Managing Change and Crisis in Organisations

BEM3052

Lecture 4
Continuous Change

Aaron Page
University of Exeter
Continuous Change

In Lecture 4, we focus on 2 core questions that are

key to the second major organisational change:
1. What is continuous change?
2. How do organisations foster continuous change?
Change Events in Time

Greiner (1998) distinguishes between evolution and revolution.

Episodic Change: a clear start & end, and
a single goal. Often dramatic & externally
driven. Results from failure to adapt. Revolution: Seek a new
(Weick & Quinn, 1999). management practice
solution (Greiner, 1998).

Evolution: Modest change to

maintain growth (Greiner, 1998).
Continuous Change: is ongoing, endless variation
within the firm, pursuing many goals in reaction to
daily events. Can accumulate to a large change
(Weick & Quinn, 1999).
Change Events in Time

Weick and Quinn (1999) focus on the rhythm of change.

Episodic Change: a clear start & end, and

a single goal. Often dramatic & externally
driven. Results from failure to adapt.
(Weick & Quinn, 1999).

Continuous Change: is ongoing, endless variation

within the firm, pursuing many goals in reaction to
daily events. Can accumulate to a large change
(Weick & Quinn, 1999).
Episodic vs Continuous Lenses of Change?

The organisation
Episodic

wanted to [event]
in order to [goal].
Continuous

People
engaged in
adaptive
local action.
Desiring the “Right” Continuous Change

Continuously changing approaches and Ideas  great outputs

Small-scale continuous change  large consequences

Continuous Change
Continuous change = organisational changes that are ongoing, evolving,
and cumulative (Weick & Quinn, 1998)
• Change is constant.
• Change occurs at the micro level.
• Continuous change is self-organised and “carried
out by multiple actors in muiltiple series of
events” (Bartunek & Woodman, 2015).
• Continuous change emerges from the ongoing
accumulation of changes in work processes and social
practice.
Desiring the “Right” Continuous Change

“If you don't transform...if you don't reinvent yourself, change your
organization structure; if you don't talk about speed of innovation—
you're going to get disrupted. And it'll be a brutal disruption, where
the majority of companies will not exist in a meaningful way 10 to 15
years from now.”
John Chambers, Executive Chairman of Cisco, March (2016)

“... leaders [need to] position organizations and the people within
them to be flexible, agile and adaptive in response to changes
associated with a volatile and often unpredictable world.”
Uhl-Bien & Arena (2010)
An Example of Continuous Change
Desiring the “Right” Continuous Change
Flexibility VERSUS Control
Enhancing Organisational Learning
• Organisations have to cope with accelerating social and economic
changes, tech development, market demands.
• Organisations need to acquire and utilise an increasing amount of
knowledge to remain competitive.
“...the rate of which individuals and organizations learn may
become the only sustainable competitive advantage...” Stata (1989)

• Organisational Learning scholars argue that environmental

pressures cannot be managed top down by a few senior
managers, but must be a collective responsibility.
• However, this may work best in turbulent environments where
exploitation is not possible.
Enhancing Organisational Improvisation
Lloyd-Smith (2020): COVID-19 and organisational resilience
• In novel conditions, rigidly clinging to pre-existing routines and
control structures can undermine resilience & backfire.
• Organisations need to improvise, creatively using and
recombining existing resources, structures, processes.
• Improvisation replaces the conventional planning -> acting
sequence with simultaneous planning-acting.
• Argues that to enable organisational improvisation need three
things: (1) increase autonomy & delegate decision making to
front-line staff, (2) maintain structure with clear lines of
communication and coordination, and (3) create a shared
understanding with monitoring & updating.
Enhancing Organisational Improvisation
Hargadon & Sutton (2000) argue that it is possible to build an
‘innovation factory’: a company that has the organisational
structure and culture that facilitates continual innovation.

They argue that knowledge brokering is key:

• Old ideas are the material from which new ideas are made.
• Innovation connects disconnected pools of old ideas.
They propose a 4-stage knowledge-brokering cycle, whereby
innovative firms (1) capture good ideas, (2) keep ideas alive, (3)
imagine new uses for old ideas and (4) put promising concepts to
the test.
Dark Side of Continuous Change
Continuous change could have harmful consequences:
• Repeatedly improvising can be extremely stressful (Fisher &
Barrett, 2019):
• The consequences of failure could be severe.
• Relying on unplanned, spontaneous behaviour can be
uncomfortable.
• Pressure to create innovative solutions could lead to grow
emotional and physical exhaustion or burnout amongst
employees (Greiner, 1998).
Possible solutions: cultural change (e.g., embrace risk and innovation); new
structures and programs (e.g., flexible working hours; four-day working week,
sabbaticals; ensuring job security; relaxation activities…)
Your Report: Choosing Change Events
Apple Inc.

Complete sentence: The organization wanted to [insert change

event] in order to [achieve goal]
Your Report: Start Your Report Now!

Which Organisation?
Any Organisation! As long as...
• You can find enough information about the change
event (in the media, white papers, academic
analyses...)
• You can use a theoretical lens that fits with the event.

• You can find enough information to establish if the

change has (or has not) been successful.
Your Report: Choosing Change Events
Apple Inc.

Complete sentence: The organization wanted to [insert change

event] in order to [achieve goal]
Your Report: Choosing Change Events
Apple Inc.

Change
events

Trigger
event

Complete sentence: The organization wanted to [insert change

event] in order to [achieve goal]
Your Report: Choosing Change Events
Apple Inc.

4 years

Change Event Was the event successful?

The organisation [appointed a new CEO] in order to [improve sales].

What theories or models support this expectation and can explain why
it succeeded or failed?
Your Report: Choosing Change Events
The Apple timeline shows 3 examples of events:

1. Product launches
2. Diversification
3. Leadership Change

Many other events 

My Office Hours
Please feel free to come along to my office hours.

Room: 1.79, Streatham Court.

Time: Wednesday 12:00-14:00pm

Email: ap486@exeter.ac.uk

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in contact regarding BEM3052.
Questions