Week 1 – Boonstra
Introduction
Introduction
70-75 percent of change programmes fails
Why organisational change is difficult
- Inadequate policy-making and strategic management
- Existing organisational structures
- Power and politics in organisations
- Organisational cultures
- Individual uncertainties and psychological resistance to change
Inadequate policy-making and strategic management > 1) problems with implementation, 2) lack of
support for policy measures.
Too limited: the organisation of the policy-making process itself also causes the failure. E.g. analyses
are subjective.
Solution: process approach > involved parties make agreements beforehand about how the decision-
making process will be implemented (involving all members of the organisation).
Existing organisational structures > 1) limiting existing technologies, 2) unhandy division of labour.
Solution: breaking away from task specialisation through redesign.
Power and politics in organisations > 1) existing power relationships and networks that want to
maintain these relationships.
Solution: manager pleads for changes and secures the implementation, which works when the
members of the organisation are convinced of the change and do not know any alternative strategies
for change.
Organisational cultures > 1) prevailing standards and values within the organisation.
Solution: broad cultural programmes and training programmes for managers, which focus on
discussing existing standards and values, followed by learning new behaviour patterns.
Individual uncertainties and psychological resistance to change > 1) people’s desire for certainty and
stability, 2) fear of the unknown, 3) lack of confidence in other people.
Solution: interventions aimed at reducing uncertainty through effective communication and involving
people in the change.
Author’s view: the abovementioned perspectives overlap and reinforce each other; problems lie in
how the change is approached, not so much in the organisational context; managers should look at
themselves as well.
,The management of change
Change from the management perspective = a process of guidance and adjustment aimed at
achieving the goals for change.
Planned change = a conscious and deliberate effort to adapt and improve the operations of a human
system through the utilisation of scientific knowledge.
Organisational development = a systematic process for applying behavioural science principles and
practices in organisations to increase individual and organisational effectiveness.
Characteristics of Planned change Organisational development
the approach
Problem Well-defined, unambiguous Complex, vague
Situation/context Stable and predictable Non-routine, changing
Execution/initiation By management By management and employees
Appropriate for Small group of people Many perspectives in large groups
Expert External consultant(s) External consultant(s) and employees
Orientation Goal-oriented Improvement-oriented
Changes First-order: logical adjustments Second-order: innovation/renewal
Solution Clear, used before Not yet completely clear
Author’s view: the approach to change determines the success or failure of changes.
Planned change > technical and instrumental aspects > resistance based on unclear strategies and
inflexible structures/culture.
Organisational development > transition based on demands of the environment > resistance based
on complexity and turbulence in the organisation and its surroundings.
Dark grey: first-order changes, light grey: second-order changes, white circle: third-order changes.
,Transformational change = the emergence of a totally new state of being out of the remains of the
old state (third-order change).
Playing with dynamics and uncertainty
Globalisation, advancing communication and technology, the movement towards knowledge
economies, etc. > more complex and hybrid organisations > deal with these increasingly unstructured
and ambiguous areas > close interaction and defining standards and values together
Dynamics system theory = assumes that organisation takes place in complex dynamic systems in
which actors constantly interaction with one another and give meaning to the events around them
(thus, creating a social construction of reality).
Renewal if possible when:
- Many actors with different viewpoints interact
- There is a high degree of interaction and the differences are visible
- Information and feedback circulate rapidly
- Feelings and assumptions regarding renewal can be discussed
- There is an atmosphere of safety in which to express and manage uncertainties
- Room is created for processes of self-organisation
Managers and supervisors can start up a dynamic process by creating the aboveme ntioned
conditions.
Social constructionism = suggests that people construct their own reality based on their experiences.
Sense-making = the process involving the creation and reproduction of shared meanings.
Interactive learning
Interactive learning = social constructionism + sense-making, in ambiguous situations that are
difficult to understand.
Principles of interactive learning:
- Understanding organising as being feedback systems with positive and negative feedback
that maintain or activate the present method of organising
- Making room for self-organisation
- Jointly charting, recognising, and clarifying mutual relationships so the dynamics become
visible and the relationships are involved in the renewal process
- Making room for multiple constructs of reality (understanding innovations and interactions
in their contexts)
- Reflecting on the relationships between actions, constructs, and contexts of actors
- Striving for a shared sense-making of events in which pluriformity is nevertheless preserved
- Making room for reflection on personal actions and the underlying assumptions to make
room for learning processes
First-order learning = learning form mistakes; improving actions based on experience.
Second-order learning = reflecting when surprises are encountered during routine actions.
Third-order learning = meta-reflection, i.e. reflection on your own thinking patterns.
, Theory in practice
Author’s view: traditional academic research is inadequate to generate knowledge about the
dynamics of interactive learning, because it denies the relationships between the investigator and
the empirical object (due to striving for objectivity).
Author’s view: applied research is also inadequate to generate knowledge about social systems,
because it assumes that problems can be understood, and that goals are consistent and
unambiguous (which in reality they are not).
Solution: reflective action research > knowledge is generated in an iterative process in which the
actors act, reflect on their actions, and pay attention to the way in which they are learning and
generating new knowledge.
Introduction
Introduction
70-75 percent of change programmes fails
Why organisational change is difficult
- Inadequate policy-making and strategic management
- Existing organisational structures
- Power and politics in organisations
- Organisational cultures
- Individual uncertainties and psychological resistance to change
Inadequate policy-making and strategic management > 1) problems with implementation, 2) lack of
support for policy measures.
Too limited: the organisation of the policy-making process itself also causes the failure. E.g. analyses
are subjective.
Solution: process approach > involved parties make agreements beforehand about how the decision-
making process will be implemented (involving all members of the organisation).
Existing organisational structures > 1) limiting existing technologies, 2) unhandy division of labour.
Solution: breaking away from task specialisation through redesign.
Power and politics in organisations > 1) existing power relationships and networks that want to
maintain these relationships.
Solution: manager pleads for changes and secures the implementation, which works when the
members of the organisation are convinced of the change and do not know any alternative strategies
for change.
Organisational cultures > 1) prevailing standards and values within the organisation.
Solution: broad cultural programmes and training programmes for managers, which focus on
discussing existing standards and values, followed by learning new behaviour patterns.
Individual uncertainties and psychological resistance to change > 1) people’s desire for certainty and
stability, 2) fear of the unknown, 3) lack of confidence in other people.
Solution: interventions aimed at reducing uncertainty through effective communication and involving
people in the change.
Author’s view: the abovementioned perspectives overlap and reinforce each other; problems lie in
how the change is approached, not so much in the organisational context; managers should look at
themselves as well.
,The management of change
Change from the management perspective = a process of guidance and adjustment aimed at
achieving the goals for change.
Planned change = a conscious and deliberate effort to adapt and improve the operations of a human
system through the utilisation of scientific knowledge.
Organisational development = a systematic process for applying behavioural science principles and
practices in organisations to increase individual and organisational effectiveness.
Characteristics of Planned change Organisational development
the approach
Problem Well-defined, unambiguous Complex, vague
Situation/context Stable and predictable Non-routine, changing
Execution/initiation By management By management and employees
Appropriate for Small group of people Many perspectives in large groups
Expert External consultant(s) External consultant(s) and employees
Orientation Goal-oriented Improvement-oriented
Changes First-order: logical adjustments Second-order: innovation/renewal
Solution Clear, used before Not yet completely clear
Author’s view: the approach to change determines the success or failure of changes.
Planned change > technical and instrumental aspects > resistance based on unclear strategies and
inflexible structures/culture.
Organisational development > transition based on demands of the environment > resistance based
on complexity and turbulence in the organisation and its surroundings.
Dark grey: first-order changes, light grey: second-order changes, white circle: third-order changes.
,Transformational change = the emergence of a totally new state of being out of the remains of the
old state (third-order change).
Playing with dynamics and uncertainty
Globalisation, advancing communication and technology, the movement towards knowledge
economies, etc. > more complex and hybrid organisations > deal with these increasingly unstructured
and ambiguous areas > close interaction and defining standards and values together
Dynamics system theory = assumes that organisation takes place in complex dynamic systems in
which actors constantly interaction with one another and give meaning to the events around them
(thus, creating a social construction of reality).
Renewal if possible when:
- Many actors with different viewpoints interact
- There is a high degree of interaction and the differences are visible
- Information and feedback circulate rapidly
- Feelings and assumptions regarding renewal can be discussed
- There is an atmosphere of safety in which to express and manage uncertainties
- Room is created for processes of self-organisation
Managers and supervisors can start up a dynamic process by creating the aboveme ntioned
conditions.
Social constructionism = suggests that people construct their own reality based on their experiences.
Sense-making = the process involving the creation and reproduction of shared meanings.
Interactive learning
Interactive learning = social constructionism + sense-making, in ambiguous situations that are
difficult to understand.
Principles of interactive learning:
- Understanding organising as being feedback systems with positive and negative feedback
that maintain or activate the present method of organising
- Making room for self-organisation
- Jointly charting, recognising, and clarifying mutual relationships so the dynamics become
visible and the relationships are involved in the renewal process
- Making room for multiple constructs of reality (understanding innovations and interactions
in their contexts)
- Reflecting on the relationships between actions, constructs, and contexts of actors
- Striving for a shared sense-making of events in which pluriformity is nevertheless preserved
- Making room for reflection on personal actions and the underlying assumptions to make
room for learning processes
First-order learning = learning form mistakes; improving actions based on experience.
Second-order learning = reflecting when surprises are encountered during routine actions.
Third-order learning = meta-reflection, i.e. reflection on your own thinking patterns.
, Theory in practice
Author’s view: traditional academic research is inadequate to generate knowledge about the
dynamics of interactive learning, because it denies the relationships between the investigator and
the empirical object (due to striving for objectivity).
Author’s view: applied research is also inadequate to generate knowledge about social systems,
because it assumes that problems can be understood, and that goals are consistent and
unambiguous (which in reality they are not).
Solution: reflective action research > knowledge is generated in an iterative process in which the
actors act, reflect on their actions, and pay attention to the way in which they are learning and
generating new knowledge.
