Relationships between resistance to change and organizational commitment of public employees from Minas Gerais

The objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between resistance to change and organizational commitment of public employees from the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. This study includes only public employees who participated in the individual performance appraisal program (ADI), which was developed by the state government along with other changes integrating the "Management Shock" project. A survey method was employed to test the hypothesis. The sample size is 679 respondents from three State Secretary offices of Minas Gerais. Factorial analysis was preferred to estimate the measurement model, linear regression was employed to test the hypothesis, and variance analysis was run to test the differences between the Secretaries of State. The results indicate that a positive variation in the acceptance of and cooperation with the individual performance appraisal program leads to an increase in organizational commitment level. In other words, employees who collaborate with the changes are more likely to be highly committed to the organization. The main contribution of this research is to relate commitment to the perception of organizational changes employees experience as result of the management shock program.