조직변화에 대한 구성원 저항과 관련한 선행연구에서 조직변화의 실천 주체인 조직구성원의 변화에 대한 태도를 변화 성패의 중요한 요인으로 인식하였다. 이에 따라 본 연구에서는 변화를 추진하는 과정에서 조직변화에 대한 구성원 저항에 영향을 미칠 것으로 판단되는 개인특성(관행추구 성향, 단기사고 성향, 통제 상실감)에 따라 변화에 대한 태도를 예측할 수 있다고 가정하고, 이러한 특성들이 개인차원의 저항 형태인 심리적 저항과 어떠한 관련성을 가지며, 저항의 결과인 조직몰입에 어떠한 영향을 미치는가를 실증적으로 밝히고자 하였다. 본 연구의 자료조사는 현재 조직변화를 추진하고 있는 국내 12개 기업의 구성원을 대상으로 한 설문조사를 활용하였다. 가설의 검증은 공분산 구조방정식 분석을 사용하였다. 연구모형의 추정결과에 따르면 개인적 특성으로 관행추구 성향이 높은 구성원의 경우, 조직변화에 대한 심리적 저항을 많이 나타내는 것을 발견하였으나, 단기사고 성향이 심리적 저항에 미치는 효과는 확인할 수 없었다. 또한 통제 상실감이 높은 구성원일수록 변화에 대한 심리적 저항을 많이 나타내는 것을 확인하였다. 결론적으로 구성원의 심리적 저항이 높을수록 조직몰입에 부정적 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 경쟁모형의 비교분석을 통해 최종모형을 추정한 결과 관행추구 성향과 통제 상실감이 심리적 저항에 미치는 영향은 유의하였다. 또한 통제 상실감이 조직몰입에 미치는 직접효과도 유의하게 나타났으나, 반면 심리적 저항의 간접효과는 확인할 수 없었다.
Resistance to change and the experience of individuals during change is increasingly of interest to practitioners and academics alike. In the past, much of the organizational change literature and research has focussed on the team or organizational level, and as a result, managers have tended to develop quite broad change strategies. However these high-level strategies are critical, what has not been as widely explored is the experience of individuals during times of change, with the clear purpose of supporting them in order to allow the organization to meet its change objectives. Change processes have therefore been situated in the core of organization's actions, which is why individual's psychological responses to such changes are becoming a key area of research, as well as a critical management issue. Furthermore, few have considered the combined role of personal characteristics of employee to organizational change. Recently, the literature on the psychological responses to change shows two clear perspectives. One focuses on identifying the psychological reactions to change, such as coping with change, readiness to change, openness to change, and resistance to change(Cunningham, Woodward, Shannon, Maclntosh, Lendrum, & Rosenbloom, 2002). The other addresses the influence of individual differences on psychological reactions to change(Dunham, Grube, Gardner, Cummings, and Pierce, 1989). More recently, the construct of dispositional resistance to change has been established as a key contributor to individuals' reactions to change(Oreg, 2003). In consideration of research trends, this study focuses on employee ‘dispositional resistance to change’ in relation to psychological resistance to organizational change. The concept taps individuals' inherent tendency to resist changes: while some people openly accept and adapt to changes, others show an inclination to avoid and oppose them. According to Oreg (2006), those who are dispositionally resistant to change are less likely to voluntarily initiate changes in their lives, and are more likely to form negative attitudes towards specific changes they encounter. In this study, dispositional resistance to change comprises three dimensions: routine seeking, short-term focus and, lose of control. First, routine seeking involves the extent to which individuals prefer conventional and highly predictable tasks, procedures, and environments. Second, short-term focus addresses the degree to which individuals worry about all inconveniences and discomfort that change brings about, instead of focusing on the potential benefits and comfort that it could bring in the long term. Third, Some researchers have suggested that people resist change because it often involves lose of control involved in change. The current study attempts to examine empirically individual characteristics (routine seeking, short-term focused thinking, reluctance to lose control)as antecedents that affect on those psychological resistance, and to empirically investigate how psychological resistance impacts on organizational commitment. In addition, this study empirically tests the moderating effect on the relationship between psychological resistance and organizational commitment. To collect the data for empirical analysis, 260 questionnaires were distributed for about 4 weeks to 230 employees in 12 Korean companies which were implementing organizational change, Out of the 260 questionnaires, 230 questionnaires were returned. From the 230 returned, a total of 212 were used for analysis. A summary of hypothesis test is as follows: First, a routine seeking personality is positively related to an employee's psychological resistance to organizational change. Second, short-term way of thinking is not significantly related to an employee's psychological resistance to organizational change. Third, lose of control was found to have a significant positive relationship with an employee's psychological resistance. It was found that, among factors that affect resistance, lose of control is the variable that has the most significant impact on psychological resistance to change. Fourth, psychological resistance to organizational change is negatively related to organizational commitment. Finally, there was no indirect effect of psychological resistance that is expected to influence the relationship between individual characteristics and organizational commitment.
