1. INTRODUCTION

Demands for greater efficiency,accountability and value for money have ledto a re-evaluation of how banking industryservices are resourced and delivered.Traditional bureaucratic approaches are nolonger adequate to deal with the complexity

of the modern age and the need for efficientand effective services in this industry. Theemergence of new banking managementpractices has been marked by theproliferation of targets, meeting customersand stakeholders’ expectations,measurement and compliance withregulatory standards. Attempt at ensuring

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AND HUMAN RESOURCEMANAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE

NIGERIAN BANKING INDUSTRY

Adenike Anthonia Adeniji*, Omotayo Adewale Osibanjo and Abolaji Joachim Abiodun

Department of Business Management, School of Business, College of DevelopmentStudies, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria

(Received 15 Janauary 2013; accepted 10 June 2013)

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to study the relationship between human resource managementinterventionist strategies and organizational change; and flexibility that can make employees moreadaptive and receptive to changes. Out of one hundred and sixty copies of questionnaireadministered, one hundred and twenty three (123) were collected and analyzed. Structural EquationModelling (SEM), a hypothesized relationship was tested using Amos 18 that allows test of complexrelationships between variables. Our model shows that relationship exists among human resourcemanagement interventionist strategies and was consistent with organizational change in the studiedindustry. However, the study can be extended to other industries, for example manufacturing industryas well as industry within the merger and acquisition of companies.

Keywords: Organizational change, HR Interventionist strategies, Nigeria, Banking industry

* Corresponding author: anthonia.adeniji@covenantuniversity.edu.ng

S e r b i a n J o u r n a l

o f M a n a g e m e n t

Serbian Journal of Management 8 (2) (2013) 139 - 154

www.sjm06.com

DOI: 10.5937/sjm8-3712

that banking industry are more responsive toenvironmental factors and instillingcustomer service cum commercially focusedethos are characteristics of new approachesto the banking sector of the Nigeriaeconomy. With rapid changes in emphasis,the banking sector is now examining itsinternal structure and reviewing the roles andresponsibilities of employees and managersso as to deliver the top quality servicesdemanded by the stakeholders.

More than decades ago, mergers andacquisitions in the banking industry havebecome the dominant mode of growth(Arquilera & Dencker, 2004). Humanresource management has the potential toplay important role in mergers andacquisition integration by reinforcing thenew human resource management systemand corporate culture and providingleadership and communication to reduceturnover.

When an organization is undergoingchange, what role does human resourceplays? Organizational changes are driven topdown and initiated largely due to strategicbusiness goals which the company needs toachieve. The human resource function is toanchor the change management process andfacilitate the transformation across all teamsand work dimensions. Each change throwsup unique challenges and the details whichneed to be addressed are diverse in eachinstance. The aim of this paper is to explorehow human resource management could playeffective role in increasing individual andorganizational effectiveness duringorganizational change by implementingprogressive human resource processes. Theterm “Organizational Change” connotessignificant change in the organization, whichcould either be reorganization; adding; orremoving new product/service. However,

this study views transformationalorganizational change regarding the recentpast acquisition of Intercontinental Bank byAccess Bank Plc (Nigeria). Thisfundamental change tends to affect theorganizational culture and its operations thatcall for reengineering of processes,structures, roles and even underlyingassumptions.

2. ACCESS BANK PLC

The transformation of Access Bank Plc asa small Nigerian Bank into an Africanfinancial institution has made it to be listedas one of the top 10 largest banks in Nigeriain terms of asset base. Access Bank wasissued a banking license in December, 1988and was incorporated as a privately ownedcommercial bank in February, 1989. Afterthe commencement of operation, in March1998 to be precised, Access Bank became aPublic Limited Liability Company; andlisted on the Nigeria Stock Exchange sameyear. In the year 2001, Access Bank obtaineda Universal Banking License from theCentral Bank of Nigeria, which made itpossible for the bank to operate in over 310branches and service outlets located in majorcities and towns across Nigeria, Sub SaharanAfrica and the United Kingdom.In the year2012, Access Bank is said to be one of theAfrica’s most successful banks, and wasranked amongst Africa’s top20 banks by total assets(http://www.accessbankplc.com/pages/Page.aspx?Value=3&ln=Gy7UlI4cSJE94Wa2qudbFQ%3d%3d).

