Interventions to improve organizations are common in both practice and research, but relatively little evaluation research has focused on the long-term effects of an intervention. This study opens a unique window into the longevity of an intervention’s outcomes and the factors that can help to sustain these. In this paper we report a long-term effect evaluation of a comprehensive intervention that focused on developing employeeship and that took place over six years in a University unit (the Intervention Unit, IU). A former evaluation showed that the intervention had been successful in achieving its outcomes in the first three years until 2015. In 2016, a major organizational merger was conducted. This provided a natural opportunity to evaluate the long-term sustainability of the intervention in terms of its effects on the psychosocial work environment. The present long-term effect evaluation is a multi-method study with contextual data from multiple sources and stakeholders. The final survey was administered one year after the merger. In addition to the survey, organizational records were examined and interviews with stakeholders were carried out to examine the contextual issues affecting the intervention. To evaluate the intervention, we used ARK, which is a systematic and validated tool. ANOVA analyses of the intervention- and control groups showed that the positive results were compromised in the follow-up survey (a further three years later). The contextual evaluation with ANCOVA pointed to main changes connected to the organizational merger and especially for the IU.
| Published in | American Journal of Applied Psychology (Volume 10, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajap.20211003.13 |
| Page(s) | 70-81 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Effect Evaluation, Organizational Health Intervention, Psychosocial Work Environment
| [1] | Saksvik, P. Ø, Olanyian, S. O., Lysklett, K., Lien, M. & Bjerke L. (2015). A process evaluation of a salutogenic intervention. Scandinavian Psychologist. 2, e8. http://dx.doi.org/10.15714/scandpsychol.2.e8 |
| [2] | Saksvik, P. Ø., Faergestad, M., Fossum, S., Indergård, Ø., Olaniyan, O. S., & Karanika-Murray, M. (2018) "An effect evaluation of the psychosocial work environment of a university unit after a successfully implemented employeeship program", International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 11 (1), 31-44, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-08-2017-0065 |
| [3] | Saksvik, P. Ø., Fossum, S., H., Christensen, M., Lysklett K. & Karanika-Murray, M. (2020) "Investigating Leadership Qualities to Support Sustainable Intervention Effects in the Long Term". Nordic journal of working life studies, June 2020. |
| [4] | Christensen, M. Innstrand, S. T., Saksvik, P. Ø. & Nielsen, K. (2019). The Line Manager’s Role in Implementing Successful Organizational Interventions. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 22, e5, 1–11. doi: 10.1017/sjp.2019.4 |
| [5] | Linnan, L. & Steckler, A. (2002) Process evaluation for public health interventions and research. San Francisco: Jon Wiley and Sons. |
| [6] | Abildgaard, J. S., Saksvik, P. Ø., & Nielsen, K. (2016). How to measure the intervention process? An assessment of qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection in the process evaluation of organizational interventions. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1380. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01380 |
| [7] | Nielsen, K. (2013). Review Article: How can we make organizational interventions work? Employees and line managers as actively crafting interventions. Human Relations, 66 (8), 1029–1050. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726713477164 |
| [8] | Pawson, R. (2006). Evidence-based policy: a realist perspective. Sage. |
| [9] | Biron, C., Burke, R. J., & Cooper, C. L. (2014). Creating healthy workplaces: Stress reduction, improved well-being, and organizational effectiveness. Farnham: Gower Publishing Ltd. |
| [10] | Cox, T., Karanika-Murray, M., Griffiths, A., & Houdmont, J. (2007). Evaluating organizational-level work stress interventions: Beyond traditional methods. Work & Stress, 21 (4), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678370701760757 |
| [11] | Dawson, P. (2003). Reshaping change. London: Routledge. |
