Academy ol Management Executive. 2001, Vol. IS, No. 4

The power of emotionalappeals in promotingorganizational change

programs

Sbaul Fox and Yaii Atnichai-HambuTgei

Executive OverviewIn attempting to persuade employees to support an organizafionai change sfrafegy,

managers usually place their prime emphasis on the cognitive elements of persuasion,using mainly rational arguments. The central message of this article is that, in anychange implementation program, the emofionai elements of persuasion must be takeninto consideration. The importance of emotions in organizations is discussed, andpractical methods on how to use emotions in the change process are offered. Thesemethods are organized around five domains: the core messages, how the messages arepackaged, fhe characferistics of the change leaders, the interaction of change leaderswith their audience, and the setting in which interactions with employees take place.

The organization of registered disabled people inIsrael initiated during 2000 a program to changewhat it saw as the inadequate and unjust statebenefits package to which the disabled are enti-tled. In an attempt to radically change governmentpolicy toward disabled people, the organizationpresented its demands to government officials andtried to persuade them to increase their benefits.The plan was strongly opposed by all governmentofficials, who argued that it would cost too muchand would break the financial balance of the coun-try, as other sectors would jump on the bandwagonand demand more money. Organized protests andstruggles to change the policy were ignored. Thecause seemed hopeless, and the protesters ap-peared to have no means of exerting pressure onthe government. Facing this situation, they de-cided to change their persuasion tactics. The dailyprotests continued, but with widespread mediacoverage. Leaders and others, all in their wheel-chairs, appeared on television, explaining theirdifficulties, and painting in colorful and vivid de-tails the everyday hardships they faced. Some ofthem were sobbing during interviews. The wide-spread media coverage of the protest caused anupsurge of public support for the disabled protest-

ers, and officials were seen as cruel and callous.Continued coverage of the negotiations with gov-ernment officials granted the protesters much le-verage throughout the talks, and eventually led tothe attainment of their goals. It was widely ac-cepted that the emotions the disabled arousedwere the main cause for the change in governmentpolicy.

This process of using emotional appeals to pro-mote significant changes is relevant to many or-ganizational change contexts. Why is it the casethat managers and workers sometimes respondmore strongly to an emotional appeal than to arational one? What is it in the emotional messagethat gives it this power?

In today's turbulent work environment, wherechange is the common experience, organizationsmust continually cope with new situations in orderto survive and prosper. The central strategic chal-lenge of managers is managing changes. Manag-ing change is a complicated, sensitive mission,which requires moving through several stages andexecuting different tasks: organizational diagno-sis, planning, formulating a vision, communicat-ing, persuading others, and consolidating thechange.' These different activities require using a

2001 Fox and Amichai-Hamburger 85

variety of abilities and overcoming many potentialpitfalls along the way.

Managers can handle change by reacting to theevents surrounding any change—adjusting tothe new situation or using new methods to exploitthe change. Managers may deal with change byanticipating it—foreseeing what is going to hap-pen and making the proper preparations to alignwith the expected forthcoming events. Managingchange at its most challenging level is being aleader of change—being the first one to introducemethods, standards, and products that others willhave to compete with.^

In spite of the typical condition oi need and ur-gency preceding change initiatives, many plannedorganizational changes fail,^ Managers often falterin their most crucial mission—managing changeeffectively. There are many factors that can con-tribute to slow implementation or termination ofchange efforts."* One of the main reasons for failureis the inability to induce others to support thechange and to commit themselves to its successfulrealization,^ The new behaviors required by indi-viduals as a result of the change commonly evokedisturbing responses, such as denial, objections,feelings of stress and cynicism, and reduced organ-izational commitment. This article focuses on themethods by which managers can gain broad ac-ceptance and support of a change plan from allthose who may be affected by it.

One of ihe main reasons /or failure is theinabiliiy to induce others to support thechange and to commit themselves to itssuccessful realization.

Resistance to change has several causes. Uncer-tainty and the perceived loss of control the changeprogram induces are crucial contributors to resis-tance. In addition, the expected losses^to the selfand the organization—incurred by the change, andthe mistrust employees feel toward the changeagents and the process of change implementation,are among the most mentioned reasons for em-ployees' rejection of proposed changes.^

Communication is believed to be the key to over-coming resistance to change.'-* Open and effectivecommunication is considered the most effectiveway to reduce uncertainty, to strengthen employ-ees' sense of control, demonstrate the advantagesand benefits of the change, and build trusting re-lationships between management and subordi-nates. But what is effective communication in thecontext of change? How can managers alleviateresistance to change?

Communication has two main components: a ra-tional component and an emotional component.Managers seem to invest most of their communi-cation efforts in the rational aspect. The main goalof this article is to emphasize the importance ofusing emotional elements when delivering infor-mation about the expected change. We will at-tempt to show that a major factor in determiningthe success or failure of a change program is thetactics used by employers when trying to convinceemployees to accept the change. These tacticsmust involve emotional elements because emo-tional elements are essential to persuading othersand to overcoming resistance to change plans.