However, in 2009 the storm of globalfinancial crisis affected the Nigerian bankingindustry, which resulted into some banksmerged and some acquired. In the year 2012,

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the Group Managing Director/ChiefExecutive Officer, Access Bank Plcannounced the completion of its acquisitionof Intercontinental Bank, and stated that thetransaction is significant in the Nigerianbanking industry, because it preserveshundreds of Nigerian jobs and protects thesavings of millions of Nigerian citizens.

3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

3.1. Overview of Change Management

Organizational change is seen as anecessary concept for organizations tocompete in the ever changing andcompetitive business environment. The rapiddevelopment of information andcommunication technology have promptedmany organizations to actively seek for newways, ideas and creative solutions inimproving their current product, process,system and technology which is referred toas organizational change, and it had beenaccepted widely that effective and efficienthuman management resource practices areimportant in extracting positive workbehaviours among employees whichinvariably will lead to organization change(Tan & Nasurdin, 2010). No one woulddispute that every organization hasexperienced change. Yet despiteorganization’s familiarity with change,success in implementation is relatively rare.It was estimated that 70% of organizationalchange initiatives fail completely (Bear &Nohria, 2000). Among those deemedsuccessful, 75% of them fail to achieve theirintended result (Nikolaou et al., 2007).Despite these low success rates,organizations still continue with the

organizational changes in an attempt to adaptand respond to the changing economicconditions, technological innovations,customer and client expectations and ashifting workforce. It was estimated that56% of organizations are undergoing three ormore complex changes at one time oranother (Barell et al., 2007).

Organizations also, are changing the waythey implement and manage change. Changemanagement in organizations are nowshifted from being the responsibility of aninternal or external change agent dedicatedto its implementation and management toincreasingly being identified as a corecompetency for most organizational leaders(Doyle, 2002). The human resource functionin increasingly seen as one of the keyfunctions in thedevelopment andimplementation of strategic responses toincreasing competitive pressure as bothpublic and private organizations are forced toadapt to domestic and internationalcompetition, technological advancements,slower growth and declining markets(Buyens & DeVos, 2001). Such strategicresponses involve effective communicationof the importance of human resource acrossthe organization and a reconsideration of therole of line managers in human resourcedelivery. As such, the skills required to lead,manage and implement change are beingincorporated into the existing expectations,roles and responsibilities of human resourcemanager and other employees, (Doyle,2002).

Therefore, it is not surprising that in anenvironment where the magnitude of change,its complexity and its frequency areincreasing, the human resource persons andleaders have begun to focus their attention onthe adoption of change management bestpractices.

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Change management is an approach toshifting or transitioning individuals, teamsand organizations from a current state to adesired future state. It is an organizationalprocess aimed at helping changestakeholders to accept and embrace changesin their business environment.Organizational change involves bothmanaging the change processes and handlinghuman issues at the local level, (Kanter &Dretler, 1998). For example, research hasoften time focused on the competitivelandscape, strategic leadership andorganizational learning; a neglected area isthat of conceptualizing change from theemployee’s viewpoints (Hitt et al.,1998;Ireland & Hitt, 1999).

Organizational change has become anincreasingly pervasive phenomenon in bothbusiness and human service organizationsdue to forces such as globalization andpolitical shifts to neoliberalism (Piderit,2000; Baines, 2007). Despite the increase inthe perceived necessity of change andattempts at implementing organizationalchange initiatives, it has been estimated thatat least two-third (2/3) of organizationalchange efforts do not result in their intendedaims nor do they foster sustained change(Choi & Ruana, 2011). Employee resistanceis the most often cited problem encounteredby management when trying to implementchange, yet for an organization to change, itis essential that the employees of thatorganization also change (Bovey & Hede,2001). Therefore, employee cooperationwith organizational change efforts isindisputably connected and related to eitherthe ultimate success or failure of a changeinitiative.

