Towards an understanding of change readiness: the role of person-organisation fit, perceived organisational support and psychological capital

Introduction: Over the past few decades, the pace of organisational change has increased substantially owing to factors such as increased globalisation and technological advancements. As a result, an organisation’s ability... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction: Over the past few decades, the pace of organisational change has increased substantially owing to factors such as increased globalisation and technological advancements. As a result, an organisation’s ability to change continuously is considered critical to their survival. Despite the consensus that the ability of organisations to manage change is critical to business survival, a large majority of firms fail to develop this capability. Highlighting the difficulty in managing change, Beer and Nohria (2000) assert that 70% of change efforts result in failure. The fact that change can be difficult necessitates an understanding of the critical factors influencing employee outcomes during change. Central to the effort of understanding change, researchers have argued that focus must be placed on the determinants of individual behaviour change, namely individual readiness to change.  The focus of this study is how people’s perceptions of P-O fit affect individual readiness for change.  Caldwell et al. (2004) examined P-O fit as an outcome of change and found that changes in fit are best explained as “interactions  between the characteristics of the change process, the extent of change and individual differences” (pg. 868).  What happens when a change is implemented within an organisation that has the intention to alter the organisations values? Drawing on calls to examine how fit issues can explain the relationship between change initiatives and change reactions, this paper seeks to understand how individual perceptions of person-organisation fit influence their readiness to change. We seek to understand this relationship further by examining the moderating role of psychological capital and mediating role of perceived organisational support. 

Methodology: Data were collected  from 650 employees in a US owned ICT company based in Dublin.  58 responses were eliminated due to excessive missing data, and therefore, the final sample size for testing was 211 representing a 35.6 percent usable response rate.  

Results demonstrated that perceived organisational support partially mediated the relationship between P-O fit and employees’ readiness for change. This indicates that employees’ responses to change are shaped by both their perceptions of value congruence and support from their organisation. Psychological capital was not found to be a moderator. The findings offer a platform for positive future developments in research and practice. Specifically, it highlights the importance of fit and value congruence in fostering change ready capabilities at the individual level. By incorporating perceived organisational support into the relationship, it offers new perspectives into the fit and change relationship.