Employee Responses to Technological Change A Retrospective Review

The rate of technological change within organizations has been fast-tracked by the recent global health crisis and shifting workplace dynamics. As many organizations decide how to best manage the implementation of new technologies, they must also consider the human response, which can facilitate the success of the overall implementation. Complementing the focus of this book (how is change perceived by recipients?), we focus on what is known about how employees respond to technological changes. In this review, we provide a retrospective account of the body of work on this topic. First, we review the types of technological changes that have been studied in relation to broader dimensions of organizational change. Second, we elaborate on theoretical perspectives that have been used, including comparing technology-specific models with broader theoretical approaches. Third, we summarize the antecedent-response relationships that have been examined. We hope that this bird’s-eye view of the field allows scholars to span disciplines and consider aspects related to the design and type of the technology, which have been largely treated as a setting, in future research.