Moreover, the concept of resistance has along history in business management.Resistance is considered one of the biggest

barriers to successful implementation oforganizational changes, often perceived asan expected, automatic response inemployees that managers need to overcome.Lewin (1951) was one of the first researchersto consider the notion of employee resistanceto organizational change in the managementfield. His conception of the term was drawnfrom the physical sciences and considersresistance to be a restraining forceattempting to maintain the status quo,(Piderit, 2000). Resistance is viewed as aninevitable situation that managers must facewhen planning to introduce or implement anorganizational change (Piderit, 2000). It isoften said that some people have a naturalpredisposition to resist change which is mosttimes termed “an individual’s tendency toresist or avoid making changes” (Oreg,2003). Authors of change management seeresistance as a conditioned reflex andsomething that will occur regardless of howpositive organizational members feel aboutthe organization (Lamm & Gordon, 2010).Organizational change is a deliberatelyplanned change in an organization’s formalstructure, systems, processes or product-market domain intended to improve theattainment of one or more organizationalobjectives, (Lines, 2005).

Dopson and Newmann (1998) haveperceived change as a necessary evil forsurvival in the context of uncertainty.Organizational change has been as anindividual-level phenomenon because itoccurs only when the majority of individualschange their behavior or attitudes (Whelan-Berry). Multiple- interacting changes in aglobal environment have led to a highlycomplex, confusing and unpredictable state.This led to a shift in focus of the changeprocess from product innovation andtechnological change to behavioural aspects

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of change and to attitudes about change,(Bergquist, 1993).

Usually, scholars analyze such features oforganizational change as content, type,structure and process. Armanakis andBedeian (1999) divided research onorganizational change into: a) Contentresearch, b) Contextual research, c) Processresearch and d) Criterion research. Nutt(2003) combines structure and process. Thestructural research by Nutt (2003) is similarto content research (Armenakis & Bedeian,1999) and process research was presented inboth typologies. Examples of organizationalchange include: (1) Mission changes; (2)Strategic changes; (3) Operational changes(including structural change); (4)Technological changes; (5) Changing theattitudes and behaviours of personnel; (6)Counter resistance from the employees ofcompanies and align them to overall strategicdirection of the organization.

Although the type of change and theprocess of change are both importantbuilding blocks in any model for dealingwith change, there is a crucial factor which isthe readiness to change in the particularorganization. The readiness factors act like abridge between identifying what needs tohappen and the activity of implementing thechange. Struckman and Yammarino (2003)combine types of change with the readinessto change, but not the process of change.However, Alas (2007) composed the modelconnecting types of changes, process ofchange, readiness to change and theinstitutional environment as the context ofchange. A very important factor isleadership- that the top management teamhas impact on post-acquisition performanceof the company and that they effectivelyinfluence the organizational culture(Kiessling & Harvey, 2006).

Basically, the term organizational changeis about significant change in theorganization which could either bereorganization or adding or removing newproduct or service. Organizational changecan seem like a vague phenomenon that it ishelpful if one can think of change in terms ofvarious dimensions including; unplannedversus planned change, transformationalversus incremental change, remedial versusdevelopmental change and organization-wide versus subsystem change.

Unplanned change is the change thatoccurs when there is a major, sudden surpriseto the organization which causes its membersto respond in a highly reactive anddisorganized fashion, like when a ChiefExecutive suddenly resigns from theorganization, whereas, planned change iswhen leaders in the organization recognizethe need for a major change and proactivelyorganize a plan to accomplish the change. Itis a change that occurs with successfulimplementation or a strategic plan forreorganization or other implementation of achange of magnitude.

