Public Service Motivation and Employee Change-Supportive Intention: Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract

Implementing change is considered as a difficult task for public organizations. Some individual dispositional factors have been suggested to influence recipient responses to change in public organizations. Past research has shown a link between public service motivation (PSM) and employee positive responses to organizational change. However, the psychological processes underlining this relationship are not specified. Building on the PSM theory and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study examines the role of psychological variables (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control) in mediating the relationship between PSM and change-supportive intention. A sample of 143 employees is collected from a public university in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq that was going through a change initiative. The results revealed that PSM predicts change-supportive intention, and the relationship between PSM and change-supportive intention is mediated by change-related attitude and subjective norm. The implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed.

Keywords

public service motivation theory of planned behavior public sector Kurdistan Region organizational change

Introduction

Due to financial pressures and growing public demands on government performance, public organizations constantly need to implement changes (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2011). However, organizations face serious problems through change implementation and often fail in achieving their intended change objectives (Beer & Nohria, 2000; Smith, 2003). According to Beer and Nohria (2000), up to 70% of change efforts fail. One main reason of organizational change failure is related to employee reactions to change (Choi, 2011; van der Voet et al., 2017). Extant literature contends that while reform policies and change programs are often initiated by elected or politically appointed officials and executives (Ahmad et al., 2020a), the actual changes in public organizations are implemented by middle and frontline managers as well as frontline employees (i.e., change recipients; van der Voet, 2014; van der Voet et al., 2016a). Consequently, organizations can only change through their employees (Paulsen et al., 2005).

According to a recent literature review on change management in the public sector (Kuipers et al., 2014), several factors have been identified to antecede recipient responses to change, namely, individual dispositions, change content, context, process, and leadership (Ahmad & Cheng, 2018; Oreg et al., 2011). An important individual dispositional factor which is suggested to influence recipient responses to change in public organizations is public service motivation (PSM; Wright et al., 2013). PSM is defined as a “general, altruistic motivation to serve the interests of a community of people, a state, a nation or humankind” (Rainey & Steinbauer, 1999, p. 20). PSM has become one of the essential concepts of the public administration literature due to many favorable outcomes to support public organizations (Vandenabeele, 2014). As an individual-level variable, PSM has been suggested to have an important role during times of organizational change. Perry and Wise (1990), for instance, suggested that PSM facilitates organizational change in the public sector because it is positively related to organizational commitment and committed employees assist their organizations to adjust to contingencies.

While previous research offers empirical insights into the relationship between PSM and employee reactions to change (e.g., Wright et al., 2013), the underlying psychological processes linking PSM with change-supportive intention (CSI) are not specified. Hence, it is unclear how and to what extent psychological factors mediate the relationship between PSM and employee behavioral intention to support organizational change. Furthermore, although research on public employee responses to organizational change is increasing, a recent literature review by Kuipers et al. (2014) on managing organizational change in public organizations showed that most of the publications on change management are from the United States/Anglo-Saxons that could be biased in terms of results (Kuipers et al., 2014). Thereby, not much research has been conducted in non-Western, Islamic contexts (cf. Ahmad & Cheng, 2018).

In an attempt to address these concerns in the literature, this study aims to investigate the underlining relationships between PSM and CSI in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s public organizations, utilizing the established theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). The TPB is a widely accepted model of intention–behavior relationships (Armitage & Conner, 2001) and consistent links of intentions to behaviors lend support to the notion that intention is the most proximal variable to behaviors (McEachan et al., 2011). Despite its potential utility, the TPB has not received ample attention to be employed as a theoretical framework guiding investigation into the effects of PSM and the CSI during times of change in public organizations.

This study intends to contribute to the literature on PSM and employee responses to organizational change in the public sector by empirically examining the relationship between PSM and CSI. In addition to the direct effect of PSM on CSI, this study explores indirect effects of PSM on employee’s CSI through three mediating factors (change-related attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control [PBC]) derived from the TPB (see Figure 1). By doing so, the study aims to complement and extend previous studies regarding the relationship between PSM and employee intention to support change by utilizing the TPB to underline the factors that may mediate the relationship between PSM and CSI. The study will also provide more evidence to support the applicability of the TPB in organizational change efforts in a relatively overlooked setting, such as the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Figure 1.

