A Case Study on the Communication Variation of Change Management Based on Recipients’ Level of Education and Age

Abstract

In the underlying case study, there was a need to investigate specific factors influencing the successful communication of change at a workplace. The organization used in the study recently experienced a range of changes and was the perfect candidate for the study. The employees were affected by the changes and the researchers wanted to investigate how the organization dealt with the communication of the changes and their employees during the times of change. Communication of change may be a cumbersome task, as all employees do not have homogenous characteristics. In fact, they differ in many ways, which may influence their understanding of the change message and concepts used during communication sessions. The paper deals with the communication of change to employees of different education levels and of different age classes in the organization. An empirical study was performed in the organization with the use of a mixed method approach. Findings indicate that the organizational change communication strategy does not provide for differentiation between education levels in the organization. Also, despite difference in the preference in the mode of communication based on age, the organization did not take this into consideration. Recommendations and suggestions for future research are made. Despite the limitations to the study, such as the reduced sample used for the study, being a case study, the possibility of triangulation as a result of the mixed methods ensure trustworthiness of the findings. This paper contributes to the academic knowledge and research in the change management and change communication fields.