Communicating Change: Four Cases of Quality Programs

Abstract

Human and organizational factors are commonly identified as causes and contributors to failures and difficulties in implementing planned change. This study examines the implementation of quality programs in four organizations; the communication used to introduce the programs and to encourage employees to participate; and employees' perceptions of the programs, implementation activities, and change agents. The pur pose of this study was to provide empirical evidence of key communica tion problems common to planned change implementation. Four key themes emerged: (a) creating and communicating vision, (b) sensemak ing and feedback, (c) establishing legitimacy, and (d) communicating goal achievements. Conclusions and implications for future communica tion research are discussed in a final section.