Organisational change and workplace stress in teaching and learning settings: Case study evidence from a public sector university in the uk

Abstract

The current economic climate in the UK has seen many dramatic variations to the methods adopted by public sector organisations to manage organisational change. It is illustrious through change models that the ‘top down’ approach to change management is unlikely to achieve sustainability. Further, poorly implemented change management interventions lead to collective pressures on the employee and exposes the workforce as a whole to the detrimental effects of workplace stress. The chapter explores links between change management practices and employee stress. Drawing upon qualitatively-based case study methodology, the main aim of this paper is to identify specific examples of stress-inducing management practices in a change management situation in a Higher Education organisation in the UK public sector. The study examines the nature of these practices and their impact upon individual employees with a view to clarifying aspects of the relationship between ineffective change management interventions and employee stress.