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The Theory and Practice of Change Management

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The Theory and Practice of Change Management

Palgrave Macmillan,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Change is demanding. Do you have the tools to handle it?

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Editorial Rating

6

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

The preface to this book says it was “originally written for practicing managers and for M.B.A. students and others who have considerable experience of working in organizations.” That is a great goal, but make no mistake: this is a textbook, with all the good and bad that term implies. On the positive side, it means that author John Hayes is extremely expert, complete and methodical. He defines all the terms, summarizes all the research, and breaks all the chapters into units complete with case studies, diagrams and concluding summaries. On the negative side, it means this book can be very slow-going in spots, the style is sometimes academic and, especially in the early chapters, the author tends to emphasize broad theoretical frameworks rather than tools you can apply immediately. Hayes does get to specific suggestions later in the book and they are quite useful, but getAbstract recommends his comprehensive tome primarily to students of change management and to patient practitioners. Those who want to learn change management will come away far better informed, but not without working at it.

Summary

Change and Change Management

Managing change effectively requires a clear understanding of its nature. Older management models focused on “incremental and cumulative” changes executed through “continuous improvement,” what the Japanese call kaizen. Theorists more recently have recognized different kinds of change that vary by pace. In a new industry, change initially happens gradually, then it moves more rapidly during a fast growth phase and eventually it slows as the industry matures.

Within an organization, the change timeline often follows a pattern of “punctuated equilibrium,” or periods of relative stability interrupted by sudden changes. People tend to resist change because their existing “cognitive frameworks” limit their recognition of the need for it. Firms tend to resist change even as they become less aligned with their environment, until suddenly the need to change becomes too great and many changes happen at once. Four general “types of organizational change” are most common:

  1. “Tuning” – This is proactive, incremental change.
  2. “Adaptation” – This is incremental change that...

About the Author

John Hayes is a management consultant and professor of management at Leeds University Business School in the United Kingdom, where he directs the Centre for Organisational Behaviour Research and Analysis.

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