Managing Change Enquiry and Action

□ Introduction

To build a foundational understanding of change, it is helpful to examine some classic theoretical perspectives. This is not with the intention to establish a fixed perspective around core fundamental principles, but rather to begin to appreciate the many different theorectical perspectives from which change may be approached. Change has a long history in organisational and management literature, therefore it is important to place contemporary developments in context relative to prior contributions. In this chapter, we review key concepts and frameworks from respected scholars and discuss their application within the enquiry–action approach.

Four key approaches to conceptualising change will guide discussion throughout the chapter and demonstrate a critical thinking and processual approach to change. We will also reveal how adopting these approaches can help an organisation navigate successfully, even when faced with continuous or radical change.

As organisations are constantly experiencing change, the importance of them developing refreshed management practices to stay afloat amidst competitive environments will also be explored. It is important to note that the review in this chapter is necessarily limited, since there is a vast amount of work that could be included. In later chapters we will introduce an increasing number of approaches to change that will complement and contradict this work, particularly in Chapter 4 and Chapter 9.

□Different change approaches

▄Approach one: Van de Ven and Poole's framework of change

Change in organisations can be thought of in many different ways, and Andrew Van de Ven and Scott Poole (1995; 2005) have developed a useful framework that helps in systematically arranging the plethora of alternatives. There are two axes to their framework. First is the issue of change focus, or what they term the ‘unit of change’. Some ways of thinking about change focus relatively closely on a particular company, product or process. For example, someone seeking to champion a new product might be expected to be concerned principally with change in relation to that product, rather than the whole company. Other models focus more broadly on multiple entities interacting together in a system, such as several companies competing in the same market, or several proposals for new products competing with each other for limited investment funding.