| [12] | Kristensen, T. (2005). Intervention studies in occupational epidemiology. Occupational and Enviromental Medicine, 62 (3), 205–210. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2004.016097 |
| [13] | Nytrö, K., Saksvik, P. Ø., Mikkelsen, A., Bohle, P., & Quinlan, M. (2000). An appraisal of key factors in the implementation of occupational stress interventions. Work & Stress, 13, 213-225. |
| [14] | Saksvik, P. Ø., Nytrø, K., Dahl-Jørgensen, C., & Mikkelsen, A. (2002). A process evaluation of individual and organizational occupational stress and health interventions. Work & Stress, 16 (1), 37-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678370110118744 |
| [15] | Johns, G. (2006). The essential impact of context on organizational behavior. Academy of Management Review, 31, 386–408. https://doi.org/dx.doi.org/10.2307/20159208 |
| [16] | Stengers, I. (2011). Thinking with Whitehead: A free and wild creation of concepts. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. |
| [17] | Nielsen, K., & Abildgaard, J. S. (2013). Organizational interventions: A research-based framework for the evaluation of both process and effects. Work & Stress, 27 (3), 278–297. doi: 10.1080/02678373.2013.812358 |
| [18] | Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory (Clarendon lectures in management studies). Oxford. |
| [19] | Pawson, R. (2002). Evidece-based policy: the promise of a ‘realist synthesis’. Evaluation, 8 (3), 340-358. https://doi.org/10.1177/135638902401462448 |
| [20] | Egan, M., Bambra, C., Pettigrew, M., & Whitehead, M. (2009). Reviewing evidence on complex social interventions: Appraising implementation in systematic reviews of the health effects of organisational-level workplace interventions. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 63 (1), 4–11. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2007.071233 |
| [21] | Tsoukas, H., & Chia, R. (2002). On organizational becoming: Rethinking organizational change. Organization science, 13 (5), 567-582. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.13.5.567.7810 |
| [22] | Bourbonnais, R., Brisson, C., & Vézina, M. (2011). Long-term effects of an intervention on psychosocial work factors among healthcare professionals in a hospital setting. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 68 (7), 479–486. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2010.055202 |
| [23] | Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86 (3), 499–512. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.499. |
| [24] | Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25 (3), 293–315. doi: 10.1002/job.248. |
| [25] | Ellis A. M., & Krauss, A. D. (2015). Creating sustained change: Avoiding derailment during the last stage of a well-being intervention. In I. C. Biron & M. Karanika-Murray (Eds.), Derailed organizational interventions for stress and well-being (pp. 221–228). Dordrecht: Springer. DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-9867-9. |
| [26] | Nielsen, K. & Noblet, A. (2018). Organizational Interventions for Health and Well-being A Handbook for Evidence-Based Practice. London, Routledge. |
| [27] | Innstrand, S. T., Christensen, M., Undebakke, K. G., & Svarva, K. (2015). The presentation and preliminary validation of KIWEST using a large sample of Norwegian university staff. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 43 (8), 855–866. https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494815600562 |
| [28] | Tavakol, M., & Dennick, R. (2011). Making sense of Cronbach’s alpha. International Journal of Medical Education, 2, 53–55. https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.4dfb.8dfd |
| [29] | Tønnessen, E., & Lie, E. (2018). Gjøvik og Ålesund er mest fornøyd med NTNU-fusjonen. Retrieved from https://khrono.no/ntnu-ntnu-fusjon-fusjon/ny-rapport-gjovik-og-alesunder-mest-fornoyd-med-ntnu-fusjonen/226582 |
| [30] | Mikkelsen, S. (2018). «Vi må prøve å roe litt ned nå». Universitetsavisa [University Newspaper]. Retrieved from https://www.universitetsavisa.no/campus/2018/04/03/«Vi-må-prøve-å-roe-litt-ned-nå»-73250.ece |
| [31] | Vabø, A., Melin, G., Aanstad, S., Borlaug, S. B., & Dalseng, C. F. (2016). Utviklingen av det nye NTNU. NIFU. Retrieved from https://www.ntnu.no/documents/1262755726/1262827395/NIFU_delrapport_1.pdf/c325a927-e37e-4053-a969-a84d14429ab4 |
| [32] | Furberg, K. (2017). «Stort arbeidspress på NTNU etter fusjonen». Universitetsavia. Retrieved from https://www.universitetsavisa.no/campus/2017/06/14/Stort-arbeidspress-på-NTNU etter-fusjonen-67136.ece |
| [33] | Oksholen, T. (2018). To av tre ved gamle NTNU mener statusen er svekket. [Two out of three at the old NTNU believe the status is weakened]. Universitetsavisa. Retrieved from https://www.universitetsavisa.no/campus/2018/06/11/To-av-tre-ved-gamle-NTNU-mener-statusen-er-svekket-74805.ece |
| [34] | Cartwright, S., Tytherleigh, M., & Robertson, S. (2007). Are mergers always stressful? Some evidence from the higher education sector. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 16 (4), 456-478. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594320701606391 |
| [35] | Wan, Y. (2008). Managing Post-Merger Integration: A Case Study of a Merger in Chinese Higher Education. University of Michigan. |
| [36] | Normannsen, S. (2015). Skal spare 100 mill. midt i fusjon og campussamling. Universitetsavisa. Retrieved from https://www.universitetsavisa.no/politikk/article52349.ece NTNU. |
| [37] | Sverke, M., Hellgren, J., & Näswall, K. (2006). Job insecurity: A literature review. Arbetslivsinstitutet: Stockholm. Retrieved from http://nile.lub.lu.se/arbarch/saltsa/2006/wlr2006_01.pdf |
| [38] | Lien, M., & Saksvik, P. Ø. (2016). Healthy change processes: A diary study of five organizational units. Establishing a healthy change feedback loop. Stress & Health, 32 (4), 258–269. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2698 |
| [39] | Chen, B. & Krauskopf, J. (2012). Integrated or disconnected? Examining formal and informal networks in a merged nonprofit organization. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 23 (3), 325-345. https://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21063 |
| [40] | Goedegebuure, L. (2011). Mergers and more: the changing tertiary education architecture in the 21st century. HEIK Working Papers, 1 (1). |
| [41] | Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C., & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of General Psychology, 5 (4), 323-370. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.5.4.323 |
| [42] | Semmer, N. K. (2006). Job stress interventions and organization of work. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, 32 (6), 515-527. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.1056 |
| [43] | Lau, C. M., & Woodman, R. W. (1995). Understanding organizational change: A schematic perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 537-554. Doi: 10.2307/256692. |
| [44] | Kompier, M., Geurts, S., Gründemann, R., Vink, P., & Smulders, P. (1998). Cases in stress prevention: the success of a participative and stepwise approach. Stress Medicine, 14 (3), 155-168. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1700(199807)14:3<155::AID-SMI773>3.0.CO;2-C |
| [45] | Parkes, K., & Sparkes, T. (1998). Organizational interventions to reduce work stress: are they effective? A Review of the literature. Sudbury: HSE Books. |
| [46] | Sauter, M. & Murphy, L. (2004). Work organization interventions: state of knowledge and future directions. Sozial-und Präventivmedizin, 49 (2), 79-86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-004-3085-z |
| [47] | Saksvik, P. Ø., Tvedt, S. D., Nytrø, K., Buvik, M. P., Andersen, G. R., Andersen, T. K., and Torvatn, H. (2007). Developing criteria for healthy organizational change. Work & Stress. 21, 243-263. |
| [48] | Dahl-Jørgensen, C. & Saksvik, P. Ø. (2005). The impact of two organizational interventions on the health of service sector workers. International Journal of Health Services, 35 (3), 529-549. https://doi.org/10.2190/P67F-3U5Y-3DDW-MGT1 |
| [49] | Biron, C., Gatrell, C., & Cooper, C. L (2010). Autopsy of a failure: evaluating process and contextual issues in an organization-level work stress intervention. International Journal of Stress Management, 17 (2), 13-158. Doi: 10.1037/a0018772 |
| [50] | Lamontagne, A. D., Noblet, A. J. & Landsbergis, P. A. (2012). Intervention development and implementation: understanding and addressing barriers to organizational-level interventions. In C. Biron, M. Karanika-Murray, & C. L Cooper (Eds.), Improving Organizational Interventions for Stress and Well-Being: addressing process and context. London: Routledge |
| [51] | Nielsen, K., Randall, R., & Albertsen, K. (2007). Participants’ appraisals of process issues and the effects of stress management interventions. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28 (6), 793–810. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.450 |
