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Top‐down organizational change in an Australian Government agency

Top‐down organizational change in an Australian Government agency Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assist public sector organizations to carry out better change management strategies and thus achieve better change processes and also to provide a critique of top‐down change strategies, especially when employed by public sector agencies. Furthermore, the paper uses the case of one such public sector organization to highlight the need to complement top‐down change strategies with other approaches. Design/methodology/approach – The paper used a three‐year longitudinal case study approach to ascertain the efficacy of top‐down change in a large public sector organization. Data were collected by means of a series of employee focus groups and interviews with key management personnel. This was supplemented by organizational communication outputs. Findings – The paper finds that a top‐down change strategy needs to be coupled with other change strategies for change to become successfully embedded in the organization. Organizational factors and processes can limit the effectiveness of communicating top‐down change and prevent information from filtering through the organization in the expected way. Practical implications – The paper shows that genuine consultation and meaningful two‐way communication must be established for top‐down change strategies to function effectively together with other techniques. Originality/value – The paper complements previous literature on top‐down change and corroborates earlier findings. In addition, it highlights the vital importance of middle managers in communicating organizational change and the need to establish a genuine two‐way communication flow. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Public Sector Management Emerald Publishing

Top‐down organizational change in an Australian Government agency

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0951-3558
DOI
10.1108/09513550810846096
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assist public sector organizations to carry out better change management strategies and thus achieve better change processes and also to provide a critique of top‐down change strategies, especially when employed by public sector agencies. Furthermore, the paper uses the case of one such public sector organization to highlight the need to complement top‐down change strategies with other approaches. Design/methodology/approach – The paper used a three‐year longitudinal case study approach to ascertain the efficacy of top‐down change in a large public sector organization. Data were collected by means of a series of employee focus groups and interviews with key management personnel. This was supplemented by organizational communication outputs. Findings – The paper finds that a top‐down change strategy needs to be coupled with other change strategies for change to become successfully embedded in the organization. Organizational factors and processes can limit the effectiveness of communicating top‐down change and prevent information from filtering through the organization in the expected way. Practical implications – The paper shows that genuine consultation and meaningful two‐way communication must be established for top‐down change strategies to function effectively together with other techniques. Originality/value – The paper complements previous literature on top‐down change and corroborates earlier findings. In addition, it highlights the vital importance of middle managers in communicating organizational change and the need to establish a genuine two‐way communication flow.

Journal

International Journal of Public Sector Management – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jan 25, 2008

Keywords: Change management; Transformational leadership; Communication; Australia

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