The effect of Web 2.0 communication on employee resistance to change

Abstract

Web 2.0 combines various electronic mediums, websites, blogs and applications across a wide range of devices and provides opportunity to communicate bespoke change messages to employees. The purpose of this study is to establish whether the use of Web 2.0 has an impact on employees’ resistance to change during the change communication process and whether employees show a preference for a communication medium in the context of organisational change. The failure of most change efforts are often ascribed to insufficient communication, but employee perspectives on the preferred communication medium and whether Web 2.0 communication impacts on employee’s resistance to change has been largely overlooked in academic literature. A descriptive research design approach was followed. Inferential statistics was used to apply parametric and non- parametric tests to analyse the data. A self-administered electronic survey was sent to 1337 employees across four sectors that have been affected by any type of organisational change between January 2012 and June 2014 in South Africa. The response rate was 19.8% (266 responses). The paper finds that there is a preference towards face-to face communication and that participation increases willingness to accept the change. There were no differences found in the manner in which females and males responded to the questions on willingness to accept the change. This research enables communication and change management professionals to assess the suitability of WEB 2.0 mediums during various stages of organisational change. The Blended Media Communication (BMC) Model to Reduce Resistance to Change is proposed based on the findings of the study. The research will add to the theory concerning an employee perspective on Web 2.0 change communication.