Understanding and Managing Public Organizations, 6th Edition

CHAPTER THIRTEENMANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT

The challenge of changing organizations is one of the most important topics in organizational analysis. A voluminous literature addresses organizational change and innovation, with much of it focused on how to change organizations for the better. As earlier chapters point out, controversy simmers over whether public organizations and their employees resist change. The truth is that researchers and experts often note a paradoxical aspect of change in public organizations. Far from being isolated bastions of resistance to change, they change constantly. This pattern may sometimes impede substantial long-term change, however. In many public organizations, the politically appointed top executives and other political appointees come and go fairly rapidly. Shifts in the political climate cause rapid shifts in program and policy priorities. This can make it hard to sustain implementation of major changes. Nevertheless, we now have an abundance of examples of successful change in public organizations, and this chapter describes some of them.

Relatively Natural Change: Organizational Life Cycles

Members of organizations plan and carry out some changes purposefully. Other changes occur more spontaneously or naturally as organizations pass through phases of development or respond to major shifts in their environment. The two types of change intermingle, as managers and other members respond to shifting circumstances. Research ...