Generating tensions: A multilevel, process analysis of organizational change

Abstract

Working within a Bakhtinian perspective of relational dialectical tensions, this study seeks to elaborate on current organizational change theories through a rich set of qualitative data collected on an Internet start-up that revolutionized the music industry. Following the company for 12 years, we focused on the tensions arising during the company’s development and on the responses to these tensions. Our results indicate that with a process model, tensions and decisions develop in a reflexive relationship, which shows that change happens, not in spite of unintended consequences, but because of the unintended consequences of the decisions enacted. We show that change is not always the result of deliberate intentions, conscious choices, and purposeful actions of individuals, but rather as an ongoing process that evolves through countervailing dynamics at multiple organizational levels. Tensions and responses to them are pivotal to this process of changing and should be analyzed as directional markers for future oppositional struggles. Consistent with the Bakhtinian position, we find that change occurs within the interplay of tensions as actors live out struggles and decisions in the midst of organizing.