The idea that organizational activities are ratio-nal, logical, and nonemotional is well rooted. Or-ganizations have definite objectives, and to fulfilltheir missions they must use rational methods—analysis, systematic calculation, examination ofexternal and internal forces, logical decision mak-ing, and precise ordering of activities. Organiza-tional meetings are built around charts, tables,numbers, figures, and predictions, focusing onwhere the organization is and where it ought to bein the future. Emotions, according to a generallyaccepted view, are not relevant to organizations,and they may even impede work performance. In-terest in the role of emotions in organizational lifehas occurred only recently.^ Several studies haveshown that emotions experienced at work arehighly relevant and may affect motivation, organi-zational citizenship behavior, performance ap-praisal, and negotiation outcomes.^

Although the professional literature dealingwith organizational change emphasizes the criti-cal necessity of recruiting the support of all thosewho are going to be affected by the change, theemotional aspects of change implementation areoften ignored. Change programs in organizationsare events that arouse intense emotions. The ante-cedents to initiating change—usually a crisis oran opportunity—are themselves strong generatorsof emotions. As the idea of the change is spreadthroughout the organization, many people may be-come anxious and tense. The leaders of changeseem to perceive these emotions as one of theburdens that they must endure, and not as a po-tential tool for securing the willingness, commit-ment, and efforts of subordinates in the process ofthe change. Instead, they try to turn to the safety ofconcrete facts, descriptions, graphs, and data toshow how the change program is going to resolveorganizational problems or take advantage of thegiven opportunities and pave the road for organi-zational growth.

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Cognition in Persuasion Communication

The literature on implementation of change urgesmanagers to communicate with their employees.Managers are encouraged to talk about the changeas openly as possible, as early as possible, and asmuch as they can in order to minimize or eliminateresistance."^ In the case of a major change such asa merger or acquisition, researchers assert; "Itseems that the only way for management to dealwith the anxiety that follows a merger or acquisi-tion announcement is to communicate with em-ployees as soon as possible about all the antici-pated effects of the change."" The recommendedform of communication involves explanations as towhy the change is needed, providing facts andinformation regarding the faults of the present sit-uation, and including a portrayal of the organiza-tion after the change has been successfully imple-mented, illustrating the opportunities it will openand the benefits it will create. This communicationshould elaborate on the stages of the change pro-gram. The main idea is to provide the employeeswith as broad a package of information as possibleconcerning what is about to occur and the reasonsfor it.

Managers are encouraged to talk aboutthe change as openly as possible, asearly as possible, and as much as theycan in order to minimize or eliminateresistance.

Behind this approach lies an assumption thatthe employees' reactions are guided solely by ra-tional thought. Therefore, the explanations and in-formation should be carefully considered and pro-cessed by the recipients, the benefits of the changeplan should be clear to them, and, consequently,they should be easily persuaded to hold a positiveattitude toward the change. Presenting strong ar-guments regarding the importance and the inevi-tability of the change should dilute any resistancethe employees may have against the change, andthus the road to fully implementing the changeprogram should be smooth.

The motivations for people's behavior are like anenormous iceberg emerging above the water,whereas most of the iceberg is submerged andinvisible. Like the tip of the iceberg, only a smallpart of human motivations can be seen. This met-aphor is applicable to the context of the changeprocess. Management frequently concentratesonly on what is seen—the tip of the iceberg—and

attempts to use rational methods to push a processforward, ignoring that the underlying motivationfor human behavior sometimes lies in the invisi-ble, submerged part of the iceberg—the nonra-tional sphere.

The rational emphasis of managers when imple-menting change programs is derived from the as-sumption that there is full consonance between thecognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects ofhuman experience. They assume that changingthe way employees think about the change willlead to changes in the way they feel about thechange and the actions they will take towards thechange. Therefore, a rational appeal should have adomino effect on the person's entire approach to-ward the change.

Although this view is valid on many occasions,there are many other situations where it is not wellfounded. In some instances, the cognitive, emo-tional, and behavioral aspects oi life are not har-monious. They may be independent of one another,or even be in conflict. There are many instances inwhich our heart tells us one thing and our headanother, when our feelings and thoughts are inconflict, with each trying to take over the other.Remarks such as "Let's put feelings aside for amoment and discuss this objectively," or, "I knowhe is crazy, but I like him anyway," are common.

Some of the dominant researchers argue forciblythat affective processes operate independently ofcognitive processes, claiming that affective reac-tions precede cognitive processes.'^ The individualfirst feels and then justifies his or her feelings.Feelings, which are reflected in evaluation, are abasic and universal element of perception. A per-son may hold many positive arguments in favor ofsomething, without communicating his or her feel-ings about it. Some types of behavior may be morecognitively driven, and other types more affec-tively driven.

Emotional appeals can help establish a sense ofurgency for the change, for delivering the vision toaccomplish the desired objectives, and for forminga powerful coalition of employees who embracethe change plan. This is supported both by theassumption that cognition and feelings are closelyinterrelated, and by the assumption that some-times they are in conflict. When there is a strongrelation between cognitive and emotional facets,affecting the emotions will lead cognitive ele-ments to align with them. However, when one'semotions and cognitions are not in full congru-ence, ignoring the emotional aspect of the changeand appealing only to rationality may keep firmthe employees' emotional objection to the change.