Research model based on the TPB (Ajzen, 1991).

Theory and Hypotheses

Public organizations have to carry out changes in the administration, design, and provision of public services every so often (Fernandez & Rainey, 2006; Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2004). However, prior research has showed that “many organizational change initiatives neither result in their intended aims nor foster sustained change” (Choi, 2011, p. 479), because implementing change is more complex and unpredictable than initiating and planning for it (Brunsson, 2009). One of the challenges, which is generally seen as an important determinant in succeeding organizational change, is employee responses for change (Herold et al., 2008). For this reason, a number of recent studies have been conducted to understand and predict public servants’ intentions and behaviors in times of change using different theoretical lenses (Ahmad & Cheng, 2018; Ahmad et al., 2020a; van der Voet et al., 2015).

Past research on employee responses to organizational change has employed a variety of theoretical perspectives. The TPB (Ajzen, 1991) is one of the theories that has been applied in organizational change and is suggested as a suitable approach for better understanding employee responses to change. The TPB is a widely accepted model of intention–behavior relationships, which is designed to predict and explain human behavior. It is similar to other models of cognitive decision-making, in which the underlying basis states that individuals rationally and systematically make decisions through available information (Ajzen, 1991). The theory has been successfully utilized in a wide range of settings to understand individuals’ intentions and behaviors (Braun & Turner, 2014; Dawkins & Frass, 2005; Fraser et al., 2011; Hunsinger & Smith, 2005; Jasper & Waldhart, 2013; Maurer & Palmer, 1999; Parry & Wilson, 2009; van der Zee et al., 2002; Wiethoff, 2004). In the last few years, the TPB has been applied in the organizational change context to predict employee intentions to provide subsequent change-supportive behaviors in private sector (Jimmieson et al., 2008; Straatmann et al., 2016).

According to the TPB, intention is the indication of the individual’s willingness to perform a certain behavior. Intention is the most proximal indicator of human behavior with meta-analyses suggesting that, on average, 22% of the variance in behavior is explained by intention alone (see Armitage & Conner, 2001).

According to the TPB, intention is determined by three independent psychological variables: attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control. Attitude toward a specific behavior (change-supportive behavior in this study) reflects “the degree to which a person has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation or appraisal of the behavior in question” (Ajzen, 1991, p. 188). Attitude is formed based on an individual’s views about the consequences of behavior and their general evaluation of those consequences (Ajzen, 1991; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010). It is argued that having favorable views about the need for organizational change results in a more positive response to change efforts (Jimmieson et al., 2008). Paralleling with this, public management literature proposed that when employees have favorable evaluation of the change, they might show behaviors that are supportive of the organizational change (Ahmad & Cheng, 2018; Ahmad et al., 2020a; van der Voet, 2014; van der Voet et al., 2015b, 2016a).

The second factor that determines intention is subjective norm related to the behavior. Subjective norm is conceptualized as perceived social pressure or societal influence on individuals to perform the behavior of concern (Ajzen, 1991). It reflects the perceived views of referent others whose views may be influential to the individual. The impact of social pressure for the analysis of events in organizational change process has long been recognized (e.g., Armenakis et al., 1993). According to change management literature, the social pressure can result from the influence from coworkers and managers on employees’ change reaction and behavior (e.g., Armenakis & Bedeian, 1999; Self et al., 2007).

The third factor that influences intention is PBC. PBC is defined as “perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior of interest” (Ajzen, 1991, p. 183). It is a nonvolitional determinant of intention. It indicates “a person’s belief as to how easy or difficult it would be to perform the behavior” (De Groot & Steg, 2007, p. 1818). It also shows the individual’s perceptions of “ . . . the presence or absence of requisite resources and opportunities” (Ajzen & Madden, 1986, p. 457) which is necessary to engage in the behavior. In organization change contexts, individuals with high PBC are likely to attempt a behavior to support change. PBC is found to help employees in accommodating to changes in an organizational context (e.g., Jimmieson et al., 2004). It is also proposed that confidence in the ability to change is an important determinant of actual behavior (Conner, 1992).