Transformational change is much broaderand as a result the organization will morefundamentallychange its culture or the way itoperates, e.g. complete reengineering ofprocesses, structures or underlyingassumptions while, incremental change is thetype of change which involves doingsomething better without necessarilychanging the underlying beliefs and valuesof the organization.

However, remedial change is the oneintended to remedy current situation, e.g. toimprove the poor performance of a productor service or the entire organization; or toreduce burnout in the workplace.Developmental change on the other handoccurs in order to make a successful situation

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more successful, for instance, expanding thenumber of customers served or duplicating asuccessful product or service.

Worthy of mention again is the fact thatorganizational change ranges from problemidentification to consultation with behavioralscience to data gathering and preliminarydiagnosis to communicating the vision downto removing obstacles, creating short termwins and building on the change to anchorthe changes in corporate culture.

Not only that the acceptance of changeand joining the actual process of changestarts from within the people themselves. It ispossible to learn how to cope with changeand the likelihood of success is relativelygreater if people realize the need forflexibility and have the ability to act fast.Nothing changes for the better until peoplehave a positive attitude. Thus, in any processof change, it is essential to know what isgoing on in people’s minds and whatemotions they are going through. Successfulmanagement of change is based on takingaction according to uniform principles i.e.everyone involved moves in the samedirection. Internal communication can assistmembers of the organization at all levelswith setting up a uniform plan ofcommunication and the ability to monitor theprocess from distance. The different phasesof change (i.e. from problem identification toanchoring the changes in corporate culture)require different approaches and emphasis. Ifthe people involved in the process of changeare able to contribute to the process, they willaccept the new situation more easily.

3.2. What about human resourcemanagement?

The term refers to design and applicationsof formal system in an organization to ensure

effective and efficient use of human talentfor achieving goals of organization (Mathis& Jackson, 2002). The concept of humanresource management goes beyondemployment relations or industrial relations.It includes employees identifying theinterests and goals of the organization, andbe aligned and committed in achieving thesegoals. It involves employees adaptingwillingly to change within the organizationalstructure without any strife or prejudice.

The concept emphasizes that high levelperformance attainment of organizationdepends on the quality of members of staffand management of such organization cummatching of human resource strategies to theneeds of the business strategy.Furthermore,human resource management includes:

- Encourage the commitment ofemployees to increase their performance andalso be loyal to the organization as a whole;

- Emphasis on the quality ofemployees engaged in organizations goes along way in producing quality goods andservices, which is of great benefit both to thecustomers and the organization;

- Ensuring flexibility plays animportant part in the way employees areorganized, this makes them to be adaptiveand receptive to all forms of changes in allaspects of their jobs such as work hours;working methods and;

- Integrating organizational goals intostrategic planning in order to make thesepolicies cut across ranks and files oforganization and ensuring that they aregladly accepted and implemented on dailyroutine by line managers.

Thus, managing the human resource hasbecome one of the critical success factors inorganizations. Both the existence of properpersonnel and the ways people are managedare the basis for achieving the competitive

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advantage. In this study, authors analyze therole and practices of human resourcepersonnel in successful change management.For instance, when firms develop andintroduce new processes and newadministrative practices, they will requiredynamic and creative employees who areflexible, risk takers, tolerant of uncertaintyand ambiguity and been able to contribute toproducing quality goods and services whichwill benefit both the customers and theorganization. Essentially, human capital isone of the four types of assets managed inorganizations (Adeniji & Osibanjo, 2012);other assets include physical assets; financialasset; and intangible assets. These assets areessential and vital at varying degrees in theoperations of any organization; however,human assets operate at the pivot of theoperations.

