Integrated Model of Organizational Change (IMOC) Model
About the IMOC Model
The Integrated Model of Organisational Change (IMOC) Model is a framework that integrates knowledge across the organisational and behaviour change fields by:
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Unifying change practices derived from organisational change models and from behaviour change techniques
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Identifying and unifying underlying psychological mechanisms derived from theories that explain how organisational and behaviour change occurs
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Linking change practices to psychological mechanisms
The framework
Drawing upon Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the IMOC model identifies three psychological mechanisms that predict the adoption and maintenance of organizational change: mastery (feeling capable and in control), meaning (understanding purpose and value) and belongingness (feeling connected and supported). These mechanisms are crucial to the internalization necessary to get employees to change and maintain their organizational behavior in line with proposed organizational change.
Mastery
Mastery is a psychological mechanism that describes people's feelings of mastery and control during organizational change.
Meaning
Meaning is a psychological mechanism that describes a sensemaking process during organizational change that leads to seeing the change as purposeful.
Belongingness
Belongingness is a psychological mechanism that describes “a need to form and maintain strong, stable relationships” (Baumeister & Leary, 1995).
​By linking change practices to specific psychological mechanisms, the IMOC can assist practitioners in ensuring they include practices that cover all three psychological mechanisms at each stage of change.
The following table organises 26 non-overlapping practices across five well-known organisational change stages: diagnosis, preparation, implementation, evaluation and institutionalisation.
[The IMOC Model] gave me the conceptual tools to understand a phenomenon I had been observing but couldn’t yet articulate, why organizational change in high-rotation contexts requires moving beyond mechanistic approaches and addressing the psychological conditions for genuine internalization.
What particularly distinguished [the IMOC Model] for my work was its integration of Self-Determination Theory with organizational change literature. This allowed me to analyze not only whether interventions were technically well-designed, but also whether the organizational conditions existed for people to truly adopt and internalize those changes, especially important when the staff implementing change are temporary.​
— Psychology professional in the consultancy sector
Learn more
Read the full paper (Open access)
Kamarova, S., Gagné, M., Holtrop, D., & Dunlop, P.D. (2025). Integrating behaviour and organisational change literatures to uncover crucial psychological mechanisms underlying the adoption and maintenance of organisational change. Journal of Organisational Behavior, 46(2), 263–287. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2832
