Change adoption has been variously defined in a multitude of publications and posts, but there appears to be considerable misunderstanding regarding what adoption truly entails and when it is perceived to have occurred. Is it a process? An outcome? Or is it a state?

Research by Lines and Vardireddy (2017) investigates how change management practices impact the successful adoption of organizational changes within the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Through a global survey of 237 change initiatives, their study identifies specific change management strategies that significantly increase the likelihood of successful adoption. They define change adoption through several measures, aimed at quantifying the extent to which change was successfully executed. These are as follows:

The study used a principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation to establish this measurement construct. A single factor was extracted, and this factor represents the change adoption construct. This construct is described as the linear composite of the optimally weighted original variables. While the authors did not specify explicitly the exact numerical weight that was assigned to each of the three change adoption variables, this method aims to find the optimal weighting of variables to explain the most variance. The composite measure was used as the dependent variable for the study.

Several key relationships were identified between change management practices and the successful adoption of organizational change from a statistical analysis of a global sample of change initiatives. They include the following key findings.

• Change agent effectiveness had the strongest positive correlation with overall change adoption. The odds of successful change adoption were seven times higher when effective change agents managed the process.
• Communication of the benefits for employees showed a strong positive correlation with change adoption. Organizations were 20 times more likely to achieve successful change adoption when the benefits of the change were thoroughly explained.
• Establishing clear performance benchmarks to quantify progress was positively correlated with change adoption. Implementing quantifiable performance metrics improved the odds of successful organizational change adoption sevenfold. Furthermore, clear benchmarks had the greatest odds ratio for sustaining change long-term, making organizations nearly four times more likely to adopt the change in their long-term operations.
• Following a realistic implementation timescale showed a moderate positive correlation with change adoption. Organizations that followed a realistic implementation timeline were four times more likely to successfully adopt the change.
• Visible commitment of senior leadership was positively correlated with change adoption. Organizations with visible senior leadership commitment throughout the change were four times more likely to be successful. Notably, senior leadership commitment had the strongest relationship with sustaining organizational change over the long-term and the greatest odds ratio for achieving desired goals, resulting in an eleven times larger success rate. It was also strongly linked to producing beneficial impacts.
• Providing sufficient training resources for employees also had a moderate positive correlation with change adoption.

While these findings are not particularly unique, they demonstrate that implementing these specific change management practices has a direct and positive relationship with the success of organizational change adoption.

A key finding worth further exploration is that change agents play a critical role in such organizational transitions. Change agents are defined in the organizational behavior literature as the “internal champions of the change who act as an official transition team to guide the transition.” According to the study, their importance breaks down into the following factors:

The study emphasizes that change agents are not merely facilitators but active leaders who drive the adoption process by providing guidance, support, and enforcement. Their effectiveness is strongly linked to the overall success of organizational transitions. Recommended actions for change practitioners include identifying those internal influential individuals who are distinct from senior executives, dedicating time and resources for their responsibilities, and ensuring they are active, visible, and available throughout the change.

Source:

Lines, B. & Vardireddy, P. (2017), “Drivers of Organizational Change within the AEC Industry: Linking Change Management Practices with Successful Change Adoption”, Journal of Management in Engineering, 33(6).