A reversal of perspective : examining major change from employee perceptions of justice, emotions and trust

Over the years, various change models have been postulated to assist senior executives to bring about large-scale/radical change. Despite the obvious importance of leadership to change efforts, little previous research has investigated, holistically and in the context of major change, the relationship between senior management actions and employee responses. Furthermore, the change literature largely ignores the role that emotions play in employee responses to change initiatives. This paper address both areas, and develops a model of organisational change from a justice, emotions and trust perspective, which depicts employees’ justice perceptions related to senior executives as affecting trust directly and indirectly, through associated emotional responses.