Van de Ven & Poole (2005

Question 1

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Answer 1

Alternative approaches for studying organizational change

Ontology: Organizations as a thing or as a process
- The organizations is an identity and does not change (river as a thing) Variance
- The organizations is a process of things and changes constantly (flowing river) Process

Variance and Process Epistemologies
Two definitions of change are often used in organization studies:
1) An observed difference over time in an organizational entity on selected dimensions
2) a narrative describing a sequence of events on how development and change unfold

4 approaches based on the ontology and epistemology