Scholars have suggested that individual change recipients affectively respond to change events but have yet to examine how change recipients’ memories influence those affective responses. Drawing from prior scholarship on memory, we propose that two theoretically distinct forms of memory – explicit and schematic – produce different forms of affective and behavioral responses when recipients process change events consciously or non-consciously. Given this proposed importance of memory to affective and behavioral responses, we then develop a stage model of memory-based change management, which we define as the managing of change recipients’ responses to change events through memory work. We theorize four discrete strategies – guided consolidating, schematic re-framing, contextual delimiting, and selective re-instating – that, based on recipients’ memory-based actions during particular stages of a change, would be likely to enhance positive affective responses and support for change. Plain Language Summary This paper explains how memories of organizational change influence affective and behavioral responses to ongoing change initiatives. We identify two types of memories related to change contexts: 1) abstracted, comprehensive schematic memory (i.e., “change is chaotic”) and 2) anecdotal, specific explicit memory (i.e., “I was demoted in a restructuring process last year”). We suggest that, when change events are highly ambiguous, schematic memories non-consciously influence employees’ general moods and a broad range of work behaviors which may or may not relate to the change (i.e., feeling unpleasant for an unknown reason and becoming less cooperative with coworkers than usual). When change events are less ambiguous, explicit memories play a larger role by eliciting discrete emotions triggering change-targeted behaviors (i.e., feeling angry at a change agent and confronting them about it). Since these responses are rooted in memory, we further suggest how change agents can manage affective and behavioral responses through four types of memory-based change management. We explain how during four stages of change – gestation, preparation, implementation, and aftermath – change agents can engage in guided consolidating (i.e., having recipients behaviorally engage in sharing positive experiences of change), schematic re-framing (i.e., framing a change as a continuation of past precedent), contextual delimiting (i.e., generalizing positive memories of change while isolating negative ones) and selective reinstating (i.e., having recipients selectively recall positive experiences in the recent change initiative), respectively. Our model complements existing studies focusing on the conscious, future-oriented processing of change events to provide an alternative view of change management.

学者们建议个体变革接受者对变革事件做出情感反应，但尚未研究变革接受者的记忆如何影响这些情感反应。借鉴先前关于记忆的学术研究，我们提出两种理论上不同的记忆形式——显性记忆和示意性记忆——在接受者有意识或无意识地处理变化事件时会产生不同形式的情感和行为反应。鉴于记忆对情感和行为反应的重要性，我们随后开发了一个基于记忆的变革管理阶段模型，我们将其定义为通过记忆工作来管理变革接受者对变革事件的反应。我们对四种离散策略进行了理论化——引导整合、示意图重构、上下文界定和选择性恢复——即，简单的语言摘要本文解释了组织变革的记忆如何影响对正在进行的变革举措的情感和行为反应。我们确定了与变化背景相关的两种类型的记忆：1）抽象的、全面的图解记忆（即“变化是混乱的”）和 2）轶事、特定的外显记忆（即“我去年在重组过程中被降职”） . 我们建议，当变革事件高度模棱两可时，图式记忆会无意识地影响员工的一般情绪和可能与变革相关或不相关的广泛工作行为（即，由于未知原因感到不愉快并且变得不那么合作与同事比平时）。当变化事件不那么模棱两可时，外显记忆通过引发离散情绪触发以变化为目标的行为（即，对变革推动者感到愤怒并与他们对质）。由于这些反应植根于记忆，我们进一步建议变革推动者如何通过四种基于记忆的变革管理来管理情感和行为反应。我们解释了在变革的四个阶段——孕育、准备、实施和后果——变革推动者如何参与引导式整合（即，让接受者在行为上参与分享变革的积极经验）、示意图重新框架（即框架变革作为过去先例的延续）、语境界定（即，概括积极的变化记忆，同时隔离消极的记忆）和选择性恢复（即，让接受者有选择地回忆最近变革倡议中的积极经历）。