ABSTRACT
Change occurs constantly owing to complex activities beyond any one person's or organisation's control. Unpopularity can be minimised by openness and by negotiation between the change agent and those on the receiving end, in order to enhance understanding and involvement. There are two levels of change in organisations: first-order and second-order. In order to manage change, this provides a useful framework within which to consider what type of change is occurring and/or is appropriate. The team manager telling his/her staff that the hierarchy will be flattened would be a second-order change. Change may have resource implications which should be built into the strategy for change. The team manager did the negotiating with the area management group who were resistant to change. Stress will be an issue for managers whose marginality leaves them feeling caught between senior managers and their own staff.
