stay unknown as all

data collected and all those involved will be protected by the Co-Investigators via their protected

google accounts that will remain undefined. To avoid conflict of interest and unethical concerns,

all individuals apart of the study were surveyed and interviewed outside of their current place(s)
of employment. To further conceal integrity of this research project, all guidelines were followed

as per the requirements of the IRB (Institutional Review Board).

Further Research
It is the suggestion of our research team that further research be conducted that entails a

wider range of organizations and employees in a more diverse population pool. Future research

could include more detailed questions about change implementation and how the process

correlates with employee resistance. Another avenue within this research to be examined could

be exploring volunteer employees and those who are not directly related to NGO’s (Non-

Governmental Organizations). Also exploring the minds behind corporate stakeholders and the

need and want for change in the workplace and how they place themselves in the change process

itself. This could allow for a better understanding of how the change process is intended and why

it would affect the majority of employees in the process.

Literature Review/References
Ann Gilley, Pamela Dixon, & Jerry W. Gilley (2008). Characteristics of Leadership

Effectiveness: Implementing Change and Driving Innovation in Organizations.

Human Resource Development Quarterly.

Argyris, C. (1993). Knowledge for action: A guide to overcoming barriers to organizational

change. Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers, 350 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA 94104

Bovey, W. H., & Hede, A. (2001). Resistance to organizational change: the role of defense
 mechanisms. Journal of managerial psychology, 16(7), 534-548.

Beer, M., & Nohria, N. (2000). Breaking the code of change. Boston: Harvard Business

School Press.

Bossidy, L., & Charan, R. (2002). Execution: The discipline of getting things done. New

York: Crown.

Cope, M. (2003). The seven C’s of consulting (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Financial Times/Prentice-Hall.

Hungerford, H. R., & Volk, T. L. (1990). Changing learner behavior through environmental

education. The journal of environmental education, 21(3), 8-21.

Oreg, S. (2006). Personality, context, and resistance to organizational change. European journal

of work and organizational psychology, 15(1), 73-101.

Senge, P. , Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., Roth, G., & Smith, B. (1999). The dance of

change: The challenges to sustaining momentum in learning organizations. New York:

Doubleday.

Vakola, M., & Nikolaou, I. (2005). Attitudes towards organizational change: What is the role of

employees’ stress and commitment?. Employee relations, 27(2), 160-174.

Appendices
Appendix A- Informed Consent Form
INFORMED CONSENT
 THE UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA

Project Title : Effectiveness of Change in the Workplace

Principal Investigator: Richard Brandt and Brittany Crawley

Purpose of Project: Change in the workplace can be a great or turbulent experience depending on the
effectiveness of its implementation. The results from this survey will aid graduate students in the
Instructional Design Program at The University of Tampa conduct research on the effectiveness of
various methodologies available to implement change and the role that employee motivation plays in the
change process.

Procedures: After conducting research and compiling the results from the
survey and interview, a determination will be made if there is a most
effective method to implement change and if employee motivation plays
a key role in the adoption of change.

Risks/Benefits: Reflection of past experiences.

Confidentiality: Yes

CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION
Participating in this project is voluntary, and refusal to participate or withdrawing from participation at
any time during the project will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which the subject is otherwise
entitled. The principal investigator may terminate participation of a subject or the project entirely without
regard to the subject’s consent. In the event of questions or difficulties of any kind during or following
participation, the subject may contact the Principal Investigator as indicated above.

CONSENT
I have read the above information and my questions and concerns, if any, have been responded to
satisfactorily by project staff. I believe I understand the purpose, benefits, and risks, if any, of the study,
and give my informed and free consent to be a participant.

_____________________________________ _______________________
SIGNATURE DATE

THIS RESEARCH PROJECT HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD FOR THE
PROTECTION OF HUM AN SUBJECTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TAM PA (Phone: 813-253-3333)
Appendix B - Snapshot of the survey questions (Excerpt)
Appendix C- Questions and Responses from Interviews
Two (2) interviews were conducted with volunteer members of the desired population in which (1) was
recorded in efforts for this assignment. Interviews took approximately 10-15 minutes to complete and
consisted of the following questions:

Questions Responses

Manager level: Both interviewees were at the management

level and were responsible for helping with
What is your role in the Change process? implementation of the change at a store or
non-corporate level.

How are you currently adapting to the change Interviewee stated the new training program
process? he was a part of assisting was a “hard one” to
adapt to since he barely had enough labor to
promote the new training.

Are you directly Involved in the process? Participant agreed that he was more “directly
affected by the change than anything”.

How are you implementing the change? Interviewee stated the change had to be done
by scheduling time with associates but it was

In your opinion, is the change necessary?
How can you see the change being
successful?
Do you have some control over the change?
Are you directly affected by the change?
If so, how?
Directors and above:
Are you the initiator of the change?
If so, Why is the change needed; happening?
How will you anticipate the change being
beneficial for your business?
What are the benefits for your employees? If
any?
How do you plan to implement this change?
What are the benefits of the company if there
is successful change?
“hard to do” because he didn’t have the
available resources to properly implement the
change at a store level
The participant agreed that the change was
necessary but the timing and the allotted labor
given to implement the change was drastically
not reasonable.
As stated by the participant, only appropriate
scheduling and effective hands-on training
would be allow for the implementation and
training process to be effective.
“No”. The interviewee stated he didn’t have
an immediate control over the change itself as
it was a requirement from corporate officials.
“Yes”. The participant responded that he felt
directly affected by the change because he
was responsible for ensuring the training was
done at the store level with all current and
new associates.
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
If the change is not successful, what is your N.A
plan?

What is your goal for the change process? N/A