A multilevel approach to studying collective efficacy in organizational change Seyyed Babak Alavi Graduate School of Management and Economics, Sharif University of Technology.

Readiness for change Armenakis and colleagues (1993) described readiness for change as a phenomenon, which “is reflected in organizational members' beliefs, attitudes, and intentions regarding the extent to which changes are needed and the organization's capacity to successfully make those changes.” (p. 681).

Readiness for change (continued) Several organizational phenomena have been proposed in the literature, which can influence the effectiveness of organizational change. For example, the role of leaders in: emphasizing and explaining the necessity and reasons for change, creating a sense of urgency, developing shared visions for change, improving confidence for change.

Contributions of this paper This theoretical paper integrates findings of three areas of O/I psychology and change leadership: (1) efficacy beliefs, (2) effective leadership behaviors, and (3) change processes to propose the role of leaders for improving efficacy beliefs in change processes, and in turn, enhancing the effectiveness of change processes. A multilevel approach has been used in this paper by defining organizational, group, and individual levels to propose two three-level models.

Collective efficacy Bandura (1997) defines collective efficacy “as a group’s shared belief in its conjoint capabilities to organize and execute the course of action required to produce given levels of attainments” (p. 477). Self-efficacy refers to “beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (p. 3).

Sources of efficacy beliefs Mastery experiences Verbal persuasion Vicarious experiences Physiological and affective states

Change at the three levels Change at the organizational level may include changes of organizational structure, strategies, and/or culture. Change at the group level may include changes of group goals, shared mental models, or group processes. Change at the individual level may include changes in individuals’ attitudes and beliefs, behaviors, or roles that they are required to play, for supporting changes at the group and/or organizational levels.

Sustaining momentum (Whelan-Berry et al., 2003) Sustaining momentum refers to keep carrying the change effort to full completion. Sustaining momentum at the organizational level involves activities such as updating implementations and coordinating departments and teams. At the group level, sustaining momentum refers to maintaining implementation and group activities essential for change. Sustaining momentum at the individual level refers to ensuring the adoption of change by every employee.

Model 1: A Three-level Model of the Roles of Self-efficacy for Change and Collective Efficacy for Change at the Individual, Group, and Organizational Levels in Change Processes

Model 2: A three-level model of leadership behaviors, efficacy beliefs, and change processes

Future direction Future empirical research should measure collective efficacy for change, sustaining momentum, leadership behaviors, and change effectiveness at the individual, group, and organizational levels and employ multilevel analysis techniques for testing the models.

Practical implications Giving directions to change leaders for improving readiness for change at all levels and increasing the effectiveness of change processes through improving efficacy beliefs within their organizations.

Thank you for your attention.