Concepedia

Expanding Our Understanding of the Change Message

Human Resource Development Review · 2004 · 248 citations · 21 references

TL;DR

The late 1980s and 1990s global economic expansion forced organizations to continually reassess operations, creating a dynamic work environment where human resource and organizational development scholars have identified employee readiness as a key determinant of successful change efforts. This article provides a theoretical foundation for one of the most complete models of organizational readiness. The authors present the Armenakis, Harris, & Feild five‑message component model of organizational readiness, offering a theoretical basis for each component and illustrating its application through a case study that highlights the necessity of communicating every message component. The study concludes that proactively fostering organizational readiness is essential for successful change initiatives.

Abstract

With the development of the global economy in the late 1980s and 1990s, organizations have been forced to continually reevaluate operations and strategies. As a result, the one constant in this dynamic world is the everchanging work environment. The human resource and organizational development fields have long looked to investigate what makes change efforts successful. Researchers and practitioners have both found employee readiness to be a critical factor in successful change efforts. This article provides a theoretical foundation for one of the most complete models of organizational readiness. Specifically, the Armenakis, Harris, &Feild five-message component model of organizational readiness is presented with a theoretical foundation for the importance of each of the five specified components. A case study is provided to display the need to communicate each of the message components. Implications and conclusions draw attention to the importance of taking proactive steps in creating readiness.