Change Management and Commitment to Organizational Change in Municipal Amalgamations

This paper explores how strategies for change management impact commitment to organizational change in municipal amalgamations. The paper analyses survey data from 104 managers in two amalgamations involving five municipalities in Norway. The impacts of planned changes, stakeholder involvement, and strategies for change on the managers’ commitment to change were analysed with partial least squared path modelling (PLS-PM). The analysis shows that the amalgamations used planned, top-down and results-oriented processes (change strategy E) most but in combination with involving, bottom-up, organizational development-oriented processes (change strategy O), contrary to what is prescribed in change management theory. The strategies for change and sub-system, organizational, and sectoral changes impacted the managers’ commitment to the planned changes differently. The findings contribute to theory and practice by showing relationships between strategies for change and dimensions of commitment to organizational change in municipal amalgamations.MAD statementThis paper explores strategies for change and managers’ commitment to organizational change in municipal amalgamations. The paper shows that leadership in change management in municipal amalgamations must expect to use several strategies for change, contrary to what is prescribed in change management theory, and also expect that strategies for change, and sub-system, organizational, and sectoral changes impact commitment to planned changes differently.