2001 Fox and Amicbai-Hamburger 87

Forms of Communicating Cognitionsand Emotions

Feeling, thinking, and doing are sometimes incon-gruous because they are distinguished by the dif-ferent forms of communication they use, creatingconversation barriers among them. Essentially,each facet uses a form of communication that isforeign to the other. The main forms of communi-cation the cognitive component uses and under-stands are words, arguments, rationales, analysis,information, numbers, and graphs. Cognitive pro-cesses consist of thinking, analyzing, and drawingconclusions.

The emotional facet understands and uses a fun-damentally different means of communication, in-cluding pictures, colors, voices, music, taste, smell,atmosphere, pain, sensation, aesthetic objects, andsongs. It also includes identification with a person,and refers to the moral value of the change. Emo-tional processes include feelings of happiness, an-ger, irritation, sadness, love, fear, and relief. Theyare highly related to ego involvement and motiva-tion, and are more strongly related to physiologi-cal reactions than are the cognitive processes.Generally, many affective judgments are difficultto verbalize. Emotions are very often not translatedinto semantic content. Instead, they are reflected invisceral or muscular activities.

Emotions may rapidly mobilize and direct be-havior. An emotional appeal may establish a con-nection between the proposed change and the em-ployee, a strategy known in marketing as bonding.Emotional appeals are perceived more easily, arelikely to be memorized, and can make the subjectmore familiar, consequently increasing people'sinvolvement with it. Emotional aspects are fre-quently more important and more relevant to thechange effort than cognitive aspects.

This is clearly illustrated in the literature onleadership, where a significant factor behind thesuccess of the situational leader is the ability toutilize a crisis for his or her own benefit. This isdone by harnessing the extreme, negative emo-tions the crisis arouses in people by using emo-tional arguments, and then appearing able to sat-isfy the needs of the people. Emotions are veryimportant in transformational leadership, wherethe leader builds a vision that portrays a positivefuture picture to attract followers and build andstrengthen the leadership base.^^ Emotions mustbe taken into account when building a leadershipvision. If not, it is unlikely that the vision will winthe support of the workforce.

Methods for Affecting Emotions

How can we tap the emotional components of hu-man behavior? How can managers touch the emo-tional side of those who are going to be affected bythe change and bring about positive emotions to-ward the change?

To affect emotions of those involved in thechange process, managers should consider all as-pects of their interaction with those who are goingto be affected by the change. Five main domainsshould be considered: the core messages regard-ing the change, how the messages are packaged,the characteristics of the change leaders, the inter-action of change leaders with their audience, andthe setting in which the interactions with employ-ees takes place.

Managers should take into consideration thetension and anxiety the employees are experienc-ing about the prospect of change. These emotionsshould be seen as tools facilitating a connectionwith employees, rather than as a burden to bedealt with. At the same time, the change programhas to build excitement and anticipation. This canbe achieved by delivering the information aboutthe change in a positive tone and using trustwor-thy communicators in a pleasant environment.This communication ideally should build upon anexisting working environment of healthy day-to-day interaction. Engaging others and listening totheir needs creates general positive feelings whichmay turn resistance into support.

Managers should take into considerationthe tension and anxiety the employeesare experiencing about the prospect ofchange.

Core messages regarding the change

The content of the messages should include emo-tional arguments regarding the change and appro-priate metaphors.

Emofionai arguments

Managers should consider incorporating into theirmessages both rational and emotional argumentsregarding the proposed change. When describingthe present situation of the organization, theyshould address the possible negative conse-quences the employees may suffer should thechange fail to be implemented, using words withan emotional connotation, such as danger, loss,unpleasantness, and risk, as well as depicting the

Academy of Management Executive November

future condition of the organization after thechange has taken place, using words that engen-der positive feeUngs and optimism, such as com-fortable, convenient, success, progress, pleasure,and relief, and portraying the organization afterthe change in vivid and rich detail.

In 1979, Antioch College and its far-flung net-work of learning centers faced a financial crisisbecause of declining enrollments and federal sup-port, which brought it near bankruptcy. In addition,pressure to dissolve the network started to build.Dr. William Birnbaum, who was hired as president,succeeded in overcoming the crisis and in unifyingthe learning centers into a national university,based on the values and standards of Antioch'stradition. Birnbaum explicitly presented the factsregarding the difficulties facing the institution andcommunicated authority and optimism to the gov-erning bodies. In addition, he used the crisis as anopportunity to restate the institution's mission toprovide an education to the underprivileged, andto raise themes unique to Antioch, such as commu-nity government, or the idea that liberal educationmust be connected to practical work in the market-place. These themes touched the emotional chordsof both alumni and faculty and contributed to thesuccess of the transition.^"^

Metaphors

When managers wish to persuade employees toadopt a change plan, it is important that they in-corporate metaphors into their messages. A meta-phor is "a figure of speech containing an impliedcomparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarilyand primarily used for one thing is applied to an-other, e.g., the curtain of night."'^ Reality does nothave only an objective meaning; it also has a sym-bolic meaning that is loaded with emotions. Met-aphors are effective devices for transmitting andcreating symbolic realities. They evoke rich emo-tional associations and fantasies that bypasslogic. Metaphors make the strange familiar, andalso embellish and vivify the messages.'^ Workingwith metaphors is particularly important when asignificant change is being introduced. People inthis situation feel nervous and excited and arelikely to experience difficulties expressing them-selves. Metaphors give them a way of explainingtheir perceptions indirectly, yet lucidly. When amanager introduces new metaphors as part of hisor her vision, it is vital that these metaphors arenot too far removed from those already held byemployees. Otherwise they will not be able to re-late to them. Creating accepted, positive organiza-tional metaphors can help managers bring about

unity in the organization at a critical phase of itsdevelopment.

