Danielle A. Tucker

Communicating during Organizational Change using Social Accounts:The Importance of Ideological Accounts

One way to improve trust in management during large-scale organization changes is with effective communications. This article looks at three types of social accounts (causal, ideological, and referential accounts) to see which are effective at improving trust during major organizational changes. A field study method explored two organizations and found that ideological accounts were best at improving trust in management. The relationship between ideological accounts and trust was mediated by the success of the social account (i.e., the perceived understanding of the change decision). These findings indicate the benefits of highlighting long-term motives for large-scale organizational change.

When infrastructure transition and work practice redesign collide

Purpose – As management innovations become more complex, infrastructure needs to change in order to accommodate new work practices. Different challenges are associated with work practice redesign and infrastructure change however; combining these presents a dual challenge and additional challenges associated with this interaction. The purpose of this paper is to ask: what are the challenges which arise from work practice redesign, infrastructure change and simultaneously attempting both in a single transformation? Design/methodology/approach – The authors present a longitudinal study of three hospitals in three different countries (UK, USA and Canada) transforming both their infrastructure and work practices. Data consists of 155 ethnographic interviews complemented by 205 documents and 36 hours of observations collected over two phases for each case study. Findings – This paper identifies that work practice redesign challenges the cognitive load of organizational members whilst infrastructure change chal...

Agents of change: insights from three case studies of hospital transformations

Abstract In the context of organizational change, identifying, and organizing the various roles of change agents remains a challenge for practitioners and scholars alike. This chapter examines how different agents can enable an effective change process. Empirical evidence from three hospitals illustrates the process of transformation and its underlying arrangements to identify agents and their roles. The findings underline the importance of designing a coherent system of agents, determining where they come from, their role during the process, and how this may change throughout the change process. Managerial choices in the cases are discussed, leading to implications for theory and practice.

The development of a theoretical framework of organisational rhythm

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to understand organisational rhythm as a stimulus for further study into organisational change. Design/methodology/approach This paper studies the experiences of the medical discipline colleges in the Netherlands as they underwent significant reorganisation and transfer of ministerial authority. The data set consists of correspondence, reports and tapes of the meetings over 14 months and interviews with 26 employees. Findings This research identified five sub-themes of rhythm (emphasis, intonation, pace, period and repetition). Putting these together, the authors present a framework to understand organisational rhythm during organisational change. Research limitations/implications This study begins to develop understanding of how rhythms function but the authors did not compare multiple rhythms in this study. Practical implications The authors argue that by unpacking and exploring in more detail the sub-themes of rhythm (emphasis, intonation, pace, period and repetition), the authors can help to explain why complex change management initiatives may stall or fail to gain traction. By understanding the concept of rhythm as movement, the authors can offer recommendations to organisations about how to move forward and overcome challenges associated with progress. Originality/value In this paper, the authors make an important distinction between rhythm in terms of movement and flow of activity, which has often been overlooked by research, which focusses on the temporal aspects of organisations, which the authors classify as frequency – relating to the sequencing and duration of change.

An Examination of the Processes by which Social Accounts Influence Change

Effective social accounts can impact on how organisational members respond to change. Current literature has largely focused on the design of managerial accounts and associated behavioural and affective responses to them. However, in order to understand how social accounts influence behaviour we need to understand the previously under-theorised individual processes of the recipient as an active participant in the ability of social accounts to influence schema change about an event. Using an example of large-scale organisational change, moving from one hospital facility to another, we focus on how the social accounts of top management impact on organisational members and their responses to change. Our findings expand theory by explaining how social accounts come to be relevant, create imperative for action and are deemed credible thereby influencing a recipient’s schema about an event. We highlight the importance of visualisation in the recipient processing of accounts.