Understanding change
Perspectives on change The ethics of organizational change Planned change and its critics Strategic change Building and developing competitive advantage 3 39 73 11 1 147
CHAPTER 1
Perspectives on change
1.1 Introduction 1.2 Perspectives on change 1.2.1 Modernity, progress, and change 1.2.2 Pathways to change 1.3 Structural-functional change: changing structures and functions 1.3.1 An organization is a complex whole 1.3.2 Structural theory 1.4 Multiple constituencies: change by negotiation 1.4.1 Stakeholder interests 1.5 Organizational Development: the humanistic approach to change 1.5.1 Intervention strategies at the individual level 1.5.2 Intervention strategies at the group level 1.5.3 Intervention strategies at the organizational level 1.6 Creativity and Volition: a Critical Theory of Change 1.6.1 Conflict, flux, and change 1.6.2 People are active agents 1.6.3 The critique of the spectator view of knowledge 1.7 Summary Study questions Exercises Further reading References
4 6 6 7 8 13 16 18 20 22 24 24 25 28 28 29 30 33 35 35 36 36
4
UNDERSTANDING CHANGE
1.1 Introduction
This chapter lays the framework for this book by arguing that organizational change is developed within models and frameworks that inform our understanding of the subject. In this chapter we will learn that knowledge and practice of organizational change are influenced by assumptions derived from the models or perspectives we use. For example, if we regard change as a matter of systemic structural arrangements we can make in an organization, then we can see how the analogy of organism or biological system helps to inform our judgements. Because perspectives offer ways of seeing, they will inevitably organize our perception in line with the dominant analogy used. However, analogies are only partial knowledge claims. Four perspectives on change are cited in this chapter: why four perspectives in particular? The answer to that question is
References: Argyris, C. (1970), Intervention Theory and Method, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Barnard, C.I. (1938), The Functions of the Executive, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Beckhard, R. (1969), Organization Development: Strategies and Models, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Berger, P. and Luckmann, T. (1966), The Social Construction of Reality, New York: Anchor Books. PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE Blau, P and Scott, W.R. (1962), Formal Organizations: .M. A Comparative Approach, San Francisco, CA: Chandler Publishing. Boje, D.M., Rosile, G.A., Durant, R.A., and Luhman, J.T. (2004), ‘Enron Spectacles: A Critical Dramaturgical Analysis’, Organization Studies, 25(5), 751–774. Burnes, B. (1996), ‘No such thing as a “one best way” to manage organizational change’, Management Decision, 34(10), 1 1–18. Burnes, B. (2007), Managing Change, London: Pitman. Burns, T. and Stalker, G.M. (1961) The Management of Innovation, London: Tavistock Publications. Casey, C. (2002), Critical Analysis of Organizations— theory, practice, revitalization, London: Sage. Chin, R. and Benne, K.D. (1976), ‘General Strategies for Effecting Change in Human Systems’, in Bennis, W.G., Benne, K.D., and Chin, R. The Planning of Change (Fourth edition), Fort Worth, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 22–47. Chomsky, N. (1972), Language and mind, New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. Connolly, T., Conlon, E.J., and Deutsch, S.J. (1980), ‘Organizational effectiveness: a multiple constituency approach’, Academy of Management Review, 5, 21 1–217 . Cyert, R.M. and March, J.G. (1963), A Behavioural Theory of the Firm, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Davis, S. and Lawrence, P.R. (1977), Matrix, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Dawson, P. (1994), Organizational Change: A Processual Approach, London: Paul Chapman. Dawson, P. and Palmer, G. (1995), Quality Management, Melbourne: Longman. Derrida, J. (1978), Writing and Difference, London: Routledge. Fayol, H. (1916), General and Industrial Management, trans. Constance Storrs, London: Pitman, 1949. Follett, M.P. (1926), ‘The Giving of Orders’, in Metcalf, H.C. (ed), Scientific Foundations of Business Administration, Baltimore, MD: Williams and Williams. Foucault, M. (1977), Discipline