Towards a Process Model of Individual Change in Organizations

Abstract

This article analyses the way the individual change process unfolds when major; second-order changes are required. Using a framework that integrates both the cognitive and affective components of individual sensemaking and interpretation, we develop a process model that systematically analyses the psychology of the individual change process, and, in particular, the sources of resistance to change or inertia. A series of steps in the change process are identified if second-order change is to come about, and a series of testable propositions about the forces that may facilitate or stymie change are developed.