Integrating perspectives on organizational change

Subtitle:essays on transformation in organizing, managing and strategizing

As the world of business becomes increasingly volatile, organizations need to become increasingly proficient at changing. With new developments in technology, socio-cultural beliefs and geopolitics having seemingly accelerated over the past few years, it has become critical for organizations not to excel at any given moment, but to instead work towards staying nimble at all times. Now, more than ever, the old proverb holds true: that the only constant, in fact, is change itself. However, while this understanding seems to have rallied a large number of scholars and managers to explore the topic of organizational change in earnest, the acknowledgement and interaction between often diverging point of views has been marked limited at best. Eventually, this has come to result in people talking past each other, when dialogue between them could be beneficial; eventually, this has caused our body of knowledge on change to become dispersed and fragmented, with insights no longer stimulating our dealings with change in practice. This PhD dissertation highlights how perspectives on organizational change, however different, may work to complement and enrich our understanding of transformation in an organizational setting. Drawing on reconceptualization as well as studies conducted in the industries of IT consulting, diamond trading, container handling and cooperative banking, this dissertation advances five dedicated essays on organizational change, ultimately constructing a scaffolding of different views on the topic as it is. In doing so, this dissertation delivers three major contributions. First, it lays bare how those dealing with organizational change may advance our body of knowledge by occupying different theoretical positions. By unveiling how different core assumptions may inspire distinct understandings of change, this dissertation allows further work on change to become more interwoven while staying diverse. Second, this thesis showcases how change ultimately requires a complex array of competences from organizational leaders, hereby shedding light on the varied actions that leaders can practically advance in order to outperform their competition. Finally, this dissertation highlights the different onto-epistemological streams of thought that have over time been established with regard to organizational change, thus supporting those teaching change to instruct their students in the eclectic and varied way that the topic ultimately deserves.

Publication year:2021

Keywords:Doctoral thesis

Accessibility:Open