The Emergent Approach to Organizational Change - Literature review Example

MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Management of Change Introduction The current business environment is more and more complex, competitive, unpredictable, and interconnected. Business organisations have become more aware of their connectedness as well as to their global setting. Given that the global business context has become difficult to manage, the need to re-evaluate the organisational change has surfaced. In order to survive within such rapid complexity and connectivity, business organisations have to balance their structural, planned, traditional change techniques with the emergence and unpredictability of novel methods. In this case, emergent change, as described by Weick and Quinn (1999), is an unintentional and unpredictable approach that emerges from anywhere and involves self-organising that is reasonably informal. So, emergent change is iterative. Change as indicated by Tsoukas and Chia (2002) emerges at the same time as actors organise work within certain structures and is involved in improving the enabling conditions that exist currently within the organisational environment. Nowadays, organisations operate far-from-equilibrium and at the edge of chaos with stability as well as instability intertwined. Using four research papers by Weick and Quinn (1999), Tsoukas and Chia (2002), Orlikowski (1996), and Feldman (2000), this research essay will discuss the emergent approach to organizational change. Literature Review According to Weick and Quinn (1999), episodic change is different from continuous change because it is intermittent and discontinuous and needs careful planning. Moreover, episodic change occurs sporadically, and optimistically results to an improved and new equilibrium, wherein it remains unchanging for a while until the ensuing perceived need for change generates a new episode of change. On the other hand, continuous change is cumulative, emergent and very constant. In this case, the organisation is not perceived as a static entity, which is punctuated sporadically by periodic change, but rather as an entity that is inherently dynamic, ever-evolving, ever-changing as well as ever-unfolding. Episodic change has been defined by Weick and Quinn (1999) as the inertia-prone organization wherein change pace is intentional, discontinuous, and infrequent (Weick & Quinn, 1999, p.365). Citing academic literature on change, Weick and Quinn (1999) established that failure prompts an episodic change; thus, making the organization experience loss, makes change plans, put the plan into practice, and then managing unintended consequences. So, change according to Weick and Quinn (1999) starts with failure. Even though a number of failures can result in some changes, urgent and emerging threats, market opportunities, imminent governmental regulations, and innovative ideas may as well trigger change initiatives. The distinguishing continuous change quality is the idea that minor continuous adjustments, generated concurrently across organisational units can result in substantial change. Change continuity is related to the organizational culture concept; therefore, culture is significant in continuous change for the reason that it holds numerous changes together, offers acceptability to actions that are not conforming. In consequence, it improves adaptability as well as adaptation and embeds the adaptation know-how into values and norms (Weick & Quinn, 1999, p.378). Tsoukas and Chia (2002) hold the view that change should not be considered as an organization property; instead the organization should be seen as an emergent property of change. Tsoukas and Chia (2002) argue that change is the reweaving of actors' webs of habits as well as beliefs of action on account of new experiences gained by means of interactions. Organization as observed by Tsoukas and Chia (2002) is an effort of ordering the inherent instability of human action with the goal of channelling it to a particular ends, so as to offer it a specific shape, by means of institutionalizing and generalizing certain rules and meanings. Besides that, Tsoukas and Chia (2002) describe the organization as a pattern, which is shaped, constituted, emerging from change. In their discussion, Tsoukas and Chia (2002) argue that traditional organisational change approaches have focused much on the role played by the institutional structures like routines in advancing stability within the organisations. In view of this context, Tsoukas and Chia see change as a remarkable manifestation initiated by the manager from the top-down, instead as the ubiquitous situation where organisations are influenced, acted upon and operated. Tsoukas and Chia further argue that the occurrence of the former context has led to a fragmented comprehension of organisational change as well as to its implementation problems and support the new philosophical approach adoption wherein change is comprehended as the organisation’s norm, instead as an exception. Tsoukas and Chia posit to realise this, the organisation should concentrate on the ways through which the beliefs, as well as habits of networks of actors at every organisational level, is interwoven generating pervasive transformation patterns with achievable beginnings as well as ends. Such processes have been defined by Tsoukas and Chia as ‘organisational becoming’. A methodological and conceptual shift in the field of Management Science is advocated by Tsoukas and Chia, positing that when integrated into practices of organisation, can result in new project management structures as well as original outcomes. So, in industries that are fast changing and highly competitive, the capacity to change continuously and rapidly is very important for success and survival. In the present turbulent environment, Tsoukas and Chia argue that change can have reality, and so, the change should be embraced by organizations more