The Social Practice of Coevolving Strategy and Structure to Realize Mandated Radical Change
通过纵向案例研究,构建了组织成员如何通过行动协同演化战略与结构以实现外部强加的激进变革的理论模型,识别了三种行动循环及其转换机制。
This paper draws on a longitudinal interpretive case study to develop a theoretical model of how actions by people across an organization coevolve strategy and structure in order to realize a mandated radical change. Mandated change, imposed by a powerful external actor, extends understanding of the dynamics of radical change. While other studies have examined how unintended consequences shape the way radical change is realized, under mandated change, actors focus on bringing about the change in ways that will be, collectively, considered to realize the intended mandate. Our study, grounded in a practice approach concerning how actions bring about radical change, identifies three different action cycles: performing action cycles, reinforcing action cycles, and reflecting action cycles. Shifts in cycles are triggered by unintended consequences that escalate into breakdowns. Cumulative cycles, arising from the escalation of unintended consequences that lead to breakdowns, are necessary for bringing about a mandated change in strategy and structure. Following breakdown, actors switch to reflecting actions in which they consider the underlying intent of the mandate and how to modify the espoused strategy and structure to bring about that intent.