Changing the work behaviour of Chinese employees using organisational learning

Abstract

The management of workplace change takes place in many industry contexts and micro‐settings using a variety of approaches, all of which are widely reported in the academic and professional literature. There is less known about workplace change management in the context of an international company employing large numbers of Mainland Chinese employees. The company needed to improve its delivery of service quality; in this case to the maintenance of elevators and escalators, especially where breakdowns occur and customers get frustrated. It was imperative to change the work behaviour of the Chinese workforce. Integral to the change management strategy was the dual application of action research and workplace learning, natural companions in the process of modifying work attitudes and behaviour. This case study reports the design, implementation and evaluation of a process improvement program “custom built” for the Chinese employees of the international company.