Creating accepted, positiveorganizational metaphors can helpmanagers bring about unity in theorganization at a critical phase of itsdevelopment.

When organizations are going through a majorchange, employees need to acquire an under-standing of their organization as an open sys-tem, influenced by and influencing its environ-ment. The organization must also see itself ashaving a warm, open relationship between itsmanagement and employees. One effective wayto achieve this is by changing the dominant met-aphor from one that represents a rigid systemand cold approach, such as that of a machine, toone that evokes a more caring and flexible system,such as the family.

Another example of metaphors in a change pro-cess is selecting employees to form a work team.For those employees, this change will involve atotal shift in their work paradigm. They will beasked to form a culture of creativity, cooperation,synergy, and autonomy. In such a case, the man-ager may use a shift between two metaphors toexplain this change; for example, the shift from asymphony orchestra into a jazz band.

A human resources manager of a semiconductormanufacturing plant shared her experience re-garding the impact of metaphors on the feelings ofemployees when they were informed of the com-pany's decision to close the plant. At the begin-ning, the dominant metaphor used by the corpo-rate staff was "turning off the lights." Thismetaphor was perceived by the employees as re-flecting the disrespect and insensitivity of themanagement toward them at their most difficulttime. The bitterness of the employees was intensi-fied when the local press referred to the plantclosure process as "handing out pink slips." Achange in the emotional state was observed whenpeople started to use the "grieving process" meta-phor to reflect the transition process they had un-dergone. The HR manager said this metaphorhelped her and many other employees becomemore proactive in coping with the new predica-ment. (Other employees, however, were promptedby this metaphor to focus on their grief, rather thanlooking forward.)''^

2001 Fox and Amichai-Hambutger

Packaging the message

The content of the messages should be presentedusing various emotional modes of communication.Incorporating humor into the communication anddisplaying emotions are effective ways of attract-ing attention and causing the message to be ac-cepted and digested more easily.

Emotional mode of communication

The messages regarding the change should bedelivered in various ways, with emphasis on theappropriate mode of communication for emotions.The messages should include pictures, slogans,music, and colors. These tools are very effective asa means of catching the attention and interest ofpeople in the organization and creating a link be-tween their emotions and the change process. Asthe tunes and the slogans catch on, they may be-come part of the organizational vocabulary andculture. It is vital that these tools be used cau-tiously and sensitively. In some organizational set-tings, these methods do not always fit with theculture and norms of the organization, and employ-ees may perceive them as an inappropriate at-tempt to manipulate their feelings. Overexposureto any of the components can lead to antagonismtowards the whole campaign and what it stands for.

The Israeli Aircraft Industry, one of the largestorganizations in Israel, successfully implementeda TQM program in 1990. The widespread accep-tance of this change was attributed to the qualityof the communication modes used for marketingthe new program. A special logo was designed,displaying the title of the program and its maincomponents; the logo incorporated the messagesof continuous improvement and employee involve-ment. A large, colored poster decorated with thelogo, and showing the picture of the CEO express-ing the core message of TQM, was displayedthroughout the organization. Also, attractive keychains, featuring another slogan saying that theplant adopted the total quality management prin-ciples, were distributed to employees.

A plant manager of an American corporationhad difficulty gaining the support of his employeesfor a transformation he saw crucial to the unit'ssurvival. Since the unit, at the time, was successfuland flourishing, the employees did not perceivethe potential crises and the new opportunities fac-ing the organization, and did not have any sense ofurgency to adopt new practices. The manager'sinitial attempts to communicate with the employ-ees and persuade them were met with indiffer-ence. Searching for a different way of persuasion.

fhe manager traveled around his town taking pic-tures of other plants that were closed down. Thepictures showed the broken windows and theweeds covering the plants' parking lots. In his nextcommunication session, he projected these pic-tures on a screen behind him and asked people tothink about those who had worked in the closedplants. He said this fate might await their corpo-ration unless the intended changes were imple-mented. He also reassured his audience that thosewho wished to retire from the plant might do so,and that he did not intend to throw anyone out inthe street, as had the other plants. These messageswere the turning points in changing the employ-ees' attitudes. From that point on they were open toaccepting the change plan and investing efforts toimplement it.'^

Humor

The use of humor in communication creates apleasant atmosphere and generates good feelings.Humorous messages gain and keep an audience'sattention,'s put listeners at ease, and show that thechange agents are human. Subordinates showmore liking for managers who are high in humor,and view them as more effective.̂ i^ Humor releasestension and allows the change agents to makestatements about aspects of the change more eas-ily than delivering them outright. Humor has thepower to bridge distances between managers andemployees; as both sides laugh together, they mayidentify with one another and with the same largerpicture. This unity may create a new and morefavorable perspective for the change.^' Using hu-mor as a tool in communicating the change re-quires competency and sensitivity. Inappropriatehumor may lead the change program to be per-ceived as a farce and may form the impression thatthe change agents are not thoughtful regarding theprogram.

