An Empirical Investigation into the Impact of Change Management on Selected Manufacturing Firms in South East Nigeria

This paper seeks to investigate the effectiveness of change management and the level of commitment of top management of manufacturing firms in South Eastern Nigeria. Data were collected from two hundred and five (205) participant manufacturing firms who were financial members of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). The Yamane¡¯s statistical formula was utilized for sample size determination. 267 copies of questionnaire were distributed to top and middle management staff who were knowledgeable about the technical information needed for implementing change management. Using Chi-square (X) statistic and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient, the study reveals that change management improves the level of performance and that there is a very strong positive relationship between commitment of top management, middle management and success rate of implementation in the selected firms. Based on these findings, the paper advocates that leaders and top management of these organizations should make the process of change management more conducive and organization friendly. Again employees who are going to be affected by change should earlier be identified with respect to their interest, knowledge and attitudes before implementation of change.