Authors:
Olivier Zephir
1
;
Emilie Chapotot
2
;
Stéphanie Minel
2
and
Benoît Roussel
3
Affiliations:
1
LIPSI/ ESTIA, France
;
2
LIPSI/ ESTIA; IMS, UMR 5218 CNRS, Univ-Bordeaux1, France
;
3
ERPI-ENSGSI, France
Keyword(s):
Process design, collaboration, readiness for change, product design, organisational change.
Abstract:
Our goal here is to propose a practical model enabling the assessment of the readiness of cooperating organisational agents to face technological change. The focus is on the quality of cooperation and collaboration which we presume determines the agents’ readiness for change. Providing such a model facilitates decision making in process design such as organisation design or product/services design. The transformation feasibility of existing cooperation is determined through a collective operational effectiveness evaluation. Lillian T. Eby et al. (2000) outlined that little empirical research has focused on this phenomenon. Amenakis et al. (1993) have proposed a theory-based model where readiness for change is perceived as similar to Lewin’s (1951) concept of unfreezing. According to this theory beliefs and attitudes are core factors acting on organisational actors’ perception of the readiness for change. Readiness for change relates to the employees’ abilities and perceptions to face
and support a pending organisational change. We consider the change in routines and practices of collaborating actors in interaction with the degree of activity change. In an organizational system based on cooperation, the various actors interact under a team spirit for a general interest and share a collective output. A certain degree of confidence and comprehension between actors is inferred. When change affects a company, technological or structural, organisational actors face change in roles, rules, methods, tools and habits. These transformations have an effect on the quality of cooperation and the related performance. We propose hereunder a methodology to measure the impact of change on activities accomplished trough cooperation. Our empirical research takes place in an organisation adopting a new technology in the maintenance sector.
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