The accelerating pace of change and increasing global complexities require organizations to adapt, perhaps with the urgency of change or die. Managing organizational change to meet unprecedented demands requires shared focus, organization-wide competency in managing the process of change, and collective readiness for an efficient, proactive, and sustainable response. A solid readiness foundation, or a distinct type of organizational culture or climate that is ready for change, may become a matter of survival and a reflection of optimal performance for organizations today and into the future.

The purpose of this study was to develop quantitative measures for managing change and organizational readiness that incorporate principles of readiness (across individual, group, process, and organization levels) to ensure sustainable change. The Survey's primary aim is to build a readiness foundation with a diagnostic tool and guide for building organization-wide capacity for managing change. The final Solutions for Change and Organizational Readiness Survey instrument (Chase SCOR 8 Survey) consists of 44 items in 8 subscales. The Survey developed for this research was administered across the public health sector, with 223 participants from organizations as diverse as universities, county and state governments, professional associations, and non-profit organizations.

Analyses provided support for the reliability and validity of all 8 subscales in the Chase SCOR 8 Survey, including relationships with: (a) organizational readiness for change, (b) organizational performance, and (c) stereotype beliefs of women managers. Evidence of convergent validity was provided when the 8 subscales were confirmed to be positively related to: (a) organizational readiness for change using an established scale and (b) organizational performance. Evidence of discriminant validity was provided when the 8 subscales were confirmed to be unrelated to stereotype beliefs of women managers. Additionally, the 8 subscales or practices for managing change and organizational readiness combined to explain 21% to 28% of the variance in organizational readiness for change and organizational performance.

Accumulated evidence from the literature, instruments and expert reviews further supported the construct validity of the 8 subscales in the Chase SCOR 8 Survey. The dissertation includes a discussion of accumulated evidence, statistical findings, and suggestions for future research.