Date of Conferral

9-16-2026

Date of Award

September 2026

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Management

Advisor

Caitlin Byrd

Abstract

Employee disengagement during organizational change can reduce workforce commitment, increase resistance, and delay implementation. Some information technology (IT) project managers lack effective strategies to foster employee engagement during organizational change. Effective employee engagement is important to IT project managers because workforce commitment can influence the successful implementation of change. The purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry project was to identify and explore effective strategies that IT project managers use to foster employee engagement during organizational change. Kotter’s eight-step change model grounded the research project. The participants were seven U.S. IT project managers with at least 3 years of project management or related leadership experience who had successfully led employee engagement efforts during organizational change. Data was collected through semistructured interviews and a review of publicly available organizational and industry documents. A six-phase thematic analysis of the data revealed three themes: (a) communication and employee involvement; (b) leadership support and relationship building; and (c) feedback, recognition, and continuous support. A key recommendation is for IT project managers to incorporate structured communication, coaching, employee recognition, and continuous feedback into organizational change practices to strengthen employee engagement efforts. The implications for positive social change include the potential to improve employee well-being, strengthen workforce resilience, and encourage workplace environments that support employee engagement throughout organizational change, benefiting organizations, families, and surrounding communities.

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