Therefore, based on the conceptualization of the TPB, individuals who hold positive attitudes toward a change, who think that there is normative support for engaging in change-supportive behavior, and who perceive that they can easily engage in change-supportive behavior and supporting the change is under their personal control, should show positive intention to support the change initiative. Therefore, we hypothesize that

Hypothesis 1 (H1): (a) Favorable change-related attitudes, (b) positive change-related subjective norm, and (c) higher levels of change-related PBC will be positively related to recipients’ intention to engage in the change.

PSM and CSI

The TPB explains the integration of external factors in specific settings (Ajzen, 1991). The TPB also postulates that, just as behaviors and intention have antecedents, external influences on individuals’ intention are mediated by attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived control of the relevant behavior (M. Conner & Armitage, 1998). In this study, we integrate PSM with the TPB as a possible predictor of employee CSI.

PSM is one of the individual dispositional factors that is suggested to influence employees’ response to change (Wright et al., 2013). It is an important attribute of public servants which is linked to many beneficial attitudes and behaviors to organizations such as organizational commitment (Camilleri, 2006; Castaing, 2006; Crewson, 1997; Vandenabeele, 2009), organizational citizenship behavior (Gould-Williams et al., 2015), organizational performance (Kim, 2004), intention to remain (Bright, 2008; Steijn, 2008), and job satisfaction (Bright, 2008; Norris, 2003). Perry and Wise (1990) suggested that PSM would be positively related to individual performance and facilitation of organizational change in public sector organizations. The authors also proposed that PSM might increase employee’s support for change in public organizations. That is, PSM is positively related to organizational commitment, and “committed employees are likely to engage in spontaneous, innovative behaviors on behalf of the organization, such employees are likely to facilitate an organization’s adjustment to contingencies” (p. 371). In addition, Kjeldsen (2019) stated that public service–motivated employees could be beneficial change agents for public organizations as the study showed that employees engage more in distributed leadership practices during change implementation. Furthermore, Homberg et al. (2017) argued that “PSM is not only directed towards the societal environment of public organizations, but may also drive members to engage in an internal change in work-related procedures” (p. 13). Therefore, public service–motivated individuals are expected to support organizational change because of their willingness to help society (Naff & Crum, 1999; Wright et al., 2013).

The assumptions about the relationship between PSM and supporting organizational change have received some empirical support. For example, Naff and Crum (1999) found a significant relationship between PSM and support for government’s organizational change efforts among federal employees in the United States. In addition, Cerase and Farinella (2009) found a positive relationship between PSM and change in the working situation among employees in the Italian Revenue Agency and concluded that employees with high PSM levels are more likely to accept change. Wright et al. (2013) also found that a positive impact of PSM (especially self-sacrifice and compassion) on affective commitment to change. Self-sacrifice is considered as the “foundational concept” demonstrating the philanthropic or pro-social origins of PSM (Kim et al., 2013). Wright et al. (2013) claimed that “employees with higher PSM are more likely to support organizational change, primarily because of their direct commitment to changes that improve public service provision and less because of their commitment to the organization” (p. 739). Similar results have also been found by Liu and Zhang (2019). In addition, van der Voet et al. (2017) found that pro-social motivation of public employees is positively related to commitment to change. Moreover, PSM is also found to be positively related to employees’ innovative behavior (Miao et al., 2018) and change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (Campbell & Im, 2016). Ahmad et al. (2020a) also found that pro-social motivation is positively related to recipients’ change proactive behaviors. Therefore, as PSM is associated with many positive changes and work-related attitudes and behaviors, we argue that PSM could also be associated with employees’ CSI as the change benefits the organization. Thus, aligning implications of previous research which show that public service–motivated individuals will support organizational change, we hypothesize that

Hypothesis 2 (H2): PSM will be positively related to CSI.