Humor has the power fo bridge distancesbetween managers and employees; asboth sides laugh together, they mayidentify with one another and with thesame larger picture.

Displaying emotions

In face-to-face interactions with employees, com-municators should display emotions while pre-senting their arguments. Cold presentations arenot likely to be attended to. Smiles, enthusiasm,

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and pride should be displayed. Liking, trusting,and respecting the audience are critical. Emo-tional displays that convey the warmth oi the com-municator and his or her confidence in the changecontribute to the effectiveness of the messages.^^

Transformational leaders constantly make useof facial expressions to reinforce their verbal mes-sages. Former U.S. president Bill Clinton, for exam-ple, accompanies his positive verbal themes withrich emotional expressions including smiles, openbody posture, changes in speech tones, and sensi-tive and expressive eyes.

Managers should not only reflect their feelings,but also legitimize employees' feelings. In commu-nication sessions, leaders should let their subordi-nates feel free and confident to express their emo-tions regarding the change. Listening to people'shopes and dreams, encouraging them to expresstheir fears and doubts, and enabling them topresent their visions of the future of the organiza-tion may lead them to feel that management isattentive to their concerns and respectful of theirfeelings. There are several advantages to encour-aging employees to express their feelings. Gener-ally, managers may learn of the underlying senti-ment in the organization and obtain a broaderpicture of employees' attitudes toward change. Inaddition, this unleashing of emotions may serve asa ventilation process that may calm down poten-tial aggregates of blocked emotions that may oth-erwise erupt in undesirable forms.

The senior management of a hospital discussedpossible changes in the role of the maintenancestaff. One issue was whether to allow mainte-nance workers to assist patients with simple tasks,such as giving them bedpans when no nurses wereavailable. Convincing arguments were made bypeople on both sides of the proposal. When a main-tenance worker emotionally expressed the degra-dation he felt when he was not authorized to per-form such a simple task for a patient, the matterwas settled in favor of the change.^^

Characteristics of change leaders

The messages delivered to employees regardingchange should be conducted, as in effective adver-tisements, by a credible, likeable, and attractivesource. People will perceive their managers ascredible when there is congruence between thevalues expressed by the managers verbally andthose expressed by their actions, when they ad-here to moral and ethical principles, and whenthey are competent, knowledgeable, open, andconcerned. In addition, change leaders have to beperceived as motivated to tell the truth and not as

having vested interests in the change.Communicators who are attractive and likeable

are more persuasive than those with less positiveattributes. When employees meet with communi-cators they evaluate positively, they listen to theirmessages more attentively and are more ready toaccept them. The most important element contrib-uting to effective communication is the trust em-ployees feel toward the leader, and, as a result,tovirard the change process. Credibility, likeable-ness, and attractiveness are the essential ingredi-ents in building trust. Also important is the trustmanagers show toward subordinates. When em-ployees perceive that their managers trust them,they tend to reciprocate by trusting their manag-

The most important element contributingto effective communication is the trustemployees feel toward the leader, and,as a result, toward the change process.

When Leonard Bernstein became conductor ofthe Vienna Philharmonic orchestra, he wanted toschedule the symphonies of Gustav Mahler intothe orchestra's repertoire, in spite of the oppositionfrom his musicians, who thought Mahler too pomp-ous. Their tremendous admiration for Bernstein ledthe musicians to play the works of Mahler whole-heartedly and j

Behavior of change managers towardtheir employees

Change agents should treat their subordinates infair and honest ways, letting them raise their ob-jections and sympathizing with their needs.

Fairness and justice

When employees feel the procedures by which thedecisions are made are fair, their resistance tochange may be diminished, even if the results ofchange are not positive for them. Having a voice isone of the antecedents of this sense of proceduraljustice. It enables employees to express theirviews to the change leaders regarding change andthe way it is implemented. Decisions regardingchange should be made only after having ade-quately considered the views and rights of theemployees. These decisions should be consistentand without personal bias. When managers do notviolate moral principles and when they treat em-ployees in an honest and courteous manner, the

2001 Fox and Amichai-Hamburger 91

employees will develop positive emotions towardschange and change leaders, and their resistancewill be minimized.^^

Listening to employees' objections with sincer-ity, sympathizing with their needs and concerns,and taking into consideration their attitudes areeffective ways to gain cooperation. Letting employ-ees voice their objections may turn their negativeemotions into positive feelings toward the changeagents and their plans.

Letting employees voice their objectionsmay turn their negative emotions intopositive feelings toward the changeagents and their plans.

The result of disrespectful behavior of changeleaders towards their subordinates is demon-strated in the case of a major information-technol-ogy company that underwent a large internal re-structuring program under a new managementgroup. During this process, according to Q.N. Huy,the management undermined basic human valuesof morality and justice by trampling on the loyaltyand trust of long-serving middle managers. Forexample, management belittled these veterans inpublic as being incompetent. This led to mistrust ofthe new top managers, strong resistance tochange, and increased absenteeism and turn-over.^''

The setting

Group dynamics and ceremonies are useful meansfor delivering the messages of change. To arousepositive emotions toward the change, all the com-munications should be made in a pleasant atmo-sphere.