3.3. HRM Interventionist Strategies inChange Management

As the world is becoming more and morecompetitive, volatile than we could everimagined, organizations eithermanufacturing or service based are seekingto gain competitive advantage and turning tomore innovative change sources throughhuman resource management interventioniststrategies. These strategies have beendefined as systems that attract, develop,motivate and retain employees to ensure theeffective implementation of necessarychanges and the survival of the organizationand the members. These interventioniststrategies are also referred to as set ofinternally consistent policies and practicesdesigned and implemented to ensure that afirm’s human capital contribute to theachievement of its business objectives(Delery & Doty, 1996). In the same vein,

Minbaeva, (2005) viewed the humanresource management practices as a set ofpractices used by organization to managehuman resources through facilitating thedevelopment of competencies that are firm,specific, produce complex social relationsand generate organization knowledge tosustain competitive advantage. Humanresource management practices can generateincreased knowledge, motivation, synergyand commitment of a firm’s employees,resulting in a source of sustained competitiveadvantage for the firm (Hilsop, 2003). As amultidisciplinary practice that has evolved asa result of scholarly research, organizationalchange management should begin with asystematic diagnosis of the current situationin order to determine both the need forchange and the capability to change. Theobjectives, content and process of changeshould all be specified as part of a changemanagement plan.

Change management processes mayinclude creative marketing to enablecommunication between change audiences,but also deep social understanding aboutleadership’s styles and group dynamics. As aviable track on transformation projects,organizational change management alignsgroups’ expectations, communicates,integrates teams and manages peopletraining. It makes use of performancemetrics such as, financial results, operationalefficiency, leadership commitment,communication effectiveness, and theperceived need for change to designappropriate strategies, in order to avoidchange failures or solve troubled changeprojects.

All change involves the adoption of newbehaviours that need to be accepted andenforced. It should be noted that where quickradical change is required for organizational

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survival, a dictatorial, coercive managementstyle may be appropriate. Extensivecollaboration and consultation is associatedwith a more leisurely form of change thatmay be termed as fine tuning. Dunphy andStace (1990) clearly regard HRM at theforefront of planning and implementingorganizational change. Thus, successfulimplementation of change is a majorchallenge for HRM which will encouragemanagers or human resource practitioners toactively address issues of resistance,behavior change and participation.

Maxwell and Watson (2006), argue thatbusiness partnership between humanresource specialists and the employees haveemerged as the dominant model for humanresource operations within organizations.They outline the role of human resourceexperts as working alongside other membersof the organization to help them reach theirgoals by crafting strategies to maximizeproductivity through alignment of corporateresources to these goals. Moreover, thehuman resource experts’ involvements insuccessful change management offer anumber of benefits to organizations –itenables them forge closer relationships withother managers in the organization whichpromotes a partnership model towardsmanaging employees. It encourages giftedmanagers to use their initiative and becomemore involved in day-to-day workplacemanagement decisions and problems orissues that can be resolved speedily beforethey escalate. Enablers of human resourceexperts’ involvement in change managementinclude:

- Greater degrees of responsibility andtask variation.

- Human resource informationsystems.

- Close relationships with employees.

- Formation of strategic partnerships.The followings are the interventionist

strategies and roles of human resourcemanagement in successful changemanagement.

1) Staffing: Organizational change cancreate the need for the human resourcedepartment to focus on staffing issues.Organizations undergoing rapid growth mayneed to add more employees, so humanresource may have to focus on expanding itsrecruiting base or restructure compensationprogramme to attract more talented workers.A company in decline may require humanresource to develop severance packages andcarry out employee terminations. Also,human resource workers may have to alterjob descriptions for the remaining workers ifthe layoffs result in a change in jobfunctions.

2) Alleviating Fears: Organizationalchange often creates fear and uncertainty forworkers, thus, human resource may need totake steps to alleviate these fears. Forexample, when a smaller business ispurchased by a large company, the processcan create apprehension for workersregarding their ability to adapt to newprocesses and procedures, even whether theirjobs may be in jeopardy. This may requirethe human resource department to assume apublic relations role by pointing out thepotential benefits of the new arrangement,such as enhanced fringe benefits programme,and providing reassurance that jobs are safe,as long as this is the case.