and Punishment, London: Tavistock. Foucault, M. (1980), Power/Knowledge, Brighton: Harvester. French, W.L. and Bell, C.H. (1978), Organization Development: Behavioral Science Interventions for Organization Improvement, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. —— (1995), Organization Development: Behavioral Science Interventions for Organization Improvement (Fifth edition), Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall. Galbraith, J. (1973), Designing Complex Organizations, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Inns, D. (1996), ‘Organization Development as a Journey’, in Oswick, C. and Grant, D. (eds) Organization Development, Metaphorical Explorations, London: Pitman, 20–32. Jackson. M.C. (2003), Systems Thinking: Creative Holism for Managers, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. Katz, D. and Kahn, R.L. (1966), The Social Psychology of Organizations, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. Keeley, M. (1983), ‘Values in Organizational Theory and Management Education’, Academy of Management Review, 8(3), 376–386. Kübler-Ross, E. (1973), On Death and Dying, London: Routledge. Lawrence, E.R. and Lorsch, J.W. (1969), Developing Organizations: diagnosis and action, Reading, MA: Harvard University Press. Lewin, K. (1951), Field Theory in Social Science, New York: Harper and Row. Luthans, F. and Kreitner, R. (1985), Organizational Behavior Modification and beyond: An Operant and Social Learning Approach, Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman & Co. Lyotard, J.F. (1984), The Postmodern Condition: a report on knowledge, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. McGregor, D.M. (1957), The Human Side of Enterprise, New York: McGraw-Hill. Marshak, R.J. (1993), ‘Managing the metaphors of change’, Organisational Dynamics, 22(1) 44–56. Maslow, A.H. (1943), ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’, Psychological Review 50, 370–396. Mitroff, I.I. (1983), Stakeholders of the organizational mind, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Pettigrew, A. (1985), The Awakening Giant, Continuity and Change in ICI, Oxford: Blackwell. Pettigrew, A. and Whipp, R. (1993), ‘Understanding the environment’, in Mabey, C. and Mayon-White, B. (eds), Managing Change (Second edition), London: The Open University/Paul Chapman. Pfeffer, J. (1981), Power in Organizations, Boston, MA: Pitman. Revans, R. (1982), The Origins and Growth of Action Learning, Bromley: Chartwell Bratt. Schein, E.H. (1995), ‘Process consultation, action research and clinical inquiry: are they the same?’ Journal of Managerial Psychology, 10(6), 14–19. –––– (1997), ‘The concept of “client” from a process consultation perspective, a guide for change agents’, Journal of Organizational Change Management, 10(3), 202–235. 37 38 UNDERSTANDING CHANGE Schein, E.H. and Bennis, W.G. (1965), Personal and Organizational Change Through Group Methods: The Laboratory Approach, New York: Wiley. Selznick, P. (1948), ‘Foundations of the Theory of Organization’, American Sociological Review 13: 25–35. Shafritz, J.M. and Ott, J.S. (1991), Classics of Organization Theory (Third edition), Pacific Grove, CA: Brookes/ Cole. Thompson, J.D. (1967), Organizations in Action, New York: McGraw-Hill. Tichy, N.M. (1983), Managing Strategic Change: Technical, Political and Cultural Dynamics, New York: John Wiley & Sons. Tichy, N.M., Hornstein, H., and Nisberg, J. (1976), ‘Participative organization diagnosis and intervention strategies: developing emergent pragmatic theories of change’, Academy of Management Review, April, 109–221. von Bertalanffy, L. (1956), ‘General system theory’, in General Systems: Yearbook of the Society for the Advancement of General System Research, 1, 1–10. Wiener, N. (1948), Cybernetics, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Wittgenstein, L. (1953), Philosophical Investigations, Oxford: Blackwell. Take your learning further: Online Resource Centre http://www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/orc/grieves/ Visit the Online Resource Centre that accompanies this book to enrich your understanding of this chapter. Explore case study updates and answers to questions, test yourself using an interactive flashcard glossary, and keep up to date with the latest developments in the area.