Although research on PSM as a direct determining factor remains as the most common empirical approach in the public management literature, results across studies are conflicting. This phenomenon might be due to the overly simplistic conceptual models (Ritz et al., 2016). Therefore, in addition to the direct association between PSM and CSI, the TPB suggests that external factors’ (i.e., PSM) impact on individual’s intention is mediated by the three psychological variables specified in the TPB: attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control of the relevant behavior (Conner & Armitage, 1998). Previous research suggested that PSM is a valuable and effective construct for predicting important attitudes and outcomes (Le Grand, 2003; Perry & Hondeghem, 2008) and may have a positive influence on employee attitudes toward change (Wright et al., 2013). Furthermore, the relationship between PSM and attitudes to support change in public organizations is also theoretically feasible (Perry & Wise, 1990; Wright et al., 2013). Therefore, we believe that public service–motivated employees may have the intention to support the change if they think their behavior will have positive results, and therefore they will develop a positive attitude toward the change.

In addition, public service–motivated employees may also have a higher perception of social norm to support change as PSM theory emphasizes that public servants are motivated by meeting higher-order needs, such as values and other normative concerns (Perry & Wise, 1990). Norm-based motives of PSM compose of willingness to serve public interest, dedication to duty and government, and social justice (Schede, 2011). Bright (2008) found that PSM helps employees to be more congruent with norms in their organizations and facilitates the person–organization fit. With this compatibility, the characteristics of individuals harmonize with the characteristics of organizations (Bright, 2008). Furthermore, one of the distinctive characteristics of public servants is higher commitment to social network (Brewer, 2002). Moreover, Steen (2008) suggested that employees might engage in public service–motivated behavior, especially when they believe that the organizational culture is based on socially desirable values and consistent with their concern for public good.

Finally, public service–motivated employees may also show high change-related PBC. This is based on the positive association of PSM with performance and organizational commitment. There is sufficient theoretical and empirical evidence showing that high levels of PSM can enhance organizational performance (see Walker et al., 2010) and commitment (Pandey & Stazyk, 2008; Perry & Wise, 1990). Both organizational performance (Jacobsen & Bøgh Andersen, 2017) and commitment (Meyer et al., 2002) are positively related to employee self-efficacy. Moreover, according to Le Grand (2003), one of the factors that encourage public employees is their ability “to engage in independent or autonomous actions”. Therefore, we believe that public service–motivated employees may feel capable to act to support change. Therefore, in addition to the direct impact of PSM on CSI, we hypothesize that

Hypothesis 3 (H3): The relationship between PSM and CSI will be mediated by recipients’ (a) change-related attitude, (b) change-related subjective norm, and (c) change-related PBC.

Method

To empirically test our aforementioned hypotheses, this study used a sample from a fully funded public university in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Kurdistan Region is located in the north part of Iraq and is governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). According to the Iraq’s Constitution, the KRG and Kurdistan Parliament are recognized as the region’s formal institutions. Since 2010, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR) of the KRG has initiated a series of reforms in all public and private universities to improve the quality of higher education and also the efficiency and effectiveness of the universities’ management system (Ahmad & Cheng, 2018; Ahmad et al., 2017).

The university where we collected the data from has gone through some changes since its establishment in 2010. Recently, as a step toward the utilization of e-government, the ministry requested all public universities to adopt an electronic system to connect the ministry with all public universities and higher education institutions. The university was one of the first that initiated to adopt and implement the electronic system. It was at the beginning of a change from traditional paper-based communication to establishing an electronic system to facilitate communication. The system will be installed to support electronic communication within and with outside the university electronically with the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The new ICT will be used for communication to its fullest potential to interact with its various constituents such as the MHESR and other universities. It also facilitates archiving information about all employees in the system so that employees can have access to their personal information. The system will also be used to save and process information regarding employees’ salary, salary increments, deductions, and more. In addition, the system will be used for admission purposes such as acceptance, registering and transferring students, and recording their grades. The ministry aims to have in place an effective and efficient way of communication.