3) Effective Communication:Organizational change is often a time ofwidespread confusion, resulting in the needfor the human resource department to openthe channels of communication withemployees. Not only that, keepingemployees informed about what to expect

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during each step of the change processthrough methods such as writtencommunications and possiblygroupmeetings is necessary. The feedbackcan let human resource know how wellchanges are being received and whetheradjustments may be necessary. Also,effective communications that informsvarious stakeholders of the reason for thechange, the benefits of successfulimplementation as well as the details of thechange will aid successful changemanagement.

4) Developing Plan: When uppermanagement makes human resource awareof a pending change, such as a businessexpansion requiring the need to hire moreworkers, the human resource departmentneeds to work with management to develop aplan to implement the change effectively.For example, it can be difficult to effectivelyrecruit and train a large number of workers atone time. Instead, management and humanresource can work toward a solution whereworkers are hired at intervals to ensure acomprehensive vetting process and thoroughtraining.

5) Integrating the existing humanresource systems: There is the need to createa corporate human resource function thatwill allow a common human resourceframework and ensure uniformimplementation of the same across theorganization. The period of integration willinclude activities such as, planning,designing and communicating the humanresource programmes and practices to beimplemented across the organization andensuring their implementation at all levels inthe organization. Again, integrating theexisting systems include developing acommon human resource policy manual thatwill work for the new entity. The manual

include policies on work systems, businessconduct guidelines, office timings, leave,travel, benefits, exit, e.t.c.

6) Creation of job descriptions: Detailedjob descriptions need be developed forunique roles in the organization acrossdepartments for employees in the newdispensation to understand the nature of theirroles and the responsibilities that they will beaccountable for in order to ensure the smoothoperations of the business. The jobdescriptions could be prepared byconducting job interviews with specific jobincumbents with respect to their primary andsecondary responsibilities including actionsthat they are directly responsible for. Thus,data generated are then used to develop therole and responsibilities document.

3.4. Research Questions

The following research questions areformulated for this study in order to identifythe contributions of Human Resourcespecialists in organizational change:

1) Is there any relationship between thelevel of human resource managementinterventionist strategies in changemanagement and commitment ofemployees?

2) Does the level of humanresourcemanagement interventioniststrategies contribute to producing qualitygoods?

3) Does the level of humanresourcemanagement interventioniststrategies in change management ensureflexibility that makes employees moreadaptive and receptive to changes inorganization? and;

4) Will human resourcemanagementinterventionist strategies influence the

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integration of organizational goals intostrategic planning?

3.5. Research Hypotheses

From the argument above, the followinghypotheses were formulated, which is alsoillustrated in figure 1:

H1: The human resourcemanagementinterventionist strategies in changemanagement (staffing, fear alleviation,effective communication, developing planand integrating the existing human resourcesystems) will be related to commitment ofemployees.

H2: The human resourcemanagementinterventionist strategies (staffing, fearalleviation, effective communication,developing plan and integrating the existinghuman resource systems) is related to qualityin operations.

H3: The human resourcemanagementinterventionist strategies management(staffing, fear alleviation, effectivecommunication, developing plan andintegrating the existing human resource

systems) is related to achieve flexibilityandmakes employees more adaptive andreceptive to changes.

H4: The human resourcemanagementinterventionist strategies management(staffing, fear alleviation, effectivecommunication, developing plan andintegrating the existing human resourcesystems) is related to integratingorganizational goals into strategic planning.

