A Grounded Model of Organizational Schema Change During Empowerment

Giuseppe Labianca (), Barbara Gray () and Daniel J. Brass ()
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Giuseppe Labianca: A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118-5669
Barbara Gray: Department of Management and Organization, The Smeal College of Business, The Pennsylvania State University, 403 Beam BAB, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
Daniel J. Brass: Department of Management, Gattan College of Business & Economics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506

Organization Science, 2000, vol. 11, issue 2, 235-257

Abstract: We analyzed employee resistance to an organizational change project in which employees were empowered to participate in the design of a new organizational structure. What emerged from our analysis was the importance of cognitive barriers to empowerment. Employees' resistance appeared to be motivated less by intentional self-interest than by the constraints of well-established, ingrained schemas. Resistance was also fueled by skepticism among the employees about management's commitment to the new decision-making schema, especially because employees judged managerial actions to be inconsistent with their new espoused framework. A grounded model of schema change is developed for changes in organizational decision-making schemas during empowerment efforts. Theoretical implications and suggestions for improving organizational change efforts are proposed.

Keywords: Organization Change Process; Organizational Schemas; Empowerment; Resistance to Change; Cognition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (29)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:11:y:2000:i:2:p:235-257

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