Unplanned Organizational Change

The general concept of change is defined as just “a new state of things, different from the old state of things”(French et al., 2000) B4 Organizational change may also be defined as “a state of transition between the current state and a future one, towards which the organization is directed.” (Cummings et al., 1985) B4 The origins of this definition are found in the thinking of Lewin (1947).Organizational change refers to any alteration that occurs in the overall work environment of an organization. It may relate to changing technology, organizational structure, working processes, work environment, organizational policy, and even the roles people play (Kondalkar, 2013). B-2 Struckman and Yammarino (2003) defined organizational change as “a

Planning: Organizational change can be planned or unplanned. Organizational members can be conscious and intentional about the changes that they want to make, often due to environmental factors, strategic or market needs, or other influences. Changes can also be unplanned, perhaps in response to an immediate threat or crisis. Weick (2000) described planned changes as "ongoing accommodations, adaptations and alterations that produce fundamental change without a priori intention to do so." Organization development is a field that has been primarily concerned with the successful implementation of planned organizational change (Beckhard, 1969). OD introduces intentional change programs to improve the organization or address a deficiency.

Magnitude: OD literature differentiates between first order and second order change (Watzlawick, Weakland, & Fish, 1974). First-order changes tend to be alterations or changes to existing practices rather than a rethinking or reinvention of a practice. In first-order change, existing work practices are modified while maintaining its current purposes, objectives, and processes. First-order change reflects an evolution of existing definitions rather than a revolution or redefinition (Anderson 2012). Rethinking how the entire organization works, including redefining roles, processes, values, and implicit meanings, would be considered as second order change. Because, second order change tends to reflect a more substantial shift, some refer to this type of change as "organizational transformation" (Bartunek & Louis, 1988). (T-2)

3. Continuity: Weick and Quinn (1999) distinguished between episodic and continuous change. Episodic change is defined as distinct periods of change usually infrequent and explicitly defined. Episodic change is usually framed as a response to a stable condition in which adverse conditions that are present force an organization to change. Continuous change, on the other hand, reflects the idea that the organization is never truly out of a state of change, and that even in minute ways, change is always occurring.