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Organizational Change and Employee Health and Well-Being

A Review and Recommendations for Future Research

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Handbook on Management and Employment Practices

Part of the book series: Handbook Series in Occupational Health Sciences ((HDBSOHS))

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Abstract

In this chapter, I review research that examines the relationship between exposure to an organizational change event and employee health and well-being. Consideration of the work in the area reveals two types of studies have been conducted. One group of researchers have focused on objective measures of exposure to change, while a second group of researchers have assessed change recipients’ subjective experience of change exposure. I consider whether consistent findings have emerged in these bodies of work. I also examine the extent to which research in these areas has identified similar or different mediating and moderating factors. My review suggests that organizational change events – regardless of whether they are assessed with objective or subjective measures – have a negative impact on a wide range of measures of employee health and well-being. However, recent research reveals that some aspects of change (e.g., the planning of change) also may be positively associated with employee health and well-being. This review identifies directions for future research including the need to consider additional aspects of the context of change and the processes used when introducing change as antecedents of employee health and well-being. There is also a need to consider a more consistent and wider range of mediating and moderating processes that link organizational change events with employee health and well-being.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Alannah E. Rafferty

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  1. Alannah E. Rafferty
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Correspondence to Alannah E. Rafferty .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, QLD, Australia

    Paula Brough

  2. School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Australia

    Elliroma Gardiner

  3. University of East Anglia, Norwich Business School, Norwich, UK

    Kevin Daniels

Section Editor information

  1. Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Kevin Daniels

  2. School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Paula Brough PhD

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Rafferty, A.E. (2021). Organizational Change and Employee Health and Well-Being. In: Brough, P., Gardiner, E., Daniels, K. (eds) Handbook on Management and Employment Practices. Handbook Series in Occupational Health Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24936-6_11-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24936-6_11-1

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