Group dynamics

A strong, cohesive group can control many Impor-tant aspects of behavior. Promoting change ismore effective when a group decides that its mem-bers should change their behavior than when alecturer encourages the change.^^ The vast litera-ture dealing with teamwork demonstrates that giv-ing more responsibility to work groups, which al-lows for more participation in important decisions,may improve productivity, and also serves as abasis for support of the individual's social andemotional needs.

Efforts to change behavior can be supported orhindered by group pressure. Thus the group should

be the catalyst for change. When the group con-tains significant elements in favor of the change,the general atmosphere will be supportive, andgroup members who were doubtful and suspiciousabout the change may adopt the positive moodthat fosters the change. The leader of the organi-zation has to locate change agents in each workgroup, make them active partners in the changeprocess, and teach them how to transfer the mes-sage. The most important factor is to get peopleexcited about the program and emotionally com-mitted to the project. When the group accepts thechange, it becomes a very influential force in thewider organizational change plan.

Changes at the Bayer Corporation wereachieved by involving, all along the way, groups ofworkers. First, the HR team selected employees atrandom and conducted seven focus-group meet-ings in which the state of the corporation wasdiscussed. The information elicited was trans-ferred to employees who did not take part in thesefocus groups. They were asked to comment on thefindings. Afterwards, another crossfunctional em-ployee team, consisting of volunteers from all or-ganizational levels, was formed to conceive andrecommend improvements to the organization op-erations. The team, called Roadmap for Change,held a three-day offsite marathon meeting wherethe main initiatives and plans for the change wereformulated. Several all-employee meetings werethen held, where all the initiatives were communi-cated. Electronic newsletters were sent to the sitemanagement team, who exchanged their com-ments and ideas with those who reported to them.Managers held group meetings where employeescould raise their doubts, fears, and pessimisticviews regarding the change plans. After months ofhard work, many of the change objectives wereachieved. The corporation, which started thechange process with serious difficulties, suc-ceeded in overcoming most of them. Managing thechange by means of groups, and with active in-volvement of many employees, was the key factorin this success.2^

Ceremonies

Ceremonies are an effective way to play on peo-ple's emotional chords. A ceremony celebratingthe introduction of the change program should bewell organized, with a stimulating content, andheld in dignified and pleasant surroundings. Par-ticipants will be influenced by the content of theceremony, and by its trappings and surroundings,which will lead them to see the changes as beingof greater significance. The decorations and

92 Academy o/ Management Execuiive November

adornments of the change ceremony may causethe audience to perceive the importance and thepositive aspects of the change program. In addi-tion, ceremonies are important indicators for work-ers as to how well the change program is progress-ing. They are an opportunity to give workerspositive reinforcement for having reached a signif-icant stage. Such ceremonies may carry with thema wave of positive emotions that will persist longafter the ceremony is over.

There is another aspect to holding ceremonies tomark significant organizational changes. Changescommonly include relinquishing old ways of think-ing and behaving and replacing them with newones. People have to do away with their old habitsand life perspectives and start living with the newones. Ceremonies are effective ways to celebratethe past before departing from it. Ceremoniesmarking significant organizational changes areakin to rituals celebrated in every culture whenthere are significant losses or life transitions (e.g.,bar mitzvahs, weddings, and funerals). In theserituals, important aspects of the past are presentedand summarized, and a new direction is justified.Some rituals consist of the expression of pain to-gether with hope for a meaningful future. In sepa-rations, people need to mourn the loss, commemo-rate the past, build a bridge between the past andthe future, and pave the way to the future. Organi-zational rituals should include these elements;without them, people are blocked from facing their

Pleasant atmospheie

Information about the proposed changes should begiven in a positive, pleasant atmosphere. Provid-ing information about change in a manner that istoo formal and cold may augment the conflict be-tween one's emotions and cognitions. Transmittingthe information in pleasant, intimate, convenient,and aesthetic surroundings contributes to the co-ordination between reason and feelings. This cre-ates a conditioning between the positive emotionslinked to the pleasant environment and theplanned change. People will be more willing tocooperate with the change process if it is associ-ated with their positive feelings.

Providing information about change in amanner that is too formal and cold mayaugment the conflict between one'semotions and cognitions.

In marketing research, it is well recognized thatcontextual factors moderate the impact of persua-sive communications on message recipients. Themood of the recipients is one of the contextualfactors that has a significant effect on responses topersuasive communications. A 1998 study, for in-stance, showed that negative mood induced by atelevision program hampered the processing of theadvertisements embedded in the show. Creating apositive mood when delivering a message ofchange will enable workers to pay more attentionto the communication and its meanings.^'

Politicians and marketing experts, who are oftentremendously effective in promoting ideas, usemany of the suggestions mentioned in this article.Their methods include concentrating on the overallstyle, tone, and setting of their message, usingdifferent media, building up the messages throughrepetitive and compelling communications. Unk-ing ideas with desirable social attributes and val-ue-related goals, using attractive celebrities topresent their ideas or products, and displaying themessages in an attractive setting and atmosphere.Adopting such tactics may also be effective in pro-moting organizational change programs.

