Organisational Change: Sociological Perspectives

Front Cover
Routledge, 2005 M06 23 - 232 pages

In recent years, there has been an explosion of books on the nature of organisational change and the management skills needed to effectively carry it out. Many are written by change gurus and management consultants offering quick fixes and metaphor laden business toolkits, however, much of their advice is banal and under-theorized. This book redresses this balance by providing an original analysis of change management in organizations in the light of wider sociological perspectives. It critically examines the, often implicit, theoretical frameworks underpinning many contemporary accounts of organizational change, and covers subjects including:

* the importance of explicit analysis of theory and context
* a critique of populist management gurus and quick-fix 'how-to' solutions
* 'under-socialized' models of change which emphasise structure over human action
* trenchant analysis of 'soft' HRM solutions
* the management of culture.

Radical and innovative, this book, the first to adopt a sociological approach, is a much-needed challenge to the orthodoxies of change management.

 

Contents

INTRODUCTION
1
1 THE NATURE OF MANAGEMENT AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
9
2 APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF CHANGE
35
3 CRITICAL MONOGRAPHS AND RESEARCH STUDIES
67
4 NSTEP GUIDES FOR CHANGE
83
5 SOCIALIZED MODELS OF CHANGE?
101
6 THEORIES FOR THE ANALYSIS OF CHANGE
129
7 THE DIVERSITY OF THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS
139
8 RADICAL AND MARXIST FRAMES OF REFERENCE
157
9 PARADIGMS OFFOR CHANGE
171
10 NEW PARADIGMS FOR CHANGE?
183
11 TOWARDS A CONCLUSION
197
REFERENCES
203
INDEX
211
Copyright

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Organisational Change: Sociological Perspectives
David Collins
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Common terms and phrases

academic action action theory analysis approaches to change assumptions attempt behaviour British Gas Burnes Burns and Stalker Burrell and Morgan change management change process chapter claim complex conflict context contingency theory critical critical theory critique Dawson discussion dynamics economic employees environment example factors frames of reference framework groups gurus hero-managers Huczynski ideas ideologies of management industrial interpretation Kanter labour management of change management thought managerial managing change Marxist models of change models of organization n-step guides notes of/for change offer organizational change organizational cultures organizations and change orientations particular Peters and Waterman planning and managing pluralist power distance practical problems processes of change production range represent role Schein scientific management seems social sociological sociological paradigms structure student-oriented texts study of change systems thinking Taylor tells theoretical models theorists theory trade union under-socialized models understanding unitarist unitary wider society workers

About the author (2005)

David Collins is Lecturer in Human Resource Management (HRM) in the School of Management at the University of East Anglia.

Bibliographic information

TitleOrganisational Change: Sociological Perspectives
AuthorDavid Collins
PublisherRoutledge, 2005
ISBN1134694725, 9781134694723
Length232 pages
  
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