Employee Alignment with Strategic Change: A Study of Strategy-supportive Behavior among Blue-collar Employees

Research on strategic alignment argues that employees play a key role in the implementation of a strategic venture. This study examines the relationship between employee strategic knowledge, commitment, and ultimate strategy-supportive behavior. Longitudinal results from blue-collar employees involved in the implementation of a lean manufacturing strategy indicate that knowledge of the strategy predicts commitment to it. Further, strategic commitment is positively related to employees' engagement in strategic goal supportive behavior (as rated by supervisors). A key contribution of this work is empirical support for the concept of strategic commitment and its linkages with individual knowledge and strategy-supportive behavior.