Unleashing Change: A Study of Organizational Renewal in Government

This is a hopeful account of the potential for organizational change and improvement within government. Despite the mantra that “people resist change,” it is possible to effect meaningful reform in a large bureaucracy. In Unleashing Change, public management expert Steven Kelman presents a blueprint for accomplishing such improvements, based on his experience orchestrating procurement reform in the 1990s. Kelman's focuses on making change happen on the front lines, not just getting it announced by senior policymakers. He argues that frequently there will be a constituency for change within government organizations. The role for leaders is not to force change on the unwilling but to unleash the willing, and to persist long enough for the change to become institutionalized. Drawing on the author's own personal experience and extensive research among frontline civil servants, as well as literature in organization theory and psychology, Unleashing Change presents an approach for improving agency performance from soup to nuts—mixing theory with practice. Its analysis is innovative and empirically rich. Kelman's conclusions challenge conventional notions about achieving reform in large organizations and mark a major advance in theories of organizational change. His lessons will be of interest not only to scholars interested in improving the performance of the public sector, but for anyone struggling to manage a large organization.

About the Author :
Steven Kelman is the Weatherhead Professor of Public Management at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. From 1993 to 1997 he administered the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, where he was a leading figure in "reinventing government" efforts. His previous books include Procurement and Public Management: The Fear of Discretion and the Quality of Government Performance and Making Public Policy: A Hopeful View of American Government.

Review :
"Blending abstract or mathematical models with practical-minded situation and responses, Unleashing Change is a valuable resource and reference to consult when attempting large-scale bureacratic reorganizations, from corporate hierarchies to the government of nations." — Wisconsin Bookwatch |"Steve Kelman's creative research, augmented by his own considerable experience as a reform-minded federal official, gives this book unusual depth and authenticity." —Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School |"An excellent book...readable and whilst secure intellectually it also touches on practical concerns." —Colin Carnall, Journal of Change Managment, 11/1/2005 |" " — Reference and Research Book News, 11/1/2005 |"An original and important contribution to the literature.... This major contribution effectively undercuts archaic clichés and offers strong possibilities for future research that could have a significant impact on public administration theory and practice." —E. Lewis, New College of Florida, Choice, 12/1/2005 |"There can be little doubt that this is a clever and interesting book. Its conceptual and methodological sophistication carry it well above most run-of-the-mill public administration texts and, equally, above many books on change management.... It is an accomplished work by a leading public management academic. A satisfying analysis of a particular episode, it is also full of stimulating ideas that can be carried further in other contexts." —Christopher Pollitt, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Administrative Science Quarterly, 6/1/2006 |"Steve Kelman's UNLEASHING CHANGE is empirical social science at its best and administrative science at its finest. An analytic tour de force, it is also surprisingly personal and engaging. Kelman not only lays out a potent and thoughtful conceptual framework, but also relates the compelling tale of an academic actually using that framework to great effect. A 'must' read." —Roderick M. Kramer, Stanford Graduate School of Business |"He writes in a clear, readable style, using memorable examples and avoiding the usual management jargon. This 308-page book offers a clear road map for anyone looking to make organizational changes." —Trudy Walsh, Government Leader: Managing for Results |"I am confident that public administration scholars will read it for many years to come. Kelman masterfully operationalizes concepts drawn from social psychology, constructs and analyzes nonlinear and interaction effects, and breaks his large sample into informative subsamples." —Sanford Borins, University of Toronto, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 8/24/2005 |"Kelman's study of a large-scale reform effort on the front lines of government provides an unusually rich and complex look at how change occurs. This book will be useful both to academics and practitioners/polcy makers....This book reminds us what social science is all about. Organization and management theory could use more studies like this." —Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Academy of Management Review |"This is an interesting and important book. It illustrates a valuable, successful intervention, and it debunks many taken-for-granted assumptions about organizational change." —Jean M. Bartunek, Boston College, International Public Management Journal |"Steve Kelman offers a unique and crucial perspective on this very important instance of the worldwide movement toward 'debureaucratizing' government. He brings to the study of organizational change the insightful, informative mix of an experienced executive's observations and a social scientist's analysis of rich survey evidence. Everyone concerned with good government needs to get this book." —Hal G. Rainey, School of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia |"This is an extraordinary book that might cause a 'mental revolution' in any public administration scholar who reads it....Steve Kelman masterfully engages the reader in a provocative intellectual dialogue that reaches out to the postbureaucratic world." —Vadym V. Pyrozhenko, Syracuse University, Public Administration Review