| This research examined the impacts of large-scale organizational change on employees at a large urban healthcare institution. All levels of employees were asked to respond to a number of measures designed to assess perceptions of the work environment, degree of subjective job distress, commitment to the organization, and level of support for the change. The purpose of the research was to explore the viability of a comprehensive model that assesses the ways in which cognitive, emotional, and attitudinal factors impact employee reactions to organizational change. Employee perceptions of role ambiguity, role overload, and job insecurity increased as the degree of perceived change increased. Role ambiguity, role overload and job insecurity were positively associated with employee subjective distress and negatively related to organizational commitment. Perceived control over the change and perceived self-efficacy were expected to moderate the relationship between perceived job characteristics (i.e., role ambiguity, role overload, and job insecurity) and organizational commitment and subjective distress. More specifically, high levels of perceived control and self-efficacy were hypothesized to buffer the effects of an unfavorable work environment (i.e., high levels of perceived role ambiguity, work demands, and job insecurity) on distress and levels of commitment. Results indicated that employees with high levels of perceived control experienced less stress, despite high levels of role ambiguity, as compared to employees with low levels of perceived control. Additionally, as predicted employee level of subjective job distress was negatively related to support for change and intention to remain with the organization, while organizational commitment was positively related to support for change and intention to remain with the organization. The setting allowed for a systematic examination of the effects of organizational change on employees experiencing various degrees of organizational change. Implications for large-scale organizational change implementation in healthcare settings and directions for future research are discussed. |