4. METHODOLOGY

4.1. Materials and Methods

The adopted research design for thissurvey was a methodological approach thatallows the use of primary data gathered fromthe studied respondents on the effect oforganizational change on the human resourcemanagement interventions in the Nigerianbanking industry. The choice of the Nigerianbanking industry for our study rest on thechanges experienced through mergers andacquisitions in the recent past. Therefore,

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Source: Survey 2012

Figure 1. Theoretical Model & Research Hypotheses

the survey’ data were obtained from bothprimary source through a questionnairesurvey and personal interviews involvingrespondents from Access Bank Plc, whichwas chosen based on its “remarkable story ofthe transformation of a small obscureNigerian Bank into an African financialinstitution of note; with emerging footprintson the International banking landscape”(http://www.accessbankplc.com/pages/Page.aspx?Value=3&ln=Gy7UlI4cSJE94Wa2qudbFQ%3d%3d); and its recent acquisition ofIntercontinental Bank. Convenience andpurposeful sampling methods were utilizedin order to derive the needed data for thestudy. Access Bank Plc operates manybranches located in major towns and cities inNigeria with its headquarters situated inLagos Southwest Nigeria in which thesurvey was conducted. Structuredquestionnaire was used to collect data andthis was found appropriate because the viewsof the respondents were obtained. A hundredand sixty (160) questionnaires wereadministered within the scope of the selectedlocation, however, due to elimination ofincomplete responses that were classified asinvalid; the final sample size for the surveyanalysis was one hundred and twenty three(123) which translate to a response rate of76.8%. The study attempts to add toliterature on organizational change and HRinterventions in a developing economy suchas Nigeria.

The respondents for this survey possessadequate knowledge and experience aboutthe Banks regarding their merger andacquisition. Further, they witnessed themerger and acquisition processes and therole played by the HR department inensuring that personnel involved did notexperience emotional and psychologicaltrauma. The research instrument utilized in

collecting data was a structuredquestionnaire, which the items focused onthe research variables used in the surveysuch as quality, commitment, flexibility,integration, staffing, fear alleviation,effective communication, and plandevelopment. The questionnaire items for allthe variables tested in the study were derivedfrom literatures, especially from the works ofArguilera and Dencker (2004) and Husainand Farooq (2013). The questionnaire issegmented into two; the first part deals withthe respondents’ demographic data; while inthe second part they were to supply answersto the relationship between the level ofhuman resource management interventioniststrategies in change management andcommitment of employees, the level ofhuman resource management interventioniststrategies in change management ensuresflexibility that makes employees moreadaptive and receptive to changes inorganization. Respondents are expected tochoose one number on a five-point Likertscale of 1- 5 (5 – Strongly agree; 4 – Agree;3 – Undecided; 2 – Disagree; and 1 –Strongly disagree) that best describes theextent to which they support each statementstated in the questionnaire. The hypothesizedmodel in figure 1 wastested using Amos 18,because of the complex attributes of theobserved variables and their underlyingstrong constructs (Suhr, 2006). StructuralEquation Modelling (SEM) represents anumber of statistical models used to evaluatethe validity of substantive theories withempirical data. This statistical tool wasadopted for this study because of itsgenerality and flexibility.

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5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

In terms of model fit, the works of Bentlerand Wu (2002), Kaplan (2000) and Hair,Anderson, Tathan and Black (1998) arguethat various goodness-of-fit indicators areused to evaluate research models. In similardirection, Schreiber, Stage, King, Nora andBarlow (2006), argue that if the greaternumber of the indices shows a good fit, thenthe probability of a good fit is assured. Amodel is regarded as acceptable if theNormed Fit Index (NFI) exceeds .90 (Byrne,

1994) or .95 (Schumacker & Lomax, 2004),and the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) exceeds.93 (Byrne, 1994). However, as obtainedfrom Model Fit summary; under the BaselineComparisons, the Normed Fit Index (NFI)value for this model is .956, which indicatesthe model of interest improves the fit by 90%relative to the independence model; and CFIis .970, which is an indication that the modelis accepted. As obtained in the literature,using The Root Mean Square Error ofApproximation (RMSEA) in determining themodel fit, the range of 0.08 to 0.10 provides

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Table 1. Overall Model Fit

Source: Survey, 2012

Source: Survey, 2012

Figure 2. Results of Model Fit for Organizational Change & HR Interventions

an acceptable fit (Hair et al., 2006;MacCallum, 1996; Steiger, 2007). TheRMSEA value for this model is .098, whichmakes the study an acceptable model fit, theoverall Model Fit is illustrated in table 1.