Changing Attitudes

Social psychologists have long been aware of thedifficulty of changing attitudes simply by provid-ing information or appealing to logic by presentingthe pros and cons of the change. Without incorpo-rating emotional appeals, the efforts to minimizeresistance to change may be fruitless. A prominentresearcher noted: "If we stop to consider just howmuch variance in the course of our lives is con-trolled by cognitive processes and how much byaffect, and how much the one and the other influ-ence the important outcomes in our lives, we can-not but agree that affective phenomena deserve farmore attention than they have received from cog-nitive psychologists and closer scrutiny from so-cial psychologists."^2 Managers and changeagents should be added to the list of those whoshould seriously consider affective reactions totheir change programs.

Acknowledgment

We thank two anonymous reviewers foi their helpful commentson earlier versions ol this article.

Endnotes' There are several references dealing with phases in imple-

menting change. For example: Armenakis, A., Harris, S., & Field,

2001 Fox and Amichai-Hambuiger 93

H. 1999. Paradigm in organization change: Change agent andchange target perspectives. In R. Golembiewski, (Ed.), Hand-book ot organizafion behavior. New York: Marcel Dekker; Gal-pin, T, 1996. The human side ot change: A pTactical guide toorganization redesign. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

'• See Brown, S. L., & Eisenhardt, K. M. 1998. Competing on (heedge. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

^See Cascio, W. F. 1995. Whither industrial and organiza-tional psychology in a changing world ol work? Ajneiican Psy-chologist. 50: 928-939; and Beer, M.. Eisensiat. R. A., & Spector. B.1990. Why change programs don't produce change. HarvardBusiness Review. 67(6): 158-166.

^ See Kotter, J. 1995. Leading change: Why transformationeiforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 72(2): 59-67. KoUer listseight errors common to organizational change efforts.

^See Maurer. R. 1996. Beyond (he wall ol resistance. Austin,TX: Bard Books.

^ See Fox. S. 1998. The psychology ol resistance to change.Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press (Hebrew). Fox lists 21common causes for resistance. Also see O'TooIe, J. 1995. lead-ing change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

'' Schweiger, D. M,, & DeNisi, A. S. 1991. Communication withemployees following a merger: A longitudinal field experiment.Academy ot Managemeni huinal. 34: 110-135; See also Wan-berg, C. R., & Banas, J. T. 2000. /ournaJ ol Applied Psychoiogy. 85:132-142.

^See, lor example, the special issue of European Journal olWotk and Organizational Psychology. 1999, 8(3), which was ded-icated to emotion at work. See also S. Fineman, (Ed,), 1993.Emotions in organizations. London: Sage, and the populariza-tion oi emotional intelligence by Goleman, D. 1998. Emotionalintelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York: Ban-tam. Huy's article contributed to the increasing salience oiemotions in organizations in the context ol change. See Huy,Q. N. 1999. Emotional capability, emotional intelligence, andradical change. Academy oi Management Review. 24: 325-345.

^See Briner, R, B. 1999. The neglect and importance of emo-tion at work. European Journal ol Work and OrganizationalPsychology. 8: 323-346.

'" See, for example, Clarke, L. 1994. The essence ol change.New York: Prentice-Hall; and Kotter. op. cit.: 59-67. One of thereasons for failed change programs is what Kotter calls "under-communicating the vision by a (actor oi ten," namely, thechange leaders do not communicate the new approach suifi-ciently. "Without credible communication, and a lot of it, thehearts and minds of the troops are never captured" (63). And."The guiding principle is simple: use every possible channel.especially those that are being wasted on nonessential infor-mation" (64).

' ' Schweiger & DeNisi, op. cit.. 111.'^Zajonc, R. B. 1980. Feeling and thinking: Preferences need

no inierences. American Psycho/ogist, 35: 151-175. In this classicarticle. Zajonc presents impressive evidence regarding thedominance and primacy oi afiective reactions, their separationirom content, and the diiierent processes used ior emotions andcognitions.

'̂ See Roberts, N, C. 1985. Transforming leadership: A processof collective action. Human Relations. 38: 1023-1046.

''' See the comprehensive analysis of Antioch's transition inWarren. D. L. 1984. Managing in crisis: Nine principles ior suc-cessful transition. In J, R. Kimberiy & R. E, Quinn. (Eds.), Man-aging organizationai transitions: 85-106. Homewood. IL: Irwin.

'̂ Webstei's New World Dictionary. 2nd ed., 1976. Cleveland,OH: William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd.

'^See Hies, L. M.. & Ritchie, J. B. 1999. Change metaphor:Grappling with the two-headed organizational behemoth. Jour-nal oi Management Inquiry. 8: 91-100. See also Hamburger, Y.. &Yitzchayak, U. 1998. Metaphors and organizational conilict. So-cial Behavior and Personality. 26: 383-398.

' ' IUes & Ritchie, op. cit,'^This case is recorded in Pasmore, W. A. 1994. Changing

strategic change. New York: Wiley.'^See Wanzer. M. B., & Bainbridge Frymier, A. 1999. The

relationship between student perception of instructor humorand student's reports of learning. Communication Education. 48:46-62.

'^°RizzQ. B. J. 1997, A source and receiver oriented view ofhumor in the workplace. Master's thesis, Canisius College. Buf-falo, NY,

'̂ See, Kahn. W. A. 1989. Toward a sense of organizationalhumor: Implications ior organizational diagnosis and change.Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 25: 45-63.

"̂̂ Briner. op. cit.^̂ Mauer, op, cit.'-* One main source dealing with the impact of the source of

information is Petty. R. E., & Wegener, D. T. 1998, Attitudechange: Multiple roles for persuasion variables. In D. T. Gilbert,S. T. Fiske. & G. Lindzey, (Eds.). The handbook of social psychol-ogy: 323-390. New York: McGraw-Hill. Implications of sourcecredibility on the change process are given in Simons, T, L, 1999.Behavioral integrity as a critical ingredient ior transforma-tional leadership, journal ol Organizational Change Manage-ment. 12: 89-104.

^̂ This example is reported by Maurer, op. cit., 177-178.'•^See Greenberg, J, 1995, The quest for justice on the job.

Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage, Greenberg presents several studiesthat show the importance of organizational justice and its im-plications for many aspects of organizational life,

" S e e Huy. 0- N, 2000, Do humanistic values matter? Acad-emy ol Management Proceedings. ODC: Al,

^̂ Lewin, K. 1947. Frontiers in group dynamics. Human Rela-tions. 1: 5-41; Lewin, K. 1947. Group decision and social change.In T. M. Newcomb & E, L. Hartley, (Eds.), Readings in sociaJpsychoiogy: 390-344, New York: Holt.

^̂ Bayer Corporation won Woriforce magazine's OptimasAward for managing change. See the details of this changeproject in Laabs, J., & Danchisko. J. Workforce. Paving the way toprofitability, March 2000. 66-70.

"̂̂ See Albert. S. 1984. A delete design for successful transi-tions. In Kimberly & Quinn, op. cit.

'̂ Ayelesworth. A, B., & MacKenzie, S, B. 1998, Context is key:The efiect oi program-induced mood on thoughts about the ad.Journal ol Advertising. 27: 17-31.

^̂ Zajonc, op. cit., 172.

94 Academy of Management Executive November

Shaul Fox is an associate pro-fessor of industrial, organiza-tional, and social psychoiogyaf Bar-Ilan University, RamatGan, Israel, where he aiso re-ceived his Ph.D, His researchinterests are organizafionaichange, escalafion of commit-ment, and performance ap-praisal. He is fhe aufhor of ThePsychology of Resistance toChange, published in Hebrewby Bar-Ilan University Press.1998. Confacf: ioxsha@mail.biu.ac.il.

Yair Amichai-Hamburger is asocial industrial psychologist.He is a lecturer and researcherat Bar-Ilan University, Israel,and also works as an indusfrialconsultant fora number of com-panies. He received his doctor-ate from fhe University ofOxford, U.K. Contact: hambur@mail.biu.ac.il.

Executive Commentary

Edwaid A. EvansARAMARK Uniform Seivices and Caieei Appaiel Gioup

The year is 1963, the city is Washington, D.C.,250,000 people march on the capital, one of the 20'^century's most influential leaders proclaims: "Ihave a dream." Thus climaxed one of the mostemotional, compelling, quoted, and effective ap-peals of our lifetime. A great deal of planning hadbeen put into the march and into the movement. Agreat deal of planning had been put into thespeech. And a great deal of planning had beendevoted to the events that immediately precededand followed this speech. How effective do youthink Dr. King's speech would have been if he hadstated: "I have a plan"?

Dr. King's use of emotive language put the na-tion on the march for change. He recognized howcritical it is to pay attention to the affective needsof people when implementing plans for sustain-able change. In business, a small number of highlyeducated, compensated, and motivated individu-als engage in a great deal of expensive marketresearch and presentation preparation. They dothis to deliver coherent, cognitively based argu-ments to top executives to support their plans forchange. Fox and Amichai-Hamburger point outthat cognitive arguments are only part of changemanagement. To implement and sustain changethe organization must use affective logic and com-munication, the sequencing of ideas or deductionsin which the connecting factors are emotional.

In most companies, change is imposed on theemployees, as opposed to being initiated by them.Human beings have a natural fear of change, andwhen change is imposed they feel a loss of control.Effective change management turns emotion into

an advantage by focusing on the positive and giv-ing some sense of control back to employees.

Communication is an effective tool to return asense of control to your employees. A commonmechanism is to ask for feedback. A preferredmethod of getting feedback is to be straightfor-ward and ask: "What do you think?" This questionis then followed by a deliberate pause, giving therespondent an opportunity to answer. By askingthis simple question, and, more importantly, ac-tively listening to the response, you begin the pro-cess of returning control to a person who was notactively involved in crafting the change.

Another device the article addresses is the pack-aging of the message of change and the use ofpictures, slogans, music, and colors to involve theemotions of the employees.

As an example, the president of the Food andSupport Services (FSS) division of our company setfour major business goals to achieve in 2001. Thegoals in and of themselves were very dry businessterms: new business growth, earnings-before-interest-and-taxes margin improvement, customerretention, and employee retention. But the presi-dent, an avid car-racing enthusiast, created anauto-racing metaphor, "The FSS 500," where theobjectives, incentives and communications aboutthe effort were all tied to a concept that employeescould identify with: a race. While the businessgoals are quantifiable and cold, the auto-racingmetaphor has enabled him to consistently commu-nicate his messages in a sensory and emotivefashion that reaches the person, not just the em-ployee. Any communication to the business or rec-