An analysis of employee attitudes, reactions to events related to a strategic alliance, and reactions to technological changes

The relationships between employee reactions to multiple organizational changes and prominent job-related attitudes are examined. These events and changes include: (1) the discontinuation of a strategic alliance, (2) the discontinuation of discussions of a possible merger, and (3) the pursuit and attainment of national accreditation. The implementation of technological changes is also examined. Reactions to these changes are conceptualized as individuals' perceptions or assessments of how the changes affected them. Reactions are studied in relation to the most commonly studied employee attitudes including job satisfaction, organizational commitment, intent to turnover, and job stress. Statistical analyses including hierarchical regression and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) are utilized to test several hypotheses derived from a review of pertinent literature. Pre-change and post-change data from 72 patched pairs of respondents employed by a healthcare organization are utilized to test the research hypotheses.;This dissertation makes an important contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of change at the individual level by extending current literature examining employee attitudes related to organizational change. First, this dissertation examines differences in employee reactions to multiple changes between job categories based on their level of involvement in the decision making process related to the changes. Results support hypotheses that job categories with higher involvement reacted more positively to events and changes associated with the strategic alliance and reacted more positively to the technology changes. This is an improvement over numerous contemporary studies that focus on single changes. Second, the relationship between reactions to changes and individual attitudes prior to the changes are examined. Results partially support the hypothesis that pre-change levels of stress are negatively related to reactions to the technology changes.