Managing organizational change

To begin a discussion on this question, let’s look at a research project that I worked on during the late 1990s. I have chosen this case because it is set in some of the contexts discussed in the book – technology, corporate reputation, internationalization and knowledge management. It also highlights some of the problems of managing individualorganizational linkages. Along with colleagues, I was also able to research the case in depth over a long period of time and know the outcomes of the change initiatives; its findings may help you understand how the processes and outcomes of change initiatives are embedded in particular contexts and time frames. This message will be an important one in this chapter because, as I have already argued, there is no one best way, only a series of promising practices that have always to be related to contexts. We shall look at this idea in more depth at the end of the chapter. After reading the case, I would like you to work through the three change frameworks discussed in the two subsequent sections. These will provide a set of practical tools with which to understand this and other major change problems you may meet in your working lives.