5.1. Hypotheses Testing Results

The results of the path analysis, presentedin table 2, indicate that integrating theexisting human resources appear to affectflexibility more than any other factors testedwith a significant relationship (Hypothesis1). In addition, it is evident that staffinginfluences flexibility that makes employeesmore adaptive and receptive to changes inorganization with direct positive relationship(Hypothesis 2).With respect to effectivecommunication and commitment, resultpoints to a positive significant correlationbetween the constructs when changes occurin organization. In same direction, thereexists significant positive relationshipbetween integration of human resources andemployees’ commitment. These resultssuggest that a strong commitment can beexpected when employees are effectivelyintegrated thereby aiding successful changemanagement.

6. CONCLUSION

A model fit was developed to examine therole Human Resource ManagementInterventionist strategies play inorganizational change. However, this wasdone by relating study variables such asstaffing, fear alleviation, effectivecommunication, developing plan andintegrating the existing human resourcesystems to commitment of employees whenchange is experienced in organizations.Adequate and rich empirical studies wereutilized to support our proposition;essentially we observed that variations existwhen change occurs in organizations acrosscountry or in different economy/industry.Specifically, as often practiced,interventionist strategies such as staffing,alleviation of fear, etc are universallyaccepted and common among companiesoperating within the same economy orindustry. However, Access Bank Plc(Nigeria), though operate in the sameindustry with Intercontinental Bank, havingbeen acquired had to alter its HRM processesin order to create new job structure toaccommodate employees from bothcompanies. In addition, Access Bank Plc(Nigeria) had to adjust HRM policies so as toachieve the strategic goals of theorganization. Our model demonstrates that

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Table 2. Hypotheses Testing Results

Source: Survey, 2012

Note: All path coefficients are significant at the p<0.001Rejected – Path coefficients were positive but insignificant

convergence exist among Human ResourceManagement Interventionist strategies andwas consistent with organizational change.The statistical analysis confirmed the studiedhypotheses with the highest correlation forstaffing, which tends to be affected by thechange in organization. Similarly, variablessuch as fear, Plan_Dev, Integra-HumanResources, and communication have strongcorrelation with organizational change, it istherefore evident these factors mightcontribute to the inability of the employeesadapting to organizational change, whichmight also reduce employee morale andaffect their productivity and this tends toreduce organizational performance in thelong run. Essentially, there is need for furtherresearch in order to consider the effect theseHRM Interventionist strategies have onmanufacturing industry within the samegrowing economy such as Nigeria.

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ОРГАНИЗАЦИОНЕ ПРОМЕНЕ И ИНТЕРВЕНЦИЈЕ УУПРАВЉАЊУ ЉУДСКИМ РЕСУРСИМА: ИСТРАЖИВАЊЕ У

БАНКАРСКОМ СЕКТОРУ НИГЕРИЈЕ

Anthonia Adeniji Adenike, Omotayo Osibanjo Adewale and Joachim Abiodun Abolaji

Извод

Циљ овог рада је да се изуче односи између интервенционистичких стратегија менаџментаљудских ресурса и организационих промена, као и њиховог утицаја на флексибилност којаможе учинити запошљене прилагодљивијим и склонијим прихватању промена. Сакупљен је ианализиран одговор 123 испитаника од полазних 160 послатих упитника. Хипотеземеђусобних оноса су испитиване путем моделовања структурним једначинама (СЕМ),софтвером Амос 18, који омогућује тестирање комплексних односа између промењивих.Добијени модел показује да постоје релације између стратегија интервенције код људскихресурса и да је у конзистенцији са организационим променама у испитиваном сектору. Ипак,студије може бити примењена и на друге пословне секторе, нпр. производњу као и на секторукрупњавања и преузимања компанија..

Кључне речи: Организациона промена, Стратегије интервенција у људским ресурсима,Нигерија, Банкарски сектор

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