Rethinking Change Management: A Critical Perspective

Opposing the notion that organisational change can be planned, predicted, or controlled, this timely book offers a critical perspective on change management. Johan Coetsee, Patrick Flood, Steven Kilroy and Teresa O'Hara portray change as a fluid phenomenon shaped by negotiation, tension, and the complex realities of power, politics, and institutions. Consolidating insights from leadership, stakeholder engagement, and ethics, the authors present a context-sensitive understanding of change. They frame leadership as a shared, relational process and critique the tendency to depend excessively on standard metrics, which can obscure vital issues such as trust, legitimacy, and inclusion. Chapters challenge traditional linear models in contemporary fast-paced working environments, defining change as a psychologically and emotionally complex process. They also provide an analytical overview of digital transformation, revealing related hidden issues including confusion over roles and ethical risks. Underscoring the importance of values-driven leadership, the book ultimately identifies how to integrate environmental, social, and governance factors into transformation strategies. Rethinking Change Management is an essential resource for scholars and students of business leadership, management and sustainability, and organisational change and leadership. Organisational development professionals and public and nonprofit sector practitioners will also benefit from its promotion of relational and adaptive approaches to transformation.

About the Author :
W.J. Coetsee, Head of Postgraduate Programmes, Liverpool John Moores University, UK, Patrick C. Flood, Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Dublin City University, Steven Kilroy, Associate Professor of HRM, Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin and Teresa O'Hara, Senior Lecturer in Management, Technological University of the Shannon, Ireland

Review :
‘Rethinking Change Management develops actionable principles for effective organizational change by combining knowledge from science and practice. Recognizing the many forms organizational change can take, this book calls attention to the different perspectives scholars and practitioners have taken, calling attention to to commonalities and contingencies. Highly recommended.’ ‘Rethinking Change Management is a collection of essays by leading scholars that is far more than a collection. Instead of a set of separate ideas, these seven chapters each provide different perspectives that cohere and come together to provide a fuller understanding of organizational change and how to manage it in the modern era. The result is both scholarly and pragmatic – rigorous and grounded in the literature yet meaningfully connected to practice.’ - Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership, Harvard Business School; Author, Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well ‘This is an ambitious, challenging, and timely book. Traditional change models for organisations need scrutiny as technological and environmental disruption creates unprecedented conditions for leaders to deal with. This book offers a clear critique of current theory and practice and suggests ways in which our thinking about change can adapt. The authors offer compelling theories, cases, and stories to illustrate how the world of work and of leadership is shifting, making this book a highly valuable resource for people seeking to manage and lead change effectively.’ ‘A vital resource for management graduate students, this book integrates leadership, ethics, and digital transformation within a nuanced, context-driven framework. By inviting readers to interpret resistance as a source of insight and a catalyst for change, it delivers both scholarly depth and actionable guidance.’