The sequel to The Innovating Organization (Sage, 2000) this book is written as a collection of chapters by different authors with good continuation of style throughout with most authors contributing to more than one chapter and Andrew Pettigrew contributing to most.
It describes a complex and rigorous research programme (multidisciplinary, multimethods and multiresearch‐site – the “INNFORM”, programme) of 18 case studies which has been designed to give international comparisons over time. The research was carried out by a consortium of leading academics from eight universities, representing eight different countries, and two consultant firm directors. There were three main aims to the research. The “progress aim” was to map the extent of innovation in forms of organising over large samples of firms in Europe, Japan and the USA over two separate year studies. The “performance aim” was to test the performance consequences of these new forms of organising. The “process aim” was to examine the managerial and organisational processes of moving from the traditional to the innovative forms of organising.
In short it is an academic book, heavyweight, rigorous and thorough and would be an extremely useful resource for any practitioner in organisational development, strategic leadership and development and management of change and any postgraduate student studying these topics. It is not for the faint hearted who want a quick read but it is a gold mine for those prepared to take some time out to read it. Obviously the international comparisons are extremely useful for any organisation that crosses boundaries and in my opinion all MBA students should be reading and digesting this text.
Each chapter takes on a different topic and explores this by reviewing the literature up to date, by discussing terminology and understanding of the themes around the topic so that the researchers could be clear as to what indicators of innovation they were looking for in the research. The case study organisations were then discussed in relation to these. The debate and questions raised on each topic, alone, give a good deal of “food for thought” and bring the reader up‐to‐date with research so far. Added to this is the research findings, enriching the debate further.
The book has four parts to it. Part 1 covers the theme of organising and strategizing (strategy making) and looks at ways of understanding the relationship between these two. It looks at the drivers and resources for it. It discusses the role of leadership, the process of sensemaking, learning and the development of new ideas and the relationship between learning and change. It also identifies four conceptually distinct sets of activities concerning how reality is contemplated, recreated, maintained and constituted by the decision makers of the organisations researched.
Part 2 is about complementarities. Parts of this section are quite technical and take on a more scientific feel. The importance of synergistic sets of practices is uncovered from the research and comparisons made. The sequencing and development of complementary change actions were looked at in four professional service organisations. The results showed the importance of the holistic systems view of all changes, of all kinds, structure, process, etc working together.
Part 3 is about “dualities” and uncovers the tendencies of innovative firms to make apparently contradictory changes and thereby creating dualities such as centralisation and decentralisation, building hierarchies and networks, increasing accountability upwards and integration sideways. Uncertainty, complexity and interdependence are just some of the aspects discussed and people management is covered here too.
The findings of the research programme will inform strategic leaders as to the trends in decision making across three main regions of the globe and they can compare their own organisation to these trends.
This is without a doubt an in‐depth study providing stimulating debate and up‐to‐date scholarship – it is not a “how‐to‐do” book. It requires reading, pondering on and re‐reading and practitioners will have to work out for themselves what learning they will apply to their own organisations. It informs and updates the reader on what is happening in the world on the organisational development front.
