ABSTRACT
Social psychology can offer important insights into change, for instance that change and intervention are all about interaction and meaning. However, in change management the insights provided by social psychology are not used frequently enough. By understanding the perspective of social psychology, change management as a profession can continue to grow. Managers and advisers are working every day to change organizations and the behaviour of employees. At times they do so spontaneously by giving an encouraging or a disapproving response to the behaviour of a group or individual; at other times they do so as part of a well-thought-out plan to bring about a particular change. Either way they are dealing with ‘social animals’. It is all about the behaviour of and between people in social contexts. That is precisely the domain of social psychology. That profession revolves around the influence that people have on the convictions, the feelings and the behaviour of others (Aronson, 2016). However, an analysis of more than fifty bestsellers on the subject of change management shows us that social psychology is conspicuous by its absence (ten Have et al., 2016). Some books still mention Albert Bandura (for instance Bandura, 1963) and his social-cognitive learning theory. ‘Groupthink’ and group dynamics are referred to left and right (for instance Janis, 1982). The notion of ‘social proof’ is visible in opinions about model behaviour, ‘significant others’ and the dissemination of ideas (for instance Sherif, 1935; Cialdini, Wosinska, Barett, & Gornik-Durose, 1999). But that is about it. We are talking about the best-selling and most popular books about the profession. They often touch on the right subjects and issues, or at least the most recognizable ones from the field. At the same time, they clearly ignore an enormous amount of very relevant knowledge. Not only is that a shame, but also it is a professional irresponsibility, especially since change management usually concerns issues with a great organizational, emotional, economic and social impact. It concerns the right to exist, jobs, identity, prosperity and welfare. Notwithstanding the more widespread socio-psychological insights of eminences like Weick (1979, 1995), Lewin (1943a) and Schein (1985, 1999), from the perspective of change management the discipline of social psychology is still a sleeping giant. Given the challenges and issues that managers and advisers are faced with during change, plus the level of knowledge in the field, there is still a world to be conquered out there.
In Chapter 1 four core insights with regard to change (management) and the social psychological perspective are presented: (1) Social psychology is necessary to understand people in change processes. (2) People are social animals and change in organizations is a social process. (3) Social psychology is necessary to understand people in change processes; it teaches us that meaning is key during change and intervention. (4) Social psychology makes change management comprehensible to people and allows them to consider their actions in groups and the organization on their merits. These insights may seem obvious and self-evident, but practice and science, as well as the popular change management literature, show that it is not. Work has to be done; we have to further unleash the potential of social psychology for the field of change management. The essential basis of each profession and each science exists in its ‘body of knowledge’. This book is a mutual reach-out between social psychology and change management; the two bodies of knowledge become connected. We present approximately forty social psychological theories and models, ranging from attribution theory and expectancy theory to social dominance and social identity theory, and from social cohesion and social exchange theory to moral disengagement and the attachment theory. The theories are structured, categorized and related to one another by a model that results from the integration of Fiske’s five core social motives and our change management methodology (ten Have, ten Have, Huijsmans, & Van der Eng, 2015; ten Have et al., 2017). From the perspective of change management and its practitioners and researchers, the theories are without exception inspiring, sometimes thought-provoking, insightful, informative, helpful and hence relevant. Almost without exception the models are ‘classic’ and based on well-founded empirical research. This constitutes an important reason and criterion to select them. A second criterion is the estimated potential and relevance from the perspective of change management. This book is evidence-based. The focus of this book and our research is on research and resulting evidence related to the application of theories in the field of change and organization, management and leadership.
