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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the conditions that foster individual readiness for organizational change. Three research questions guided this study: (1) What is the relationship between the change strategy perceived by those responding to a planned change and their readiness for change? (2) What is the relationship between the learning culture perceived by those responding to a planned change and their readiness for change? (3) How does the impact of the change on individuals jobs affect the two relationships presented in the first two research questions? To answer these research questions, this study employed a survey research design. Quantitative survey data were collected in a healthcare organization in the Southeastern region of the United States. Concerning the role of change strategies, statistical analysis of the survey data supported the arguments that (1) the power-coercive change strategy has negative effects on individual readiness for change and that (2) both the normative-reeducative change strategy and the empirical-rational change strategy have positive effects on readiness for change. Further data analysis revealed that (3) the normative-reeducative change strategy is not able to mitigate the negative effects of the power-coercive change strategy on individual readiness for change and that (4) the empirical-rational change strategy needs to be combined with the normative-reeducative change strategy to further increase individual readiness for change. Second, regarding the role of learning culture, the analysis results supported the arguments that (5) the learning culture can promote an environment in which individuals tend to be more ready for change and that (6) the learning culture can create conditions in which the normative-reeducative change strategy is effective in fostering readiness for change. Finally, the results showed that (7) at times of a change that has a huge impact on individuals jobs, the normative-reeducative change strategy and learning culture become more effective in shaping individual readiness for change. Additional analysis on the relative importance among the study variables revealed that (8) change strategies are the most important set of variables in understanding individual readiness for change, followed by the elements of learning culture.