ABSTRACT
Sustainable work system (SWS) design theory is emerging, and therefore a chapter on this approach to change is necessarily preliminary. To date, the contributions have been mainly conceptual, with a limited number of applied design projects under way. Significant applied research on work intensity and sustainability is just beginning. This is in itself somewhat unique, as prior design theory has mainly evolved from practice. In this chapter, we cover foundations for an emerging theory: we provide brief coverage of action research, sociotechnical systems and self-design theory on change. More recent theory on reflective design and work-based learning is also considered central to SWS design. Accordingly, we focus more on operational design in place of strategic organization design. There is a well-developed literature on strategic organization design (see, for example, Hanna 1988; Galbraith 1994) but it is beyond the scope of this chapter.
