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Organizational change research has concentrated on the challenges of implementing isolated changes, paying little attention to the interactions among concurrent change initiatives. Our longitudinal...

In this scoping essay, we discuss the potential for generative artificial intelligence (GAI) to shape the work of organizational change, development, or strategy implementation professionals. Using a case example of a culture change initiative, we illustrate how practitioners can benefit from using GAI tools to augment relevant change activities in planning initiative content and roll-out, mobilizing stakeholders, and monitoring initiative progress. We conclude with a reflection on the limitations of GAI systems and outline directions for future research related to (1) stakeholder responses to GAI, (2) GAI impact on the nature of change work, and (3) GAI value creation for change work and unintended consequences of GAI use.

Employee change championing (i.e., discretionary behaviors to promote change to others) is critical for implementing organizational change successfully. However, extant research has been focused on individual-level championing without considering the broader group context in which championing occurs. Our study adopts a multilevel perspective to provide insights into the effects of change championing at both the group and the individual level. We collected data at two points in time from 267 employees in 69 groups undergoing an organizational change in a German technology company. Multilevel modeling results show that group championing asymmetry (i.e., the degree to which group members differ in their championing) weakens the positive effects of group championing level on change implementation effectiveness. Moreover, we shed light on the individual-level processes that underpin group championing dynamics. Our findings reveal that employees who are embedded in groups with high average championing levels perceive a more positive change impact (but do not experience higher levels of enthusiasm) and report higher levels of individual championing at a later point in time compared to employees in groups with lower championing levels. Our study expands the championing literature to the group-level and offers a multilevel perspective on the championing dynamics between individuals and groups.

Technology-mediated change management (TMCM) refers to an organization's use of digital technologies to facilitate change implementation. The use of digital technology is deeply penetrating change practice. However, alarmingly, few have theorized about or empirically investigated TMCM. A rich body of research informs change management, however, less is known about how technologies are changing the nature of managing the change itself. We stimulate new conversations on this topic by discussing how TMCM provides both valuable benefits and creates new risks in terms of the (a) adaptiveness, (b) personalization, and (c) openness of the change process. TMCM requires urgent attention as it has the potential to help shape the future of change research and practice. We call for scholarship that is reflexive about both the benefits and risks associated with TMCM and we offer directions for research in this relatively new area that may very well determine the future of our field.

Multinational teams are an organizational reality, but they present several challenges. The literature suggests that individuals with multicultural identities are more likely to show behaviors that aim at improving intercultural interactions in multinational teams, though scholars have yet to determine the precise nature of these behaviors. We address this research gap in a multimethod two-study design by identifying five team cultural gap bridging behaviors (CGB behaviors: facilitating, translating, integrating, mediating, and empathetic comforting). In Study 1, we draw on one qualitative and two quantitative datasets to identify within-team CGB behaviors and develop a measure of CGB behaviors. In Study 2, drawing from two-wave survey data, we investigate and find support for the direct relationships between cultural identity plurality and CGB behaviors and the indirect relationships via cultural intelligence.

Prior research has emphasized how leaders use charismatic communication to motivate employee support for organizational change. But beyond inspirational visions, employees also pay attention to whe...

Change implementation interventions (CIIs), i.e., systematic activities aimed at facilitating successful organizational change, are of high relevance for change research and practice. Scholars from...

Organizational change research lacks multilevel investigations about how dialogical communication activities affect employees’ experiences of and emotional reactions toward change. We use two-wave ...

Change research has concentrated on the implementation of isolated changes and paid little attention to dynamics between concurrent change projects. Our longitudinal real-time study of a multinatio...

This paper provides insights in the previously under researched phenomena of cross-level strategizing using processual qualitative data collected throughout the implementation of a new strategy ini...

One of the urgent questions in micro change research is how to better understand shifts in peoples’ responses to change over time. Grounded in dual process theories of cognition, sensemaking research, and dialogical communication, we conceptualize occasions for sensemaking (OfS) as interventions facilitating shifts towards supportive responses. OfS are characterized by the initiation of (a) active cognitive processing, (b) interpersonal communication, and (c) conversations of understanding and performance. Based on two-wave data (N=145) comparing a treatment and control group, we tested OfS in a quasi- field experiment during a planned change in a technology firm. Latent-change score analysis showed that participating in OfS corresponds to a positive shift in perceived progress and intentions of change support, but not in pleasant affect towards the change. Further, we identify perceived meaning and impact of the change as two pathways explaining the effects of OfS. Our study contributes to the literature...

This qualitative study takes advantage of a naturally occurring incident by exploring how the introduction of a major change initiative is undermined by another change introduced one year later. Co...

The five papers in this symposium advance our understanding of organizational change by exploring various aspects including (1) change leadership behaviors (i.e., sensegiving, role modeling, and ex...

The phenomena of meaningful work raised increasing attention in management research during recent years as evidence shows that it is linked to a variety of valuable outcomes. Scholars proposed othe...