Font Size: a A A

Learning to change: A case study of using experiential learning to bring about planned organizational change

Posted on:2007-09-25Degree:Ph.DType:Dissertation
University:Rutgers The State University of New Jersey - New BrunswickCandidate:Russ, Travis LeeFull Text:PDF
GTID:1459390005986832Subject:Speech communication
Abstract/Summary:
Organizational change is dependent upon the basic, yet essential, component that makes up every organization---people. Organizations do not change automatically; rather, change is implemented and sustained through individual and collective learning. On a macro-level, this dissertation examined how learning influences organizational change, and, on a micro-level, provided a rich, detailed case study where a nontraditional implementation approach---experiential learning---was used to bring about planned change at TXC, a major college textbook retailer in the United States. Qualitative and quantitative data collected from mid-level managers (N = 359) at TXC were used to evaluate the experiential approach.; Results revealed generally positive evaluations of the program as an implementation approach in the short and long term; however, a significant decline occurred between managers' short- and long-term evaluations. Contrary to predictions, there were no significant negative relationships between managers' evaluations of the experiential learning program and their communication apprehension; there were neither positive nor negative relationships with learning styles. In qualitative data, a majority of managers reported positive affective organizational outcomes upon participating in the experiential learning program. Similarly, quantitative data revealed significant increases in post-scores in five affective organizational outcomes: organizational alignment, motivation to change, organizational engagement, job motivation, and organizational identification (alignment demonstrated the largest change).; There were several significant gaps between managers' and leaders' evaluations of "successful" change implementation, (generally, managers' evaluations were higher). Further, managers' evaluations were significantly related to their long-term evaluations of the experiential approach. In a related area, managers indicated varying perceived levels of support received from the organization to apply what they learned during the program to implement the planned change. There was a significant relationship between managers' perceptions of organizational support and their evaluations of "Successful" change implementation. Revealing potential impediments in TXC's change implementation effort, managers identified 486 challenges that were organized into five categories: internal/external resistance (which comprised almost half of the challenges), resources, lack of decision-making authority, personal management issues, and competing changes.; Collectively, the findings suggest the potential efficacy of using experience-based approaches to implement change. Implications of these results are discussed for both organizational scholars and practitioners.
Keywords/Search Tags:Change, Organizational, Experiential learning, Planned, Evaluations
Related items