Diversity Management in Organizational Change: Towards a Systemic Framework

Abstract

Change is now a key concern of most business organizations, but the management of change (MOC) appears weak, with research suggesting that, at least in part, the methodologies used are responsible for this weakness. By outlining an alternative systemic MOC framework for action, and pointing to how this might be applied, this paper recommends an approach to MOC which seeks to address some of these current methodological shortcomings. A critical examination and classification of organizational change are conducted, leading to a categorization of approaches to change, and allowing critical assessment of the benefits and limitations of current approaches. Systems perspectives and their relevance to MOC are discussed, and by combining MOC and systems perspectives a systemic MOC framework is developed. This study suggests that MOC is characterized by diversity and interaction, for which systemic perspectives are more appropriate than the approaches currently applied. The systemic framework developed is thus seen to be a useful way of helping understand and manage organizational change more effectively. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.