consistently and openly so as to realize the superior performance. Feldman (2000) posits that routines are the key basis of continuous endogenous organisational change. Whereby the routine performance patterns are continuously changed by actors and all new performances result in new ostensible routine aspects; therefore, the logical result is continuous change. As evidenced in Feldman (2000) study, organizational learning from routines is the major issue for organizations seeking to maintain a competitive advantage in the current business environments that is changing fast. Through a performative model of organizational routines, Feldman (2000) demonstrated that routines may as well be viewed as evolving continuously as well as changing constructs that depend on the processes of the organizational learning. Feldman indicated that the potential of routines change pursues a continuous adaptation and incremental change model. The potential of change can be identified through the routines’ internal dynamic. Learning from routines takes place for the reason that individuals taking part in the routines change their actions while developing new understandings of what is achievable as well as of their actions’ consequences (Feldman, 2000: 613). Moreover, Feldman recognises a continuous improvement in the routines, and she concentrates mainly on improving the existing routines. For example, Feldman describes the process of hiring routines, where she posits that continuous improvements result in changes in routine performance with the purpose of fulfilling a certain outcome effectively. Feldman (2000) indicate the likelihood of the learning processes by including new opportunities. Still, there is no empirical evidence that indicates how circumstances routine learning rooted in a performative organisational routine model can take place and which circumstances can hinder explorative learning processes to take place. Orlikowski (1996) offers a new perspective on organizational change, which considerably changes the organization’s practices as well as structure. This perspective shun strong suppositions that have typified perspectives of the prior change; that is discontinuity, determinism, or rationality since it concentrates on the situated changes at the micro-level that is implemented by the actors as they act in the world they innovate, improvise, as well as change their work routines. In its on-going action presumption, the possibility of an on-going change is permitted by the practice lens. Orlikowski (1996) view organisatioal change as endemic and situated to the organizing practice, and it gets a technological analysis based on organizational transformations, which is grounded, improvisational, and on-going in a knowledgeable agency. Intrinsically, the change provides an exceptional and a suitable strategy for interpreting the new discourse of organisation, which has turned out to be more and more common these days. As illustrated by Orlikowski (1996) various organizational transformation perspectives have been developed in the past years. Still, scores of these perspectives are normally suited poorly to a world wherein change is an organizational life and not a background activity. Such perspectives, as pointed out by Orlikowski, exemplify suppositions concerning change, technology, context, and agency that can be unsuitable considering the different social, economic, and technological conditions that are emerging nowadays. Orlikowski illustrates this by taking into account three perspectives that have an effect on organizational transformation rooted in technology; punctuated equilibrium, technological imperative, as well as planned change. Each of the abovementioned perspective reviewed has neglected emergent change, which is a new organizing pattern realisation without a priori and explicit intentions. So, the three perspectives on the organizational transformation that are based on technology cannot easily account for the emergent change. For this reason, the existing technology-based organizational transformation discourse represents assumptions that are difficult in view of the organizing discourse underlying self-organization, flexibility, as well as emergence. According to Orlikowski, a perspective positing change instead of stability as a means of organizational life can provide a conceptual lens that is suitable through which change can be thought about in modern organizations. This perspective has been outlined in Orlikowski paper, pointing out that it affords a certain analytical strategy that is powerful for explaining and examining the technology-based organizational change. Discussion Orlikowski research indicated why it is imperative to plan an organizational change, arguing that technology results in technology-based organizational change and that at all times radical change takes place discontinuously as well as rapidly. Orlikowski further explores a different form of organizational change, one which is implemented more smoothly, more slowly, and more subtly but no less considerably. In Orlikowski study, organizational transformation is considered as an on-going improvisation implemented by actors in the organizational in attempt to act comprehensibly in and make sense of the world. In this case, the organizational transformation is perceived as a situated change that is based not on stability, but on assumptions of action. So, change as mentioned by Orlikowski, is intrinsic in routine human action. The proposed perspective is grounded by Orlikowski through utilisation of qualitative techniques so as to analyse the gathered data from Zeta Company. According to Tsoukas and Chia (2002), organization is a pattern that is established, shaped, as well as emerging from change; therefore, the intention of organization is to stem change but, is generated by change in the process. Tsoukas and Chia further state that iif the organizational change is considered a fait accompli, then its potential