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Organizational Change in Practice. The implementation of change and its relationship to organizational identity: A case study of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations

Tolkamp, M. (2021) Organizational Change in Practice. The implementation of change and its relationship to organizational identity: A case study of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

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Abstract:Today, organizations are constantly changing. To successfully implement change, organizations are largely dependent on their employees who must implement the changes in their daily practices. This study provides insight into the perceptions of lower-level employees regarding their support and active implementation of an organizational change in the public sector. An exploratory case study of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations exposes the difficulty and challenges involved with implementing organizational change. Relatedly, this study explores the influence of- and relation to the organizational identity. A qualitative method consisting of 18 semi-structured interviews with employees of the ministry yielded rich and detailed accounts of participants’ perceptions, interpretations and reflections towards the organizational change guidelines as well as the organizational identity of the ministry. A selection of key communication concepts relevant in a change context, in combination with an analysis of internal documents, provided the foundation for the research instrument. Thereby, the interviews dealt with assigned meanings and reflections on change implementation in practice, as well as identity features, identification and commitment processes. The findings of this study indicate that the change elements are mostly supported by participants, but implementation in practice proves difficult. Moreover, current change implementation has been hampered by insufficient communication of the change trajectory throughout the organization. Finally, the findings point towards the existence of multiple organizational identities and as a result a limited collective identity. The findings further support that lower-level identification (e.g., workgroup or departmental) is stronger than identification on the organizational level. To gather more support for the change, this study underlines the importance of members’ sensemaking and recommends management to account sufficient room for such processes. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the importance of communication in order for the change to be a succes. In this line, it recommends improving change communication, with a focus on middle managers, to further advance the change throughout the organization. Finally, active refinement and management of the organizational identity is recommended.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Clients:
Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties, Den Haag, Nederland
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:05 communication studies
Programme:Communication Studies MSc (60713)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/88811
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