To investigate the relationship between PSM and employee intention to support the change, we decided to collect data from the university prior to implementing the change. After getting permission from the university officials, two trained research assistants helped with the data collection. In March 2019, 150 questionnaires were distributed among the employees who were expected to be exposed to the change and were to implement the changes. After three callbacks, all the 150 distributed questionnaires were retrieved. After removing seven responses due to too many missing answers and monotonous answering patterns, 143 valid responses (95%) were retained.

The average age of participants was 33.1 years (SD = 6.07), and 51.5% of the respondents were male. In terms of educational background, most respondents held a bachelor degree (69%), followed by master’s degree (14.7%), and PhD degree (6.3%). The respondents had an average overall working experience of 8.36 years (SD = 5.71). There were also 31.5% of participants with managerial positions.

Measures

A full list of the measures is provided in the appendix. Unless stated otherwise, all measures were based on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). Previously established scales were adapted from Ahmad, Straatmann et al. (2020) to measure the four dimensions of TPB (change-related attitude, change-related subjective norms, change-related PBC, and CSI).

PSM was measured with eight items (two items from each PSM dimension) from the items validated by Kim et al. (2013). Questionnaires were administered in the participants’ mother tongue (Kurdish). Questionnaires were translated to Kurdish by the authors as recommended by Brislin (1980), followed by the back-translation by two independent researchers. Any differences found between the original and back-translated versions were discussed until agreement was reached concerning the most appropriate translation. To reach an agreement over the last version of the questionnaires, the original and back-translated versions were compared and discussed.

Results

Measurement Models

Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the construct validity of the key model variables. A full measurement model was initially tested in which the indicators for all variables were allowed to load onto their respective factors. All factors were allowed to correlate. Five fit indices, the χ²/df and incremental fit index (IFI) as recommended by Gerbing and Anderson (1993); the comparative fit index (CFI) and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), recommended by Jaccard and Wan (1996); the Tucker–Lewis index (TLI), recommended by Bentler (1990), were calculated to determine how the model fit the data. Acceptable fit is evidenced by χ²/df values lower than 2.5; an INF, CFI, and TLI of .90 or higher; and an RMSEA of .10 or lower (Bentler, 1990). The five-factor model showed a good model fit (χ² = 319.149; df = 160; χ²/df = 1.99; IFI = 0.91; CFI = 0.91; TLI = .90; RMSEA = 0.08). We then tested for a one-factor solution in which all the items were loaded on a single factor. The one-factor model showed poor fit to data (χ² = 905.591; df = 170; χ²/df = 5.33; IFI = 0.59; CFI = 0.58; TLI = .54; RMSEA = 0.18). The results showed that the five-factor model had a superior fit as compared with the one-factor model.

Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alphas, and correlation coefficients of the variables are presented in Table 1. As can be seen, all correlations among the main variables are statistically significant and in the anticipated direction. The highest correlation is between change-related attitude and CSI (r = .64; p < .05), whereas PSM had the lowest significant correlation with CSI (r = .42; p < .05). Of the five control variables, education and supervisory position were not significantly related to the dependent variables. Therefore, these two variables were excluded in the regression analyses.

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics, Zero-Order Correlation Matrix and Reliability Values of Study Variables.

Variables	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1. Change-supportive intentions	4.05	0.83	(.92)
2. Change-related attitude	4.23	0.84	.64**	(.88)
3. Change-related subjective norm	3.73	0.78	.50**	.36**	(.66)
4. Change-related PBC	4.40	0.79	.63**	.60**	.35**	(.85)
5. Public service motivation	4.43	0.64	.42**	.29*	.35**	.35**	(.89)
6. Age	33.1	7.7	.19*	.21*	.14	.13	.13	1
7. Tenure	8.36	5.7	.17*	.15	.09	.08	.09	.66*	1
8. Gender	—	—	−.24**	−.29**	−.22**	−.21*	−.18*	−.30**	−.16	1
9. Education	—	—	−.02	.09	−.02	−.002	.02	.29**	.07	−.12	1
10. Supervisory position	—	—	.08	.07	−.06	.13	.10	−.01	.08	.10	−.18*	1

Note. PBC = perceived behavioral control.

p < .05. **p < .001.

