To be or not to be: paradoxes and dilemmas faced by middle managers in Malaysian public service during organizational change

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the antecedents of acceptance of change on Administrative Diplomatic Officers (ADO) from the Management and Professional Group in the Malaysian public service organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 400 respondents were selected from 6904 ADO who served in Malaysian public service organizations. Data for this study were collected using self-administered questionnaires to study the direct relationship of individual and environmental factors toward acceptance of change; and the impact of organizational support as mediator on the relationship of environmental factors on professionals' acceptance behavior on organizational change. The paper uses quantitative research design, and the hypotheses formulated for this study were tested using SEM AMOS.

Findings

The study revealed that organizational support, attitude toward change, subjective norms and social influences all have significantly direct effect on acceptance to change. In contrast, results showed that locus of control has no direct influence on dependent variable. The results of mediation model analysis suggested that organizational support partially mediates the relationship of subjective norms on acceptance of change.

Research limitations/implications

The population of this study was only involved ADO as middle managers in Malaysia public service organizations. The author's choice of sample limits the generalizability of the results. However, the choice made was instrumental, convinced in reaching a good and rich set of data. It is thus enabled to obtain an ample understanding of the dynamics in the case.

Practical implications

Perceived organizational support should be crucial element taken by human resource development practitioners in Malaysian public service in ensuring that Management and Professional Groups smoothly adapted to organizational changes through subjective norms and social influence.

Social implications

Present study is essential to provide empirical mapping of a hitherto unexplored acceptance of change within the predictor variables examined in this research. By providing a better understanding of public servants' acceptance of change through research variables, this may then improve their service to deliver government work plans and achieving goals.

Originality/value

The findings of this study extend the knowledge of acceptance of change behavior in the context of Management and Professional Group in Malaysia public service. The integration between selected individual and environmental variables toward acceptance of change behavior with mediating variable of perceived organizational support adds values to the body of knowledge toward understanding the process of acceptance of change behavior. The scientific contribution of this paper created an empirical evidence of unexplored area of acceptance of organizational change within the Management and Professional Group, highlighting that the middle managers in public sector organizations veritably believe they are responsible for their own success.

Citation

Samah, S. (2021), "To be or not to be: paradoxes and dilemmas faced by middle managers in Malaysian public service during organizational change", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 293-310. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-02-2020-0057