Change Management Overview

Principles

Definition

Change management is a formal academic concept and methodological discipline focused on systematically preparing, supporting, and guiding individuals, teams, and organizations through organizational change. It investigates the processes, strategies, and human factors influencing the transition from a current state to a desired future state, emphasizing strategies for adoption and benefit realization.

Ontological type

Core Models

Intervention Strategies

Outcomes and Metrics

Key developments

Key Figures

Organizational Ambidexterity era

Alan D. Meyer [1] was associated with University of California, Berkeley [3] and University of Oregon [4] during this era. His key contribution in this era centers on the work Organizational Strategy, Structure, and Process [6], published in 1978, which framed how the alignment of strategy, structure, and processes enables ambidexterity through organizational reconfiguration. Charles C. Snow [2] was associated with University of California, Berkeley [3] and University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee [5] during this era. Snow's contributions to Organizational Strategy, Structure, and Process [6] helped illuminate how managers interpret and reconfigure architectures to sustain simultaneous exploitation and exploration, a central insight for organizational ambidexterity in this period.

Processual Change era

Martha S. Feldman [1] is a scholar whose work in this era spans institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [3] and the University of Chicago [4]. Her contributions center on Reconceptualizing Organizational Routines as a Source of Flexibility and Change [7] and Routines as a Source of Change in Organizational Schemata: The Role of Trial-and-Error Learning [8], highlighting how routine-based learning and adaptation support ongoing change in processual contexts. John P. Kotter [2] is a scholar whose work in this era is associated with Harvard University [5] and the University of Virginia [6]. His key contributions, including Leading change: why transformation efforts fail [9] and The heart of change: real-life stories of how people change their organizations [10], articulated why transformation efforts often stall and how change unfolds in real organizational life, making ongoing change in processual contexts more imaginable.

Dynamic Change Readiness era

Denise M. Rousseau [1] is a leading scholar in change management whose work during this era links to Carnegie Mellon University [3] and Illinois Institute of Technology [4]. The 2018 paper 'Successful Organizational Change: Integrating the Management Practice and Scholarly Literatures' [7] synthesizes management practice and scholarly literatures, illustrating how practice and theory can converge to guide durable organizational change in dynamic readiness contexts. Wilmar B. Schaufeli [2] is a prominent scholar connected with University of California, Berkeley [5] and Radboud University Nijmegen [6] in this era. The 2016 paper 'Crafting the Change: The Role of Employee Job Crafting Behaviors for Successful Organizational Change' [8] argues that employee job crafting behaviors function as endogenous resources that translate readiness into durable adaptive outcomes, thereby supporting sustained change in dynamic readiness environments.