Journal Article

I’ll have what I had before, but with a cherry on top: leveraging status quo bias when introducing organizational change

Malhotra, Aastha, McLaren, Tom A.S., Fein, Erich C., Ireland, Michael

2025

Overview

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to test whether presenting organizational change in a way that promotes the status quo will result in increased employee support for the change.Design/methodology/approachUsing quantitative methodology, categorical data were collected through an online cross-sectional survey in which 222 adult respondents participated. The items used vignette-based question blocks with fixed response options. Item responses were analyzed using an exact binomial test – focusing on the relationship between status quo bias and other responses to change communications.FindingsThe findings demonstrated that status quo bias has an association with employee sensemaking. These results suggest that status quo bias can be utilized by organizational leaders and change practitioners to endorse change efforts. Furthermore, it not only appears that promoting what is staying the same but also including a small reason to justify the change can bring additional advantage. Advertising a vision of radical transformation is problematic as it may actually heighten employee resistance.Originality/valueThis research explores and presents a convergence between organizational change management and behavioral economics – specifically, status quo bias. No other comparable study collecting data across a number of organizational change themes and critiquing existing change management models could be found during the preparation of this research effort.

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited