Showing papers in "Journal of Organizational Change Management in 2007"
TL;DR: In this article, a strong link is identified between entrepreneurialism and environmentalism, and the success of the GreenWorks business model stems from the business's symbiotic relationships: firstly with large corporate bodies, which are keen to quantify their CSR efforts; secondly, with the community and social partners, who provide employment and training for disadvantaged people and a route to relatively risk free growth.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend research into social and ecological entrepreneurship. It aims to examine how ecopreneurs can create an economically viable business whilst retaining their core environmental and social values.Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory approach within the phenomenological research paradigm. Single case study of Green‐Works triangulating data collection – semi structured interviews, micro‐ethnography and document analysis. Inductive approach.Findings – A strong link is identified between entrepreneurialism and environmentalism. The entrepreneurial flair of the CEO enables the pursuit of environmental, social and economic goals. The success of the Green‐Works business model stems from the business's symbiotic relationships: firstly with large corporate bodies, which are keen to quantify their CSR efforts; secondly, with the community and social partners, who provide employment and training for disadvantaged people and a route to relatively risk free growth; ...
279 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss organizational unlearning based on the organizational change and memory literature enhancing the organizational learning and change scholarship, and argue that unlearning is conceptualized as organizational memory eliminating, and is operationalized as changing beliefs and routines covariates in organizations.
Abstract: Purpose – Organizational learning and unlearning is a popular and important topic in business as well as academia. Even though there is a plethora of studies on organizational learning, surprisingly little is known about the conceptualization and operationalization of organizational unlearning. The purpose of this paper is to discuss organizational unlearning based on the organizational change and memory literature enhancing the organizational learning and change scholarship.Design/methodology/approach – It is argued that unlearning is conceptualized as organizational memory eliminating, and is operationalized as changing beliefs and routines covariates in organizations. This is followed with a discussion of unlearning types, specifically, reinventive, formative, operative and adjustive, which are contingent on the environmental conditions. Finally, future research suggestions are proposed to leverage understanding on unlearning in the literature.Findings – Shows that organizations first need to unlearn e...
278 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the integrative influence of content, context, process, and individual differences on organizational change efforts was investigated using structural equation modeling, which led to the acceptance of a model indicating that change context mediated the relationship between individual differences and change process and content.
Abstract: – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the integrative influence of content, context, process, and individual differences on organizational change efforts., – Data were collected from employees involved in a recent de‐merger. Using structural equation modeling, a hypothesized model that integrated individual differences with change content, context, and process factors was tested., – Results led to the acceptance of a model indicating that change context mediated the relationship between individual differences and change process and content. Similarly, change content and process mediated the relationship between change context and organizational change commitment., – Owing to the nature of the study, inferences of causality cannot be made. Additionally, common method bias may be a concern because criterion and response variables were collected at the same time., – An organization's prior change history (i.e. context) has the potential to negatively influence change success. In order to counteract these effects, change agents should concentrate on clearly communicating the change details (i.e. process) to employees., – This study is one of the first to integrate factors common to all change efforts, i.e. content, context, process and individual differences. Further, it elaborates on how these factors interact to influence change success.
254 citations
241 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the mediating affect of corporate entrepreneurship on desirable individual outcomes, such as job satisfaction, turnover intent, and affective commitment, has been evaluated using a sample of 264 employees of a mid-sized organization, using three antecedent categories of CE: process, context, and individual characteristics.
Abstract: – The purpose of this paper is to submit and test a model of corporate entrepreneurship (CE)., – Using a sample of 264 employees of a mid‐sized organization, the authors conceptualize three antecedent categories of CE: process, context, and individual characteristics. The authors also test the mediating affect of CE on desirable individual outcomes: job satisfaction, turnover intent, and affective commitment., – The results indicate that the model does an adequate job of explaining CE, and that CE mediates the relationship between our antecedents and individual outcomes., – For researchers, the primary value of this research is the opportunity to consider a predictive model of CE on the knowledge base currently in the field. For practitioners, the process seems to offer an important precursor to CE.
186 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a case study reveals a whole set of typical characteristics of managerialistic change management approach and how it is communicated, and how such change initiatives are being justified, communicated, perceived, and implemented within organisational discourses and politics.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on the reasons and circumstances why strategic change initiatives based on new public management and managerialism go wrong. In particular, how such change initiatives are being justified, communicated, perceived, and implemented within organisational discourses and politics. It reveals personal and group interests behind ideologies, and what change management of this type is really about.Design/methodology/approach – A strategic change initiative at a large Western‐European university (“International University” – IU) had been investigated between 2004 and 2005 based on qualitative empirical research. Data were gained primarily through semi‐structured in‐depths interviews with IU's senior managers. The findings were triangulated by referring to internal documents and academic literature.Findings – The case study reveals a whole set of typical characteristics of managerialistic change management approach and how it is communicated. The paper provid...
157 citations
TL;DR: Men's and women's reactions to this subtle form of gender discrimination are examined, the identity processes involved, and the implications for organisations who must manage this change in the gender make-up of their workforce as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the phenomenon of the glass cliff, whereby women are more likely than men to be placed in precarious leadership positions. Men's and women's reactions to this subtle form of gender discrimination are examined, the identity processes involved, and the implications for organisations who must manage this change in the gender make-up of their workforce. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is qualitative analysis of participants' spontaneous explanations for the glass cliff, after having read about the phenomenon on an online news web site. Findings - The research demonstrates clear differences in men's and women's reactions to the glass cliff. While women were more likely to acknowledge the existence of the glass cliff and recognise its danger, unfairness, and prevalence for women, men were more likely to question the validity of research into the glass cliff, downplaying the dangers. These patterns were mirrored in the explanations that individuals generated. While women were most likely to explain the glass cliff in terms of pernicious processes such as a lack of alternative opportunities, sexism, or men's ingroup favouritism, men were most likely to favour largely benign interpretations, such as women's suitability for difficult leadership tasks, the need for strategic decision-making, or company factors unrelated to gender. Originality/value - This research examines people's reactions to a new form of subtle sexism in the workplace which allows one to develop a more thorough theoretical understanding of the phenomenon and of the likely impact of practical interventions designed to help eliminate discriminatory appointment practices.
137 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the process of change in the initial stages of a change agenda within a public sector organization and analyze the communication of change, finding that the initial change communication is problematic.
Abstract: Purpose – Change receptivity is recognised as an important factor in successfully implementing organizational change strategies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of change in the initial stages of a change agenda within a public sector organization and analyze the communication of change. It traces the resultant receptivity to organizational change. The paper investigates whether organizational change communication is a crucial element in employees' receptivity to change. Design/methodology/approach – A case study design is employed and the multiple methods employed include surveys, focus groups, archival data and participant observation. Findings – The findings indicate that the initial change communication is problematic. The employees respond to a lack of instrumental change communication with a constructivist communication approach in order to manage the implications of continuous change. Research limitations/implications – This research provides an overview of the first 100 days of change in a public sector organization only, and so the limitations of single case studies apply. However, the close investigation of this phase provides further research directions to be addressed. Practical implications – The findings suggest managers need to align employees' expectations of the change communication with understanding of the change goal. Originality/value – The primary value of the paper is in using a communicative lens to study the change process.
109 citations
107 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of a small electronics manufacturing group located in the New England area of the northeast USA was used to unify the fragmented views on organizational intelligence from the perspective of Giddens' structuration theory, and it was observed that a structuration view of organization intelligence removes the individual/organization level intelligence dichotomy, and integrates the fragmented studies on the epistemology of intelligence.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to unify the fragmented views on organizational intelligence from the perspective of Giddens' structuration theory.Design/methodology/approach – The paper used a case study of a firm, which is a small electronics manufacturing group located in the New England area of the northeast USA. Data were collected by observation, oral histories and through discussion and interviews with organization members.Findings – It was observed that a structuration view of organization intelligence removes the individual/organization level intelligence dichotomy, and integrates the fragmented studies on the epistemology of intelligence, e.g. cognitive, behavioral and social/emotional.Research limitations/implications – Propositions for further research are formulated. However, findings are derived on the basis of a substantive case study in a particular country. Further, research needs to expand this base to encompass other organizations in a wider range of countries across different cultures.Practi...
81 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the relevance of Lacanian psychoanalysis for thinking on organizational functioning and organizational change, arguing that the non-satisfying nature of work needs to be recognised, that organizational intervention entails an intervention on discourse, and that subjectivity is an issue to be recognized in the context of organizational functioning.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this conceptual paper is to discuss the relevance of Lacanian psychoanalysis for thinking on organizational functioning and organizational change.Design/methodology/approach – First, the authors discuss basic Lacanian ideas with regard to the notion of the unconscious and its discursive status and with respect to the crucial difference between the ego and the subject. Subjectivity is linked to the notion of the lack. The authors then address implications of Lacanian theory for thinking about and intervening in organisations.Findings – It is argued that the non‐satisfying nature of work needs to be recognised, that organizational intervention entails an intervention on discourse, and that subjectivity is an issue to be recognized in the context of organizational functioning.Originality/value – In discussing the implications of this point of view, the authors address the possibility of a psychoanalytic ecology of human resources.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the reception pattern of the balanced scorecard (BSC) in The Netherlands and found that BSC use in praxis appears to be limited and lags intended use as strategic management system.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to better understand the production and diffusion of the balanced scorecard (BSC) by analyzing the reception pattern of the BSC in The Netherlands.Design/methodology/approach – Print‐media indicators and content analysis.Findings – The BSC is popular yet not transient. Consultants are the leading BSC disseminators, while on the “consumption side” the BSC tends to be interpreted differently in varying professional communities. Compared to its intensive discourse actual BSC use in praxis appears to be limited and lags intended use as strategic management system.Research limitations/implications – Use of secondary data limits insight into use of the BSC in organizations. Further research should focus on the influence of subsets of discourse on the evolution of the BSC in organizational praxis.Practical implications – Discourse is loosely coupled to organizational praxis: publications on the BSC may affect organizational behavior but also reflect that behavior. In additi...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the role of suffering for meaning making and spirituality in organizational contexts and suggest that the study of suffering has to separate suffering as an objective phenomenon, which should be eliminated in organizations, from suffering as a subjective experience in which meaning may be found.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of suffering for meaning making and spirituality in organizational contexts.Design/methodology/approach – The paper explores how organizational spaces may be created for meaning making and how this is linked to the idea of compassion.Findings – The paper suggests that while suffering has been explored in organizations, it has not been studied relative to existential meaning making. This is identified as a significant gap in research on organizational spirituality. The paper attempts to fill this gap and suggests that the study of suffering has to separate suffering as an objective phenomenon, which should be eliminated in organizations, from suffering as a subjective experience in which meaning may be found. It is also proposed that, for existential meaning to be uncovered in the face of suffering, organizational spaces have to be created in which such meaning making can take place.Originality/value – The paper suggests that suffering can be a pat...
TL;DR: In this article, the potential gendering of leadership in the emerging field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is reviewed, and it explores whose voices are becoming dominant, how leaders speak, and what forms men's and women's leadership take.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to review the potential gendering of leadership in the emerging field of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It explores whose voices are becoming dominant, how leaders speak, and what forms men's and women's leadership take.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a self‐reflective inquiry, analysing observational and secondary data to explore leadership and its gender patterning. It reflects on its approach and the voice in which it is written.Findings – Women and men are often differently placed to work within the emerging dominant logics of CSR. The gender patternings considered are skewed rather than clear‐cut. In relation to organization‐based discourses and practices, leadership is dominated by white men. Some men are tempered radicals, inside‐outsiders acting for change. Some women leaders question the foundations of business and global power relations, and point to fundamental gender inequalities. Whilst they are recognised figures, they are operating at the margin...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a framework for facilitating adaptation to organizational transition, to both overcome the undesirable consequences of transitions and to accelerate achievement of the transition's success, which is the characteristic of transitions that prompts individual and organizational strife.
Abstract: Purpose – Transitions – including mergers, acquisitions, downsizings, and restructurings – are used by organizational leaders to accelerate the achievement of strategic objectives. However, the manner in which most transitions are implemented runs counter to research findings on the process of effective change management and, in particular, disregards the natural process of human adaptation. As a result, mismanaged transitions tend to have negative consequences for organizations and their members. Ironically, the characteristic of transitions that prompts individual and organizational strife – the capacity to disrupt the status quo – also enables an opportunity for individual and organizational renewal. For that to occur, however, members must make progress through the natural process of adaptation. This paper aims to propose a framework for facilitating adaptation to organizational transition, to both overcome the undesirable consequences of transitions and to accelerate achievement of the transition's s...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on Chinese women managers and gender aspects in information technology (IT) management and find that IT women managers are high achievers with a high level of ambition.
