Change Readiness and Middle Manager Resistance During Digital Restructuring

Abstract

Digital restructuring has become a defining feature of contemporary organizational life, yet the human side of this transition — particularly the role of middle managers — remains under-theorized within Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management (OBHRM) research. Middle managers occupy a structurally ambivalent position: are simultaneously targets of change and agents responsible for implementing it among frontline employees. This paper examines the relationship between organizational change readiness and middle manager resistance during digital restructuring, synthesizing findings from the change management, organizational behavior, and digital transformation literatures. Using a mixed-methods design combining a structured survey (N = 214) of middle managers across manufacturing, IT-enabled services, and financial services firms with semi-structured interviews (n = 18), the study develops and empirically evaluates a conceptual architecture linking organizational, individual, and process antecedents to change readiness, and subsequently to middle manager resistance and downstream organizational outcomes. Results indicate that change readiness is a significant negative predictor of overt and passive resistance behaviors, and that leadership support, communication quality, and participative decision-making are the strongest positive correlates of readiness, while job insecurity and role ambiguity are the strongest negative correlates. HR support systems and psychological safety moderate the readiness-resistance relationship. The paper contributes a validated conceptual framework, actionable HR interventions, and an agenda for future OBHRM research on digitally induced organizational change.