Australian public sector employees' commitment to organisational change

Abstract

[Abstract]: This study aims to clarify the role of Australian public sector employees' commitment to organisational change. Three components of commitment to organisational change (affective, normative, and continuance commitment to organisational change) were hypothesised to mediate the relationship between organisational climate and behavioural support for organisational change. Study 1 reports data collected during 2003 from a Queensland government department (N = 342) while Study 2 reports data collected during 2003, from a South Australian government agency (N = 54). Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted with each component of commitment to organisational change initially regressed on positive and negative work climate. Subsequently, behavioural support for organisational change was regressed on both commitment to organisational change (three components) and organisational climate (two components). In Study 1, both positive and negative work climate were able to account for significant unique variance in components of commitment to organisational change. All three components of commitment to organisational change were significant predictors of behavioural support for organisational change. However, in Study 2, only positive work climate was found to significantly predict both affective and continuance commitment to organisational change components, while only affective and normative commitment to organisational change significantly predicted behavioural support for organisational change.