The moderating role of openness to change in the relationship between organizational culture and organizational change perception: A research in universities

This study was conducted on a sample of academicians at universities to explore the moderating role of openness to change in the impact of organizational culture tendencies on organizational change perception. In this study, based on the results of the data gathered from 782 academicians, the moderating role of openness to change in the impact of organizational culture tendencies on organizational change perception was tested within the framework of the model created. Considering the results obtained, a significant relationship was found between organizational culture tendencies and organizational change perception, where the former has an impact on the latter. Looking into various dimensions of the variables, it was observed that development, openness, clan, hierarchy and supportiveness, as examples of organizational culture tendencies, had a significant positive effect on the cognitive, emotional and behavioral dimensions of the perceptions regarding change. Tendency towards normativeness; on the other hand, was observed to have a negative significant effect on the cognitive, emotional and behavioral dimensions of the perceptions regarding change. When the moderating effect of opennes to change as a personality trait was investigated, a moderating effect was observed to exist between tendency to openness and cognitive, behavioral and total change perception, however not on emotional change perception. The moderating effect was also observed between tendency towards hierarchy and cognitive, emotional, behavioral and total change perception. Similarly, a moderating effect was found between development, clan and hierarchy tendencies and behavioral and total change perception but not with cognitive and emotional dimensions of change perception. It was also witnessed that openness to change had no moderating effect on the relationship between tendency towards normativeness as one of the organizational culture tendencies and organizational change perception along with its subdimensions (cognitive, emotional, behavioral). In addition, it was found that the gender and the type of university (public and foundation university) where academicians work, as examples of demographic variables, made a difference in organizational culture tendencies, organizational change perception with its subdimensions and openness to change. In light of all these findings, organizational culture and openness to change play a significant role in organizational change perception. Keywords: Organizational Culture, Organizational Culture Tendencies, Organizational Change, Attitudes Towards Organizational Change, Openness to Change