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Process Theories of Change
Organizational change is defined as a difference in form, quality, or state over time in an organizational entity. The entity may be an individual’s job, a work group, an organizational subunit, the overall organization, or its relationships with other organizations. Change can be determined by measuring the same entity over two or more points in time on a set of characteristics and then observing the differences over time in these characteristics. If the difference is noticeable, we can say that the organizational entity has changed. Much of the voluminous literature on organizational change focuses on two questions about this difference: (1) How and what produced it? (2) How might the change process be managed in constructive directions over time? The first question focuses on process theories that explain how organization change unfolds over time. The second question focuses on the processes of implementing theories of change. Based on an extensive literature on processes of organization change and implementation, this entry addresses these two questions.
Fundamentals
On the basis of an extensive review of the social science literature, Andrew Van de Ven and Marshall Scott Poole found four basic process models of organizational change and development: teleology (planned change), life cycle (regulatory change), dialectics (conflictive change), and evolution (competitive change). As the figure indicates, these process models differ in terms of whether they apply to single or multiple organizational entities and if the change process follows a prescribed sequence or is constructed (emerges) as the process unfolds. The cells in Figure 1 illustrate how each theory views the process of development as unfolding in a fundamentally different progression of change events and being governed by a different generative mechanism or motor.
Figure 1 Process Models of Organization Change
Source: Van de Ven and Poole (1995), p. 520. Copyright © 1995 by Academy of Management Review. Reproduced by permission.
Note: Arrows on lines represent likely sequences among events, not causation between events.
Understanding these four process models of change, and interactions among them, provides a rich repertoire of models for explaining change processes in organizations. In addition, an appreciation of the different breakdowns and remedies in implementing each of the four models of change provides a useful framework for diagnosing implementation processes. As discussed in the conclusion, this diagnosis becomes complex when change agents use different models to manage multiple change initiatives ongoing in organizations.
Teleological Process Theory (Planned Change)
A teleology or planned change model views development as a repetitive sequence of goal formulation, implementation, evaluation, and modification of an envisioned end state based on what was learned or intended by the people involved. This sequence emerges through the purposeful social construction among individuals within the organizational entity undergoing change. Teleological processes of planned change break down either because participants do not recognize the need for change, they make erroneous decisions, or they do not reach agreement on goals or actions.
Models of planned change assume that people initiate efforts to change when their attention is triggered by significant opportunities, problems, or threats. Teleological processes often fail because only a minority of participants recognize the need for change. Dissatisfaction with existing conditions stimulates people to search for improved conditions, and people stop searching when a satisfactory result is found. A satisfactory result is a function of a person’s aspiration level—a product of past successes and failures that people have experienced. When the difference between perceptions of current situations and aspiration levels is not significant, the need for change is hardly recognized. Direct personal experiences with opportunities or problems are more likely to trigger individuals’ attention than are reports or exhortations about the need for change.
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