This study addressed the factors that predict employee response to large-scale change in the United States pharmaceutical industry. When poorly executed, major organizational changes such as mergers and acquisitions are often disruptive and costly to organizations and demoralizing to employees. Although employee responses to change have been studied in several industries, employee responses during change execution in the pharmaceutical industry have not been subject to study. The purpose of this correlational study was to reduce the knowledge gap related to organizational change in the pharmaceutical industry by evaluating key predictors of employee response to large-scale change. The theoretical framework consisted of transformational leadership, stakeholder, and change management theories. The research questions focused on 4 key predictors (initial change reaction, change communication, involvement in change development, and perceived change success) and their effect on 2 primary dependent variables: reaction to change (RC) and support of change (SC). Ninety-eight participants completed the survey and multiple regression was used to measure associations between predictor variables and dependent variables. The 4 independent variables in the aggregate predicted RC and the championing subscale of SC. Individually, none of the independent variables predicted RC, SC, or any of the SC subscales. The study contributes to positive social change by providing leadership with information in guiding creation of a supportive work environment during organizational change and to inspire employees developing medical innovations to fulfill global health needs, while creating skilled jobs and generating profit.

Approximately 80% of lean manufacturing program initiatives are abandoned in the first year of implementation. Only 2% of organizations that embark on the lean journey complete it with the results and the sustainability they expected. There is a gap in past research regarding, the leadership strategies organizations can use to overcome resistance to change during lean manufacturing program implementations. The problem in this study was that leaders have limited information to overcome resistance to change when implementing these programs. The purpose of this study was to explore how leaders within manufacturing organizations may overcome resistance to change through leadership strategy. The conceptual framework was Kotter's 8 steps of change. Data were collected from 20 participant interviews with leaders who implemented lean manufacturing programs successfully and sustainably in their organizations. The data analysis for this study consisted of repeated reviews of transcription and audio-recorded data that resulted in the coding of themes from participant interviews. The data analysis resulted in 12 themes that emerged from significant statements made through participant responses. Results indicated that senior leadership participation and communication are the main strategies needed to overcome resistance to change during lean manufacturing program implementations. Followed by allowing employees to experiment with processes for their areas, training, and process alignment for a comprehensive strategy. The implications of positive social change within this study are to provide a positive perspective to organizational leaders looking to deploy lean manufacturing change initiatives and to help leaders overcome employee resistance to the organizational changes.

Abstract The relationship between individual and organizational performance is a key challenge for leaders in modern organizations, especially with the current disruption in technology and innovation. This thesis is a literature review and compilation of the relevant empirical evidence on various processes of industrial groups and organizational characteristics such as the changing nature of work, leadership, and company culture in detail. I investigate the complex challenges that millennials and organizations are facing in the current VUCA work environment as well as their potential responses to these changes. I map out the evolution of the concept of work and compare changes in the workplace environment of the past, present, and future. Additionally, this thesis reviews the literature on organizational culture models, cultural fit and clash. I explore the intertwined differences and commonalities between management and leadership and also consider a gradual shift to a model of managerial-leadership in 21st century organizations. Furthermore, the research closely examines cultural change management through the lens of mergers and acquisitions. It also discusses next steps, like job redesign, team reorganization, and cultural reconciliation, to increase job satisfaction, employee motivation, and performance in future-ready organizations.

Organizations experience challenges despite efforts to increase productivity through implementing large-scale enterprise systems. Leaders of local government institutions do not understand how to achieve expected and desired benefits from the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Lack of alignment between social and technical elements in ERP implementation depresses organizational productivity. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine whether social and technical elements increase use and productivity in ERP implementation. The research questions addressed the relationship between ERP and organizational efficiency, cross-functional communication, information sharing, ease of ERP use, and ERP usefulness. Sociotechnical systems theory provided the theoretical basis for the study. Data were collected from online surveys completed by 61 ERP users and analyzed using Wilcoxon matched pairs statistics and Spearman's correlation coefficient. Findings indicated a positive significant relationship between ERP and information sharing, a positive significant relationship between ERP system quality and ease of ERP use, and a positive significant relationship between ERP system quality and organizational productivity. Findings may be used by local government leaders, technology managers, and chief information officers to ensure ERP sustainability and increase productivity.

