Investigating the relationship between managers' thinking styles and acceptance of staff change in Jolfa secondary schools in the academic year of 1992-93

Dissertation for Master's Degree in Educational Management

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between managers' thinking styles and acceptance of change in Jolfa secondary school employees in 1992-93. This research is based on the purpose of applied research and based on descriptive-correlation data collection. The statistical population under study was all the employees of secondary schools in the number of 220 people. Based on Morgan's table, 155 of them were selected as a statistical sample in a stratified and simple random manner. The data collection tool includes Sternberg and Wagner thinking styles questionnaire with Cronbach's alpha coefficient reliability of 94% and Saatchi and Kamkari's change questionnaire with Cronbach's alpha coefficient reliability of 87%. After examining the data and analyzing them with spss21 software, the following results were observed: there is a significant relationship between judicial, monarchical, free-thinking, conservative thinking styles and the acceptance of change of employees, among which the free-thinking style can more effectively cause the change of employees; There is a positive and significant relationship between monarchical thinking style and partial thinking style with the dimension of emotional attitude; There is a significant and negative relationship between judicial thinking style and conservative thinking style with cognitive attitude; There is a significant and positive relationship between free thinking style and cognitive attitude and behavioral attitude. There is no significant relationship between the attitude of employees in the field of thinking styles and acceptance of employee change based on demographic variables (age, gender, service history and education).

Key words: thinking style, acceptance of change, attitude and employees

Chapter 1: Research overview

1-1. Introduction

Undoubtedly, positive and necessary changes in the organization cause growth, success, growth and prosperity of the organization. will be One of the most important issues that organizations face today due to the rapid development of societies is organizational changes and synchronizing and aligning with these developments. In today's era, organizations are increasingly facing dynamic and changing environments, and in order to survive and dynamism, they have to adapt themselves to environmental changes. Change is inevitable and must be designed and managed in order to create constructive and effective changes in organizations, and therefore, in the current era, successful and efficient organizations are considered to be successful and efficient organizations that, in addition to coordinating with the changes in today's society, can also predict the path of changes and transformations in the future and are able to direct these changes in order to create desirable changes to build a better future for the organization (Toffler[1], 1374, p. 500). Just as stability plays a significant role in our lives, change is considered an integral part of this process, and in the relationship between stability and change, it should be noted that although the ways of life change, the principle of living is always constant, and the existence of continuous change is a sign of stability (Jeff and Scott[2], 1377, p. 129). We are living in an era that is rapidly changing and transforming, and in the meantime, the institution of education, as one of the social organizations that interact with the society and are influenced by each other, and at the same time is responsible for the main mission of change and adaptation, must keep pace with the changes, and in fact, if we want to keep pace with the changes in today's dynamic world, which is constantly changing and evolving, we must keep up with the changes day by day. Let's increase our awareness and because the issue of change plays a vital role in the organization and considering that the education and training organization is a dynamic organization and not a static one, nowadays there is a special attention towards the change in education and training. The intellectual attitude governing an organization is influenced by the intellectual philosophy of its managers, and since the responsibility and authority are naturally in the hands of the managers, they lead the organization with their behavior, performance and policies in a direction that is in line with their own intellectual approach (Hatfi, 2012, p. 45); And therefore, managers can provide the foundation for organizational changes and transformations by using appropriate and appropriate management thinking styles and lead to organizational growth, prosperity, improvement and growth. One of the distinctive features of man and the main axis of his life is the power of thought, all the successes and developments of man are dependent on fertile, dynamic and effective thought. Recognizing and understanding models related to thinking style is one of the basic advances of psychological science (Atkinson[3] et al., 1998).Nowadays, it is accepted that progressive and successful societies are societies whose people think better. The term thinking is one of the terms that is more or less popular among all people and is used (Fisher [4], 2015).

Considering that managers are agents of change in organizations, and therefore, by adopting an effective thinking style in the appropriate situation, they can cause the acceptance of organizational changes by employees. Therefore, in this research, the researcher has investigated the thinking styles of managers and accepting change of employees. 1-2. Statement of the problem In today's era, organizations are increasingly facing dynamic and changing environments, and therefore, in order to survive and dynamism, they have to adapt themselves to environmental changes. Based on this, organizations become successful and efficient that, in addition to coordinating with the changes in today's society, can also predict the path of changes and transformations in the future and are able to direct these changes in the direction of creating desirable changes to build a better future (Aghaei Fishanani, 2017). According to Peter Drucker[5], change is the only constant and inevitable principle in the world. In the face of changes, if an organization does not have the necessary preparation, it will go towards decay (Saka [6], 2002). Change in the organization is the movement of the organization from the existing state to the desired state in order to increase effectiveness (Lanenberg [7], 2010). Against most of the change programs, employee resistance is inevitable because changing the conditions will benefit or harm some employees in the organization (Boy and Wayne Hede [8], 2001). Resistance to changes may be overt or hidden, usually open resistance and opposition is better than hidden resistance, because it can be observed and tracked, and therefore it is necessary for managers to be aware of employee resistance during the change process, because it can lead to the failure of change plans (Rainier [9], 2009). Many reasons have been introduced for change, all of which are caused by the thinking that the organization should move forward to improve itself (Lanenberg, 2010). In a situation where organizations are undergoing continuous changes, managers cannot manage to create, control, synchronize and benefit from changes by relying on traditional management assumptions and methods. Managers need changes for the survival and development of their organizations. One of the factors affecting these changes is the thinking styles of managers in organizations (Sternberg [10], 2003). The intellectual attitude that governs a group is influenced by the intellectual philosophy of its managers, and since the responsibilities and powers are naturally in the hands of the managers, they lead the organization with their behavior, performance and policies in a direction that is in line with their own intellectual approach, and this is an undeniable issue (Hatfi, 2012). People with different thinking styles are willing to use their abilities in different ways and give different reactions according to their thinking style. People whose thinking style in certain situations is in accordance with society's expectations are judged as people with high levels of ability (Sternberg, 2008). Thinking is the ability to use the powers of inference, imagination and recognition in order to achieve a result. Thinking is a process in which a person tries to identify the problem he has faced and solve it with his own previous experiences (Van Fanje [11], 1364, p. 19). Thinking is directed activities of the mind to solve problems (Sha'bani, 2018). In the process of thinking for change, a person usually wants to eliminate the problem or issue that prevents him from reaching the goal and bring himself closer to the goal. The basic stimulus of a person in the course of thinking is a specific goal that he wants to achieve (Shriyatmadari, 1377). Style is a way of thinking, the term style is not synonymous with ability, but a way to use potential abilities. Ability refers to how well a person can do something, but style refers to how a person likes to do the work (Sternberg, 1381).

Management is one of the pillars of every organization and society, therefore, educational management has an important place in the improvement and prosperity of society, on the other hand, if educational managers have appropriate thinking styles, without a doubt, the educational system will be highly productive. In other words, the application of the appropriate thinking style in the appropriate situation by the manager causes favorable changes and the prosperity of the organization. Figure 1-1 of the conceptual model of the research