Abstract: Purpose – This study seeks to focus on Chinese women managers and gender aspects in information technology (IT) management.Design/methodology/approach – Women managers' experience on career is explored in relation to the Chinese cultural environment and within the IT industry. Two special topics emerged from the in‐depth interview results: high future expectations and strong belief in own competence. Background methodology of the study is Q‐sort methodology and interpretive analysis.Findings – The findings suggest that IT women managers are high achievers with a high level of ambition. A joy of career advancement and full use of their potential is seen in their perceptions of work and career. The findings also indicate that Chinese women's career development in the IT field calls for identity reconstruction in both their private and work lives. This refers to a work‐family conflict within Chinese culture which emphasizes Guanxi and close societal ties. Although not expressed specifically, it was possible ...
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative hermeneutic inductive research undertaking on international protean careers, using in-depth interview data together with contextual information regarding the specificity of the location in question, is presented.
Abstract: Purpose – Using narratives from four women following international careers in France, this paper seeks to offer an insight into the depth and complexity of career issues for women working in a foreign country.Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative hermeneutic inductive research undertaking on international protean careers, using in‐depth interview data together with contextual information regarding the specificity of the location in question.Findings – The concept of the protean career is highlighted in the findings. This concept is described as “having an ability to reform oneself” also referred to as “morphing”. The findings in this study demonstrate how the women in the sample had the proven capability of morphing their professional role over time due to circumstance.Research limitations/implications – The findings are limited as they cannot be generalised to a wider population due to the small sample size. However, the aim was not to generalise, but to share an in‐depth collection of real...
TL;DR: In this article, a case study from elite sport, an underrepresented sector in the management literature but one that offers a fascinating view of change, was used to explain how an organization has been able to use seismic changes in its wider external environment to transform its performance without the need for radical internal restructuring or coercive forms of leadership.
Abstract: Purpose – To explain how an organization has been able to use seismic changes in its wider external environment to transform its performance without the need for radical internal restructuring or coercive forms of leadership.Design/methodology/approach – This paper utilises a three year case study from elite sport, an under‐represented sector in the management literature but one that offers a fascinating view of change.Findings – Whilst the change management literature typically emphasises dramatic and rapid coercive restructuring accompanying open‐ended environment change, this study found that known routines and historical ways of working existed alongside innovation, risk‐taking and learning; the paradoxical foundation upon which performance flourished.Research limitations/implications – Although the dangers of single cases are noted, difficulties regarding access and comparability with other similar organizations prevented a similar degree of focus on multiple cases. Future research either within elit...
TL;DR: In this article, a dialogic perspective on cultural transformations in mergers and acquisitions, based on an assumption that individuals occupy temporary positions in dynamic dialogue, negotiating equally transitory, but temporarily cohesive allegiances, is presented.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper signals departure from a theoretical perspective on organizational culture in mergers and acquisitions based on a binary opposition between coherence and pluralism. The paper aims to outline another, dialogic perspective on cultural transformations in mergers and acquisitions, based on an assumption that individuals occupy temporary positions in dynamic dialogue, negotiating equally transitory, but temporarily cohesive allegiances.Design/methodology/approach – The dialogic perspective derives from a constructionist approach and involves ethnographic research methodology. It is developed to track the complex contests of interests in post‐merger pluralist cultures and to reconstruct their dynamics. While some events in the merger process contribute to cultural pluralism and contest of interest, others appear to render allegiance to cohesive cultural elements seductively appropriable.Findings – Two situations are presented. The first poses a view of culture during mergers in which contes...
TL;DR: In this paper, the identities and subjectivities of independent knowledge workers who contract their services to organizations are examined, in terms of how they understand and position themselves relative to organizational structures, practices and social relations in their work as "inside outsiders".
Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the identities and subjectivities of independent knowledge workers who contract their services to organizations. Two questions are addressed: who are these enterprising knowledge workers, in terms of how they understand and position themselves relative to organizational structures, practices and social relations in their work as “inside outsiders”? How do they recognize their own constitution, and what spaces for agency are possible?Design/methodology/approach – The discussion draws upon a qualitative study of 18 self‐employed consultants in organizational change, analysing their articulations as ongoing constitutions within prescribed discourses and cultural technologies. Semi‐structured in‐depth interviews were analysed inductively to determine themes and silences among the narratives.Findings – The argument shows how these subjectivities emerge from in‐between spaces, both inside and outside organizations. As they negotiate these spaces, they exercise agency by res...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the applicability of Prochaska and colleagues' "stages of change model" as a useful framework for understanding the dynamics of motivation to change problem behaviors, in a leadership development context.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the applicability of Prochaska and colleagues' “stages of change model,” which has generated substantial support in the therapeutic literature as a useful framework for understanding the dynamics of motivation to change problem behaviors, in a leadership development context.Design/methodology/approach – A group of over 70 supervisors/managers was studied over a period of nine months as they participated in a company‐sponsored leadership development effort.Findings – Results provide initial evidence that the stages of change model has the potential for being reliably and validly assessed in a leadership development context. Participants' stage scores related in meaningful ways to relevant criteria such as job attitudes, perceptions of personal leadership areas needing improvement, and evaluations of actual development module content and presentation over a nine‐month period.Research limitations/implications – Participants were drawn from only one organizati...
TL;DR: In this paper, a broadened concept of creativity is presented, pointing to strategic devices that promote and facilitate creativity in an organization, and a distinction is made between means-end planning and emerging alternative approaches to planning.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the relationship between creativity and planning perspectives.Design/methodology/approach – Creativity is considered to be the source of new and competitive ideas through which an organization positions itself in its environment. A distinction is made between means‐end planning and emerging alternative approaches to planning. It is argued that in means‐end planning schemes creativity is predominantly a problem solving activity seeking to find an ideal mix of instruments to meet a clearly stated goal.Findings – Demonstrates that creativity can be much more if other perspectives on planning are accepted. A broadened concept of creativity is presented, pointing to strategic devices that promote and facilitate creativity in an organization.Originality/value – Is of value by stressing that “being creative” should be a part of an organization's everyday experiences, a component of normal meetings, and a reality for all members of an organization.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse some of the reasons why women find it difficult to attain leadership roles and reflect on the costs to them when they do, and why women are considered a threat to organizations and why organizations seek to subject women to the therapeutic imperative of rationality as the price of membership and of "success".
Abstract: Purpose – This paper is concerned with some speculations and observations on the position of women in relationship to leadership roles in organizations.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a theoretical piece. It attempts to analyse some of the reasons why women find it difficult to attain leadership roles and reflects on the costs to them when they do.Findings – It considers why women are considered a threat to organizations and why organizations seek to subject women to the therapeutic imperative of rationality as the price of membership and of “success”. Put simply, it considers how women have to demonstrate male characteristics in order to “succeed” as leaders and must set aside feminine qualities: to live hyper‐abstractly “in order thus to earn divine grace and homologation with the symbolic order”. This results in an irresolvable lack in terms of what the organization desires for its completion.Originality/value – Leadership is defined by the phallus and women's leadership by its absence. The ...
Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to explore notions of enterprise as an instance of organizational change within university business schools, using a theoretical approach drawn from the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Their concept of articulatory practice is useful for examining the management of knowledge workers across multiple levels of discourse, including policy, practice and processes of identification. Specifically, the paper aims to investigate the articulation of enterprise within government policy on higher education, management practices of directing, funding, measuring and regulating the activities of faculty in ways that seek to promote enterprise, as well as demonstrating how agents can resist attempts at top‐down managerial control through processes of self‐identification.Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study consisting of an analysis of government reports on higher education along with 65 interviews conducted at six UK research‐led business schools.Findings – A...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the results of a qualitative study of software engineers' perception of dress code, career, organizations, and of managers, which was conducted in three European and two US companies during the period 2001-2006.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a qualitative study of software engineers’ perception of dress code, career, organizations, and of managers. Design/methodology/approach – The software engineers interviewed work in three European and two US companies. The research is based on ethnographic data, gathered in two longitudinal studies during the period 2001-2006. The methods used in the study include open-ended unstructured interviews, participant observation, collection of stories, and shadowing. Findings – It was found that the majority of software engineers denounce formal dress-codes. The notion of career was defined by them mostly in terms of occupational development. They perceived their own managers as very incompetent. Their view on corporations was also univocally negative. The findings confirm that software engineers form a very distinctive occupation, defining itself in opposition to the organization. However, their distinctiveness may be perceived not only as a manifestation of independence but also contrarily, as simply fulfilling the organizational role they are assigned by management. Originality/value – The study contributes to the organizational literature by responding to the call for more research on high-tech workplace practices, and on non-managerial occupational roles.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine an organization which made major strategic changes in order to respond to the full effect of a crisis which would be realised over a two to three year period.