Nearly two-thirds of organizational change initiatives are unsuccessful due to a lack of high levels of change readiness prior to implementation of the change. A review of the literature supported the importance of establishing organizational readiness for change (ORC), but a gap remained in the empirical data and extant literature about whether presumed antecedents identified in ORC theory contribute to increased levels of ORC. The purpose of this study was to gather empirical data to address this question of whether change valence and informational assessment scores are associated with increased levels of organizational readiness for implementing change. The research design was quantitative and nonexperimental. Data were collected via online Likert-type survey from employees (n = 70) in an organization undergoing significant change. An analysis was performed using OLS regression and principal components analysis. The results showed that change valence and informational assessment were positively and significantly associated with increased organizational readiness for change score (β = 1.778, p < .001, and β = 1.392, p < .001, respectively), and that change commitment and efficacy loaded favorably in a principal components analysis of ORC score. The findings are significant to the field of management as they show how establishing increased levels of change valence and informational assessment may help positively influence employee participation and organizational change outcomes. The study is socially significant because it may illuminate differences in perception between employees and leadership regarding change and may contribute to greater inclusion of a broader array of employee perspectives, opinions, and experiences in the organizational change process.

Federal government managers were advised to strengthen internal controls; the law dictates attestation of effective management controls, and the internal control program is used to detect risks. However, managers lacked preparatory training, with training being overlooked given the increased responsibilities. Managers are assigned the programmatic role regardless of the lack of program standards in knowledge, skill, and ability. The research questions addressed change management components, concepts, and core qualifications relative to program readiness. The purpose of this single case study was to identify and explore change management components contributing to the effectiveness of internal controls. The conceptual framework was based on Lewin's change concepts of unfreezing, moving or changing, and refreezing phases with the inverse principle in field theory. Thirteen professionals from the pacific military unit in Hawaii participated in semistructured interviews. Inductive coding was used to thematically analyze the data. The key results of the emerged themes illustrated how: organization skillset was used for linking change components to internal controls, assessment was a tool used for transforming a manager's concept, and experience was essential in leading change core qualifications. Significance of the study was the promotion of stronger measures in preventing fraud, waste, and mismanagement of limited resources. The research results could inspire social change by increasing communication and collaboration to benefit senior leaders, and financial and program managers. The value-added training concepts and leadership innovation, and how managing change relates to internal control could lead to program success thus benefiting all primary stakeholders.

<p>Organizational change is hard to achieve, but if an organization doesn't change it might risk its own existence. Effective resource allocation and increased control of the internal production are examples of how organizations try to increase its competitive advantage. An ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning) can help an organization to achieve this by providing management with direct access to a wealth of real-time operating information, streamlined dataflow, and making the company's business processes more effective. Like other IT-related projects, ERP investments are associated with large risks. Many projects failure during the implementation in one way or another. The failure often relates to Critical Success Factors (CSF) associated with this type of project. If they haven't been taken into enough consideration, the project's chance to succeed will decrease dramatically. Some of these Critical Success Factors are related to Change Management - the term used to describe education, training, communication, and other actions to make the end user prepared for the changes that will come during the ERP implementation. This Master thesis has been written at the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), one of the first governmental authorities in Sweden to implement an integrated ERP system. The aim of this thesis is to study the needs and prerequisites for an effective change management - with focus on the end users of the coming ERP system. The thesis starts out from change management and ERP theory and connects them with experience from other ERP implementation projects. Those parts make the foundation for an analysis of two different organizational parts at FMV to give a basis for further work with Change Management. Some of the conclusions that can be drawn from the study at FMV are that the ERP project with its ongoing work reaches a high level of user involvement, which is very important during ERP implementations. The new way to practice Change Management at FMV seems to be received positively by the end users. The project itself on the other hand could strengthen some of its internal work, i.e. the project hasn't succeeded completely in the planning and allocation of its internal resources. The importance of a highly committed steering committee is emphasised. With more powerful decisions the chance of a successful implementation increases.</p>

<p>IT as an enabler, by obtaining benefits to an organization, was the coherent apprehension behind the purchase of the Enterprise Resource System R/3 by Ericsson in 1997. Public Networks, a 33.000 worker’s division at Ericsson, have had profitability problems during the recent years prior to the purchase. By integrating R/3 with an organizational change, the management aimed to obtain foreseen benefits, such as headcount reduction and shorter lead times.</p><p>This thesis shows in theory as in practice difficulties and obstacles in reaching and calculating benefits of IT. Through analyzing the system along with the business processes targeted by the integration project, a list of Key Performance Indicators was brought to the stakeholders of the organization. Through numerous interviews and meetings throughout the division the indicators were discussed, depicted and analyzed.</p><p>In a consensus driven organization as Public Networks, the integration project withholding the largest Enterprise Resource Planning systems had to work politically with communication to be able to gain approval for its benefits. In failing to win the process against different views and stakeholders, benefits was to be at risk and more importantly, later shown to be impossible to measure.</p>

