Determinants of Commitment to Change among Managers and the Mediating Role of Trust in Management in a Service Provider Organization

This study examines 1) the direct effects of job-related, organization and managerial practice variables on trust in management; 2) the direct effects of organizational and managerial practice variables on commitment to change; 3) the indirect effects of these three variables on commitment to change through trust in management. The job-related variables consist of feedback, job autonomy, employee participation and goal clarity. The organizational variables studied include procedural justice, perceived organizational support, transformational leadership, and shared values. The managerial practice variables consist of opportunistic behavior and communication. Data were gathered from 294 managers in a service provider organization in Malaysia using self-administered questionnaires. The study used structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis to determine the direct and indirect effects of determinant variables on trust in management and commitment to change. The results of structural equation modeling analysis indicated the need for a revised version of the model. It was found that job related variables had direct effects on trust in management and commitment to change. However, organizational and managerial practice variables had no significant direct effects on trust in management and commitment to change. The effects of determinant variables on commitment to change were not mediated by trust in management. In conclusion, this study found that the determinants of trust in management and commitment to change strongly related to the way job-related variables among the managers in Organization X were managed. Hence, it is highly pertinent for the management team to pay close attention to feedback, job autonomy, employee participation, and goal clarity in order to gain greater trust and commitment to change in the organization. The management in Organization X has to ensure that people affected by the change agree with, or at least understand, the need for change, and have a chance to decide how the change will be managed, and to be involved in the planning and implementation of the change. Theoretically, this study contributes to the expansion of the commitment and trust model. The dynamic relationships among the variables involved in the organizational change commitment model might result in other probable competing or rival models that could be studied in the future.

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