Turning Fear Into a Weapon for Change in Response to Threats: A Partnership Approach

Abstract

This study examines the management of negative emotions and organizational change in firms facing external threats. Employing a diverse sampling strategy, we conducted a multiple-case study of nine firms in China that have undergone three types of external threats: technological transformation, policy change, and increasing competition since 2010. The study finds that fear simultaneously drives middle managers’ inertial behavior (internal fear) and willingness to change (external fear). This study also finds that partnership, which redefines middle managers’ roles as “entrepreneurs” and the relationship between top managers and middle managers as business “partners,” mitigates organizational rigidity by simultaneously changing middle managers’ external and internal fears. Specifically, we identify three essential elements of partnership that grant middle managers’ independence from assessment, independence in decision making, and independence from structural constraints, and we reveal their distinct roles in changing middle managers’ emotions under threat.