Theoretical Foundations of Organizations and Organization Change, Essay Example

The paper reviewed details two different theories related to organization change: open-system theory and a theoretical synthesis. It uses theories from sociology and political sciences, trying to apply them on organizational change and its challenges, practices and frameworks.

Open systems are described as those having ten different characteristics associated with communication, interaction with employees and dynamics. An open system allows democracy and interaction, sharing of values and is based on natural processes.

The study concludes that organizational change is systemic; its management and reward system needs to reflect the internal hierarchies and process of information. There are three different reasons why this should be so: change objectives would affect the whole organization; including the system, all employees and interacting departments. The introduction of change should also be completed on an organizational level, through distribution channels. Further, based on the open system model, an organization needs to take and distribute energy through the model.

The next model reviewed is based on the holistic approach of theorizing organizational change. Quoting Capra’s three criteria for understanding life and reflecting it on organizational change, the authors conclude that three different aspects need to be present to initiate change in an organization: pattern, structure and process.

The study concludes that interaction, energy based processes, external factors, selectivity, reproduction and the system are all the part of an organization, just like described in Capra’s model. Therefore, to fully understand organizational change, a holistic approach of theories can be used to analyze motivations, processes, flow of energy, information and interaction between different actors within the organization. While the paper is based on a parallel theory, it provides a new aspect for business professionals, comparing organizations with living organs.

References

Theoretical Foundations of Organizations and Organization Change. In: Organization Change. p. 56-66.