Managements influence in implementing new software applications in an Irish firm and employee acceptance to change management

Purpose – This dissertation proposes there is a lack of literature identifying specific change management roles in actively influencing change. Change management initiatives are often set by executives in organisations and middle management bear the brunt in implementing them at team and employee level. While change has been researched thoroughly, there are gaps in the academic literature in identifying practices as to how active managers influence soft skills in behavioural changes. The objective of this dissertation is to 1) identify aspects of management which promote the speed of employee acceptance towards change 2) identify managements perceptions in dealing with change 3) identify a set of practices or tools used to overcome barriers in change management 4) provide a set of recommendations based on management practices to influence the soft aspects of change management. Design/methodology/approach - This study used a phenomenological philosophy in its findings. A deductive approach was used to provide further academic literature in support of existing change management frameworks. The research performed a case study of middle management in an Irish organisation undergoing a major technical change which affected more than 2000 employees using a choice of mono method qualitative data collection. The researcher performed a thematic analysis of the data collected which focused on managements influence on employee and team acceptance to change in a business unit of that organisation. Given time constraints in the dissertation a cross sectional time horizon was used in this case study to collect data during the implementation of change project in the organisation. Findings – The findings revealed a set of practices management used to meet the objectives as outlined. These include a self-analysis towards implementing change, practices in dealing with resistance to change, empowering employee involvement in decision making, uncovering hidden agendas and black swan events. It proposes the use of a set of tools which complement change management frameworks.