Internal change agents’ view of the management of change problem

The vital importance of change management in today's competitive climate has been widely investigated. While the need for successful change management is intensively proclaimed by “expert” consultants, the response for some time has been regarded as falling short of what is required. The heavy emphasis in the literature on a rational‐linear approach to understanding organisational change overlooks the significance of the cultural and political dimensions of organisational life. This article highlights a systemic‐multivariate view of change by investigating internal change agents’, that is managers’, accounts of the barriers to change management. It addresses the limitations of change management by attending to the perceptions of managers, that is those actors who generally determine organisational priorities and make crucial resource allocation decisions. This article illustrates the systemic line of thinking adopted by managers undergoing major restructuring efforts in their organisations. This line of thinking is shown to differ from the espoused values of managers that constitute the rational‐linear view of change management.