are weakened. When change is perceived in terms of stability, Tsoukas and Chia argue that people are likely to lose focus on the subtle micro-changes crucial for sustaining stability. When change is perceived as the exception, the intermittent occurrence in organizational life, then how change is perceived is underestimated. That is why the authors suggested that change should not be perceived as an organization property, but instead, the organization should be viewed as change emergent property. Feldman ( 2000) through her observations propose that work practices like routines in the organisation are both emergent and effortful accomplishments. Normally, they are on-going progress instead of finished products. However, mentioning emergent accomplishments in the routines cannot assist a person to comprehend where new rules as well as repertoires originate from. As noted by Feldman, there is a context that changes continuously resulting in continuous outcomes as well as actions. Therefore, routines that are continuously changing and naturally dynamic offer the theoretical basis for understanding knowledge. It is for this reason why Feldman espoused routines theory in her analysis in attempt to comprehend knowledge creating as a process having change possibility and with internal dynamics. So, the suitability of organisational routines for creating knowledge has been clearly highlighted in Feldman study. A growing shift toward comprehending the temporal processes has been traced by Weick and Quinn (1999), which related to organizational change. Although traditional Lewinian approaches essentially depend on the idea of episodic change processes, Weick and Quinn point out the emergent understandings propose an evolving, continuous, as well as incremental perception of change. Significance Basically, emergent change is somewhat less controlled as well as more chaotic. Besides that, organisational leaders have a clear role in directing, leading, and making critical decisions for the business. The emergent change is normally involved in aiding success within the organisation, mainly for the reason that as things emerge it might arise from anywhere to the extent that the organisational leaders are caught unaware. Therefore, for emergent change to successfully work all people within the organisation must be involved, and processes for great communication must be implemented in order that anything that emerges is understood and known. This form of change as observed by Weick and Quinn (1999), has not been espoused widely and little is known about it.  As indicated in the literature review, the emergent change merely exhibits social systems, particularly when the fundamental component has realised a new order offering means to new behaviours. An instance of the inadequacy of a viewpoint that exclusively concentrates on emergent or planned changes is offered in Orlikowski study that examined new technology introduction as well as the conveyed changes within a software company. In this case, they did not examine only emergent changes but also planned and opportunity-based changes. Zeta was among the leading software companies in the United States producing a number of powerful software products that allows executive information, decision support, as well as marketing. Besides that, the company had revenue of 100 million US dollars, with almost 1000 employees across the globe. In 1992, the company introduced a novel groupware technology in its CSD (Customer Service Department) for the development of new Incident Tracking Support System (ITSS). According to Orlikowski, the CSD had consultants, experts who offered advice to clients, as well as other Zeta stakeholders and employees. The intention of the novel ITSS according to Orlikowski was to improve the customer calls’ minuting as well as to facilitate the respective progress of resolving customers-related issues. Still, while utilizing the novel technology, a number of emergent changes were noted. In this case, the specialists tested numerous informal quality indicators with the intention of ascertaining the value and quality of previous resolutions. Besides that, managers were expected to take into account documentation skills as crucial factors in the processes of hiring and evaluating. As observed by Weick and Quinn (1999), the change agent role in continuous change is ensuring the change dynamics are continuous. The authors acknowledged the adaptive emergent change and posit that the changes should be reframed and be made salient. Conclusion In conclusion, a view of organizational change as articulated by Tsoukas and Chia (2002) takes place when the need for change arises. As mentioned by Weick and Quinn (1999), emergent changes consist of ongoing alterations, adaptions as well as accommodation that generate crucial change devoid of priori intention for that change. As stated by Weick and Quinn emergent change approach presumes that organizational change takes place as an ongoing process of adaption and experiment with the intention of changing the organizational competencies as well as processes to an environment that is continuously changing. However, the concept of turbulent environment, which is dominant in the current business environment makes exclusive programs for planned change inadequate; thus, emergent change is important for the current business environment. References Feldman, M.S., 2000. Organizational Routines as a Source of Continuous Change. Organization Science, vol. 11, no. 6, pp.611–29. Orlikowski, W.J., 1996. Improvising Organizational Transformation Over Time: A Situated Change Perspective. Information Systems Research, vol. 7, no. 1, pp.63-92. Tsoukas, H. & Chia, R., 2002. On Organizational Becoming: Rethinking Organizational Change. Organization Science, vol. 13, no. 5, pp.567-82. Weick, K.E. & Quinn, R.E., 1999. Organizational change and development. Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 50, pp.361-86. Read More