Organizational Change Implementation and the Role of Human Resource Practices: a Brazilian Case Study

Although organizations are conscientious that there are many obstacles during the implementation of a strategic change, few concrete actions are carried through in this direction. With organizational change assuming a permanent characteristic in firms’ routine, it is important to analyze the impact of recent changes. The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationship between human resource practices and employee’s perceptions of strategic organizational change. A case study was conducted in a large Brazilian mining organization. This firm has been carrying out a strong process of organizational development in the past five years. The sample size is 234 respondents. The partial last squares (PLS) method was utilized. The results suggest that the success of a change implementation also depends on how HR practices are perceived. This is a powerful tool that managers may utilize to minimize the negative impact of the changes. Moreover, this result confirms that HR management is strategic to organizational development, and it should participate actively in the strategy development and implementation processes.