Effects of change strategy and top-management involvement on quality of working life and economic results

The aim of this paper is to propose change strategies that may enhance the outcome of ergonomic improvements. Representatives of 69 Swedish companies were asked to describe their experience of organizational change, There was a special focus on behavioral patterns and the behavioral aspects of chang e processes. These patterns were then related to quality of working life an d economic output. A learning strategy for change is introduced which inclu des not only specific topics (e.g, ergonomic improvements) but also employe e participation in formulating the organization's visions about the future while simultaneously covering broad goals for change. The results indicate significant positive correlations between the learning strategy, the qualit y of working life, and economic output. Contrary to previous studies, top-m anagement involvement was not found to be the most important factor for cha nge outcomes. Instead, processual factors were of at least equal importance . The results indicate that ergonomics, and especially macroergonomics! wit h its clear design and goals for change, could benefit from incorporating n ew theories of change. Relevance to industry It is crucial to find change strategies that simultaneously enhance the imp lementation of ergonomic goals and core business goals. The use of a learni ng strategy for change is proposed to achieve a highly effective change str ategy in this respect. Empirical findings suggest that the manager's role m ay be to control the change process as a facilitator. In the case, the impo rtant tasks are to ensure broad participation among the employees in develo ping Visions of the future organization and dealing with a broad spectrum o f change topics simultaneously. A learning strategy for change is therefore advocated as a complement to traditional change projects. The outcomes in terms of quality of working life, and economic output related to a learning strategy for change, are very promising. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.