Week 8 Student Led Readings Flashcards
Author: Martin
Year: 2002
Attempts to answer the question “what is culture” and “what is not culture”? using the intellectual traditions of functionalism, critical theory, and postmodernism.
“What distinguishes a cultural study from an inventory is a willingness to look beneath the surface, to gain an in-depth understanding of how people interpret the meanings of manifestations and how interpretations form patterns of clarity, inconsistency, and ambiguity that can be used to characterize understandings of working lives
Author: Ouchi
Year: 1981
Focuses on “Could Japanese management methods be utilized in the United States?”
Contends that ‘social organizations are incompatible with formality, distance, and contractualism. They proceed smoothly only with intimacy, subtlety, and trust”
Organizational life is a life of interdependence, or relying upon others
All too often a federal bureau will fail to do that which makes sense because common sense does not fit the rules.
Author: Fernandez & Rainey
Year: 2006
They argue that successful change in public organizations requires a comprehensive approach that includes strong top-management commitment, broad employee participation, securing support from political overseers and external stakeholders, and a clear plan for implementing change, all while acknowledging the unique challenges of navigating political dynamics within the public sector
Author: Zorn, Page & Cheney,
Year: 2000
This article reports a case study of change-related communication in the business services department of a large local-government organization in New Zealand. The authors argue that popular contemporary management discourse celebrates change and creates assumptions that guide managerial practice and the interpretation of managerial actions. Thus, the work experience of most people is inundated with communication about and promoting change. The authors explore the change communication from the three perspectives suggested by Trujillo, what he terms the “functional,” the “romantic,” and the “critical”.
Author: Kotter
Year: 1996
Discusses the increasing rate of significant changes within organizations over recent decades. Kotter notes that despite the rising prevalence of initiatives like reengineering, mergers, strategizing, and quality improvement, many firms still struggle to manage change effectively. He explores the common reasons why such transformations often fail, emphasizing that while some predict the peak of such change efforts, the reality is quite the opposite.
Author: Greiner
Year: 1998
Explores how companies go through different stages of growth characterized by periods of relative stability (evolution) followed by periods of significant change (revolution). Greiner outlines five key phases of growth, each marked by different challenges and corresponding solutions
Phase 1: Creativity, Phase 2: Direction, Phase 3: Delegation, Phase 4: Coordination, and Phase 5: Collaboration
Author: Bennis
Year: 2000
Bennis explores the nature of change, particularly in leadership and organizational contexts. He frames change as an inevitable, dynamic, and often disruptive force that leaders must understand and navigate. Bennis emphasizes the need for adaptability, openness to new ideas, and visionary leadership in a world where constant evolution is the norm.
Author: Senge
Year: 1990
focuses on group problem solving using the systems thinking method in order to convert companies into learning organizations that learn to create results that matter as an organization.
System thinking: The fifth discipline, which binds the other four together. System thinking involves organizing complexities into understandable stories that show problems and solutions.
Personal mastery: One of the five disciplines.
Mental models: One of the five disciplines.
Shared vision: A shared vision is essential for building a successful learning organization. It gives employees energy and focus.
Team learning: Team learning is important because individual learning becomes irrelevant without it.
Author: Lewin
Year: 1952
Argues that when a group actively participates in making decisions, it is more likely to embrace and enact positive social change, as compared to being passively told what to do; this idea is often linked to his “force field analysis” theory where he emphasizes understanding the driving and restraining forces within a group to facilitate change effectively.
Author: Coch & French, Jr
Year: 1948
Overcoming Resistance to Change, is about the importance of employee participation in managing change.
Coch and French conducted a study at a textile manufacturing company in Virginia, where they used Kurt Lewin’s field theory and action research approach. They worked with four groups of factory operators, introducing a minor change to each group’s work procedure using different methods.
Coch and French found that the key to managing resistance to change is to involve employees in the planning process and communicate the rationale behind the change. They concluded that employee participation is central to managing resistance in any organization.
