Chapter 7: Organizational Change Management: When is a “Best Practice” Not Best for Practice?

Organizational change is a leading topic within the management research arena. But, as Pettigrew, Woodman, and Cameron (2001) stress, research questions have largely focused on motivations and the nature of change itself rather than examining organizational change in its broader international context:

Overall, there has been little systematic empirical research assessing cross-country organizational change management practices and little explanation about the extent to which change management practices in one country are transferable to another.

Consultants and consulting firms use extensively concepts, methods, tools, and so called “best practices” in change management. Their experience, however, suggests that applying U.S. best practices in Europe often results in project failures (e.g., Svetlanal & Damian, 2006). In this chapter, we examine the extent to which organizational change management best practices are universal in their cultural context. Can these practices be considered to be episteme in the Aristotelian sense, or techne, that is, context specific and meaningless of a broader cultural context? Can we identify organizational change management best practices that help create value for an organization under all circumstances? Or would “best practice” be meaningful only to the extent that all contextual factors are clearly delineated?