THE ROLE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING IN DRIVING ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELLING APPROACH

Using structural equation modelling (SEM), the article seeks to determine how change management and knowledge sharing impact organizational development. The article hypothesizes and builds a model based on classical change theories (e.g., Lewin, 1951; Kotter, 1996) and the current knowledge management paradigms (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). The model suggests that change management practices encourage knowledge sharing among the employees, which leads to positive organizational outcomes. The data of 300 professionals from various companies was tested with PLS SEM. Reliability of the scales (Cronbach’s α ≥ 0.85, CR ≥ 0.83) as well as convergent validity (AVE ≥ 0.62) was strong for all variables. The structural model showed that change management directly influences knowledge sharing in a significant manner (β = 0.62, p<0.001), as well as organizational development, albeit in a weaker manner (β = 0.35, p<0.001). Additionally, knowledge sharing significantly improved the prediction of organizational development (β = 0.50, p<0.001). The knowledge sharing variable and the organizational development variable had 38% and 68% of their variance explained by the model, respectively. The findings from this study show that effective change management mostly improves organizational performance, not by directly impacting it, but by facilitating organization wide knowledge flows. Thematic and practical implications are outlined, focusing on the integration of change management initiatives with knowledge sharing activity to maintain long term organizational growth.