Proactive Events and the Nature of Event Chains: An EST Perspective on Employee Participation

Event System Theory (EST) suggests that understanding event chains is essential to our comprehension of organizational change dynamics. However, the question of whether different proactive events trigger different event chains remains unresolved. In this study, we analyze the effects of proactive employee participation (EP) events on the nature of event chains in planned change. Our analysis shows that different EP event types lead to different event chains in terms of development over time and across hierarchical levels. Also, the impact of the event chains on the organization is triggered by the chosen EP timing strategy. This adds to our understanding of EST by proposing that event type is an important variable when determining the nature of event chains. Our findings point to a research agenda focused on the relationship between EP timing strategies, the event chains, and the impact of planned change initiatives.