Managing change in transnational companies: does cultural distance matter?

摘要

Employees' commitment to change is an important prerequisite for change management success. We test how a direct manager's transformational leadership and top management communication impact employees' commitment to change and how, in a transnational organisation, these relationships are moderated by cultural distance. We measure cultural distance using GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness Research) dimensions. The results of the study in a German technology company (N = 939 employees, operating in 30 countries) show that transformational leadership and top management communication are positively related to affective and normative commitment to change. Cultural distance positively moderates the direct manager's transformational leadership-affective commitment relationship and reduces the influence of top management communication on normative commitment to change.