| [52] | Nielsen, K., Taris, T. W., & Cox, T. (2010). The future of organizational interventions: Addressing the challenges of today’s organizations. Work & Stress, 24 (3), 219–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2010.519176 |
| [53] | Randall, R. & Nielsen, K. (2012). Does the intervention fit? An explanatory model of intervention success and failure in complex organizational environments. In C. Biron, M. Karanika-Murray, & C. L Cooper (Eds.), Improving Organizational Interventions for Stress and Well-Being: addressing process and context. London: Routledge. |
| [54] | Landsbergis, P. A., & Vivona-Vaughan, E. (1995). Evaluation of an occupational stress intervention in a public agency. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16 (1), 29-48. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030160106 |
| [55] | Christensen, M., Saksvik, P. Ø., & Karanika-Murray, M. (Eds.). (2017). The positive side of occupational health psychology. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66781-2 |
| [56] | Rottig, D., Reus, T., & Tarba, S. (2013). The Impact of Culture on Mergers and Acquisitions: A Third of a Century of Research. In C. Cooper & S. Finkelstein (Eds.), Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions (pp. 135–172). Emerald Books. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-361X(2013)0000012009 |
| [57] | Vaara, E., Graebner, M., & Heimeriks, K. (2017). The Process of Postmerger Integration: A Review and Agenda for Future Research. Academy of Management Annals, 11 (1), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2014.0078 |
| [58] | Buono, Anthony R. and Bowditch, James L. (1989). The Human Side of Mergers and Acquisitions – Managing Collisions Between People, Cultures, and Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. |
| [59] | Harman, K. (2002). Merging different campus cultures into coherent educational communities: challenges for higher education leaders. Higher Education, 44 (1), 91-114. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015565112209 |
| [60] | Sporn, B. (1996). Managing university culture: an analysis of the relationship between institutional culture and management approaches. Higher Education, 32 (1), 41-61. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00139217 |
| [61] | Whetten, D. A. (2006). Albert and Whetten revisited: strengthening the concept of organizational identity. Journal of Management Inguiry, 15 (3), 219-234. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492606291200 |
| [62] | Cartwright, S., & Schoenberg, R. (2006). Thirty Years of Mergers and Acquisitions Research: Recent Advances and Future Opportunities. British Journal of Management, 17 (S1), S1–S5. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2006.00475.x |
| [63] | Knippenberg, D., Knippenberg, B., Monden, L., & Lima, F. (2002). Organizational identification after a merger: A social identity perspective. British Journal of Social Psychology, 41 (2), 233–252. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466602760060228 |
| [64] | Seo, M., & Hill, N. (2005). Understanding the Human Side of Merger and Acquisition. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 41 (4), 422–443. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886305281902 |
| [65] | Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behaviour. In S. Worchel & W. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7–24). Chicago: Nelson Hall. |
| [66] | Turner. (1985). Social categorization and the self-concept: A social cognitive theory of group behaviour. (E. Lawler, Ed.). Greenwich: JAI Press. |
| [67] | Skodvin, O. (1999). Mergers in higher education - success or failure? Tertiary Education and Management, 5 (1), 65–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/13583883.1999.9966981 |
| [68] | Giessner, S., Horton, K., & Humborstad, S. (2016). Identity management during organizational mergers: empirical insights and practical advice. Social Issues and Policy Review, 10 (1), 47-81. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12018 |
| [69] | Giæver, F., Vaag, J. R., & Wennes, G. (2017). Choral singing as an arts-based organisational intervention: A qualitative study of employees’ experiences. Arts & Health, 9 (1), 26–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2016.1182564 |
