The role of vision in organizational readiness for change and growth

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use path analysis to test a model that posits that vision will have both direct relationships with organizational growth and indirect relationships to organizational growth through the mediating effects of organizational readiness for change. Design/methodology/approach The population of the study consisted of 104 fully or partially employed business students from a higher education institution located in Southern California. The data were gathered by questionnaires and analyzed by path analysis to test the hypothesized model. Findings The results suggested that perceived readiness for change mediates the relationship between vision attributes and organizational growth. Also, there was a direct impact of vision content (VC) on organizational growth. Perceived readiness for change did not mediate the relationship between VC and organizational growth or the relationship between vision communication and organizational growth. Practical implications The study makes contributions to both theory and practice. From a theoretical point of view, examining the relationship between organizational vision and perceived organizational readiness for change enriches the understanding of the organizational change process, and in turn enhances organizational performance and growth. In addition, the authors add to existing knowledge by empirically investigating the important role that vision and employees’ readiness for change play in organizational success. Originality/value Despite many scholars emphasizing the significance of a vision on organizational readiness for change and organizational growth, there is little empirical research that substantiates this assumption. Therefore, this empirical study appears to be the first to explore the idea.