Reference no: EM133914142
The Four Logics of Change Chapter 8. Chapter 8 in the TEXTBOOK: Morgan, G. (2006): Unfolding logics of change: Organizations as flux and transformation (pp. 241-287).
1. Autopoiesis and Self-Production
Definition: From biology, autopoiesis refers to systems capable of reproducing and maintaining themselves.
Organizational Application: Organizations are self-producing. They adapt and evolve by continuously reproducing their structure through internal communication and decision-making.
Key Idea: Change comes from within - not just from external pressures.
2. Dialectical Change
Definition: Rooted in Hegelian and Marxist thought, dialectics involves contradiction and conflict as drivers of change.
Organizational Application: Change arises when opposing forces (e.g., management vs. labor) clash, leading to new synthesis.
Key Idea: Conflict isn't always bad - it can be a creative force.
3. Evolutionary Change
Definition: Borrowed from Darwinian theory - change happens through variation, selection, and retention.
Organizational Application: Organizations evolve as new ideas emerge, are tested, and either adopted or discarded.
Key Idea: The environment "selects" which organizational forms survive, favoring adaptability.
4. Chaos and Complexity Theory
Definition: Organizations behave like complex adaptive systems - unpredictable, non-linear, and sensitive to small changes (the "butterfly effect"). Get top-rated assignment help now.
Organizational Application: Leaders can't fully control change; instead, they create conditions for emergent order.
Key Idea: Organizations don't always follow clear paths - they self-organize and adapt.
Implications for Practice
Leaders must let go of control and understand that uncertainty and instability are normal.
Organizational change is not always planned or linear; often, it emerges from interactions among people, ideas, and structures.
Encouraging learning, adaptability, and openness is more effective than enforcing rigid rules.
Visual Metaphors
Morgan uses metaphors like:
"Organization as a river" - always flowing and changing.
"Organization as living system" - growing, learning, adapting.
Conclusion
Understanding organizations as systems in flux encourages more responsive, dynamic, and participatory approaches to leadership and change. It challenges traditional command-and-control views, replacing them with more organic, evolutionary, and interactive models of organizing.