| [70] | Milch, V., Vaag, J. R., Giæver, F., & Saksvik, P. Ø. (2013). Building healthy organizations through music and culture interventions. In G. F. Bauer & G. J. Jenny (Eds.), Salutogenic organizations and change (pp. 291–305). Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6470-5_16 |
| [71] | Zaheer, S., Schomaker, M., & Genc, M. (2003). Identity versus culture in mergers of equals. European Management Journal, 21 (2), 185-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-2373(03)00013-6 |
| [72] | Mitleton-Kelly, E. (2005). Co-evolutionary integration–the co-creation of a new organisatational form following a merger or acquisition. Barth, T., Casti, JL, Mitleton-Kelly, E., Sanders, IT, 39-66 |
| [73] | Aagaard K., Hansen H. F., Rasmussen J. G. (2016). Mergers in Danish Higher Education: An Overview over the Changing Landscape. In: Pinheiro R., Geschwind L., Aarrevaara T. (eds) Mergers in Higher Education. Higher Education Dynamics. Springer, Cham. |
| [74] | Rafferty, A. E. & Restubog, S. L. (2009). The impact of change process and context on change reactions and turnover during a merger. Journal of Management, 36 (5), 1309-1338. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206309341480 |
| [75] | Biggs, A., & Brough, P. (2015). Explaining intervention success and failure: What works, when, and why? In C. Biron & M. Karanika-Murray (Eds.), Derailed organizational interventions for stress and well-being (pp. 237–244). Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9867-9_27 |
| [76] | Biron, C., & Karanika-Murray, M. (2014). Process evaluation for organizational stress and well-being interventions: Implications for theory, method, and practice. International Journal of Stress Management, 21 (1), 85–111. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033227 |
| [77] | Day, A., Crown, S. N., & Ivany, M. (2017). Organisational change and employee burnout: The moderating effects of support and job control. Safety science, 100, 4-12. |
| [78] | Camilleri, J., Cope, V., & Murray, M. (2019). Change fatigue: The frontline nursing experience of large-scale organisational change and the influence of teamwork. Journal of nursing management, 27 (3), 655-660. |
| [79] | Tvedt, S. D., Saksvik, P. Ø., & Nytrø, K. (2009). Does change process healthiness reduce the negative effects of organizational change on the psychosocial work environment? Work & Stress, 23 (1), 80-98. doi: 10.1080/02678370902857113. |
| [80] | Donaldson, S. I., & Grant-Vallone, E. J. (2002). Understanding self-report bias in organizational behavior research. Journal of Business and Psychology, 17 (2), 245–260. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019637632584 |
| [81] | Meltzoff, J. (1998). Critical thinking about research: Psychology and related fields. Washington, D. C.: American Psychological Association. |
| [82] | Biron, C. (2012). WHAT WORKS, FOR WHOM, IN WHICH CONTEXT? RESEARCHING ORGANIZATIONAL INTERVENTIONS ON STRESS AND WELL-BEING USING REALISTIC EVALUATION PRINCIPLES. In: C. Biron, M., Karanika-Murray & C. Cooper, C. (Eds). Improving organizational interventions for stress and well-being: Addressing process and context. London: Routledge. ISBN: 978-1-84872-056-5. |
APA Style
Per Oystein Saksvik, Marit Christensen, Siw Tone Innstrand, Oystein Indergaard, Helene Alnes Vedlog, et al. (2021). A Six-Year Effect Evaluation of an Occupational Health Intervention – Considering Contextual Challenges. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 10(3), 70-81. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20211003.13
ACS Style
Per Oystein Saksvik; Marit Christensen; Siw Tone Innstrand; Oystein Indergaard; Helene Alnes Vedlog, et al. A Six-Year Effect Evaluation of an Occupational Health Intervention – Considering Contextual Challenges. Am. J. Appl. Psychol. 2021, 10(3), 70-81. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20211003.13
AMA Style
Per Oystein Saksvik, Marit Christensen, Siw Tone Innstrand, Oystein Indergaard, Helene Alnes Vedlog, et al. A Six-Year Effect Evaluation of an Occupational Health Intervention – Considering Contextual Challenges. Am J Appl Psychol. 2021;10(3):70-81. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20211003.13
Share This Article
Twitter
Linked In
Facebook
Copy
Download@article{10.11648/j.ajap.20211003.13,
