Organization Change, Essay Example

Organization Change

The book Organization Change: Theory and Practice by W. Warner Burke covers the theories of practical organization change in the growing and vastly changing economy through personal and coherent real-world experiences. In Chapter 3 of the textbook, Burke covers the long history of organization change. Throughout this chapter, Burke discusses the concept of scientific management, the Hawthorne studies, industrial psychology, sensitivity training, the invention of the managerial grid, coercion versus confrontation and management consulting as it relates to organization change.

Burke equates the creation of organization change as far back as the early Egyptians, perhaps even further. “The Pharaohs of ancient Egypt probably struggled with a need to change the organizations that built the pyramid” (Burke, 2010). Burke continued to say that even the Old Testament shows signs of organization change. In order for any management to move forward, it must be able to assume new modes of work- it must be able to easily adopt to change. The Hawthorne studies, Industrial psychology, sensitivity training, the invention of the managerial grid, followed by countless other studies and tests regarding organization change were all progresses towards learning more about this subject. The Hawthorne Studies contributed greatly to the field of psychology in that they revealed the importance of employee attitudes when exposed to change. Sensitivity training was done to experiment with various types of people in an attempt to study their behaviors. The managerial grid was a way of determining a person’s style of management.

However, Burke emphasizes that the key part of organization change is the change part, and for any company or individual to succeed, they need to be able to successfully adapt to change whether it is planned or unplanned.