ABSTRACT

Do leaders use sensegiving language in organization-wide planned change announcements? Does sensegiving language prompt organizational support? What contextual factors influence the reception of change announcements? These questions were explored in an analysis of written reorganization announcements across three executive administrations within a university. We found that sensegiving language was used when the reorganization decision was discretionary and when it was inconsistent with the values of shared governance and campus autonomy. Sensegiving language was associated with acceptance of the announcements but only when it was appropriate for the organizational setting. Leadership style appeared to influence internal support independent of language. Our findings suggest that although discursive ability might allow leaders to craft persuasive statements, the delivery of a change message must be consonant with contextual elements that include culture, external environment, organizational atmosphere, and leadership style.

MAD statement

When leaders announce a major organizational change, they must build support for the decision by using language that convinces organizational members to commit to successful change implementation. Despite numerous models of change management, there is little research that identifies what language is most effective to do so. This study analysed three university reorganization announcements and found that executives received support for decisions when they used language that was congruent with organizational values and their leadership style. Ideal content by itself was not sufficient to inspire support, nor was it necessary when a planned change was in reaction to the environment.

中文翻译：

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有意义的语言和上下文在变更公告接受中的作用

摘要

领导者是否在组织范围内的计划变更公告中使用有意义的语言？有意义的语言是否会促进组织支持？哪些背景因素会影响对变更公告的接收？在分析一所大学内三个行政管理部门的书面重组公告时，对这些问题进行了探讨。我们发现，当重组决定是自由裁量的并且与共享治理和校园自治的价值观不一致时，会使用有意义的语言。有意义的语言与对公告的接受有关，但仅在适合组织环境的情况下。领导风格似乎独立于语言影响内部支持。

疯狂声明

当领导者宣布一项重大的组织变革时，他们必须通过使用能够说服组织成员致力于成功实施变革的语言来建立对决策的支持。尽管有许多变革管理模型，但很少有研究确定哪种语言最有效。本研究分析了三份大学重组公告，发现当高管使用与组织价值观和领导风格一致的语言时，他们会获得对决策的支持。理想的内容本身不足以激发支持，当计划中的变化是对环境的反应时，也没有必要。