Abstract: Purpose - Many managers would like to take a strategic approach to preparing the organisation to avoid impending crisis but instead find themselves fire-fighting to mitigate its impact. This paper seeks to examine an organisation which made major strategic changes in order to respond to the full effect of a crisis which would be realised over a two to three year period. At the root of these changes was a strategic approach to managing knowledge. The paper's purpose is to reflect on managers' views of the impact this strategy had on preparing for the crisis and explore what happened in the organisation during and after the crisis. Design/methodology/approach - The paper examines a case-study of a financial services organisation which faced the crisis of its impending dissolution. The paper draws upon observations of change management workshops, as well as interviews with organisational members of a change management task force. Findings - The response to the crisis was to recognise the importance of the people and their knowledge to the organisation, and to build a strategy which improved business processes and communication flow across the divisions, as well as managing the departure of knowledge workers from an organisation in the process of being dissolved. Practical implications - The paper demonstrates the importance of building a knowledge management strategy during times of crisis, and draws out important lessons for organisations facing organisational change. Originality/value - The paper represents a unique opportunity to learn from an organisation adopting a strategic approach to managing its knowledge during a time of crisis. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore a musical metaphor in making organizational change a potentially pleasurable experience to participants, and discuss the dynamics of tension and resolution in different dimensions of musical experience.
Abstract: Purpose – To explore a musical metaphor in making organizational change a potentially pleasurable experience to participants.Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins by challenging ideological assumptions behind classical change metaphors. To build an alternative, the paper employs musical semiotics to understand the core dimensions in a musical experience.Findings – The paper discusses the dynamics of tension and resolution in the different dimensions of musical experience.Originality/value – The discussion regarding the dynamics of tension and resolution in musical experience helps the reader to make sense of how an individual organizational member can understand, structure and control the experience of organizational change.
TL;DR: In this article, a set of seven propositions are developed to address various aspects of organizational performance that are influenced by beauty in organizations, based on a distinction between the concepts process aesthetics, product aesthetics and aesthetic sensibility.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to explore the relationship between aspects of aesthetics and the performance of organizations. It outlines a research agenda for studying the impact of aesthetic factors upon organizational design and change.Design/methodology/approach – In the paper, a set of seven propositions is developed to address various aspects of organizational performance that are influenced by beauty in organizations. These propositions are based on a distinction between the concepts process aesthetics, product aesthetics and aesthetic sensibility.Findings – The hypotheses suggest that organizational performance might be enhanced by the beauty of products and services, and indirectly by the aesthetics of organizational work processes, organizational structures, the personal well‐being of employees and organizational designers with a high degree of aesthetic sensibility.Research limitations/implications – The hypothesis in this paper should be tested by future researchers.Practical implications – The pa...
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of dialogue conferences and subsequent activities as a tool for organizational development and change is explored in the empirical setting of a change project in a regional health authority in Sweden, where the action research ambitions of development, participation and dialogue in the change effort are critically assessed.
Abstract: This paper draws on the metaphor of ‘magic’ to explore the role of dialogue conferences and subsequent activities as a tool for organizational development and change. It is argued that the magic metaphor is a useful means for critically assessing the role of dialogue conferences in developmental processes, as magic is essentially double-edged in nature. On the one hand, magic is an activity wherein the seemingly impossible is made to happen; on the other it is an activity of simple illusion whereby appearance is at odds with reality. In the empirical setting of a change project in a regional health authority in Sweden, the action research ambitions of development, participation and dialogue in the change effort are critically assessed. Against a backdrop of change fatigue and scepticism towards change, the unfolding of developmental processes set in train by an initial dialogue conference are assessed as a dynamic process of magic.