In addition, collinearity diagnostics were inspected for any multicollinearity between the variables by examining variance inflation factors (VIFs). Hair et al. (2010) suggested that VIF scores of greater than 10.0 indicate that multicollinearity biases the results. Our results showed that the VIF ranged from 1.00 to 1.63. Thus, the study concludes that the level of multicollinearity in this study is not so severe as to invalidate the results.

Hypotheses Testing

The hypotheses were tested using regression analyses in SPSS and the PROCESS macro for SPSS from Hayes (2017).

In the first step, a multiple hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted to test the impact of the control variables: change-related attitude, change-related subjective norm, and change-related PBC on CSI by estimating four separate models (see Table 2). As can be seen in Table 3, the control variables explained very little variance (2%) in CSI. The introduction of the TPB variables resulted in substantial increases in explained variance (change-related attitude: R² of Model 2 is .45; change-related subjective norm: adjusted R² of Model 3 is .60; change-related PBC: R² of Model 4 is .65). When all variables were entered, change-related attitude was significantly related to CSI (β = 0.49, p < .001), as were change-related subjective norm (β = 0.24, p < .001) and change-related PBC (β = 0.26, p < .001). Thus, Hypothesis 1 was confirmed.

Table 2.

Regression Analysis for Change-Supportive Intentions.

Variables	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4
Female (Dummy: Yes)	−.22	−.04	−.002	.05
Age	.01	−.09	−.10	−.10
Tenure	.13	.13	.14	.15
Change-related attitude		.71***	.62***	.49***
Change-related subjective norm			.28***	.24***
Change-related perceived behavioral control				.26***
R ²	.08	.53	.60	.64
Δf	3.78	134.593	22.182	15.228
df	139	138	137	136

Note. Standardized regression coefficients are reported.

Statistically significant with p < .05. **Statistically significant with p < .01. ***Statistically significant with p < .001.

Table 3.

Indirect Effects of PSM on Change-Supportive Intentions Through CRA, CRSN, and CRPBC.

Mediator	Parameter estimate	SE	95% BC CI
Mediator	Parameter estimate	SE	Lower	Upper
Total	.38*	.12	.14	.61
Change-related attitude	.18*	.09	.02	.35
Change-related subjective norm	.09*	.04	.03	.20
Change-related PBC	.10	.06	−.005	.24

Note. CI that excludes zero indicates that the conditional indirect effects are significant. PSM = public service motivation; BC CI = bias-corrected confidence interval; CRA = change-related attitude; CRSN = change-related subjective norm; CRPBC = change-related perceived behavioral control.

Significant conditional indirect paths (95% CI).

In the second step, CSI was regressed on PSM. Results show that PSM explained 18% variance in CSI and was significantly related to CSI (β = 0.42, p < .01). Thus, Hypothesis 2 was supported.

H3 was tested using the PROCESS macro for SPSS from Hayes (2017). Model 4 in PROCESS was selected to examine the roles of change-related attitude, change-elated subjective norm, and change-related PBC in mediating the relationship between PSM and CSI. The PROCESS macro tests the indirect effects using the normal theory-based product of coefficient approach (Sobel, 1982) and reports bootstrapped bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals for each indirect effect. Bootstrapping was set to 5,000 bootstrap samples.

Table 3 contains the parameter estimates and confidence intervals for the total and specific indirect effects on the relationships between PSM and CSI mediated by change-related attitude, change-related subjective norm but not through change-related PBC.

Consistent with Hypotheses 3a and 3b, Table 3 shows that the indirect effect of PSM on CSI was significant through change-related attitude and change-related subjective norm as evidenced by the no-zero in their respective confidence intervals, but not through change-related PBC. Thus, change-related attitude and change-related subjective norm are significant mediators, such that PSM was positively related to change-related attitude (B = 0.29); change-related subjective norm (B = .35), as well as change-related PBC (B = 0.35), which in turn were positively related to CSI (B = 0.48, B = 0.21, and B = 0.22, respectively; see Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Results of the Regression Model.

