This paper investigates the commitment of journalists to change programs, which is a previously unexplored aspect of organisational change. Studies of organisational change in newsrooms have until now focused on journalists' attitudes to change, rather than their commitment to change. This paper draws on the findings of a longitudinal survey of Australian journalists involved in an ongoing corporate change program in order to enrich the literature and theory-building around corporate change in media organisations. The organisational science literature is used to explore whether commitment to change operates among journalists in similar ways to other types of workers. The data are drawn from three annual surveys of journalists in 14 newsrooms operated by the Australian corporation APN News & Media. The paper explores the trajectory of the journalists' commitment to APN's corporate-change program across more than three years of change. Although the study is limited in that it examines only one media organisation's change program, it has implications for those researching in the field of organisational change in newsrooms — particularly at a theoretical level. It also has practical implications for those managing, planning and implementing change at the newsroom level.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ArmenakisA.A.HarrisS.G.MossholderK.W.1993, ‘Creating Readiness for Organisational Change’, Human Relations, vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 681–703.
2.
BagozziR.YiY.1988, ‘On the Evaluation of Structural Equation Models’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 16, pp. 74–94.
3.
BarrettW.P.CarrollG.R.1995, ‘Modeling Internal Organisational Change’, Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 217–36.
4.
BassB.M.1985, Leadership and Performance beyond Expectations, Free Press, New York.
5.
BeerM.EisenstatR.A.SpectorB.1990, ‘Why Change Programs Don't Produce Change’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 68, no. 6, pp. 158–66.
6.
BurnsJ.M.1978, Leadership, Harper & Row, New York.
7.
CarnallC.A.1986, ‘Toward a Theory for the Evaluation of Organisational Change’, Human Relations, vol. 39, no. 8, pp. 745–66.
8.
CharityA.1995, Doing Public Journalism, Guilford Press, New York.
9.
ConnerD.R.1992, Managing at the Speed of Change: How Resilient Managers Succeed and Prosper Where Others Fail, Villard Books, New York.
10.
ConnerD.R.PattersonR.1981, Building Commitment to Organisational Change, OD Resources, Atlanta, GA.
11.
CorderyJ.SevastosP.MullerW.ParkerS.1993, ‘Correlates of Employee Attitudes Toward Functional Flexibility’, Human Relations, vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 705–23.
12.
CunninghamG.B.2006, ‘The Relationships Among Commitment to Change, Coping with Change, and Turnover Intentions’, European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 29–45.
13.
DombkinsM.1993, ‘The Impact of Technology and Environmental Factors on Newspaper Organisational Design’, Australian Journalism Review, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 29–51.
14.
EisenbachR.WatsonK.PillaiR.1999, ‘Transformational Leadership in the Context of Organisational Change’, Journal of Organisational Change Management, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 80–88.
15.
EwartJ.1998, ‘What a Difference Two Weeks Make: The Importance of Training in the Acceptance of Pagination in Newsrooms’, Australian Journalism Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 23–37.
16.
EwartJ.1999, ‘When Words Don't Matter Anymore: Contemporary Newsroom Technology and Wordsmithing’, Asia Pacific Media Educator, no. 6, pp. 82–98.
17.
EwartJ.2004, ‘Challenging Journalists' Thinking about Their Role’, Australian Journalism Review, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 55–68.
18.
FordeS.2005, ‘People of Colour: Assessing Cultural and Ethnic Diversity Among Sydney Journalists in 2004’, paper presented to the Transformations Conference, Canberra, February.
19.
GadeP.J.2004, ‘Newspapers and Organisational Development: Management and Journalist Perceptions of Newsroom Cultural Change’, Journalism & Mass Communication Monographs, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 3–55.
20.
GadeP.J.PerryE.L.2003, ‘Changing the Newsroom Culture: A Four-Year Case Study of Organisational Development at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 80, no. 2, pp. 327–47.
21.
García-MoralesV.J.Matías-RecheF.Hurtado-TorresN.2008, ‘Influence of Transformational Leadership on Organisational Innovation and Performance Depending on the Level of Organisational Learning in the Pharmaceutical Sector’, Journal of Organisational Change Management, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 188–212.
22.
GilesR.H.1988, Newsroom Management: A Guide to Theory and Practice, Media Management Books, Detroit, MI.
23.
HenninghamJ.1996, ‘Australian Journalists' Professional and Ethical Values’, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 206–18.
24.
HerscovitchL.MeyerJ.P.2002, ‘Commitment to Organisational Change: Extension of a Three-Component Model’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 87, no. 3, pp. 474–87.
25.
IversonR.D.1996, ‘Employee Acceptance of Organisational Change: The Role of Organisational Commitment’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 122–49.
26.
KirkpatrickR.2000, ‘Chronic Circulation Decline: Regional Dailies Succumb to Metropolitan Virus’, Australian Studies in Journalism, vol. 9, pp. 75–105.
27.
KirkpatrickR.2005, email interview, 7 September.
28.
McManusJ.H.1994, Market-Driven Journalism: Let the Citizen Beware?Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
29.
MerrittD.1998, Public Journalism and Public Life: Why Telling the News is Not Enough, 2nd ed., Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.
30.
MeyerJ.P.SrinivasE.S.LalJ.B.TopolnytskyL.2007, ‘Employee Commitment and Support for Organisational Change: Test of the Three-Component Model in Two Cultures’, Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology, vol. 80, no. 2, pp. 185–211.
31.
NeubertM.J.CadyS.H.2001, ‘Program Commitment: A Multi-Study Longitudinal Field Investigation of Its Impact and Antecedents’, Personnel Psychology, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 421–48.
32.
NuttP.C.BackoffR.W.1997, ‘Transforming Organisations with Second-Order Change’, in WoodmanR.W.PasmoreW.A. (eds), Research in Organisational Change and Development, vol. 10, pp. 229–74.
33.
ParishJ.T.CadwalladerS.BuschP.2008, ‘Want to, Need to, Ought to: Employee Commitment to Organisational Change’, Journal of Organisational Change Management, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 32–52.
34.
PatonR.A.McClamanJ.2000, Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation, Sage, London.
35.
PideritS.K.2000, ‘Rethinking Resistance and Recognizing Ambivalence: A Multidimensional View of Attitudes Toward an Organisational Change’, Academic of Management Review, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 783–94.
36.
QuinnT.2005, Personal interview, Brisbane, 1 September.
37.
ReichersA.E.WanousJ.P.AustinJ.T.1997, ‘Understanding and Managing Cynicism about Organisational Change’, Academy of Management Executive, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 48–59.
38.
RomanoA.2001, ‘Inculcating Public Journalism Philosophies into Newsroom Culture’, Australian Journalism Review, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 43–62.
39.
RosenJ.1999, What are Journalists For?Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.
40.
SinclairR.R.TuckerJ.S.CullenJ.C.WrightC.2005, ‘Performance Differences Among Four Organisational Commitment Profiles’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 90, pp. 1280–87.
41.
VakolaM.NikolauouK.2005, ‘Attitudes Towards Organisational Change: What is the Role of Employees' Stress and Commitment?’Employee Relations, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 160–74.
42.
WanbergC.R.BanasJ.T.2000, ‘Predictors and Outcomes of Openness to Changes in a Reorganizing Workplace’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 85, no. 1, pp. 132–42.
43.
YousefD.A.2000, ‘Organisational Commitment and Job Satisfaction as Predictors of Attitudes Toward Organisational Change in a Non-Western Setting’, Personnel Review, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 567–92.
