Managing change: Communication, managerial style and change in organizations

Abstract

We model the interplay between communication, manager attributes and the probability that an establishment successfully implements a significant change. Although change requires both sufficiently strong advocacy and enough communication to help overcome inertia inside the firm, we posit that frequent communication can be costly, particularly with strong managers and in larger establishments. These theoretical predictions are consistent with our empirical analysis. Utilizing uniquely detailed establishment-level data we find that, on their own, firm size, regular communication and result-oriented managers are all positively associated with change. However, the use of frequent communication in firms that successfully implemented a significant change is moderated: (i) when managers tend to be strongly focused on results; and (ii) in larger establishments. This suggests that organizations wishing to foster change should consider the interaction between manager attributes and the communication protocols.