Dans un contexte de changement technologique, d'organisations matricielles ou en réseaux, les entreprises recherchent aujourd'hui les moyens d'harmoniser, de structurer et de fluidifier leurs processus et leurs systèmes de management. Entre autres moyens, elles recourent de façon croissante aux Progiciels de Gestion Intégrés (PGI), systèmes destinés à traiter les informations de gestion en temps réel et en réseau au sein de l'entreprise, dans l'espoir d'en améliorer la performance. Cependant l'investissement en PGI ne se traduit pas forcément par une performance organisationnelle. Le retour sur investissement s'avère parfois bien en deçà des espérances, ce qui provoque déceptions et interrogations des décideurs quant à la pertinence des choix technologiques effectués. Fondée sur une approche structurationniste, cette thèse s'interroge sur l'appropriation de cette technologie au sein de l'entreprise. Elle analyse de manière approfondie les liens entre gestion de processus, logique de formation et appropriation d'un PGI par les utilisateurs. La formation, organisée en appui à l'implantation d'un PGI est considérée comme un construit social, pouvant s'inscrire dans une approche instrumentale ou intégrative (selon le processus de changement initié par le management). Cette formation est ainsi susceptible de structurer des formes contrastées d'appropriation. Réalisée, au sein d'entreprises implantées en Belgique, cette recherche permet de montrer, au-delà de tout déterminisme technologique, que le processus selon lequel le changement est conduit est déterminant quant aux résultats obtenus. Différents choix sont ouverts aux gestionnaires en matière d'implication des utilisateurs du PGI, d'objectifs et de méthodes de formation, d'organisation de la formation. Ces choix, s'ils sont parfois peu pesés dans la relative urgence du changement, ont cependant un poids déterminant quant au degré d'appropriation du PGI par les utilisateurs et, en conséquence, quant aux résultats finaux. / In a context of technological change, of matrix organizations and networks, companies strive to harmonize, structure and improve their management processes and systems. One means for this is to implement an ERP, that is a system intended to process management information instantly within the organizational network, with the hope to improve performance. However, investments in ERPs do not bring out automatically organizational performance. Sometimes, the return on investment is far below expectations, which causes managers disappointment and questioning about the relevance of technological choices carried out. Based on theories analyzing interactions between technology and organization, this thesis questions “appropriation processes” of an ERP within companies. It analyses the links between process management, training logic and appropriation of an ERP by users within the firm. Training organized on the ERP for personnel in the firm is considered as a social construction that can adopt very different types of approach, either instrumental or integrative (according to the process of change management conducted within the company). As a result, contrasted types of appropriation can occur, related to what type training logic has been put in place. Carried out within firms set up in Belgium, this research shows that, beyond all technological determinism, the change process is the determining factor regarding outcomes. Managers have various choices as regards the degree of involvement of ERP users in change and in training. However, if those choices are sometimes slightly weighed up because of short deadlines in the implementation of the ERP, they have a determining role in the final appropriation of the ERP within an organization and consequently in its final outcomes.

Organizational change is hard to achieve, but if an organization doesn't change it might risk its own existence. Effective resource allocation and increased control of the internal production are examples of how organizations try to increase its competitive advantage. An ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning) can help an organization to achieve this by providing management with direct access to a wealth of real-time operating information, streamlined dataflow, and making the company's business processes more effective. Like other IT-related projects, ERP investments are associated with large risks. Many projects failure during the implementation in one way or another. The failure often relates to Critical Success Factors (CSF) associated with this type of project. If they haven't been taken into enough consideration, the project's chance to succeed will decrease dramatically. Some of these Critical Success Factors are related to Change Management - the term used to describe education, training, communication, and other actions to make the end user prepared for the changes that will come during the ERP implementation. This Master thesis has been written at the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), one of the first governmental authorities in Sweden to implement an integrated ERP system. The aim of this thesis is to study the needs and prerequisites for an effective change management - with focus on the end users of the coming ERP system. The thesis starts out from change management and ERP theory and connects them with experience from other ERP implementation projects. Those parts make the foundation for an analysis of two different organizational parts at FMV to give a basis for further work with Change Management. Some of the conclusions that can be drawn from the study at FMV are that the ERP project with its ongoing work reaches a high level of user involvement, which is very important during ERP implementations. The new way to practice Change Management at FMV seems to be received positively by the end users. The project itself on the other hand could strengthen some of its internal work, i.e. the project hasn't succeeded completely in the planning and allocation of its internal resources. The importance of a highly committed steering committee is emphasised. With more powerful decisions the chance of a successful implementation increases.