Influence of participation in strategic change: resistance, organizational commitment and change goal achievement

Participation in strategic change processes is frequently assumed to have a number of positive consequences for decision quality, affective responses to change and success of strategic change implementation. To date little research has successfully established the validity of these claims. The fact that results from research into the effects of participation in other contexts are inconclusive is adding to the ambiguity concerning participation's efficacy in a strategic change context. This article uses data from a major strategic reorientation of a national telecommunications firm in order to assess the outcomes of participation in strategic change. Findings indicate a strong positive relationship between participation and goal achievement and organizational commitment, and a strong negative relationship with resistance. The results also suggest that the effects of participation are moderated by the changes' compatibility with organizational culture and the personal goals of change recipients. Keywords: Strategic changeparticipationimplementation of change Acknowledgements The author wishes to thank Kjell Grönhaug, Svein T. Johansen and two anonymous reviewers of this journal for their thoughtful comments on earlier versions of this paper.