author = {Per Oystein Saksvik and Marit Christensen and Siw Tone Innstrand and Oystein Indergaard and Helene Alnes Vedlog and Maria Karanika-Murray},
title = {A Six-Year Effect Evaluation of an Occupational Health Intervention – Considering Contextual Challenges},
journal = {American Journal of Applied Psychology},
volume = {10},
number = {3},
pages = {70-81},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajap.20211003.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20211003.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajap.20211003.13},
abstract = {Interventions to improve organizations are common in both practice and research, but relatively little evaluation research has focused on the long-term effects of an intervention. This study opens a unique window into the longevity of an intervention’s outcomes and the factors that can help to sustain these. In this paper we report a long-term effect evaluation of a comprehensive intervention that focused on developing employeeship and that took place over six years in a University unit (the Intervention Unit, IU). A former evaluation showed that the intervention had been successful in achieving its outcomes in the first three years until 2015. In 2016, a major organizational merger was conducted. This provided a natural opportunity to evaluate the long-term sustainability of the intervention in terms of its effects on the psychosocial work environment. The present long-term effect evaluation is a multi-method study with contextual data from multiple sources and stakeholders. The final survey was administered one year after the merger. In addition to the survey, organizational records were examined and interviews with stakeholders were carried out to examine the contextual issues affecting the intervention. To evaluate the intervention, we used ARK, which is a systematic and validated tool. ANOVA analyses of the intervention- and control groups showed that the positive results were compromised in the follow-up survey (a further three years later). The contextual evaluation with ANCOVA pointed to main changes connected to the organizational merger and especially for the IU.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - A Six-Year Effect Evaluation of an Occupational Health Intervention – Considering Contextual Challenges AU - Per Oystein Saksvik AU - Marit Christensen AU - Siw Tone Innstrand AU - Oystein Indergaard AU - Helene Alnes Vedlog AU - Maria Karanika-Murray Y1 - 2021/06/16 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20211003.13 DO - 10.11648/j.ajap.20211003.13 T2 - American Journal of Applied Psychology JF - American Journal of Applied Psychology JO - American Journal of Applied Psychology SP - 70 EP - 81 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-5672 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20211003.13 AB - Interventions to improve organizations are common in both practice and research, but relatively little evaluation research has focused on the long-term effects of an intervention. This study opens a unique window into the longevity of an intervention’s outcomes and the factors that can help to sustain these. In this paper we report a long-term effect evaluation of a comprehensive intervention that focused on developing employeeship and that took place over six years in a University unit (the Intervention Unit, IU). A former evaluation showed that the intervention had been successful in achieving its outcomes in the first three years until 2015. In 2016, a major organizational merger was conducted. This provided a natural opportunity to evaluate the long-term sustainability of the intervention in terms of its effects on the psychosocial work environment. The present long-term effect evaluation is a multi-method study with contextual data from multiple sources and stakeholders. The final survey was administered one year after the merger. In addition to the survey, organizational records were examined and interviews with stakeholders were carried out to examine the contextual issues affecting the intervention. To evaluate the intervention, we used ARK, which is a systematic and validated tool. ANOVA analyses of the intervention- and control groups showed that the positive results were compromised in the follow-up survey (a further three years later). The contextual evaluation with ANCOVA pointed to main changes connected to the organizational merger and especially for the IU. VL - 10 IS - 3 ER -
Email: