Social Exchange Processes in Organizational Change: The Roles of Trust and Control

The risk inherent in organisational change makes trust a central variable to further understand how employees perceive the change process and their feelings toward the organization (Eby et al., 2000, Humans Relations, 53, 419–442). Based on social exchange theory (Blau, 1964, Exchange and power in social life, New York: Wiley), we conducted a field research to clarify the role trust in the supervisor plays in implementing organizational change. As expected, an interaction effect between trust in the supervisor and perceptions of control over change was also found, where higher trust in the supervisor increased organizational commitment when perceived control over change was low. In addition, as predicted, employees' trust in the supervisor fully mediated the relationship between interpersonal justice, perceived supervisor support and affective organizational commitment. These results bring further understanding to the role played by social relationships between employees and supervisors during change interventions. Implications for both practitioners and researchers are discussed.