Commitment to organizational change: The role of territoriality and change-related self-efficacy

Employee lack of commitment to change is a major management problem with negative consequences including change implementation failures. In this research, we draw on psychological ownership theory to examine the impact of employees' territorial behaviors (i.e., personalization and reactionary defense) on commitment to change via the mediating role of change-related self-efficacy. We employ a two-wave survey to collect data from 203 participants undergoing organizational change (office relocation, technological change). Results of structural equation modeling suggest that personalization relates positively to commitment to change, while reactionary defense relates negatively to commitment to change. We find further that change-related self-efficacy fully mediates these effects. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.