The Relative Importance of Selected Communication Variables as Related to Attitudes Toward Work-Related Change.

The purpose of this study was to examine one dimension of the interface between organizational communication and organizational change: the relative importance of selected communication variables as related to attitudes toward work-related change. Specifically, the study used a regression analysis to determine which selected communication variables (source credibility, amount of information, importance of information, formal and informal channels, organizational relationships, age, sex, seniority, education, job satisfaction, job involvement, and conservatism) accounted for the greatest amount of variance when correlated with the criterion variable (attitude toward work-related change). The study began with a review of literature which examined classic change models. The argument was made that while much has been written about the process of change, little has been written about the role of communication in that process. A small plastics firm with four geographically dispersed branch plants was used as the research site. Both hourly and salaried employees (164 subjects) participated by completing a questionnaire. An analysis of the corporation's structure, policies, communication system, and corporate changes were presented in the rationale for selecting this company as a research site. Three major conclusions were drawn from this study. First, the best predictor of attitude toward work-related change was the organizational relationships variable which included relations between co-workers, superiors and subordinates, and the corporation and its employees. The organizational relationships variable also had the highest correlation, relative to all other predictor variables, with the criterion variable. Second, to a lesser extent, the use of informal channels and the accuracy of formal channels were also significant predictors of attitudes toward change. Third, job involvement, job satisfaction, and amount of information had significant positive correlations with attitude toward work-related change. Based on the above conclusions, a model for communicating organizational change was proposed. Finally, future research directions were suggested which may contribute to a greater underst and ing of the relationship between communication and change.PhDCommunicationUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/158930/1/8215100.pd