A STUDY ON ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE WITHIN HIGHER
EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF
SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY
Pin-Ren Chena, Shu-Chen Yangb, Tsung-Hui Chena, Chih-Feng Chaoa a
National Pingtung Institute of Commerce,
No. 51, Minsheng E. Rd., Pingtung City, Pingtung County 900, Taiwan ROC b
National University of Kaohsiung,
No. 700, Kaohsiung University Rd., Nan Tzu Dist., Kaohsiung 811, Taiwan ROC pinren1982@hotmail.com, henryyang@nuk.edu.tw, thchen@npic.edu.tw,
cfchao@npic.edu.tw
ABSTRACT
Due to the trend of fewer children and government’s policy of rapid establishment of new universities and colleges in Taiwan, the proportion of students entering higher education institutions is higher and higher (even over 100%) in recent years. As a result of severe competition, many higher education institutions are encountering great difficulties in student recruitment and hence lower the recruitment criteria. In order to ensure the quality of higher education, Ministry of Education initiates an evaluation and accreditation program for higher education institutions in Taiwan. The evaluation results of this program will be served as important indicators of government subsidies, permitted amount of student recruitment, and even shutdown for a school. Hence, organizational change will be necessary for higher education institutions in Taiwan. This study tries to employ the social exchange theory (SET) to investigate staff’s attitude toward organizational change and job satisfaction within higher education institutions. Three moderators – growth needs, participation, and transformational leadership – are included in our empirical model.
This study empirically collected data from staffs in one national college in Taiwan through questionnaire design. Analyses are based on data collected from 102 respondents (return rate is 90.27%). There are three areas of interesting results. First, results show that when a staff has more positive attitude toward organizational change, he/she will be more likely to be satisfied with his/her job. Second, except for shared values, all social exchange variables – trust toward colleagues, organizational commitment, and psychological contracts – and task complexity have positive effects on a staff’s attitude toward organizational change. Third, moderating effects are analyzed using hierarchical regression. The relationship between task complexity and attitude toward organizational change is stronger among staffs that have high level of growth needs. A staff’s participation also has positive moderating effect on the relationship between trust and attitude toward organizational change. However, the moderating effects of transformational leadership cannot be supported by our results. Implications and discussion are also provided in this study.
Keyword: Higher Education Institution, Organizational Change, Social Exchange