In addition, the direct effect of PSM on CSI was significant, indicating that change-related attitude and change-related subjective norm partially mediate the relationship between PSM and the CSI.

Discussion

Given that employees normally prefer to preserve the status quo, rather than changing and adapting to a new work system that requires them to change their attitudes or behaviors, past research shows that employees are normally resistant to change or are passive recipients of change (Ahmad et al., 2020a, 2020b). Moreover, employees often fear changes that might result in changing comfortable social dynamics and gaining additional, less desirable, or even more difficult tasks (Wright et al., 2013). In addition, Meier and O’Toole (2011) suggested that the specific public sector environment leads to a higher degree of employee change resistance and a more distressing experience of change. Holten et al. (2019) also found that public employees report less positive change experience and have less positive change consequences. PSM has been suggested to have a link with employee positive responses to organizational change. In cases where employees are not willing to adopt a new system of work, we hypothesized that, based on theories and empirical work, those employees with high levels of PSM may sacrifice their interest and support the change.

The main purpose of this study was to advance our understanding of the psychological factors that underline the relationship between PSM and CSI in public sector organizations. This study proposed that PSM would be related to employee CSI and the relationship would be mediated by employee change-related attitudes, change-related subjective norm, and change-related PBC. The results support our hypotheses and show that public service–motivated individuals are more likely to support organizational change efforts.

The first significant theoretical implication of this study is the utilization of the TPB to explain the main effects underlying the intention of employees to support organizational change. Our data offer good support for the TPB as a valid framework to predict change-related intention of employees in public organizations in a way that all the psychological variables were significantly related to intention to support change. That is, as conceptualized by Ajzen (1991), change-related attitude, subjective norm, and PBC were all predictive to employee’s intention to support the upcoming change in their institution, accounting for 65% of the variance. Thus, employees with a positive evaluation of performing the behavior, who perceive social pressure to engage in the behavior, and who felt that the performance of the behavior was under their control, were more likely to engage in change-supportive behaviors. This suggests that targeting individuals’ personal attitudes, their perceptions of social pressure to perform the behaviors, and elements of personal control might be useful strategies to encourage the uptake of change-supportive behaviors (Jimmieson et al., 2008).

Another significant implication of this study is that this study deepens our understanding of individual-level impact of PSM. As expected, the result showed that PSM is significantly and positively related to CSI. That is, employees who were highly motivated to public service showed higher intention to engage in change-supportive behavior. These results are largely consistent with existing research about the relationship between PSM and organizational change support in public organizations. Perry and Wise (1990) proposed that PSM facilitates organizational change in the public sector. The results are also in line with empirical findings from previous research relating PSM to employees’ support for organizational change (Crewson, 1997; Naff & Crum, 1999; Ritz & Fernandez, 2011; Wright et al., 2013). This adds further support for the role of PSM as significant individual-level variable that predicts CSI. More importantly, understanding psychological factors that underline this relationship might be helpful to find extra levers for nurturing organizational change support.

This study also proposed a mediation model relating PSM to CSI. The results showed the significant role of PSM in creating of employees’ CSI through the mediating effect of the TPB variables. Explicitly, the result showed change-related attitude and subjective norm mediate the relationship between PSM and CSI, supporting H3a and H3b. However, change-related PBC does not moderate the relationship; therefore, H3c is not supported. The mediating roles of change-related attitude and subjective norm suggest that PSM could shape employees’ attitude and norm regarding performing organizational change support.

