Turning Fear Into a Weapon for Change in Response to Threats: A Partnership Approach
研究外部威胁下企业如何通过伙伴关系将中层管理者的恐惧转化为变革动力，基于中国九家企业的多案例研究，揭示了伙伴关系的三个要素及其对情绪和刚性的影响。
This study examines the management of negative emotions and organizational change in firms facing external threats. Employing a diverse sampling strategy, we conducted a multiple-case study of nine firms in China that have undergone three types of external threats: technological transformation, policy change, and increasing competition since 2010. The study finds that fear simultaneously drives middle managers’ inertial behavior (internal fear) and willingness to change (external fear). This study also finds that partnership, which redefines middle managers’ roles as “entrepreneurs” and the relationship between top managers and middle managers as business “partners,” mitigates organizational rigidity by simultaneously changing middle managers’ external and internal fears. Specifically, we identify three essential elements of partnership that grant middle managers’ independence from assessment, independence in decision making, and independence from structural constraints, and we reveal their distinct roles in changing middle managers’ emotions under threat.