Looks at a specific variant of systems thinking, called critical systems thinking, which is an approach that was developed in the UK during the 1980s. In particular, consideration is given to “rule‐bound” systems – scenarios where the possibilities for change have been found to be...

New reforms in the public sector mean that many organisations are attempting to cope with turbulent environments. Traditional models of change have been found to be too static and unable to change the “whole system”. Explores processes for changing the whole system for public sector...

Systems theories, because of the emphasis they place on the maintenance of order, have generally given an impoverished account of change. Complexity theory gives an explanation of non‐linear systems which makes change fundamental and strikes a better balance between order and disorder. A...

An examination of organizational Darwinism – survival of the fittest – via systems theory provides the foundation for a related analysis of the learning organization and the kinds of leaders necessary to pilot organizations through uncertain environments fraught with turbulence. Such...

Discusses some of the issues that need addressing when a consultant applies organization development principles to a large system change such as South Africa. The 11 issues covered emerge because of the differences between traditional organization development and large systems change. Encourages...

For several decades researchers have attempted to explain the process of organization growth and development. The various models devised can be divided into roughly two categories: those which emphasize nature, and those emphasizing nurture as the cause for change. The Dynamic System Planning...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of how conflicts, caused by the specifics of family businesses – the familiness – impact change in family businesses. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews of German family...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to make the case, firstly, that democratic leadership, referred to as “leaderful practice,” should be the fundamental form of leadership that characterizes participatory organizational change. The parties affected by change are those engaged who seek to...

Serves as an introduction to the special issue on organizational longevity published in the Journal of Organizational Change Management. The issues of researching and writing about organizational longevity are described and the content of the special issue is related to a theoretical perspective...