Overall, the results of this study reinforce the significant role of PSM during change processes. PSM was found to be positively related to CSI particularly when public employees have a positive change-related attitude, feel social pressure to support the change, and feel that the performance of the behavior is under their control. Therefore, in addition to the theoretical contributions, this study has practical implications for change managers in the public sector. Rather than examining stable individual factors that are often beyond a manager’s sphere of influence or control (for a review, see Armenakis & Bedeian, 1999; Oreg et al., 2011); this study examined a predictor (PSM) of employee CSI which is, to a great extent, dynamic (Brænder & Andersen, 2013; Brewer & Selden, 1998; Kjeldsen, 2012; Kjeldsen & Jacobsen, 2012) and amenable to managers’ influence. Our results, therefore, provide practical levers with which managers can actively influence employee reactions and change outcomes. Therefore, to enhance employee CSI and subsequent behaviors, managers should select employees with high levels of PSM (Ahmad et al., 2020a). Alternatively, managers should cultivate high levels of PSM among change recipients as past research has shown that employee levels of PSM are not mainly attributable to attraction–selection–attrition mechanisms (Cable & Parsons, 2001), but can be cultivated through organizational processes of socialization and adaptation (Bellé, 2013).

Limitations and Future Research

Like all studies, our study has some limitations. The first limitation is that we used self-reported data to test the hypotheses. Such a research design may cause methodological problems such as social desirability or common method bias. However, self-reports are still considered as the primary method of identification for PSM (Mann, 2006) and other variables (such as those in the TPB model) that are perceptual in nature (George & Pandey, 2017) as such variables cannot directly be observed or be measured using peer or supervisor ratings (Brewer, 2002). Second, it is not possible to make causal inferences about the relationship between PSM and CSI due to the cross-sectional nature of the study. Third, the study investigated employee intention to support organizational change, rather than employee behaviors. Although intention has been shown to be a good predictor of actual behavior and a meta-analysis showing mean correlation intention–behavior amounting to r = .47 (Armitage & Conner, 2001), future research should employ longitudinal designs for examining the association between intention and actual behavior to see whether intention to support change will lead to an act to support the change to demonstrate the full potential of the TPB. Fourth, our findings are based on a sample of employees of a public university employee in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Therefore, the findings may not be generalizable to other contexts. It would be interesting to replicate the study in different public organizations in different countries. Finally, the data collected rely solely on self-reported questionnaire rather than information from peers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the current study supports the potential use of the TPB to predict employee CSI in public organizations. It also adds to the literature that shows a positive relationship between PSM and its positive outcomes. Our results build on the existing research in public change management by studying intention to support change of public employees in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The TPB seems promising to have the ability to explain supportive intention among public servants. That is, it shows the link between PSM and CSI through the TPB. Overall, the present study is important for our understanding of the psychological processes that may underlie employee PSM in CSI in public organizations. It also identifies the psychological variables, attitude, subjective norm, and PBC, and shows the influential role of PSM in the three variables. In consistency with the TPB, intention to support change was found to be a function of the three variables. The identification of the variables might help public managers to have a better understanding of the psychological factors recognize employees who intend to support the change (Jimmieson et al., 2008). In addition, this study adds further support to change management literature as it is conducted in a non-Western context like Kurdistan that enhances the generalizability and validity of previous findings.

Footnotes

Appendix

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Hemin Ali Hassan

Ahmad Bayiz Ahmad

Author Biographies

Hemin Ali Hassan is a PhD candidate at Donlinks School for Economics and Management at the USTB. He is also a lecturer (on-leave) at the UOR in the Kurdistan Region. His current research focuses on public service motivation, public sector reform, and public servants’ responses to reform processes.

Xiaodong Zhang is a professor at Donlinks School for Economics and Management at the USTB. Her research interests include lean production and operations management, collaborative product development and innovation management, networked project, management and simulation.

Ahmad Bayiz Ahmad is a postdoctoral research fellow at SJTU. He is also a lecturer at the UOR in the Kurdistan Region. His current research focuses on organizational change and public sector reform and employees’ reaction to such change.

Bangcheng Liu is professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management at the School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He received his PhD in Management at the Antai School of Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His current research focuses on cross-cultural organizational behavior and strategic human resource management, especially for public organizations. He also is interested in talent policy and innovational and entrepreneurial management.

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