Employee Commitment in Times of Change: Assessing the Importance of Attitudes Toward Organizational Change

Organizations are dynamic and changing entities. Variables associated with organizational change have been shown to serve as mediators of several individual difference variable/work-related outcome relationships. This study examines three potential antecedents of 258 police officers' attitudes toward organizational change (ATOC), and whether ATOC mediates the relationships between these antecedents and affective organizational commitment (AOC). At the time of data collection, the officers' police department was restructuring its organizational design. Structural equation modeling indicates the growth need strength/AOC relationship is fully mediated, whereas the locus of control/AOC and internal work motivation/AOC relationships are partially mediated by ATOC. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.