PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Purpose: A lack of employee readiness for change is often named responsible when technology implementation projects fail. Organizational support strategies (e.g. top management support, training, or participation) have been identified as ways to support employees during the implementation phase with the goal to rise acceptance levels. Though there already is a body of literature on organizational support strategies, there is a lack of research by which mechanisms these strategies develop their influence on the employee’s attitude to the change process and system.

Design: Via online survey 111 new system users whose workplaces have recently implemented new information technology were questioned about their experiences concerning the design of the implementation process, accessibility of organizational support (top management support, training, participation), self-determination needs fulfillment during the change process, and attitude toward the change and system.

Results: Need for autonomy proved to be the strongest mediator in mediation and structural equation analysis between organizational support strategies and attitude to change and system.

Limitations: The evaluation of further possible mediators is needed to fully understand how information technology implementation projects should be designed to create a smooth transition to the new system.

Implications: For practitioners, the results deliver important insights into the design of a implementation project as the need for autonomy can be addressed in a multitude of organizational actions, e.g. free exploration time with the system, employee participation in the design of the system‘s interface or implementation timeline.